Dealing with sub-par listening (earbuds, etc.)

I suppose this post has no real solution, but I am pondering out loud.  Doesn't it just kill you to have spent huge sums on your monitors, gear, soundcard, mixer, instruments room, etc.; plus years building up your recording and mixing skills, only in order to send out an mp3 of your latest masterpiece to a pack of friends and family who don't own a single hi-fi between them?
 
I recently had the honor of having one of my Sonor-creations played on NATIONAL radio (takes a bow ;).  Before the broadcast, I sent a high quality mp3 to my entire circle.  In the accompanying email, I joked something like "don't even bother playing this (or any other) music over LAPTOP speakers or earbuds, or Jesus kills ten bunny rabbits".
 
(My sister, who doesn't have my non-literal sense of humor, still hasn't played it....)
 
Seriously, though, of my non-Sonar peeps, almost NONE of them have ANY way of playing music other than Laptop speakers (pukes) or earbuds.  Really?  Really?
 
For those of you who obsess over room treatments and spend huge amounts of time and money getting mixes as perfect as you can, don't you want to go a bit nuts when you stop to think that almost no one will be hearing your creations on anything costing over ten cents?  Honestly, almost NO ONE in my circle of friends has even so much as a boom-box quality stereo these days.  It is pathetic!  And here we stress & struggle for the "nth" degree of audio quality (that no one can hear.)
 
Not looking for a solution; just thought I would open a discussion,
ed

It isn't really about MP3s; I'm more focused on the fact that so few people  have decent playback equipment these days.  When I was a teen we were all out buying stereo systems for our bedrooms.  Now it seems that practically no one even owns a decent set of bookshelf speakers anymore.  (When was the last time that you saw a hi-fi in a family room  or living room?  Having one USED to be the norm in America.)
Oh, I know that WE (the sonar community) has gear... I'm talking about our intended audience of listeners & non-studio people.

This is what it has come down to: the cell phone / tablet is "the new stereo".  Yikes.  People spend $400 on a phone, to listen to their music over the included earbuds (that cost $0.40). 

I look at it this way Ed. There are people in the commnunity here that you will impress with both your production and your songwriting skills. The other community....the one called "the listeners" isn't really as concerned with production. So, when in that situation, you do the best mix you can on your gear and don't even worry about anything else.

If I allowed the common folks and their lack of good listening equipment to get to me, I'd be making "ear-bud only mixes". I really don't let anything bother me anymore other than when some jack-a-lope speaks for the sake of having a voice. That's my #1 pet peeve with the world...people being "inconsiderate". I could care less what someone listens on....but the day they talk trash about someones mix or my mix and then fess up to "well, I listened on this little Toshiba lappy" or "I used these ear-buds that came with my Walmart phone" followed by "your mix sounds terrible"....then I get annoyed. I do see your point though....it's just not anything that's really bothered me because even in you gave out free systems to people, they'd still revert back to their lappy's and ear buds. LOL! :)

-Danny

Home theaters for watching DVD movies, sure, but an actual dedicated home stereo hooked up for just listening to music? Not so many (anymore). Even my grandparents had a nice stereo in their living room.

daveny5

I'm not sure I agree. Don't a lot of people have home theater systems with surround sound or am I in the 2%? Of course nobody knows how to operate them, but I digress.

I think it's the people who had good sound systems that now have the good home theater systems.  You have to learn that good sound exists.  Nobody I know cares.
 
I get a chuckle out of the big box store home theater systems.  The bass drivers are like 2" in diameter...

Know what REALLY annoys me? People listening to music on freaking CELLPHONE SPEAKERS! That's even worse than earbuds, because at least you get a stereo image (and probably some low-end) through earbuds! And most of the culprits are kids listening to hip-hop (read: bass-heavy) music...and they're not even hearing the bass! 

But when you think about it, most of these folks are listening to music they already like and thus have already heard multiple times. They have most likely heard that Lil' Wayne tune in a club or in a car with the boomin' bass. So when they're listening to it on their tinny little Galaxy II cellphone speakers, they're really just reminding themselves of the song and not really *listening* to it.

There are two sides to this argument. Yes most people these days including hardcore music fans don't listen on dedicated stereo systems anymore. Its all mobile and increasingly on phones themselves. This is more a reflection of peoples lifestyle and the easy accessibility of music on the go which we never had before. 

The plus side is that earbuds have gotten a lot better these days. Anyone remotely interested in music typically gets a nicer set of earbuds or headphones that sound pretty good. The earbuds I got recently rival the sound of my ATH-M50's so a decent mix sounds pretty good even through my phone. Arguably better than what it would sound like on a subpar stereo system.

The thing that bothers me most is the fact that a lot of music just sounds more natural through speakers and not through phones and we don't have any control over that. 

So the general advice is to definitely spend a lot of time on making your mix sound great on headphones since most of your target audience will be using that.