I am a fan of checking mixes on small speakers.  Very interesting article in March 2016 SOS about Rik Simpson. (mixing Coldplay)
 
He says he has tried many many small speakers and the best sounding one by far is a small Bluetooth speaker called  'The Boom Movement Swimmer'
 
It is designed to be used in the shower but you don't have to of course.  It is the sheer sound of it that impressed him.  Over many others he tried.
 
http://www.polkboom.com/shop/swimmer/
 
 

MacFurse

tenfoot
IK multimedia ARC 2 acoustic correction system vst has a very cool feature that simulates different playback devices and environments that is excellent for testing mixes. The room correction itself also works far more effectively than you might expect.
 
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/arc/
 

Agree this is awesome technology, but it's just a bit hard to justify the cost. I think if I was going to spend this much, it would be better put towards more room insulation. My next album will be a huge hit. I will be able to afford whatever I want and ditch my day (and night) job

Haha - sounds like a plan! It is a bit exe, but it does work very well.

Just to follow up on my own thread, this seems very interesting re: streaming music to mobile device for mix check.  David Glenn mentioned it on one of his mix videos.
 
https://audre.io/

MacFurse

gustabo
Waiting on this.
Pre-ordered...

I'm sorry gustabo, now I've just gotta ask, 'cause I'm a gizmo collector and I want one too..
If it's not a phone speaker simulator, IT IS A PHONE SPEAKER (that's the add talking, not me), why don't we just plug our phones in ? I NEED your explanation, to talk me outa of buying one !!

I just find it easier to hit a switch on my speaker selector to feed a speaker than stream it to my phone...

So about the phone...and this is a long answer to a difficult question I know...but...
 
How does commercial music sound so BIG on it?  I just listened to some pop tunes from Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Nick Jonas, etc...and can't believe their apparent size...through a mono...tiny...iPhone speaker.
 
So...the bass and bottom end I think I'm hearing is really like 200Hz and up stuff?  It's truly fascinating.  I feel like I'm placing too much emphasis on 100Hz and lower in my mixes when I listen to these pop tunes. I really should put a cut below 200Hz on master bus (just for emphasis and reference) and listen to what I hear.

The range of the playback speaker definitely affects what frequencies will be generated, but a good mix will (should) translate well to any speaker set (smaller, mono, etc.). I use my phone quite often to playback mp3s to check them simply because most listeners are probably going to be using ear buds anyway... not much bass in those guys at all. It is an interesting litmus test to "dumb down" the playback system on a mix.
 
An ironic counterpoint... I have a set of old Cerwin Vega LS-15s that I have not used in years and powered them on a few weeks ago, and the bass on those guys from commercial material was overwhelming to me with a flat EQ. It made me realize how much frequency content we never hear because of the playback platform. I had grown accustomed to "tame bass" because only one other system could play those back, and I never actually heard them.
 
There is definitely merit in considering the most common playback options of listeners. While a good mix will translate well, not everyone has powerful (sub)woofers that they use normally. Bass frequencies also pack a lot of power, so can also make irate neighbors in short order... all they hear is the "thump thump," but it travels pretty far.