Mixing for Small Speakers, Computer Speakers, and phones

Hint: I would have never called it done without listening on the laptop speakers.

2nd: Did you use any "pro" track as a reference on everything (including the laptop speakers)? Sometimes, even pro stuff can sound bad on laptop speakers.

3rd hint: See hint #1 and #2.

Ditto.... on occasion I have listened to mixes and tunes from fellow cakers on lappy speakers but I generally will refrain from constructive commentary from that listening experience. 

I will use my lappy to power my nice buds or some cans and give comments based on that, but rarely from the speakers.... they are horrid. 


If it sounds good in the car, I'd say you nailed the mix pretty good myself. 

Greekmac7,

Gotta go with what Guitarhacker sez. If it's good in the car (and decent earbuds) you've probably got it. Assuming a decent system in your car of course.

Laptop speakers are generally cr@p. I never listen on (on actual) laptop speakers. Buds/phones on the laptop is what I do.

With no disrespect to those that listen on laptop speakers, I seriously doubt if they are audiophiles. And if they are they know to go to the real thing. You're chasing a "magic bullet", IMHO. 

greekmac7


OK - but I guess the next question is....

Because SO many people listen through laptop speakers, is it worth compromising the overall quality of the mix so that it better suits this format?

If yes...how?

Cheers.

No, sorry to be brutal, but sod 'em!


You should not have to compromise YOUR mix to accommodate a few unbelievers.


Or, if you want to please everyone - do 2 mixes - 1 good one and 1 for the masses.

Anyone that is in the habit of listening through their laptop speakers probably does not have very discerning ears to begin with. All of my friends that are into music understand the purpose of a good set of speakers/earphones for the best possible listening experience. Do not compromise your recording for people who will not even appreciate it.

My wife will sometimes listen to music on her laptop.  I usually leave the room.

@

I disagree on the laptop front. To the point that, if it sounds good everywhere else but doesn't sound good on the lappy, it's probably not good. 
And, when I say "good" I mean relative to something else that does sound "good".


edit:
to the OP. Might want to check and make sure that none of the fancy sound accentuators on your laptop aren't turned on.

someone said (i'm paraphrasing): A/B on the laptop with a pro mix. i will add to that:

1. find a pro mix in the same genre as your music, and a song similar to yours. i.e., avoid that limited edition hannah montana movie soundtrack if your song is heavy metal.

2. give your ears a break before listening.

3. level match - if your mix is quieter than the pro mix then turn the pro mix down until they are the same apparent volume.

if the pro mix sounds good, and yours does not, then there is a problem with your mix. could be a million different things, but likely to be in the following broad categories:

level matching between instruments - very unlikely that your laptop speakers can be driven as loud as your headphones/monitors. turn down your mix in headphones/monitors/car and see if certain tracks pop up.

frequency issues - the laptop acts like a bandpass filter. try putting one on your mix and see if you get similar results. if a lot of your instruments are bass-heavy (guitars, bass, kick, etc.) this could be the problem.

stereo imaging - depending on the laptop, it may have pretty poor imaging which is causing some of your wider instruments (think fast delays, doubled tracks, anything in stereo, etc.) to thin out vs. centered/mono tracks. the quick way to find out is to put your mix in M/S (mid-side) mode or mono and see what happens. there are plugins for M/S and you can just mono the final output bus (A/B both with the stereo mix).

hopefully, the underlying cause is that your laptop has rubbish speakers but if you've never mixed at low levels i'd put that at the top of the list.

 There are several listening programs out there that have simulated speakers and IMHO give you a good across the board view of your mix. Mono listening is also important. The biggest problem with the laptop speaker is the loss of bass and big differences in the mids.
 
  What I have done on my last several mixes is to add some bass EQ in the ranges that some of it can be heard on a lappy. Overdoing this will cause mud in other areas so you really have to be careful about where you place those freqs and that they don't interfere with the better mix.Close bumps in eq over narrow ranges while listening on a laptop. You really can have two mixes in one. Bass needs to actually show up in several places to be heard on all systems. Sometimes this may go against what some of the pros recommend. Strictly speaking the bass also has mid components in it that need bringing out. The very best overall mixes I have heard are written in such a way that if you loose a lot of the bass in the arrangement it still has the vibe. If you listen to it on a mono system or on a stereo system and you are closer to one speaker you still hear the important part of the mix ok. This is why mixing in mono is also important. 
 
  The best example I can give you was recently I was in the dentist office in the chair and they had music coming from speakers in the ceiling playing in mono at low volume. It was some old motown music and I thought to myself, you know I still get the jist of that tune and the assistant was even jigging to it. My most recent mix " Dirty Dog" http://soundcloud.com/starise/dirty-dog-2  still sounds way better on a flat monitor system. It looses some polish on a lappy but the tune still comes through.The best you can hope for on a lappy is passable.

Thanks Bibs. 

Having Tunecore do it is a little different than doing it yourself. That's what I thought IK was inferring.
I'm on CD baby and they put my stuff on itunes and amazon etc.

So, How's Tunecore workin out for you. That annual subscription seems a little much.

^ Ditto. Lots have said to test on multiple systems; however do it mix against your card's default. If you think something is light (Bass, Low Mids) in the mix, but export and then hear something heavy, that might be it.

I've done this alot, but no longer do. Listening through headphones (or earbuds) does work, but I would suggest getting desktop speakers. (Not huge ones, but one where you get the most popular bandwidth frequencies: Low, Mid, High)

Mixing against your card's default can help you see how to EQ (or balance the EQ) in the mix.