One mix for all

The listening environment (the room) as well as the speakers you use to monitor the mix determine to a large extent how accurately you hear the "truth" in the mix and thereby end up with a mix that either does, or does not translate well to other systems.  

So how exactly did you listen to the mix ?    

A lot of trial and error is the answer. If you're about to continue with your present equipment, whatever it is, you simply need to make dozens of different mixes to find out how the project has to sound to adapt well to other systems.

A simple starting point could be a frequency analyzer like Voxengo Span (free dl). Then you could compare the frequency curve of a commercial recording of an acoustic guitar to that of your own recording. You may immediately spot some frequencies that you're exaggerating.

You can get away with a good set of monitors in a reasonable sounding room if you listen to quality reference material as well. It is important you know how a great mix sounds in your room first. Then it is possible to match your mix to that. 

Mixing on headphones is OK only if the headphones are excellent quality. Yours had no mids and highs so you pushed the EQ in order to get that guitar sounding good in your phones. But other systems revealed what you had to do in order to get it sounding that way on your phones. How does really well produced acoustic guitar recordings sound in your phones?

Anything under $700 to $900 is sort of a waste of time on phones. You have to get serious in terms of what you spend there. A great set of open backed phones can approach excellent sounding monitors. A decent headphone amp is also required now once you get to this level. Not the crappy headphone output on most devices.

Also there is software and hardware that can put the phones into a room and transform the sound into monitor speakers. That will only bring you closer to an excellent monitoring experience. And with extra cost as well.

I agree with batsbrew on using phones for certain tasks and using speakers ultimately to mix on. I don't agree with the idea of doing dozens of mixes. You can get away with only doing one great mix if you can mix well, have reasonable speakers in a reasonable room and listen to other great mixes regularly especially in the genre you are working with. You need to switch back and forth quickly and often while you mix. Also the pro mix playback level has to be lowered to match your mix levels perfectly. 

just for clarity, I'm using the sound card in the USB interface to drive the headphones. I am using two pair of phones - open air Senns and Bose. Both sound fine. I haven't pushed up the EQ at all. I've only cut some of the bass (at the mic and at the EQ). The Peloso CEMC-6 mic is giving me plenty of highs and mids. The absolutely dramatic difference between phones, portable stereo and real stereo system just has me confused. 

I am taking the files over to local recording engineer and buy a bit of his time. I'll get his input and follow up in a few days.

Thanks again for the help.

My jeep has good speakers but I get a lot of high-end screech at certain frequencies that I don't "get" on my mains, or bookshelf speakers in the living room or on these computer speakers.  Some high voices and some synths sound like blackboard scratchings.  I try to fix that since I'm sure other speakers have the same issue, but not enough to ruin the mix on other systems.

It is a compromise - always.

@

Our car stereo is very good at accentuating the low end of ANY material, no matter who mixed it!

So I leave a -3dB shelf permanently engaged on the thing, this seems to help a lot

Using headphones to mix is not ideal. Many of the consumer models are designed like home stereo speakers... to give a "colored" version of the music..... perhaps more bottom end.... or some other coloration that an engineer figured would make their product stand out in the market place.  They are designed to enhance the music, to make it sound "better" and for an engineer/producer, that is not acceptable in the mix stages of the process. When mixing, you want the whole truth in all it's beauty and ugliness, because only then are you able to make the correct decisions. 

In a studio, you need as flat and unbiased a sound as possible so you can hear the mix as it really is. Only then can you mix so it will translate well across multiple platforms.  

Studio reference monitors are a good step in that direction. They are critical. Much has been written and said on this one topic....  I recommend Mike Senior's Mixing for the Small Studio.  The first few chapters are devoted to monitoring, it's that important. 

Having a good sounding, properly treated (acoustically speaking) room is just as important. However, for many of us who pursue this as a hobby, that is not always possible.... for example my room/studio would be considered a nightmare by any studio standard out there. So many rules broken here.

Still, I manage to turn out music that is very compatible across platforms and sonically pleasing. I have employed a software plug called ARC. Room correction software. The plug analyzes the room across a variety of frequencies and compensates for the room to some degree. It works well, and the resultant mixes are (hopefully) a more accurate rendition of what is really there. 

None of these by themselves are a magic fix. Learning the tools you have and use however, will allow you, with time, to produce mixes that translate well to most platforms. 


I do use and mix on occasion in some cheap $30 Yamaha headphones I bought from a bargain bin at Guitar Center.  I mix this way when my family is sleeping or working in the other room. However, after mixing on the cans, I will run it later on the studio monitors to check the mix sonically. 


And yes.... I make one mix.

And yes, I know, everyone is an expert on the mix and music, yes!