I find in our family car that the harshness of vocals and snare stick out considerably when playing at medium-loud volumes. However I notice that on other commercial recording aswell.

Try two different car stereos!

Cian

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

I have a 20 year old pair of Fostex  T-20 phones that were touted as "studio reference phones" that I love to listen to my mixes in.  Everything sounds good in headphones it seems!  LOL  Nice "boom and sizzle" in them.  Unfortunately, that never translates to real systems very well for me, and I HAVE to use my studio monitors and treated room to "get it right"...and it DID take quite a while to learn what my monitors were "saying".

I can usually get it right on 2-3 mixes these days, and I use my other computer speakers (small ones with a sub) as my real world check.  Seems to work fairly well.

Even when using monitors, I find I have to mix a little differently for mp3 format used on internet sites than I do for CD format.

However, I find phones useful for some tasks such as checking "ear candy" motions, secondary  checks for placement of certain instruments in the stereo field, and overall mix balance evaluation... but the final decision is always made by using monitors.  The ears just hear differently in phones, apparently because of that dense mass that exists between them.   LOL

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.

Well, if it is wrong, it just became part of the recording in the entire total process. :D

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

heheh, try ear buds space alf