Hi,
I've noticed for a while now, when I listen to my mixes through my phones (ATH-M50's) I get slightly more
bass in my mixes compared to listening through my monitors (Rokit 8's) which sounds a little toppy, in other words
my mixes do sound a little different, listening on both, is this down to room treatment, my studio is a little room at the back
of house, about 14 feet long and about  7 feet wide, standard height ceiling, should I be looking at room treatment, or
cheaper still a focusrite VRM box, or an ARC 2 room correction system ? Any thoughts ?
 
Thanks
John 
 

With a room that size you will really struggle to install any effective room treatment.

What you must realise is that both systems - phones & monitors are lying to you, albeit in different ways

ARC will help to an extent, but it won't solve all your problems.

how do your mixes translate when listening on different systems - home stereo, car etc?

Bristol_Jonesey


With a room that size you will really struggle to install any effective room treatment.

What you must realise is that both systems - phones & monitors are lying to you, albeit in different ways

ARC will help to an extent, but it won't solve all your problems.

how do your mixes translate when listening on different systems - home stereo, car etc?

          Hi Jonesey,
          They need to be adjusted in the car and on my mp3 player, but they're not bad on my mp3 player
           maybe because I've mixed them mostly through my phones, therefore they would sound better
           I think !!

What i done John was listen to commercial tracks over and over to get the feel of my monitors in my room, and try and mix close to that, i went and bought acoustic tiles but havent put them up yet in case i mess the sound of the room up, i do edm (hardcore) and really have to watch the low end in my kick drums,hence why im always using some kind of mix as a reference, my old dear has a good hi fi system so am alwys checking on that too, and there is these monitors at my college in a class room, that sound horrific, and if anything i do sounds cool through them i know its not a bad mix ive done

jwh

Bristol_Jonesey

how do your mixes translate when listening on different systems - home stereo, car etc?

          Hi Jonesey,
          They need to be adjusted in the car and on my mp3 player, but they're not bad on my mp3 player
           maybe because I've mixed them mostly through my phones, therefore they would sound better
           I think !!

You're used to the head phones and mixed for head phones; albeit the mix sounds better there.
 
However, for proper mixing headphones are the much poorer choice compared to monitors. They lie to you much more (i.e. purposely color the sound to it make sound nicer, adjust the bass) ... plus there's a huge difference between headphones available. Pick a more linear / expensive one and the mix may just sound like crap although the headphones were triple price ... getting panning or even levels right can be difficult on headphones. It's all ok as long as you listen to it via the same one you mixed with or the 2nd one you used for QC, but take the mix your friends house and play it on a stereo and you might be in for a not-so-nice surprise ...
 
I'd mix with speakers, listen to reference tracks and QC on other (cheaper) systems like car, stereo, even kitchen radio ...
 
 
 
 
 
 

are they 3 feet away from the wall?
remember funny things happen when you put cans on your head.
but you should be able to get it fairly close.

the first thing I think of though when someone says what you are is speaker placement.
it starts there first.

Charlie : "the first thing I think of though when someone says what you are is speaker placement.
it starts there first."

I agree and I'd include listening position as well. You don't want to be sitting in a null.

Play a few constant sine waves on your monitors and move around the room.
Some places the sound will almost disappear.

Popular wisdom is to be seated facing the long way down a room, about a third of the distance from the end wall you're facing.

And speakers and listening positions forming an equilateral triangle.

Every monitoring system is a compromise - obviously some more than others.  But you never get "pure" environment.  As said above you need to learn the weaknesses of each system you have access to - mains, nearfield, car, computer, etc.  Once you get a feel for those you can guestimate a median - your ears will do a pretty good job of this for you.

Of course, the better the system your mains are, the flatter it is, the easier it is to find the median since your baseline is better.

Paul P


Charlie : "the first thing I think of though when someone says what you are is speaker placement.
it starts there first."

I agree and I'd include listening position as well. You don't want to be sitting in a null.

Play a few constant sine waves on your monitors and move around the room.
Some places the sound will almost disappear.

Popular wisdom is to be seated facing the long way down a room, about a third of the distance from the end wall you're facing.

And speakers and listening positions forming an equilateral triangle.

Hmm.. In a room 14 x 7? That's not a good starting point


I'd be interested to know what the height is.

Is the room a perfect rectangle? Any curtains/windows?

Bristol_Jonesey : "Hmm.. In a room 14 x 7? That's not a good starting point "

Mind eloborating ?