Daveny5, i can tell you that if you get the mix right on 'accurate'monitors,' it will sound good on any system, the same as any mastered and finished 'released' track. My point being that you need to get new monitors, 'accurate' monitors. I had the same problem a few years ago and learn't a very simple and valuable lesson, "Use some accurate" monitors, simple as that. Apart from the obvious difficulties and processes in achieving the final good result, I don't think  there is any magic-trick involved here, so i repeat, "If it sounds good on accurate monitors, then it will sound good anywhere.

Maybe the use of systems like the ARC Sytem would help ?

  I would also suggest spending time listening to commercial mixes in your studio and also comparing your recordings to the commercial mixes.
   I believe that your ears tend to adjust to what they're hearing. I've found it easy to get carried away adding high end sparkle and fat bass until I compare it to my favorite commercial release and found that my mix is way over hyped.  

Try using reference tracks in your project - tracks that have a similar feel to yours. That way you can quickly A/B between them and adjust your mix accordingly.

vizio


   .... i took the crappy mix cd.... put it in a cd player, ran it into the mixing board... set the eq's as close sounding to the problem mix as possible... 

all that proves is that the mix you hear is going to the CD. 

You appear to have a room acoustics issue. Simply put.... the sound you hear in the studio is NOT accurate. Due to room acoustics, speaker bias, etc.... 

options: test lots of CD's to find the right mix....or.... treat the room acoustically...... or ...... get some reference monitors to mix with (you have not mentioned that I saw what you are using to mix)......or....... use ARC to dial in some room correction electronically....... 


BTW: what speakers or monitoring method are you using to mix?   I had the same issues.....the mix never sounded right on other systems, until I started doing it right. Starting with good monitor speakers, then adding ARC.  Now, the mix translates well to most other systems. 

vizio


  pulled my hair out long ago. my head looks more like cj's than any of yours.lil cj you are always so zen like in your answers...been following your post for years.

So how much do i owe you for damages for following me all these years?
 
The first thing you should do is tune your room the best as possible. This is the most important part.  Get the room as flat as possible, so you hear the true sound of your mix.
 
Installing car speakers in your walls wont help, as you'll be the only one listening to songs with car speakers inside your walls, that are carpeted. Carpet has no role in acoustical room treatment. Take it off and do it the right way.  If you want to hear how it sounds in a car, listen to in the car. The cars environment, plays a huge role in the sound. The car speakers are only part of it.
 
CJ

godparticle


........ i can tell you that if you get the mix right on 'accurate'monitors,'.
 My point being that you need to get new monitors, 'accurate' monitors. ........ "Use some accurate" monitors, ........ "If it sounds good on accurate monitors, then it will sound good anywhere......
 
 
What would recommend as "accurate monitors"  especially  in his budget.  The BX8 are about $350-$400.  What are you using?
 

CJaysMusic

The first thing you should do is tune your room the best as possible. This is the most important part.  Get the room as flat as possible, so you hear the true sound of your mix. 

There's a great forum over at gearslutz for this : Studio building / acoustics

Unlike some forums over there, this one is pretty laid back and very helpful.  There are other places, like John Sayers, but they're not as forgiving to noobs.
 
There's a fantastic free software tool for measuring your room's acoustics over at Home Theater Shack called Room EQ Wizard all you need is a microphone and some free time to get a really good idea of where your problems are.
 

Theater Shack called Room EQ Wizard all you need is a microphone

For measuring your room correctly, regardless if your using a free program or not, you just cant use any microphone.
Different mics will pick up different frequencies more than other frequencies. Example: the SM57 will yield you a stronger mid range.
 
Microphones made for recording are not used for measuring rooms as i just explained. You need a measurment mic made specially for measuring frequniy responce. Earthworks makes a great one for right under $700. Its the M30
 
CJ

mrneil2, at that price i recommend the Behringer "Truth B1031A" and don't confuse those with the ones Behringer had on the market for the last 10 years, these are the new ones and stunningly good for the money, they sound even more accurate than my Mackie HR824's.

Go check it out on Behringers website $299; and as for KRK's, they are way over-hyped.

The Behringers have kevlar 8-inch woofers and high-resolution silk-tweeters and they sound awesomely neutral with plenty of power to boot.