A really great tune too BTW, everything sounds great. Only a few questions, approximately  how much time do you think you may have saved, hours ,days? Are you using any midi instruments? Still Sonar 6 PE and Win XP 32bit?

ohgrant-
 
well, how much time i took to do this mix, i'd say hours saved.
in that, when i sat down and started the re-mix (all automation blanked, faders down, start over) it took a while to decide the levels, panning, etc, but as far as chasing the sound?  i didn't.
 
that's the cool thing.
i mixed to exactly what i heard from the speakers, trusting they were close to flat, whereas before i would have to put it through no less than 3 sets of speakers, two sets of headphones, bounce it to stereo, analyze what's happening, go back and re-EQ, rebalance, do it again, ad naseum, to get it right.
 
this time, it was already right as i was doing it the first time.
 
this is a very subjective thing, to say what is 'better'....... i know...
 
but, for me, it was impossible to trust the low end, the high end, without doing things that sounded wrong through the monitors, knowing that they would turn out right in the end.
 
in other words, i learned how to compensate for my crappy acoustic situation in my mixing room, by recognizing 'wrong' and 'bad' sound, and knowing how it translated from experience.
 
in this case, i just mixed it exactly the way i thought it should sound, and when i was done, the harmonic curve ended up looking like one of my previously finished products.
 
 
i dont' do midi, except when i am using my Superior Drummer program. everything is miced and done live.
 
this example is all live drums.
 
 
yes, all 6PE and win xp 32 bit

 Thanks a bunch Bats as subjective as it all is, I completely trust your judgment on the subject of pro audio 

i posted a link to this experimental mix session in the songs forum too,
so there may be discussions there that wont find their way here,
you might want to check it out there too

Really good song! The bass sounds like early Chris Squire or something in that vein to me. I hope ARC will save me some time mixing as well. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive though. Come on JRR Shop!!

I listened to it on soundcloud and am now downloading file for a better representation per your advisement.
 
Let me start by saying this is a really good composition with nice arrangement and instrument selection. I genuinely like your musicality, and how did you get the drum kit sounding so sweet? Did you use only overheads or only close micing of each drum or a combination of both? If you used overhead, what technique did you use "XY", "Space Pair", etc.? I am currently testing all types of recording techniques for drums right now and have not found an exceptable technique yet. I can go into that with you and the forum in another thread.
 
About the ARC. It sounds good and as stated earlier on the forum, a before and after may not reveal anything.
 
If you took the mix without ARC and did not perform all of the correction by the exhausting measures you explain earlier and left it as is, which would be less than perfect and would not translate well in different situations and then compared that to the alternative, in this case using ARC, then you would have a good before and after.
 
In other words this is close to impossible, because you have learned how to get around your bad mixing space and are good at what you do...so, ARC simply makes that workflow easier and efficient, as you no longer have to use exhaustive, time consuming measures to achieve what ARC does on the spot.
 
Did I explain my perception of what I think is going on here?
 
Regarding my room:
 
Acoustically treated, this room should offer some good results. Not so...
 
When I auditioned my monitors and selected them I did it in a large acoustically treated audition room. They sounded killer using a reference CD I brought with me.
 
I decided to sit in my mixing space and place that CD in the player and here the room or hopefully not hear the room, I guess.
 
But, to my surprise I am experiencing some bad bass blooming. I am going to select a couple other CDs and test them as well and then compare what I hear, using my audiophile system in my music listening room, which, by the way is not treated with anything other than sofas', chairs, books, Indian rugs, etc. you know living space, where the music sounds absolutely sublime in my amazing system. 
 
I guess what I am saying is that I am probably going to try to correct the room with some more treatment, and further tuning of the speakers, which is nothing more than me adjusting levels, placement and hi/low settings on the speakers themselves. I use media player to play the CD and hope this is not coloring the playback, as I cannot find any controls that would allow eq'ing or anything of the likes.
 
Having said that, I don't think I will get it perfect, and I don't have $1000 speakers...so I think I am leaning towards the purchase of ARC 2.
 
I am new to this so I don't have any bad habits yet, with regards to mixing or mastering. Hell, I am still trying to perfect tracking...LOL. So, I feel this is the time to benefit most from this technology, as it is like setting up a new studio...oh, that's right, that is what I am doing anyway.
 
I would appreciate your thoughts on my thought process, thanks.
 
Great recording, great song.

"I would have to put it through no less than 3 sets of speakers"
 
What speakers? Active? If Passive What amp/speaker combo?
 
I would think that using 3 sets of speakers and two sets of headphones would drive me crazy with indecision, occupy a whole lot of time, and take up a lot of space.

it works for me, obviously....
what i normally do, is that i use 3 passive sets, my monitors, some boom box speakers, and my home stereo- Infinity research standards, thru a yamaha natural sound amp....checking the differences in translation between them all, and adjusting accordingly.
 
then 2 different sets of headphones, my tracking/mix phones (AKG 240's) and some extended bass Sony Earbuds.
 
between all of those,i suss out what the issues are, that i cannot normally hear from my monitor setup without the ARC treatment.
 
 
the issues i have not been able to overcome with some conservative treatment, the ARC balances out, as close to flat as it can get.
 
now, i can hear a pretty flat response off of my speakers, and it seems it is much easier to get from point A to Point B now.
 
 

I am asking because I am curious to learn what speakers you are referencing when you describe your experience of observing improvements.
 
I understand that the boom box speakers may be hard to describe by model name. I am personally familiar with AKG 240s. I have some idea what the earbuds sound like.
 
I am still curious to learn which Infinity models you listen too. Infinity made a lot of different models that used the name "Standard" over the years. Some are large and have lots of drivers, some are book shelf speakers.
 
I'm also curious to learn what the model of your studio monitors are.
 
I don't doubt your anecdote that you have experienced improvement, I'm just curious about how it all relates.
 
best regards,
mike
 
 

mike,
the infinity pair are mid 80's vintage, cheaper infinity's, Model ES-83
ES83/200 - 3-Way 150 Watt Speaker
Frequency Response: 50Hz - 22kHz (+/-2.5dB)
Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
Power Handling, RMS: 15 - 150 watts
Woofer: 8" (20cm)
Passive Radiator: 10" (25cm)
 

 
they sound great for checking mixes on.
i blew out the woofers playing Guano Apes "Proud like a God" really really loud..
and had them refoamed, and then they sounded even better!
 
LOL
 
  
 
the jam box speakers, are small side speakers off of a early 80's Panasonic boom box...
i saved the speakers thru the years, from this unit here:

 
earbuds, Sony Mdrex37b:


 
the KRK's, are the older passive trapezoidally-shaped models, i thought they sounded better than the modern powered ones.
i use a hafler power amp to drive them.

 
one day, i'll update my monitors, i like the yamahas with the 8" driver, or those new JBL's...
 
but i'll never be able to afford what i want, so i make do with what i have.
 
 
the ARC software, just helps me dial in my room, more than anything else.