EQ piano for laptop speakers

[orest]

Hi there!
I use a lot of high end piano libraries and have noticed this:

When I listen to a piano piece through my laptop speakers or cheaper head phones the high end tends to sound a bit distorted. This I have noticed with other (but not all) piano pieces I've listened to this way.

A lot of people listen through crappy speakers and I think I have to produce a "better quality" for crappy speakers.

What are your thoughts on this? How do you EQ your piano, just carve away the high end?

[elser]

My personal feeling is the people who are listening on crappy speakers aren't that discerning anyways so they could probably care less if it's distorting in the top end or anywhere else. I just keep making everything sound as good as I can on my system, which is a pair of Mackie HR824s and a pair of cheapy 3" home stereo speakers. Hopefully the technology will catch up with us soon, and I think it will. I've been writing music for games on mobile devices so I deal with this constantly, and the range of quality between mobile devices is so broad I can't possibly make it sound good on everything. The people who listen primarily on crappy speakers are just listening to the song, not the production. Just my 1.5 cents.

[mojobone]

They're making Auratones, again. I have a pair of Yamaha DM-01s that I use for a reality check, but I wouldn't go so far as to mix on poor quality earbuds. When I mix on a laptop, (usually just for exercise) I use headphones designed for mixing, cuz even though my laptop's Altec speakers are way above average, you really can't hear where the bass and kick are sitting. I tend to try to smoothly roll off top end that's unlikely to be reproduced on most systems at the mastering stage.


http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2012 ... ne-review/

[Len911]

The problem with micro speakers and headphones:

Microspeakers and transducers for headphones are transducers reproducing not only speech signals but more and more full band audio signals. Some of the transducers are also used below the resonance frequency ranging from 100 Hz – 2 kHz. Most high frequency drive units use moving coil technology dispensing with a separate spider and surround. The moving coil assembly is prone to rocking modes, to irregular vibration modes of the wire and the rim zone and to hard limiting at maximal excursion causing Rub & Buzz and other impulsive distortion....the vibration and radiation behavior at higher frequencies where the radiator (diaphragm) does not vibrate as a rigid body and bending and longitudinal waves propagate in circumferential and radial direction.

https://www.klippel.de/test-objects/mic ... hones.html

The problem with mastering for a micro-speaker, is that you will lose all the benefits, high fidelity, of your high end libraries. The original meaning of mastering, was preparation for a certain type of media, such as vinyl.

Imo, it's fine to master for micro-speakers, if that's what everyone listens through, but it's not going to sound good on cd coming from a hi-fi system.

[guscave]

I was just watching an interview with a couple of top producers here in Miami in which they were discussing the importance of a reference track. One of them actually mixes on $100 headphones.

I've been mixing on headphones for about 2 months now, paying close attention to my reference track and I've been very surprised on how little I've had to re-tweak my mix. Maybe I've just gotten very accustomed to my headphones, but it has become easier for me to get a good mix on headphones than with my Yamaha HS 5.

[mikeymike2000]

I had this same "issue" when I started making mixes. Not just with piano but all instruments.

Here is what I discovered: by properly mixing / mastering in the monitors the mixes ended up sounding better in ALL speakers, even the micro-speakers.

So, with just piano only, here is exactly what I mean by proper mixing:

I typically use the Giant (have a few personalized "tunings" I have created) within the Giant itself I never have the original volume more than 80%. I also typically have the track volume just a little under zero for a piano solo (more so for a group). Then, after I play I typically will have some notes over the threshold of 120 on the MIDI velocity scale because that is my style of playing, so I reduce those "RED" velocities to be less abrasive. From there I may roll off a little of the high and a little of the low and/or "carve out" some of the mid within in the specific track. (All dependent upon what else is going on in the mix).

The main point here is to never use it 100% "out of the box". You must always tweak it.

After this, I may or may not add some additional verb on the master, OR maybe tweak the master EQ and/or add stereo imaging.

You have to mess around with things and there are a lot of variables. I don't ever do ALL of these things mentioned in the same mix, Different mixes require different finesse.

Ultimately I personally don't think anyone should ever master anything to small speakers. But I do know what you mean (going through it) and hope that these specifics will point you in the direction of making this problem vanish when you play back on these smaller speakers.