When you record...

[wings]

Thanks Bill! - saved in favorites. ~wings~

[fullbirdmusic]

I use these Yamahas: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... wFrequency response: 55Hz-20kHzI didn't see any specs on the Mackies, though. Either one, they're both great as far as I've heard!

[billg]

The Mackies are listed at 60hz-20hz & have a bit more power going to the low end (and a slightly larger woofer by 1/4") but probably not enough to make a difference over the Yamahas. I think we're pretty lucky now that some good companies are making some very decent reasnoably priced monitors.I bought the Mackies mainly because I figured when I got some extra coin I could buy the larger Mackies and use both sets to A/B mixes. But I'm kind of diggn' these little guys so I probably won't spring for the bigger ones.

[jude3]

Jun 5, 2009, 3:29am, wings wrote:Hi All! First post to the Taxi board! When you record, what output do you tailor your songs to? A headset? Surround Sound (7.1, 5.1), or to just "stereo" (2.1)? My concern is that I have a song that sounds just fantastic on "stereo", but really stinks in the headset (which the screeners listen to...).For example, I have a very good Cello sample that sounds very "gritty" in stereo, but is overbearing in the headset. What do I do?Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance!~wings~You EQ it with the best EQ you have untill it sounds good, full and well balanced in every speaker and headphone you have.try decompressing it or either compressing it slightly before the EQ and see if that helps.forget the talk about getting new speakers if you dont have a properly accustified room. it wont help

[slideboardouts]

Jun 29, 2009, 1:48pm, jude3 wrote:[quote author=wings board=nick thread=14020 post=142359 time=1244201356]forget the talk about getting new speakers if you dont have a properly accustified room. it wont helpI would have to respectfully disagree here. The OP is using Altec Lansings, which are typical consumer based speakers. I was also using Altec Lansings when I first started recording and the mix wasn't cutting it at all. Not by a long shot. I was absolutely amazed at how poorly the mix translated to other systems. It was bad. After getting a pair of KRKs and some decent headphones (with no acoustic treatment or any newly learned engineering tricks) I was able to mix to broadcast quality and get cues signed and placed.I don't think that the OP needs to get crazy and blow tons of money on monitors, but a decent pair of entry level near field monitors should be bought to replace the Altec Lansings. I can tell you from experience that it will help.-Steve

[jude3]

Jun 29, 2009, 2:08pm, slideboardouts wrote:Jun 29, 2009, 1:48pm, jude3 wrote:[quote author=wings board=nick thread=14020 post=142359 time=1244201356]forget the talk about getting new speakers if you dont have a properly accustified room. it wont helpI would have to respectfully disagree here. The OP is using Altec Lansings, which are typical consumer based speakers. I was also using Altec Lansings when I first started recording and the mix wasn't cutting it at all. Not by a long shot. I was absolutely amazed at how poorly the mix translated to other systems. It was bad. After getting a pair of KRKs and some decent headphones (with no acoustic treatment or any newly learned engineering tricks) I was able to mix to broadcast quality and get cues signed and placed.I don't think that the OP needs to get crazy and blow tons of money on monitors, but a decent pair of entry level near field monitors should be bought to replace the Altec Lansings. I can tell you from experience that it will help.-SteveIt is a matter of proccess.If you take enough time you can get your recording to translate no matter what room you mix in. If you were to have a control room like I have, you would never in a million years go back to mixing in a regular room. Even with self tuning speakers.I have used them and they for sure dont do for anyone what a pro control room will do. Not even close.

[slideboardouts]

Jun 29, 2009, 2:24pm, jude3 wrote:Jun 29, 2009, 2:08pm, slideboardouts wrote:[quote author=jude3 board=nick thread=14020 post=147807 time=1246312083]I would have to respectfully disagree here. The OP is using Altec Lansings, which are typical consumer based speakers. I was also using Altec Lansings when I first started recording and the mix wasn't cutting it at all. Not by a long shot. I was absolutely amazed at how poorly the mix translated to other systems. It was bad. After getting a pair of KRKs and some decent headphones (with no acoustic treatment or any newly learned engineering tricks) I was able to mix to broadcast quality and get cues signed and placed.I don't think that the OP needs to get crazy and blow tons of money on monitors, but a decent pair of entry level near field monitors should be bought to replace the Altec Lansings. I can tell you from experience that it will help.-SteveIt is a matter of proccess.If you take enough time you can get your recording to translate no matter what room you mix in. If you were to have a control room like I have, you would never in a million years go back to mixing in a regular room. Even with self tuning speakers.I have used them and they for sure dont do for anyone what a pro control room will do. Not even close.I'm pretty sure that everyone would agree that an acoustically treated professional control room is better than a regular room, even with self tuning monitors or any other tuning gizmo you could find.The point wasn't about the room it was about the monitors, or in the case of the OP, the lack of monitors. Yeah you can learn to mix on just about anything...but man what a pain in the butt to try and dial in a good mix on Altec Lansings. Talk about trial and error. I know because I went through that process with the exact same brand of speakers that the OP has.The thing is, no matter what, those speakers seriously color the sound because they are consumer level computer speakers, not monitors designed for mixing. You have to mix things so out of whack and balance that it is absurd. When I bought and plugged in my monitors and headphones the problem was solved instantly. Best 300 bucks I've ever spent (well maybe not the BEST 300 bucks I've ever spent, but pretty close ) Of course the ideal situation is to have a room that is professionally treated AND have excellent reference monitors. But that just isn't a viable option for most people. Even if the OP had the greatest control room ever, those Altec Lansings would still be a pain in the ass to mix on. I've mixed on Altec Lansings and can tell you that their problems run FAR deeper than the acoustic condition of the room. On the flip side, getting a pair of genelecs or dynaudios without treating the room would be totally ridiculous IMO. They make some of the best monitors out there, but what's the point in having $2,000 worth of monitors when you have an awful sounding room?The OP just needs a step up to get him in the game mix-wise. And that step up IMO (as well as others here) is to get a decent pair of entry level near field monitors. 300-400 bucks and he will be able to make broadcast quality mixes relatively quickly. The OP could spend thousands of dollars acoustically treating his room if he wanted and would still have trouble with those Altec Lansings. The best bang for the buck solution here is replacing the consumer level computer speakers with some near field monitors.-Steve

[jude3]

I have been mixing for forty years. I've recorded and mixed in the biggest studios in the world. Ocean Way, Lion share, The Enterprise, Studio Ultimo.I've worked on gold and platinum records and I have been mixing in the digital realm before they even had Cd's!If OC buys a pair of $300 monitors it will sound good but make no difference in the quality of translation of his mixes. It will simply be one more reference, NOT a better one.OC, go ahead and buy them and see. You might as well buy two or three more pairs of $30 computer monitors. Actually that would be a better choice in my opinion.Pros spend more time on those little monitors than the big ones anyway. Those little ones are less effected by the room cause they are not as loud. get a few pair of headphones as well.You are better off with 6 different $20 and $30 references than you are with one $300 reference.

[wings]

Well, fwiw, I do use different speakers and headphones, and car speakers to get a feel. I tend to drive a lot, so I cut a CD to hear how it sounds on the road too. I posed the question to see what others were doing out there. Quite interesting. All good info here. Thanks! ~wings~

[jude3]

Jun 29, 2009, 4:38pm, wings wrote:Well, fwiw, I do use different speakers and headphones, and car speakers to get a feel. I tend to drive a lot, so I cut a CD to hear how it sounds on the road too. I posed the question to see what others were doing out there. Quite interesting. All good info here. Thanks! ~wings~Yes, that is the way you do it.Until you get a pro room with pro equipment you will have to do it that way.I think if you have 4 to 6 different references then that should do it.If they sound good in all of them then you are pretty much safe. Even if those references are $20 dollar ones.I own a pair of Genelec, Adams and Event 20/20's. That is over $10,000 worth of monitors! NONE of those references helped me in a bad room. I might as well of been using laptop speakers.They sound great! But that has no bering on if you can make a mix that translates. I would learn more mixing skills and what constitutes a good mix. and good mixing procedure. These have far more Bering on you making good mixes that translate.