When mixing on studio monitors whether it’s an affordable set of M-Audio’s or more expensive Genelec’s, it’s important to consider the formats that the audience will most likely be listening on. For example, laptops, phones, mp3 players, car stereos and home HI-FIs. I’m going to say that you’ll have at least two of the above and if they weren’t before, they are now another set of tools that have been added to your arsenal at no extra cost.
Checking your work on different formats isn’t something you’ll always need to rely on as you become more confident in your ability however, it is an invaluable tool to learn about how your mixes translate to real world systems. It is particularly useful for people who are mixing in acoustically un-treated or poorly treated spaces as it will expose areas of your mix that you may not have recognised before for example, overly generous low end frequency boosts and excessive amounts of reverb. As you complete more mixes and check them in this way, you will become more aware of any issues displaying themselves in your mixes and be able to address them at source.
One of my biggest problems that i identified was that my distorted rhythm guitars were too bright in quite a lot of my early mixes and although they sounded good on my studio monitors, they weren’t translating well enough on other formats. I’ve never had the problem again because i now roll off the high frequencies on rhythm guitars in an area that makes them sound good across all formats.
Although this is a very simple technique, it is a very useful tool for learning and developing your skills as it will provide you with evidence on how your mixes translate across different formats. Of course we all hope our mixes will be played on similar setups to our own or expensive HI-FI separate systems, but it is just as important that your mix is clear and sounds good on a pair of £20 headphones because then you truly know you have achieved a good, balanced mix.
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