Mixdown question for ghetto ninjas

[RMD]

Ok, so I have a pair of m-audio Bx5a studio monitors. They are the cleanest flattest sound I can come up with on my ghetto budget. They are small and don't have much for low end, which is an issue because I am producing dubstep. I also have a bloated pair of Cerwin Vega home stereo speakers that boom and I have them set up behind my studio monitors so I can switch between the monitors and the Cerwins Vegas (and also my headphones and car stereo lol). I also have access to some nice JBL double 15" club speakers I can test my tracks out on.

So my problem is producing on these small m-audio monitors is great, but I can't really hear the sub unless I turn it up too high, like -3bd on a good solid wav. Of course, as soon as I switch to my Cerwins, or the JBLs, the bass floods the whole song, house, neighborhood, with sub mud. If I adjust my levels on my big speakers, the sub disappears when played again on my monitors. How do you work with the balance of not owning large studio monitors/subwoofer, and working with sub bass? I can play a track by someone like bassnectar on my small monitors and still feel the sub bass vibrating, but my own subs are either lost on small speakers or over-bloated on larger speakers and PAs so I feel like I'm missing more than just bass speakers here, but also some sub knowledge. Are most producers screwed until they invest in bigger bass sound for their bedroom studios if they want to really work with Sub freqs?

[nowaysj]

I say yes. Countless people will come in here and tell you no, you don't need a sub, a sub will mess up your monitoring, etc etc. Then they'll say learn your speakers. Listen to a songs that you know well on your speakers, and then compare how you track sounds on them, and use a frequency analyzer to see how loud and at what frequency your sub is at, etc etc etc.

But I am from that totally crazy school of thought that says to mix sounds together you need to be able to hear the sounds. I know it's crazy, but that's what I think. You need to be able to hear sounds to mix them together (well, at least).

Now in regards to the bassnectar, yeah, you're probably right, you do need to develop your sub/bass knowledge. Don't listen to too much bassnectar, but just totally guessing without hearing it, I'd say compression on the sub, and maybe something to introduce harmonics from an octave or two above the fundamental of the sub. Also check the notes he uses. I like to go down to F, that's pretty low, around 42hz, maybe bn is writting like a B or C above that, hitting somewhere around 60hz? At 60hz, a lot of speakers will be able to do some justice there. Not total justice, but will be able to put out SOME 60hz. Some speakers will just give you nothing down around E or F.

Best of luck, music, production, women, yourself, they're a journey, enjoy the trip.

[symmetricalsounds]

remember your comparing mastered tunes to yours that are still works-in-progress.

[RMD]

Nowaysj - Thanks for the reply man. Oddly enough, the track I'm struggling with at the moment is in a low Fm.

remember your comparing mastered tunes to yours that are still works-in-progress.

Ah yes. So true. I bet mastering does a fuckton for rounding everything out on multiple systems. hmm...hopefully I can make a track I feel is worth $50 and get it mastered.

[press]

sometimes depending on your room a sub could introduce different but just as serious problems in your mix. with that said i rocked those monitors for a long time and once i got the rokkit sub to go with them it helped me alot. but id imagin with soem more practice and all those different ways to test your tunes you should be able to get used to how they are responding and get solid mixdown out of them. so id say it is not essential to have a sub but if your room will alow it can definitly help.

[narcissus]

sub will help you produce better bass music, period.. yeah if you got just monitors you'll get an IDEA of how it'll feel, which is tight for mixing, but if you wanna compose a bassline that's guaranteed to knock socks off at the club, you need to be able to tell what the hell yer doin

edit: and if i wasn't clear, it's always good to hear your mix without sub before finalizing it.. if you're using sub while mixing at all

[Sharmaji]

headphones.

[dav.id]

headphones.

I do the same here, my krks cant handle handle those low end freqs but my headphone can, so i usually switch between the two of them....thats what is working for me atm

[RMD]

Sweet thanks for the tips people. Yeah I have a pair of pioneer headys that are pretty good. I guess I just need to reference my sound on everything I can until I can rock a woofer. Fuck me its always all about the cash flow....