EQing/mastering Problemo

[Sidestepuk]

Basically couldn't find anything in the search, so here I am

Ive completed the mixdown of my my track and so on.. It sounds completely fine on big speakers, acceptable on small speakers, and sound like a piece of inbred when i play it through ipod headphones.. I know ipod headphones aren't the best of quality, but when i listen to say coki, or another big dog their songs sound just fine? Am i missing something?

[Depone]

Basically couldn't find anything in the search, so here I am

Ive completed the mixdown of my my track and so on.. It sounds completely fine on big speakers, acceptable on small speakers, and sound like a piece of inbred when i play it through ipod headphones.. I know ipod headphones aren't the best of quality, but when i listen to say coki, or another big dog their songs sound just fine? Am i missing something?

Yeah man, its not just EQ. A good producer has to check his mixes will translate onto other speakers also. Hence we have precise studio monitors, as well as shitty stereo systems in some studios to make sure its kinda 'meeting in the middle'.
EQ can help this, but in most cases its down to the actual arrangement and production of a track, for example, the bass on mala's tracks may sound real sub low, but in reality they aren't that low. Psycho-acoustics my friend, ie how we perceive sound.
Mastering can, and indeed does try to fix this problem as its the engineers job to make sure the music is going to translate well onto other formats... Not only speakers (checking mono for radio etc..) but for things like cutting to vinyl there are precautions the engineer will have to make.

Im sure Macc (from SC mastering) will pop up here soon, he usually comes with a spark of brilliance when we most need him

[SunkLo]

While I do think it's important to have your mix translate well to many systems, who gives a fuck about ipod buds?
It's sad because it's what a lot of people use for listening on the go and I personally love listening to tunes while I'm on the bus or walking around, but I do it with full size headphones. I think it's kind of ridiculous that artists are having to compromise their sound even more because of these cheap shitbuds.

This is kind of one of those things like the loudness war where the medium is dictating the art instead of the other way around. Maybe the next generation ipod will ship with nice in-ears... Till then if people want decent quality sound they can get better phones/in-ears or fuck off far as I'm concerned

It's like film makers not having any far away shots in a movie because the people with tiny black and white tvs won't be able to make out the picture. Who gives a tat? Let those motherfuckers squint long enough and maybe they'll buy a new tv!


But yeah the reason your mix sounds different on different setups is because you probably didn't mix it on flat speakers in a room with decent acoustics. Any inadequacies in your monitoring situation will just exaggerate your attempts to balance the mix when played back on another system.

[macc]

Knowing the iPod earphones as much as I do (which is not a lot - they sound like shit) I'd imagine your track appears fairly sharp on them. Total speculation of course! Let us know more about what sounds wrong with it, beyond sounding inbred

I don't think anyone needs to compromise their sound for the sake of earbuds or whatever - a well-balanced master should sound as good as it is allowed (by the system) on whatever system it is playing back on.

As Depone says, arrangement plays a key part, but really - in my view anyway - that can be seen as a contributing/dependent factor (or both, whatever) in relation to eq.

The equalisation - by which I mean the [wanky term]spectral make-up[/wanky] of the track, not an eq setting applied to it - is King, with a capital K. Get the tone right and everything else falls into place, AND it will sound good everywhere. At least, as good as the iPod earbuds allow it to

[SunkLo]

How would one make something sound inbred? Spectral morphing with a track from the same producer? Cross convolution maybe...

As for ibuds I was referring more to low bass. I ain't jackin up my subs half an octave just so it can be heard better on 5 millimeter drivers. Sure I'll add some saturation so you can hear the harmonics though.
The sharpness thing sucks too. High end detail can sound really fatiguing on buds especially. I guess you have to consider how shit the buds are when you test on them and don't let it sway your decisions too much. I do agree for mix balance, a good mix will sound it's best on everything naturally. I'll check any mixes on buds but go into it assuming that the highs are going to be overly sharp and the lows non-existent.
I just wouldn't be taking buds into consideration when making production decisions, especially regarding lows. I'd rather my mixes destroy on a system and get destroyed on buds, than have a decent mix on both mediums.

[Sharmaji]

chances are it's more issues w/ arrangement and dynamics than eq.

[Assassin]

Can I just point something out?

If someone listens through iPod earphones then they don't give a shit about sound quality anyway and they are just interested in the tune.