Testing your tracks?

rustybridges · Post by **rustybridges** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:29 pm

Iv been having a problem with how my tracks sound, when im making a sample im usualy listening to it on two 200W speakers, which sounds great, but i dont really have any bigger speakers to test my tracks on. Im abit weary to start giving out some of my tracks because im not to sure what there gonna sound like on a big system. Iv done ALOT of mastering in hopes ppl wont have to plug there ears and stop dancing when my lead hits haha. I was just wondering what other people do to test and master their tracks?[/i]

drifterman_ · Post by **drifterman_** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:46 pm

You have monitors?

daft cunt · Post by **daft cunt** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:30 pm

Sounds good enough to send to djs imo. Don't have a subwoofer tho but I'm using the RP6s and it sounds good on them.

pdomino · Post by **pdomino** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:12 pm

Compare it to other music but on another system, in a mates car / mums stereo / mates rig

rustybridges · Post by **rustybridges** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:16 pm

sounds good, thanks for the feedback

spire · Post by **spire** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 6:36 pm

yeah, im so used to my cars system that thats what i base most of my tracks on. burn a copy, drive around the block a few times, fix what needs fixing, burn another copy.....repeat repeat. ive had really good results, but its not really a quick and effeicent way.

nospin · Post by **nospin** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:25 pm

rustybridges wrote: Iv done ALOT of mastering in hopes ppl wont have to plug there ears and stop dancing when my lead hits haha. [/i]

i wouldnt do "ALOT" of anything in the mastering area... maybe a little limiting if you aren't gonna have it professionally mastered, just keep checking your mix on your monitors, car stereo, etc, and ask somebody you know that spins to put it on really early during the night

your mix shouldn't be that off that people would plug their ears, if it is, even professional mastering wont help

alphacat · Post by **alphacat** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:56 pm

And know that most consumer-level audio systems (car stereos, home systems, etc.) have a built in EQ curve that usually bumps up lows and highs, scooping a significant part of the mids out.

The reason monitors are helpful is that they don't have this EQ curve: in theory, the sound coming out of them is as "flat" or true, EQ-wise, as you can get.

black lotus · Post by **black lotus** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:29 pm

car test is obligatory

whineo · Post by **whineo** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:40 am

black lotus wrote:car test is obligatory

+1

as is MP3 player earphones

hubsmoke · Post by **hubsmoke** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:52 pm

Spire wrote:yeah, im so used to my cars system that thats what i base most of my tracks on. burn a copy, drive around the block a few times, fix what needs fixing, burn another copy.....repeat repeat. ive had really good results, but its not really a quick and effeicent way.

wow...i do the SAME exact thing hahahaha, takes forever to get it just right, i've got 2 krk rp8's and i stole my dad's sub he uses for watching movies, but i can't ever get the sub-bass to sound right if i mix with that, i got to listen on my 2x12" in my car...days spent like this

saxon · Post by **saxon** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:30 pm

I want to get some rp6's but would it be sueful to get a Sub as well, i don't have one handy

Will I still be able to get a good Sub sound, just by following my ears and using monitors?
Apologies for beginner Q,

alphacat · Post by **alphacat** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:03 pm

Sub monitors can be tricky: they can reproduce sub freqs that many commercial audio systems simply can't (especially anything with a mini-plug like iPods, etc.)...

BUT-

If you're mixing sub-heavy tracks like most of us here are, and your existing monitors aren't playing back the subs that are present in the mix, you're likely to keep boosting those subs until you can hear them -- and the problem here being that, like I said earlier, monitors are designed to have a "flat" freq response (nothing artificially boosted/cut) while a commercial audio device usually has a V-shaped EQ boost on the low & hight ends respectively -- so that once you've turned the bass up to a point where you can hear everything in your monitors, it's then going to get jacked way the fuck higher on the commercial audio device and turn the whole mix into mud.

So-

If you're not able to buy a sub monitor for a while, that's OK. Keep using your current monitors but also keep an eye on something like a spectral EQ or some other graphic EQ frequency analysis to make sure the whole mix is relatively even, without pronounced bumps/peaks/drop-outs across the whole freq range. In fact, take the highest quality recordings of some of your favorite tunes and watch them in a spectral EQ to get a feel for what it should look like.

djshiva · Post by **djshiva** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:29 pm

one thing i did before i had monitors, was test my tunes against other tunes i liked in a similar vein. i would test on studio headphones, crappy headphones, home hi fi stereos, shitty mono cd players, car stereos, you name it.

but i always used a comparison source, like mastered tunes in the same vein, to really hear what i was trying to accomplish.

also, if you have a friend who has cd decks or something at their house, with some decent speakers, dropping your new tunes alongside stuff you are used to playing/hearing has always been (for me, or i would imagine, most djs) the best way to really gauge if things sound even remotely good or not.

it really helped me develop an ear for what i was trying to do.

spire · Post by **spire** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:42 pm

hubsmoke wrote:
Spire wrote:yeah, im so used to my cars system that thats what i base most of my tracks on. burn a copy, drive around the block a few times, fix what needs fixing, burn another copy.....repeat repeat. ive had really good results, but its not really a quick and effeicent way.
wow...i do the SAME exact thing hahahaha, takes forever to get it just right, i've got 2 krk rp8's and i stole my dad's sub he uses for watching movies, but i can't ever get the sub-bass to sound right if i mix with that, i got to listen on my 2x12" in my car...days spent like this

yeah ive got the Alesis mk2's, no sub, and also have 2x12" in my trunk, haha. polk gnx, got em on sale for $20 each, steal. then an alpine amp i got for 50% off. im such a cheapskate, i never buy anything unless its on sale.

spire · Post by **spire** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:43 pm

sapphic_beats wrote:also, if you have a friend who has cd decks or something at their house, with some decent speakers, dropping your new tunes alongside stuff you are used to playing/hearing has always been (for me, or i would imagine, most djs) the best way to really gauge if things sound even remotely good or not.

thats a good one too.

xal54x · Post by **xal54x** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:08 pm

black lotus wrote:car test is obligatory

Totally! lol I get a lot strange looks running out the house in my Pjs, sitting in my car for 5 mins, then running back in...

teqh · Post by **teqh** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:01 am

sapphic_beats wrote:one thing i did before i had monitors, was test my tunes against other tunes i liked in a similar vein. i would test on studio headphones, crappy headphones, home hi fi stereos, shitty mono cd players, car stereos, you name it.

but i always used a comparison source, like mastered tunes in the same vein, to really hear what i was trying to accomplish.

also, if you have a friend who has cd decks or something at their house, with some decent speakers, dropping your new tunes alongside stuff you are used to playing/hearing has always been (for me, or i would imagine, most djs) the best way to really gauge if things sound even remotely good or not.

it really helped me develop an ear for what i was trying to do.

Snap, I only have half decent headphones and I keep testing my tracks on anything I can get hold of
My sisters Hifi has never seen so much action

serox · Post by **serox** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:29 am

I burn tracks to CD and mix them at home with other records. I also listen on headphones and monitors.

Testing your tracks?

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