konalavadome

Vocal EQ Dilemma

  • 38 Replies
  • 5642 Views

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Cawproductions

  • *
  • Platinum Album
  • ****
  • Posts: 687
  • Producer, Engineer & Songwriter
    • AtticVibes Music Library
« Reply #30 on: November 06, 2020, 04:38:40 PM »
Hi all
Been reading through this thread, heres my tuppany hape worth (Whatever that is).
So I have cubase pro with control room.
I recently started to look into this whole room and headphone mixing thing a lot more.

Added correction plugs into control room.
The way I have it at the moment is a room correction EQ curve on my monitor chain (room is treated best I can), measurements taken with a behringer measurement mike and Room eq wizard. Its OK but not magical.

my headphone chain, I am running DT770 then a corrective curve to flatten these and onto Waves NX.

The results sounded strange at first, but my ears got used to the sound, Now when I switch off eq and NX, it sounds aweful. Added to this, with the correction on and NX, my track translates much better to my car or ear buds.
Over time I have messed with a lot of different stuff and your ear can become familiar very quick.

Good luck peeps.
Andy




MrBouzouki

  • *
  • Busker
  • *
  • Posts: 40
  • "Love and Life is all about connections"
« Reply #31 on: November 10, 2020, 07:42:42 PM »
Great thread ...

An alternative thought to correction is whatever you use, be in headphones, speakers etc. is to get used to it by listening to stuff you already know. To basically 'get some in' so you know how stuff you like sounds in your monitoring situation. Bob Katz, Mike Senior and others are great believers in reference mixes, ideally in the genre you are working in, to do A/B comparisons. Provided you match volume levels it's another tool in the toolbox.

If you are listening on headphones you get used to their colouration and with speakers the speakers AND the room. I guess you are making cogitative allowances and is probably what all early studio pioneers had to do.

In some ways there is a lot to be said for not treating your studio just as a 'studio', but to use your music platform to watch and listen to stuff in general. Your brain is switched off from 'music making' but it's all going in so when it's time to make music things are more familiar, the 'Good' and the 'Bad'.







cowparsleyman

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 2700
  • What would you rather be or a wasp?
« Reply #32 on: November 11, 2020, 01:04:27 PM »
@MrBouzouki - As I mix most of the time under cans, it's a constant sonic environment, not affected by anything, always wrong, always right, and as Ian Shepherd recommends don't touch that monitor volume knob, then that's constant too.

After a few iterations of mixing and listening you'll know what to do to get it right.

So much easier than acoustically treating a studio, even then, in most studio there are usually near field Auratones, Mid Field NS10's and some hefty Tannoy Golds/Reds or similar, so which one do you treat the room for?

Hope this helps.

MrBouzouki

  • *
  • Busker
  • *
  • Posts: 40
  • "Love and Life is all about connections"
« Reply #33 on: November 16, 2020, 12:41:00 PM »
@cowparsleyman ... aye it has to be mostly cans in my little shoebox of a room.  ;D

You need the detail that headphones can provide but you have to be wary of totally relying on them for all your decision-making I feel. 
A bit of both and multiple ways to try to get a handle on translation seems sensible. Also the bottom end for some people, particularly for bass-heavy genres is a devil when you haven't got some bigger cones moving the air.

It's interesting how things have changed over the last few decades. So many people are working in the box out of tiny spaces and delivering to the masses who are listening on earbuds, iPads, Amazon speakers and using compressed streaming services.

It makes you wonder why we obsess so much ehhhhh  ;D ;D ;D


jacksimmons

  • *
  • Solo Gig
  • ***
  • Posts: 479
    • Jack Simmons Music Facebook Page
« Reply #34 on: November 17, 2020, 07:20:15 PM »
This thread has become really fascinating (and daunting). I love how it took off.

@cowparsleyman @Boydie and anyone else who is interested in taking part of this experiment. Today I made three different versions of a new tune called Riot Act, one was mixed entirely on my KRK KNS-8400 Headphones, one mixed entirely on my KRK Rokit5s in my little recording room (with all the pitfalls that come with it), and one was mixed while flicking between the two to get a sound that is passable on both.

All of this is to my ears and I'm not the most experienced but it will be interesting to see which one you guys think sounds 'the best'.

I've kept them anonymous so you guys can't tell which one is which.







These are rough mixes but I am hoping they bring out potential biases and pitfalls in the different mixing environments. I was going to do a 4th mix with my room correction software on but I haven't had time tonight. Will get round to that soon.

I am really interested to see how this pans out. Thank you all in advance for taking part in this experiment :D



« Last Edit: November 18, 2020, 10:25:23 AM by jacksimmons »
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jack-simmons-1/albums
Bandcamp: https://jacksimmonsmusic.bandcamp.com/

"When I play a dope melody, anything less than the best is a felony." - Robert Matthew Van Winkle

pompeyjazz

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 5668
  • pompeyjazz
« Reply #35 on: November 17, 2020, 08:58:59 PM »
Hi @Jack Simmons To me V2 the vocals had most clarity but V3 the vocals were more in the mix. It's like one of these secret taster sessions innit ?

jacksimmons

  • *
  • Solo Gig
  • ***
  • Posts: 479
    • Jack Simmons Music Facebook Page
« Reply #36 on: November 17, 2020, 11:37:10 PM »
Thanks for your input John! Most helpful.

I am thinking of offering a prize to whoever can guess which mix is which. A home telephone and a crystal tea set will be winging their way to the winner...
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jack-simmons-1/albums
Bandcamp: https://jacksimmonsmusic.bandcamp.com/

"When I play a dope melody, anything less than the best is a felony." - Robert Matthew Van Winkle

Boydie

  • *
  • Administrator
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3975
« Reply #37 on: November 22, 2020, 06:03:11 PM »
Hiya

@jacksimmons
I think V3 is the best mix and has the best balance

To be fair the mixes sound very similar to my ears on a first listen

It is impossible to tell what they were mixed on - but where is the fun in that...

If I had to guess (and give a reason)....

V1 was mixed on the Speakers - my thinking is that this version has the "weakest" bass, which is notoriously difficult to mix on smaller speakers

V2 was the headphones & speakers - my thinking is the stereo field sounds a bit more balanced and detailed

V3 was mixed on headphones - my thinking is that hearing your vocal so direct made you turn it down a bit

This is all a complete guess

I think you have done a great job with the mixes - in all cases I think you need a "stronger" bass. A combination of a stronger actual sound and then mixing it a bit higher in the mix would give a stronger foundation to the track
To check out my music please visit:

http://soundcloud.com/boydiemusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoydieMusic

cowparsleyman

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 2700
  • What would you rather be or a wasp?
« Reply #38 on: November 23, 2020, 01:06:28 PM »
@Jack Simmons - Hi jack that was fun indeed, sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

All very nice, but quite different to my ears.

I preferred v3, the kick had the best punch, and nice instrument separation

V1 was a bit bland, needed mastering more than the others.

V2 was better

I couldn't begin to guess what you mixed them on, would be a pain were it the 'Flicking' session.

Great song Jack, great to hear your work again, you are one talented Artist.

R