Jump to content

How to Mix with a Subwoofer?


Recommended Posts

Maybe someone else can give more specific level-setting guidelines, but a good start would be to familiarize yourself with the sound of the speakers by listening to a lot of music of the style you're going to mix. Based on that, set the woofer to a level that seems balanced and appropriate, try doing some mixing, and check the results on different speakers/headphones (especially on your old speakers, since you already know how they sound).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The problem isn't necessarily going to be the music itself. The speakers are going to be your main barrier. All that a subwoofer does is take frequencies below a given value (usually around 100-120Hz and lower) and amplifies them. If you mess with the arrangement of the song, you may have problems with people on other speaker sets lacking bass. You should get a DSP in your media player that can handle frequency cut-offs and gains to make it sound like it should. I personally use Winamp with Jammix enhancer because it allows full control over hi-pass and low-pass filters, etc. And there are several profiles that you can make. I have one set for my home theatre, one for my car (so I don't blow my speakers lol), and one for my headphones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also find it best to do my mixing with a set of quality headphones. I have a pair of Bose tri-port ($120) headphones and they're great for mixing. You could also get away with a pair of Skullcandy TiTANs ($50) if you like earbuds. I also use these somtimes. Although their mids and highs aren't quite as clear, theyr'e wonderful for bass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also find it best to do my mixing with a set of quality headphones. I have a pair of Bose tri-port ($120) headphones and they're great for mixing. You could also get away with a pair of Skullcandy TiTANs ($50) if you like earbuds. I also use these somtimes. Although their mids and highs aren't quite as clear, theyr'e wonderful for bass.

Why would I pay more money to cancel out a $60 purchase? Headphones aren't great for my computer anyway because for some reason, and I went through Brad about this, it never gets above mid-range volume.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently bought a new set of speakers, Logitech X230 with subwoofer, and I'm wondering how this is going to affect my mixing. Where should I keep the sub woofer's level so that it doesn't ruin the balance of my mix, or how do I do this?

The biggest problem I run into with sub wookfers are mid-low to low range saturation. You can Q it out with plugs (Riggs screams no because now your letting ANOTHER EQ mess with your mix). You can knock it out at the actual subwoofer and play with the gains on it.

-cut & dry-

Amatuer suggestion: Tune your ears

Get something you mixed (because you know it, and you know how it should sound).

Listen on your new monitors.

Observe difference.

Adjust all settings for the difference.

Pro suggestion: Tune the room

Set up a mic in the middle of your room and do an ELC sweep with white noise or sine tones and see how your room "sounds." Then you'll know which freqs are being over pushed from the sub verses your satelites (monitors). Now check the curves on your owners manual and adjust at the sub to a more balanced ELC system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Easiest thing to do.

Learn how you're system sounds, and then mix.

Burn said mix you seem to be happy with and play it in EVERY SINGLE THING IMAGINABLE!

And then, when you are finished with that, write down what you think needs to be done and then have your fun.

Easier than above:

Listen to your favorite pro-tunes and adjust the way you like it as far as bass presence.

Done.

EDIT: It'd cost you about $200 bucks. The ELC can be free, the mic will run you at least 100 for something decent to do the thing and the ROOM... have no idea. THe bass trap is really like 20 bucks or so. NO idea.

Basically, my ideas work better, I have a sub (and crappy monitors, but I digress) and my mixes (with the exception of the one I recently subbed) have all been nice and full sounding. Its really a matter of knowing how much bass is too much. Try mixing without your sub, or with it halfway and hten turn it up

Lots of ways to ensure you are in the sex(ily mixed) zone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i agree with the room treatment suggestion. bass traps are expensive, but there's things you can do to improve your acoustics without spending much money.

1) get your speakers on stands (NOT sitting on your desk) and put them at ear level. the desk surface will tend to trap and muddy bass. well any surface will do that, so....

2) move your speakers away from any walls. bass traps are meant to help with this, by reducing the trapping effect of walls. but if you can't afford them, just moving your speakers away from walls will help a lot. most people place their desks and thus place their speakers pretty much against the wall. i noticed a huge difference in sound just by moving my desk away from the wall only 6 inches

3) you could get something like mopads to help prevent vibrations. haven't tried them myself, but plan to.. but i've heard they do help

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It just seems like a really expensive and time consuming series of ways to cut down a little bass. In order to do all that, I have to buy a BASS TRAP, something that does ELC sweeping, a MIC...

and a ROOM.

How much is all that going to cost me so I can cut down a little bass?

It shouldn't cost you anything to treat your room; just time, measurements, and math.

Bass Trap - You can make one with wood from homedepot. I just has to have baffles to help diffuse sound. (And I don't think you need one unless your room is already very boomy, but I won't say for sure)

ELC sweeps can be done on a keyboard or synth. White Noise or Sine waves sweep through the 20-20 (20Hz - 20KHz, range of human hearing) out of your sound system (speakers) while a stand alone mic (rent one) records all the sounds your monitors (speakers) make in the room. Run the mic input through some spectral analyser and see how bad you bass humps are for the room. Adjust bass. Repeat process, see how bad bass humps are now. Adjust bass. Etc. until happy.

But remember, your not buying a $2,000+ SKS sound system, so treat only if you want to geek out and go through the process of acoustical engineering. It can be an interesting learning process. Took me 3months of measuring and treating before I was happy with the studio room I mix in, but I learned SO much about acoustics.

It is just a suggestion, it will take some time and effort on your part but you come away an over-all stronger engineer.

Besides Logictech really tries to compensate for any un-uniform frequency response with their FDD2 technology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ELC sweeps can be done on a keyboard or synth. White Noise or Sine waves sweep through the 20-20 (20Hz - 20KHz, range of human hearing) out of your sound system (speakers) while a stand alone mic (rent one) records all the sounds your monitors (speakers) make in the room. Run the mic input through some spectral analyser and see how bad you bass humps are for the room. Adjust bass. Repeat process, see how bad bass humps are now. Adjust bass. Etc. until happy.
Just a couple of comments. Not all "white noises" are alike! Use a spectrum analyzer on the output to make sure you're getting what you think you should be getting. mda test tone gives you a very nice constant white noise from something like 10Hz-30kHz and it's very easy to use. Just put it on a track FX bin and it starts pumping out noise.

I just did this to test out a new mic, but if you're trying to get the room response, be very careful about how your mic affects the sound, especially if you're using a dynamic mic which tends to drop lower and higher frequencies moreso than condensers. To correctly compensate, you'll need to subtract out the frequency response of the mic (usually provided by the manufacturer) from the signal that you record.

As rig1015 said, it's labor intensive but it can be fun and highly educational!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...