suppressed mids and highs

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
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yan6
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suppressed mids and highs

Post by yan6 »

When I am working in the studio or on my headphones, everything is sounding great, crisp and clear. But when I export it and take it elsewhere (car, home hifi or work hifi) the mids and highs sound seriously suppressed; how can I address this.

EDIT: I think the issues are in my mixing but just in case here are my export options. I am also using a presonus 1818vsl when exporting

Image

here is a shot of my spectrum at the time of the soundcloud sample

Image

https://soundcloud.com/radiotech/build-junkie *Its private so visit the link

thanks

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Wiu
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Wiu »

Lower the volume of your kick and bass. Looking at the spectrum analyzer, are you using some sort of multiband compression or something as it looks like there's a volume drop below 1k. If not just up the levels of mid - high frequency channels. Try loading a track you've bought of a similar style into Ableton and then throw a spectrum analyzer on if only just to see what its doing and then compare it to yours. Should help you to learn your monitors and room - I'm assuming that this is half the issue here as I struggle with the same thing.
Thank you for the laughs, debate, new music found, production tips etc etc over the years. I wish Subsekt and everyone all the best for the future. Wiu.

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willemb
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by willemb »

I do the same thing, I tend to only be able to fix it weeks after the original project, if at all. I always have the probel that if I lower the kick/bass the whole mix breaks down.

It is probably a cheat that some might tell me off for, but I used niveau filter (free plugin: http://www.elysia.com/software/niveau-filter/ ) on a mix i was struggling with for ages yesterday, and the results are great. It adjusts the mix in a natural sounding way without screwing up the balance and detailed eq that i put in in the first place.

I guess maybe it would be even better if i apply this filter on each track separately as needed to fit the entire mix?

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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by willemb »

ooh and i dont actually use headphones for that reason, because my mixes sound silly if i do... but i still get the same issue using monitors (although i dont actually have good monitors, just shitty ones)

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AxeD
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by AxeD »

What headphones do you use? Most cans wil drive people to mix their tracks to
the exact opposite result, because they lack mids. DT770's tend to have this effect for
example.

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Lost to the Void
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Lost to the Void »

soundcloud link is dead
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yan6
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by yan6 »

Thanks all. I'm using Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones and Roland DS-8 monitors. Generally I dont mix on my headphone, but do use them initially when working out the track. I seem to be having issues with soundcloud today. I have tried to load the track twice and it keeps showing that it is being processed, even though it is only 30sec.

soulstar606
Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by soulstar606 »

i export at 16bit always and 441 traingular dither...it prolly has something to do with dithering........

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Mattias
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Mattias »

Wont have nothing to do with the dither at 24 bit (which you can tick to ON when you just want to check your tracks at home).

Waiting for link.

I think is just a mix error, super common to overdo bass.
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Lost to the Void
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Lost to the Void »

Yep it's not dither.
Still waiting for link.
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Planar
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Planar »

The link in the first post works for me?!

I'm on an ipad so I won't comment on the audio, but the spectrum doesn't look very balanced at all. Seems the bass is too high, a bump in the 700 to 900hz area and another bump in the very highs as well.

There are a couple of plugins that aid referencing against other tracks, it may be worth the investment for you even if it's only something you use temporarily.

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Mattias
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Mattias »

yan6 wrote:
https://soundcloud.com/radiotech/build-junkie *Its private so visit the link
If its that one it's plenty of top end...There are other things to fix
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Lost to the Void
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Lost to the Void »

aha link is working now

Quite the opposite of suppressed, I would say the top end is a little overcooked in places, too scratchy (that will be the 6-8k peak) It`s fine to have a smile curve for your overall (RMS) spectrum, our ears prefer it, but that high end bump should sit a little lower in the spectrum to stop it being so harsh. Low end is fine it just needs cleaning up so it is more defined.
I would pull down those shakers a little, and also roll off those very high frequencies, which would sound painful and ear ringing on a soundsystem.
That mid range clonk sound is also too loud in the mix in places, it sounds disconnected from the mix at it`s loudest (probably the spike at 650 and 850 hz).

there`s a big hump between 100-300hz, very common problem in small studios to have trouble here. This is the traditional "mud" area. I`d pull that back a bit and clean it up.

All the elements here should sit well, you just need to re-level and re-EQ
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yan6
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by yan6 »

I couldn't get the original link to work. I had reworked the track on some of the initial advice and updated the link to point to it. It sounds like I overcompensated too much :)
Lost to the Void wrote:there`s a big hump between 100-300hz, very common problem in small studios to have trouble here.
In thinking about this, I was starting to wonder if my mids and highs were suppressed by mixing my bass too loud, compensating for either poor reproduction by my speakers or because of room issues (I have pretty tight space).

To help me learn from this is there a general level or ratio that the bass would be above the mids and highs. Or should I be shooting for somthing like a pink noise slope with minor adjustments to taste.

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Lost to the Void
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Lost to the Void »

Well, don't mix by looking at a spectrum, let your ears do the work.
A pink noise slope is a good general guide, but it's all about context, and the size of the sounds in relation to each other.

A bass heavy tune is the same as a high frequency lite tune.
Just take the time to learn your listening environment reliably.
If you are comparing on too many systems you just end up not knowing which to trust.

You could possibly have room problems, but you can overcome these problems by understanding them and knowing what they mean.

So yeah, the pink noise slope is a good general guide, but don't be a slave to it.
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yan6
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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by yan6 »

Lost to the void, thanks and yes I understand your points, I just need something to base line off of to help me starting learning what sounds good and where my room or speakers have issues.

I will try and re work this and see where I end up

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Re: suppressed mids and highs

Post by Lost to the Void »

Listen to the music you think is great on your monitoring system. As much as possible. Even just 20 mins of focused listening a day.
No screen, no browsing, just put your fave music on, set the volume to your ideal/optimum level for when you are producing (mark this spot on your monitors, or better, buy a cheap db meter, measure the db level and take note of it), then listen, eyes closed, for 20 mins. Longer if you can.

Do that every day, or as much as possible, for 2 weeks straight, or better, a month, and then regularly afterwards.
Then when you mix your own tunes, set your levels to your consistent db level you marked down, and you will find your mixes improve loads.

Train your ears.
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