the production thread

loopdokter

Amps I have spent this afternoon making bongo loops, I’m basically the new Steve Lawler, just a bit taller.

Do you embrace Q Anon and other conspiracy theories whilst banging on about your deep and dark and dirty dark deep drums?

Amps

loopdokter Lawlers a Q nut??? 😆 Perfect! I had no idea.

Mad_Cyril

Posted in Mix Club, but guess any of you folks doing production might have a view too…

Quick Q around headphones.

When making a racket I use HD 25’s, when listening use QC35’s.

I don’t seem to be able to pick up bass so well with the HD25s and was wondering if this is something I could solve? Aware things like Beats headphones amplify bass, but don’t want that, just a stronger bass signal would make life easier.

The sound in the HD25’s is good, just doesn’t have the right balance for me I think. I’m sure there’s tech differences but the QC35’s are over ear as well.

If I go reasearch online get quickly lost with people talking about soundstages and frequencies. Hoping someone can dumb down for me?

303abuser

Mad_Cyril hd25s are really bass heavy, so much that they’re almost useless for production. i used them in a club environment for years and never had an issue. that said, my first question would be why do you feel like you need more bass?

i use the dt990s for production. they’re open back, super comfortable, and have a much flatter response. i haven’t used the 770/880 closed backs, but i understand they have a better bass response than the 990s and, i would assume, much less than the hd25s.

loopdokter

Mad_Cyril If I go reasearch online get quickly lost with people talking about soundstages and frequencies. Hoping someone can dumb down for me?

The best thing to do is to look into room correction software. There’s several products on the market, but basically the gist is that you install some software and it automagically attenuates and emphasizes frequencies based upon the frequency spectrum of the profile the headphones you’re using.

IK Multimedia make one called ARC. Sonarworks is probably the most well known and popular one. Waves makes another one and there’s several other companies as well like ToneBoosters. Here’s a link to get you a little more familiar: https://www.musictech.net/guides/buyers-guide/the-top-11-products-for-room-calibration/

That said, in short while headphones are a decent secondary monitoring solution, I would never recommend them as your primary solution to mix and monitor with. I understand that necessity unfortunately negates that sometimes, but if you have the freedom in your environment to monitor with an actual pair of nearfield monitors, that will ALWAYS be the better solution. Use the headphones for when the missus and kids are asleep and the monitors when they’re not.

Unbroken1

…been using my Pioneer HDJ2K DJ’ing cans for general studio use while I wait for a replacement cable for my AIAIAI’s this week, ear fatigue is noticeable already.

I think the Beyerdynamic range seem to be the most widely used for long-listening/production sessions. Can’t vouch for them for long-term use, but they are certainly very comfy and fully enclose the ear. Check out the DT770/DT990, or the DT880’s which are a bit more.

Mad_Cyril

Unbroken1
Thanks Damo.

Do I need a rotary mixer instead?!

Mad_Cyril

303abuser that said, my first question would be why do you feel like you need more bass?

Because I cant really hear the bass when I’m mixing?

303abuser

Mad_Cyril here’s my confusion, and i promise i’m not trying to be an ass, why can’t you hear the bass?

the way i see it, there are a few possibilities. your headphones aren’t working properly, there’s a physical issue with your ears/perception, or you have to spend more time training your ears. i’m betting on training your ears as i can’t imagine how those cans aren’t putting out enough bass, given they’re massively skewed that way. if they’re loud enough for a club, you shouldn’t have a problem with them at home.

if it comes down to it and you just don’t like them, the best thing to do is go down to a shop and spend some time trying out various brands to see which one you like best. assuming there are shops left after covid, of course.

Mad_Cyril

loopdokter
Cheers, I do have some small monitors, very small!

Will look into what you’ve recommended.

Appreciate this input

Unbroken1

Mad_Cyril …I’m afraid so, yes.

loopdokter

Mad_Cyril Cheers, I do have some small monitors, very small!

It might be best to perhaps look into just getting bigger/better ones. I really do suggest you avoid as much as possible mixing in heaphones. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but it takes a lot of skill and the right headphones. HD-25s aren’t that headphone and aren’t up to the task. Headphones are set up typically in such a way that it makes listening comfortable for long periods and boost and reduce certain frequencies by default.

There are professional audio grade headphones out there that aim to cirmvent this issue, but with the money you’d spend on a pair of cans of that quality you could have already bought a decent set of mid-priced pro grade nearfield monitors.

apyssjw

loopdokter Echo this to a large extent. A set of monitors you can trust I would say are essential as, and this is going to sound obvious, if you can’t hear what you are actually doing you can’t hear it. When I moved from the original set of monitors to the genelecs I have now for one thing extended the bass range I could actually hear. You don’t need to go big though, especially if you are in a small room.

The same thing happened when I upgraded my soundcard to the RME one I have now. Instantly I had more range.

That said I do most of my production these days on my headphones as we live in a terraced house and it’s really unsociable to womp up the sounds. I did spend a stupid amount on headphones though to compensate for this… Plan to build a garden studio but umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether we’d be better served converting the loft (or paying down the mortgage…!) - and whether it would instantly be robbed!

loopdokter

Also, another thing to suggest… When checking your mixdowns, do so on every conceivable type of speaker you have access to. Use a professionally mastered track that you like - pop music is good for this because it will have been mastered properly. Throw your track on your phone and play it over the crap speaker on that. Listen on earbuds. Check it in the car. Basically check the mix against as many different types of listening scenarios as you possibly can. If it sounds good in all of them like your reference track, then you know you’ve got the mixdown right.

Amps

loopdokter I think he’s just DJing with them.

loopdokter

Amps I think he’s just DJing with them.

Ahh, misunderstood. Still, room correction software can help him there too.

Mad_Cyril

Ah yes. Perhaps I should have made clearer 👍

Mad_Cyril

303abuser
Been trying to focus solely on hearing the bass today.

You’ll be surprised to know its definitely there.

You’re probably right about the training 👍

303abuser

Mad_Cyril active listening is a real skill. try to focus on picking out specific, individual sounds … could be the kick, hats, a tom, whatever and try to shift your focus from one to another once you have it isolated. i will warn you that once you get good at it, passive listening requires a bit of effort where it didn’t before, but the active skill is really useful. and way cheaper than buying new cans.

303abuser

free bass amp plugin, code is AMPEG-FOR-FREE.

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/ampeg_svtvr_classic.html

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