I’ve spoken at length about the importance of reference mixes and how they should be used before you start a mix and the whole way through the process. I even put together a free guide on how to get a guaranteed professional sounding mix every time. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, what are you waiting for?!
But what about when you feel your mix is done? How do you know it’s going to sound great outside your studio?
Now, I’m not saying you should blast your monitors out the window and go stand in the street. Well… you can do that if you want, just don’t move in anywhere close to me!
There are many methods you can use when it comes to testing your mixes. Today, I’m going to give you seven to choose from.
1) The ‘car’
To all of you who drive and love it – I’m envious. I don’t get to drive as much anymore now that I live in central London but public transport here is incredible, so it’s a fair trade off.
So if you’re a driver, bounce off a copy of your mix when it’s almost ready and play it through your car stereo. A lot of people will be listening to their music this way, so take that into account and make some notes (after you’ve stopped the car safely) on what you hear.
P.S. To any of you who live in London and complain about the public transport system… go live in Dublin for a year and get the bus every day!
2) The ‘iPhone’
Before anyone starts talking about Android phones… I sold my soul to Apple a long time ago so the only phone I know is an iPhone. Play your mix out through the speakers like an annoying kid on a bus and test it out.
Again, make notes on what you hear. Don’t do this on a crowded bus.
3) The ‘laptop’
People are consuming media on phones, tablets and laptops for the most part these days. Make sure to test how your mix sounds directly out of your laptop’s speaker.
I would definitely use either this or the iPhone test (or both). Don’t forget to take notes.
4) The ‘headphone’
This one is nice and straightforward. Once your mix feels ready, mute your monitors and listen to your mix through your favourite headphones plugged into your interface.
If you mix on headphones, this test will be irrelevant and the earbud test will be better suited. You still taking notes on what you hear?
5) The ‘earbud’
Everyone in London runs. I thought I was missing out on something fun for a while, so I started running too. But guess what? I HATE RUNNING! However, what do most runners have attached to their ears?
If you guessed fluorescent earmuffs – you’re wrong… sort of.
Testing your mixes on earbuds is really important because you get a much better idea of what the end product will sound like to the listener with much lower quality monitoring.
Got your notes?
6) The ‘standing outside the room’
When your mix is good to go, stand up, leave the room and celebrate. No, wait… stand up, press play and leave the room.
Have a listen with the door open and make any notes on what you hear. Maybe your vocal sounds muffled and buried.
Make those notes.
P.S. If the whole mix sounds muffled, open the door silly!
7) The ‘through a TV’
I use a TV as my computer monitor and it’s connected to my computer via HDMI. What’s great about that is you can easily change your Pro Tools Playback Engine to HDMI and listen to your mix.
This test often makes me feel quite alarmed initially, but it’s great for testing out your midrange. Once your ears adjust from monitors to the TV, you can really hear what’s going on in the mids.
Did you make notes on this test too?
Once you’ve gone through one, some, or all of these methods, combine your notes and make the final tweaks to your mix. It’s definitely ready to go now. Oh and if you’re wondering what you should be comparing your mix against to test it… it’s your reference set.
Do you already use any of these methods? Am I missing any? Do you still test on a cheap speaker? Let me know in the comments below!
professional sounding mix every time...
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