Avantone MixCube - which is preferable, Mono (1 cube) or Stereo (a pair)?

[Martin Walker]

Hi w oxo cube!

No, I'm not sure anyone has said that - if anything we are talking about the opposite, with the bass-heavy tracks in mixes having bass harmonics added to them so that the bass is still audible on those tiny speakers/earbuds where the fundamentals may otherwise get lost.

We want our bass end to sound balanced on every system, regardless of its low-end capabilities.

Martin

[Jorge]

Well keep in mind you don’t mix for the phone, just so that it sounds good there as well.

We want our bass end to sound balanced on every system, regardless of its low-end capabilities.

I don't understand how a mix with prominent bass lines as well as vocal and instrumental melodic content throughout the audible frequency range can sound good on a live system with an overabundance of subwoofers, a studio system that is flat down to 30 Hz, a hi fi home stereo, a high quality set of mixing headphones, a laptop with external computer speakers, a laptop with its own speakers and a smartphone via speaker or ear buds. If the mix is such that the bass sounds balanced with the mids and highs on the small systems wouldn't the bass necessarily sound overhyped on the headphones or the larger flat or bass-heavy systems? What tricks do you guys use so you can have your cake and eat it too?

[The Elf]

Well keep in mind you don’t mix for the phone, just so that it sounds good there as well.

We want our bass end to sound balanced on every system, regardless of its low-end capabilities.

I don't understand how a mix with prominent bass lines as well as vocal and instrumental melodic content throughout the audible frequency range can sound good on a live system with an overabundance of subwoofers, a studio system that is flat down to 30 Hz, a hi fi home stereo, a high quality set of mixing headphones, a laptop with external computer speakers, a laptop with its own speakers and a smartphone via speaker or ear buds. If the mix is such that the bass sounds balanced with the mids and highs on the small systems wouldn't the bass necessarily sound overhyped on the headphones or the larger flat or bass-heavy systems? What tricks do you guys use so you can have your cake and eat it too?

I mix to achieve a 'commercial average'. If my mix sounds good on one system, then it will sound good on any. That doesn't mean it will sound *the same* on any playback system, for obvious reasons!

Get a decent, tonally-balanced mix and it will give of its best on any system you play it back on. No tricks, just carefully managed mixing...

[Martin Walker]

I agree with The Elf - you can create mixes that sound acceptable through ear buds without making the same mix sound dreadful through a club system.

It's all a matter of being aware of how audible the bass end will be through each system, and making sure it sounds good through them all.

The only really tricky sounds are those pure sinewave subs that sometimes get featured in EDM and Dubstep, which would be inaudible through earbuds, but once again, a little upper harmonic contribution wouldn't destroy the club experience, but would make those sub contributions at least audible through the ear buds.

Martin

[Jorge]

Thanks, I hadn't thought about the bass harmonics that imply the bass content below the roll-off on ear buds or computer speakers being relatively unobtrusive on a club system. Whether we call that a trick or not, I do suspect your careful finesse and mixing skills are not shared by a good number of commercial mix engineers. I mainly am doing live sound now but sometimes provide between-sets dj music. On some commercially mixed songs in which I can hear the bass lines reasonably well on a laptop speaker, I sometimes find the need to make 5 or 10 dB cuts in the low and midbass when playing them through live PA speakers with even modest subwoofers. I really object to not being able to hear the vocals, horns and piano clearly because the bass is overpowering them. Makes me wonder whether the current fad of overhyped bass in club venues isn't in part a result of people getting used to hearing recordings that were mixed to sound good on bass-light computer speakers or ear buds when they are then played on club systems with much more bass capability.

[Martin Walker]

On some commercially mixed songs in which I can hear the bass lines reasonably well on a laptop speaker, I sometimes find the need to make 5 or 10 dB cuts in the low and midbass when playing them through live PA speakers with even modest subwoofers.

But that to me is a classic sign of a poor mix that doesn't translate across different systems.

A good mixing engineer should still be able to create the 'bass heavy' experience on a club track without that same mix sounding wimpy on ear buds, and vice versa.

Martin

[Jorge]

I agree, that is a poor mix. But that doesn't stop people from liking the hyped bass, and even asking for it back when I EQ it down enough that you can actually hear the vocals and piano!

[The Elf]

On some commercially mixed songs in which I can hear the bass lines reasonably well on a laptop speaker, I sometimes find the need to make 5 or 10 dB cuts in the low and midbass when playing them through live PA speakers with even modest subwoofers.

But that to me is a classic sign of a poor mix that doesn't translate across different systems.

+1

I agree, that is a poor mix. But that doesn't stop people from liking the hyped bass, and even asking for it back when I EQ it down enough that you can actually hear the vocals and piano!

Then you either do what you feel to be right, and have the confidence to sell that to your client; or you do what they want, smile and walk away from it. Professional audio is about so much more than the technical chops...

[Martin Walker]

Professional audio is about so much more than the technical chops...

So true

Martin

[MrWolf94]

Just buy both and turn one off? Am I missing something to this thread that people could grasp in 2019. This entire back and forth on the issue is kind of pointless. And don’t say “well I can only by one”. Yea you can only buy one “now” save up buy another. Only thing that matters is which Input your plugging into L (almost always 1st out) R 2nd Out

[Guest]

My Mixcube is fed from a monitor controller that delivers a mono signal by summing left and right channel.