Problem bass frequencies

[purple24]

I mix over headphones but try to reference back on speakers. I notice, almost every time, really problematic overtones in the 140 hz area on the bass. How do I go about determining if what I'm hearing is a problem inherent in the actual instrument recording, or if it is simply an issue with my untreated room? (a "mode?").

[Coachz]

I have the same deal here. I record in a totally untreated room. What I did was put my nearfield monitors about 3' from my ears and about 3' apart. This seems to get rid of the room enough for me. I have rokit 8's and a rokit 10" subwoofer right below to be in phase. I'm centered in a 15x25' room and about a 1/3 from the front wall.

I have some artists I use for reference recordings.
for jazz.....Vanessa Williams, The Real Thing
for pop......Shania Twain, Come on Over and Woman in Me
for rock.....AC/DC, Back in Black
and other recordings.

I play them and my mixes through the monitors to compare spectrum and dynamics and adjust from there.

THEN, I test in multiple other places, like other peoples sound systems and car stereos. I don't test in phones, tablets and computers because I don't care about how they sound there. I never mix in headphones because they don't seem to have the punch I need. When Back in Black smacks you at a loud chest thumping volume and I try that in headphones it never works. I also still don't care about mixing for mono either.

[DVDdoug]

or if it is simply an issue with my untreated room? (a "mode?").

The obvious answer is to get a measurement mic and measure your room. (There is free software but you should use a calibrated mic.)


And, if you ever decide to treat your room you should measure it before and after... Diagnosis before treatment!


There is also software (and maybe websites that can "predict" room response from the dimensions.


And, do you hear the same thing with known-good commercial recordings?

[purple24]

Originally Posted by DVDdoug

The obvious answer is to get a measurement mic and measure your room. (There is free software but you should use a calibrated mic.)


And, if you ever decide to treat your room you should measure it before and after... Diagnosis before treatment!


There is also software (and maybe websites that can "predict" room response from the dimensions.


And, do you hear the same thing with known-good commercial recordings?

Thanks for both responses so far in the thread. I'll look into the measurement mic - to be honest I've been putting off things like room treatment because I've only really been considering my home recordings as playthings, but now I'm getting a little more perfectionistic about it and deficiencies in my overall setup are starting to aggravate me (like the bass issue).

With regards to referencing professional tracks: hard to say tbh - sometimes I hear the same issues (although mine are usually a bit more exacerbated), other times the bass is reproduced very tightly even in my untreated room. Of course the specificity of the material plays a part, all songs having different tones and registers. Although I just listened to the new 2019 mix of The Beatles' Come Together and it has all the same horrible overtone issues in that 140-150 area on my speakers, so I guess I can be confident it's my room.

So, question: until I sort out my listening space, am I basically good to "ignore" these kinds of resonances?

[Fabian]

Originally Posted by purple24

So, question: until I sort out my listening space, am I basically good to "ignore" these kinds of resonances?

I would take a few commercial recordings, like Come Together, where I hear those annoying frequencies, and then I'd EQ them to tame those frequencies, so that I am sure exactly what frequency ranges are affected. Then I'd be very careful when mixing my own stuff so I don't remove too much of those frequencies. Basically, get to know the room.

[toleolu]

Really interesting and timely topic for me since I just recently started recording bass.

I record and mix in an untreated room as well. I DI everything because of the acoustics and ambient noise, but I never really gave any thought to how the room affects the mix. I mix through my monitor speakers and I've been told by a number of people that my bass is either too muddy or honky. I've also noticed that when I render a mix that sounds ok and then play it back through my computer audio (SoundBlaster sound card and Surround Sound speaker system) it sounds a bit muddier than mix.

My monitor speakers are sitting on my desk about 4 inches or so from the wall. I'm a home/hobbyist user, not expecting pro studio results, but if anyone has any suggestions that might help improve my setup, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Thanks