"A/B-ing" your mixes to match the quality comm

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 4:24 am

OK to you play your mix then flip over to "The Next Big Thing's lastest CD or whatever you use as a bench mark...(this is caled A/Bing btw)But the commercial CD is MASTERED! Your mix is NOT!What if the commercial CD is WAY louder than your mix?Is your CD player's output sound, one you can trust?How do you attempt to 'get it' sounding in the same ballpark, or BETTER!Methods, tips & questions please! Smile

Presently I dont trust my CD players sound that much and am scheming to get a more "accurate" reference.I will say how I A/B & tweak later in the life of this topic... Smile

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 5:37 am

that is a great question cuz i wonder the samething all the time...but from what i heard on these forums if the levels on the mix are near perfect mastering isn't that important, but experience tells me otherwise....

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 5:52 am

Kick in the L1 plugin to do your comparison, at least to get your volume up and matched. As far as conversion, I use my psx-100 as a jukebox, switching between mix and cd, when I'm in PT land. That way I have the same conversion quality.

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 8:14 am

Pick a couple of tunes from the same genre, extract them from CDs, import to session, match average rms levels and listen.Happy A/B'ing

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 9:11 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Casey @ S C Digital Services:
Pick a couple of tunes from the same genre, extract them from CDs, import to session, match average rms levels and listen.<hr></blockquote>I do that to - on both my mix and my "do it yourself" mastering session. I know the CD has been mastered, but what else are you gonna do? I'll import a track from a CD onto stereo track and A/B it along side of my mix. And for an added measure, (to see what I can't hear) I put the Waves Frequency Analyzer on both busses and compare those too.

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 9:31 am

Is this why there are so many generic, shitty mixes out there?I don't A/B, if it sounds good, it sounds good.The last thing I'd want it to A/B the last RHCP CD and shit myself cus it's way louder Wink

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 10:21 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Rog:
Is this why there are so many generic, shitty mixes out there?<hr></blockquote>The A/Bing is not really to match the shit note for note, but more to help identify the problems your mix might have that the commercial one doesn't. And remember what they say about one man's shit being another man's.... Wink

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 4:27 pm

compare like with like. 1. Match your levels.Try to get an average electrial level[metering] vu's and ppm.This is important as real [electrical] puts you in the reality ball park and louder always sounds better. 2. Then you can start to compare the 'percieved' volume and tone of the two mixes. 3.Try to pic similar musical genres. 4.Good monitoring[large] really helps to determine LF quality. 5.Remember that loud isn't always better
good luck paul

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 5:26 pm

Kick the mix engineer in the nads and tell him to work harder, while you go back to micing the session in the next room?Oh wait, I *am* this mix engineer in this scenario... Actually, I tend to consider the mix the mix: you make it sound good, not loud. To be honest, I A/B more when mastering. I'll listen to a few bands a lot when I'm tracking something I want to sound that way, but when I mix I more often mix just with the tune I'm working on. When I scour other mixes, I listen to this mix placement, not the entire product. Then the mastering engineer can make it glisten with lube all he wants... A/B with "Californication" all ya wants. Just not with my CD, please. <wince>

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 7:11 pm

I tend to A/B with material that:Cost 100 times my sessions
Was recorded & mixed in the worlds best studios
Had WAY more time than I didI don't have perfect 'mix pitch' If I start without reference I can go off on a tangent, and say build a mix that is lacking in low mids, or high frequency.. I can 'get lost easily' That's where A/B ing comes in handy.. I don't do it nearly as much as I would like either...I often run on pure instinct, I make stuff up as I go along v often. I don't "KNOW HOW THIS SHOULD SOUND" very often, I 'busk it' I start and follow my heart.One description I heard recently comparing the Theatre biz with the film biz. The British director of American Beauty (his first attempt at a film) said that when starting the production of a play, the cast and director would meet in a rehearsal room, and kind of make up the plan and direction there and then in the room, the director might even say, 'what does every one feel about that' etc...The Director then went on to say that the difference in film was If a Director admitted to not quite knowing how something was 'going to turn out' or asked someone "I dunno, what do you think?" the producers would be straight on the phone looking for a new director!While in the overdub stage, right back from the time when I was an assistant, I always didn't dig the producers or artists, who would stress, "NO! I KNOW how this should sound!" It always seemed to shut the door on innovation and cool accidents and unexpected creation.Anyhow, I could do with A/B ing a little more and perhaps being a little more consistent with the tone spread on my mixes.... The spectrum analizer, or visual representation idea above might help me, I will be looking into that. Because maybe, if I can't hear it, I CAN SEE IT! Smile

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2001 6:54 am

That's why I hate these comments like "use your ears" or the above mentioned "if it sounds good, it is good" To me, a kick drum that pounds your chest through the chair sounds good, but that doesn't make it right - in terms of translating well. And as Jules mentioned, it's soooo easy to get lost, you need to check yourself now and again.Isn't that why a landscape painter sets their easel up outdoors next to the lake instead of in the studio, so they can A/B their painting with the real thing, and have a constant reference of what they're striving for?

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2001 7:41 am

How about not comparing when you mix with a finished CD, but comparing with an unmastered mix that you've had a great CD mastered from. This maybe a more realistic comparison.Mixing and Mastering are two different processes.Compare like with like.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2001 5:48 pm

I used to second for a "top" engineer and he would pop in cd when the client would leave the room just to make sure he was in the ballpark.
There where days when he was NOWHERE NEAR it!
Check a cd. start tweeking and in a few minutes all was fine.I dont really have a problem with using great cds as a ref. even though its mastered.
We are really talking about brick wall limiting here.
I kinda just ignore it.
In fact I like my mixes more mostly because it HAS MORE DYNAMICS.
Just make sure the levels are close between your mix and the big time mix before you check cause louder always sounds better.
Just DO NOT reach for a buss eq if you can avoid it.
adress each element in the mix instead.
Jules is right to be concerned when you use the converters from a consumer cd player.
But even then referencing can be a big help.As a side note.
every record I have worked on that the mixes where just wacked (too dull, too bright etc) were all done by engineers who refuse to reference.
comments like "I was going for MY sound". "We didnt want to sound like so and so" etc were common.Maybe that clearmountainrange guy or maybe a nickles dude dont need to check. (but I bet they might sneak a check in here and there)for me I A/B the shit out of my stuff.
And I love beating a mix from a cd that had 100x the budget........this make clients happy too.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2001 10:05 pm

I have stopped A/B-ing myself. Just because I know my mix hasn't been mastered yet. I noticed that when I would A/B I would tend to push the high end maybe a bit too much, as well as the compression. Now I jst make sure that what I'm hearing from the monitors, is something I'm really happy with. Then I can always add more compression and top or low-end in mastering. As a sidenote. I just heard our first movie in a theatre. I was happy to hear that what i heard in our mix room, sounded pretty much the same in the big theatre. Just a little top end loss due to the optical frequency response.Mark

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2001 10:36 pm

i remember seeing an interview with woody allen, where he said he could never watch other people's movies while he was making his own, because he would feel hopelessly inadequate

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