I've got an Alesis multimix firewire board with Edirol MA 15D speakers. When i record stuff on cubase, everything sounds incredible...really, high quality sound, but when I listen to a CD or an mp3, I can barely hear the vocals...I tried going into 'settings and display' menu and adjusted the sound in every possible way, but I still have this problem.
Does anyone else have this same problem...or know anything about it?
thanks,
CM
Comments
Hearing the vocals I agree if you compare your mix with a cd yo
Hearing the vocals
I agree if you compare your mix with a cd you listen to you will hear how loud the vocals actually are in the mix on pretty much every band you will hear for instance a band I like called the jesus lizard where the guy grunts and spits and growls and live you cant understand him but listen to there cd and man the vocals are right in your face apparently this is the way it should be even if your vocalist is spitting and growling
This is one of the common complaints I hear from people when the
This is one of the common complaints I hear from people when they begin mixing on their own.
If monitors are set up halfway decent, you're going to get a pretty good phantom center image. This coupled with an overly dynamic (read: under-compressed) vocal gives you the in-studio impression of a very strong vocal. However, when played back on "other" systems without the incredibly strong phantom center, the vocal simply disappears.
Try some good ol fashioned judiciously used compression or limiting on the vocals and don't be afraid to bring them forward in the mix. Trust me, it will take some getting used to, but once you do, you'll be thankful.
A way to demonstrate this - take one of your favorite CDs in which you think the voice sits perfectly and play it back on your monitoring set up. Surprise, the voice is VERY present now.
Give it a whirl and see what you think...
J.