your answer just cements my thought about some here...
I spoke to Bob Katz.. you know him right..? if not your in the wrong business...
look and take heed my recording challenged brother! If you think he is crazy you need to re evaluate you self!
plus the fact not everyone listens to things flat if so they should just stop making eq's right...dude your 57... if you dnot know by know...well what ever,!
Subject: Mastering
Message: Hi Bob, I am getting ready to set up a schedule with you for some
mastering...before I do I have a client who insists on checking the mixes
totally flat... in the car and on other systems. and is having me bump the bass
and highs to match his needs..well my problem is, not everyone listens this
way.. thats why they make eq's so that everyone can color to there needs...so
now when I or other people listen to this project and add a little bass and
treble for taste.. it is just boom and sizzle....I want to give you and the
client the proper sounding files...But I am having a hard time convincing this
person this is not how it is done... can you help me explain this to him... I
think any information I can pass along from you to him...will make my point..he
also has heard your work and praises you, as do I.!! Thank you Bob!
Address:
Dear Bob (what a nice first name):
Please tell your client it is all about translation. A good mix and especially a good master should translate to all kinds of systems. Tell him that many cars, especially the ones equipped with subwoofers, are very poor standards when set to "flat", that they are actually incorrect. My Subaru system with a subwoofer is too boomy when set to flat and if I used that as a standard, the music would sound thin and uninvolving everywhere else! Similarly, if you set many cars to so-called "flat" and try to make your mix sound good in the car, that it will suck everywhere else. But this is not the case with all car systems, just the case with most of them with a few notable exceptions, especially the premium Bose systems.
Please tell your client that I am an expert at making a master that will translate to every kind of system that it is out there, from cheap hi fis to audiophile systems to cars and ipods. If he concentrates on one system and if that system (like many cars) sounds boomy (if it has a subwoofer) when set to "flat"---that when you try to compensate for that car it will suck EVERYWHERE ELSE.
In addition, I have to see the lay of the land in your particular case because I haven't heard your mix yet. Please send me one of your best mixes that you consider to be good, and also one of your "corrected" mixes that your client has asked you to produce to please him on his "reference" system---and I'll give you my professional judgment which one is closer to the goal of translating to the widest variety of playback systems. That's the mix that you should seek: the one which translates the best. That mix will, by the way, sound the most correct on the most correct system, and the system which I will be listening is my mastering system, which is so correct that the better I make it sound on my mastering system, the better it will sound everywhere!
I'm forwarding this to Todd, who will set up an FTP for you to upload to me those two versions of your mixes. This will be your free listen/eval that's included in every mastering that I do. Please make them 24 bit or 32-bit float and do not apply any loudness processing to them other than what makes them sound good. In other words, do not put on any digital peak limiters to "maximize" the level.
Hope this helps,
Bob