Tips please.
I have pretty much got to grips with the basics of N but have problems getting a good overall EQ sound. What sounds good on computer headphones and monitors tends to be a little bassy when played on my big Hi fi system.
I am using both N graphic and Kjaerhus audio classic EQ plug ins.
Are there other plug ins that are better or is it just a matter of coming to grips with the process of eq/ing with what Ive got?
Do I need to play with the individual track EQ controls or just put the EQ plug in on the master channel.
I have tended to add compression,reverb,and sometimes delay to most of my recordings. What is too much?
I have also been experimenting with panning instruments around in the mix. That can certainly make the the mix sound big and have depth.
I have also been doing the mix down while playing so i can bring the drums in when wanted and change the pattern during the mix down and switch effects on/off etc.
Any good tips certainly appreciated.
Hey One-Way, I’m sure there’s someone around here who can give you better advice than you’ll get from me, but EQing tracks separately is definitely the way to go. Your computer monitors obviously can’t produce the bass your big hifi speakers can, and headphones can easily fool you. (Well, me, anyway.
) For the most part, it will be trial and error until you get a feel for how mixes translate from one set of speakers to another. One thing I do on tracks with a lot of bass content is use the high pass setting on the track EQ and roll off a lot of the extremely low frequencies, below 40 Hz, and maybe even at a higher setting than that. Actually, I use the high pass on just about everything, rolling off anything that isn’t necessary to the mix. That clears up more space for the bass elements so they don’t have to be turned up as high to be heard well. Panning the bass, kick, and other bass heavy instruments more toward the center might also be helpful. I’m sure someone will come along and give you better advice, and maybe even refute some of mine. But in the meantime, I hope that helps.
Thanks guys. Great info.
Hey Kevin M thats a lovely instrumental recording. I have got a way to go to get that sort of clarity in my recordings.
Has anyone posted “how to use the nTrack eq controls” on the wiki?
Can’t get the wiki to open here, nuttin but puter problems on 2 machines today. Good grief!
Yaz
Unfortunately, the wiki doesn’t seem to be working.
As for EQ - the first most important thing you can do is get a good pair of monitors. Set them up in a good location and if at all possible “tune” them to the room. Yes, your listeners will not have this environment, but it will give you a constant sourse of referrence that will point out harsh or muddy sound.
When I first started trying top EQ I got a copy or Har-bal. The progrram scans a song and reports the average Eq. It will not cure a bad recording, but it will teach you what is going on and sometimes help you find a problem when nothing else sems to work.
Ears are the most important along with bax’s getting the monitors and room set up. Easiest way I know to train about eq is record a white or pink noise file, open an eq, cut a narrow notch, move the notch thru the spectrum while listening to the freq, cuts. It will give you a very basic knowledge of what instruments and vocals can do with cutting freq. Harshness in guitars mostly reside in the 2.4k range etc etc.
If your room isn’t perfect, the next best thing is to a/b your recording to a proffesional cd, one you think is a perfect sound.
But you have to learn to trust your ears!
What?
Yaz (too old to rock n roll, too young to rock n roll)
24K? Oh well, you lost me at around 15…
I got rock’n roll ears 
Edited teryeah, funny how that little “.” can screw up a post LOL
24k, 2.4k
I still can’t tell the difference.
Turn up the volume! LOL
No,
too many variables to have a set in stone setting (why I hate presets). Direct to interface, mic’ed amp, technique used to mic, diff mics. 2.4k Just a starting point(my frikken tele, Marshall JCM800, EV mic). Move the freq around with a small q setting on the notch.
I’d just offer to not EQ at all. Record your tune, do pans and levels, and then spend a lot of time (short bits of 1/2 hr or less, a lot of times- as you “feel like it”) listening. Do as much as possible with Pans and Levels, and then go back and EQ as you find that sounds aren’t doing what/acting like they should. You may be surprised at how much EQ you don’t use- a lot of EQ can be done to ‘finish’ or master a tune, after you have gotten your sounds in the mix each with their own space, creating the feel you want.
Listen in your car, your home stereo, your system. Don’t be in a hurry, and do work when your ears are awake and sharp.
I’m with Sloom. I like to try and get the sound in my head to disk. Tones, EQ and all. Then it seems easier to carve space for each element into the mix where necessary with EQ. It doesn’t always work out that way of course…
Decent nearfields and a neutral room certainly help. I have the nearfields… just not the room. 
D
My old beater EV MS802s do alright for monitoring, they sound pretty good- but you’ll never see a picture of 'em! Dawg-ugly and none-too-well used… And the room? Heh… I should win one of those ‘makeovers’. Except the prize-awarder would balk! Anyway, I’m a good example of why you should listen out-of-studio- a lot!!
Thanks for the good advice Sloom. I like you idea of positioning everything in the mix first then doing any EQ’ing necessary.
Once in a while I’m not a total danged fool. 
Anyway a mix is about relationships, right? First you gotta take the girl out; then, if she doesn’t call her father to come pick her up in the middle of the movie (position in the mix), you can take your time finding out what she likes (EQ!).
Am I the only one who uses headphones to double check everything?
Of course I know my headphones very well from years of using the same ones, and checking my mixes on different players I also trust. But they do play a role, for me anyway.
I HAVE to use cans until I run everybody else off. The family gets cheesed off when I have the TR-8’s powered up. I don’t monitor at really loud levels but my “music room” is right off the living room where the Missus watches her stupid night-time soaps on the idiot box.
So I mix with the cans right up to the end then check everything out on the nearfields before I make a test CD to throw in every system I can lay hands on. That’s the acid test IMO. If your mix sounds good on the family hi-fi, your kids boom box and mom’s walkman… you pretty much have it.
D
PS You are usually OK at that point to make a nasty old mp3 (ugh) to check out on the iPod too.
Poppa, you are very wise to use headphones as a reference along with the nearfields, and everything else as Diogenes suggested. Ever notice that many of today’s generation of music listeners have earbuds in their ears? If you don’t check with what they are listening with, you could have a seemingly perfect mix on $5000 nearfields - and still get it wrong.
BTW nice to see you back, Sloom.
Paul