I always have this dilema how should I choose to render my final audio? when I listen in to my headphones (Sony MDR-7510 or Sennheiser HD 280 Pro) Audio sound great everything I edited was there perfect ratio, etc. but when I listen in the speaker of my macbook pro, ipad, iPhone or IBM laptop. Sound is significant different and is not the same impact I know I can tweak so the audio sounds better on the laptop . I understand these days people mostly watch videos on the Mobile and laptops devices. What most pro do? render to satisfy his pro gear or accommodate to the general people?
DILEMA Post Audio. Great on my headphones but poor on laptos. Which one?
- Thread starter KV Films
- Start date
You should never, ever create your final mix on headphones. They are misleading, and will not give you a mix that is consistent across playback systems.
Laptop speakers are terrible, just because they are limited in power and in frequency response.
You should be using a good pair of monitor speakers, set up in a treated room. A mix on a professional monitor system will be much more reliable, and will be consistent outside of the mix room.
Laptop speakers are terrible, just because they are limited in power and in frequency response.
You should be using a good pair of monitor speakers, set up in a treated room. A mix on a professional monitor system will be much more reliable, and will be consistent outside of the mix room.
rogar-BigGrin(DBG)
David W. Jones
Veteran
Use a calibrated audio monitor setup and mix to the appropriate levels for the intended deliverable format.
Rick R
Veteran
I don't know if this will help you much. http://www.thesoundmanifesto.co.uk/WorldAudioLevelReference.pdf
Most broadcast entities these days specify ATSC or EBU loudness recommendations.. depending on the country. It's best to get the broadcaster's submission requirements before hand.
DVD, BluRay, web based audio levels are a grey area.
Most broadcast entities these days specify ATSC or EBU loudness recommendations.. depending on the country. It's best to get the broadcaster's submission requirements before hand.
DVD, BluRay, web based audio levels are a grey area.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
To the "what do most pro's do?". Most pros mix to the deliverable spec and check on an appropriate system.
This might in the current state of the world indeed be a lap top or headphones. You DON'T want to mix on headphones but depending on where the mix is headed you might want to check it on headphones. The same with laptop speakers. But it really depends on where you media is headed. If it's sound for an iPhone game for instance then certainly you need it to sound really good on headphones and who cares how it sounds on studio speakers.
I would say there are probably few things that will be almost always be on laptop speakers. When I stream show and what not I either hook up some portable speakers (not great but miles above laptop speakers) or use head phones.
And actually since my move across the country I haven't had a TV or a dedicated "media' place so most shows have been on headphones or with small speakers. Though I will still run films etc. through the studio system so I'm a bit on both extremes.
A good rule for filmmaking decisions is to start at the end and work back to the start. Knowing where you want to end up will make a lot of early decisions simpler.
BTW, the two major reasons you don't want to work/ mix on headphones are that they sound radically different from speakers and tend to emphasize things that will just disappear in the mix (so you will waste time on things you don't need to). Pan and reverb are also dramatically different experiences on headphones than over speakers, and "speaker" mixes tend to translate pretty well to headphones but the oposite is not true.
The second reason is that headphones will fatigue your ears faster, often much faster, than speakers. There are some "room simulators" that can help but head phones really wear out the ears fast. Then the next day you will listen back and go "what was I on that, that sounded good!". You can hear it on some old albums (when they would master the whole record in a day) where they mixed too loud and over the course of the album the levels just keep climbing and the mixes get brighter and brighter. The mixers ears were getting tired and he was compensating.
This might in the current state of the world indeed be a lap top or headphones. You DON'T want to mix on headphones but depending on where the mix is headed you might want to check it on headphones. The same with laptop speakers. But it really depends on where you media is headed. If it's sound for an iPhone game for instance then certainly you need it to sound really good on headphones and who cares how it sounds on studio speakers.
I would say there are probably few things that will be almost always be on laptop speakers. When I stream show and what not I either hook up some portable speakers (not great but miles above laptop speakers) or use head phones.
And actually since my move across the country I haven't had a TV or a dedicated "media' place so most shows have been on headphones or with small speakers. Though I will still run films etc. through the studio system so I'm a bit on both extremes.
A good rule for filmmaking decisions is to start at the end and work back to the start. Knowing where you want to end up will make a lot of early decisions simpler.
BTW, the two major reasons you don't want to work/ mix on headphones are that they sound radically different from speakers and tend to emphasize things that will just disappear in the mix (so you will waste time on things you don't need to). Pan and reverb are also dramatically different experiences on headphones than over speakers, and "speaker" mixes tend to translate pretty well to headphones but the oposite is not true.
The second reason is that headphones will fatigue your ears faster, often much faster, than speakers. There are some "room simulators" that can help but head phones really wear out the ears fast. Then the next day you will listen back and go "what was I on that, that sounded good!". You can hear it on some old albums (when they would master the whole record in a day) where they mixed too loud and over the course of the album the levels just keep climbing and the mixes get brighter and brighter. The mixers ears were getting tired and he was compensating.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
ryanjf
Well-known member
Had to print it out.
GaryNattrass
Veteran
Even after 33 years doing pro TV and film audio I too printed it out as it is a great easy to read reference to what different meters and standards are in relation to each other!