Bitter--the twisted mix

[Roy]

Gut reaction. This mix does nothing for me.

If I was using earbuds, nothing would excite me. You are lucky that you can get any sense of excitement from them.

I must admit, I think the earbud statement is a decoy. It helps make excuses for one thing, and people are more likely to have compassion.

Personally I avoid earbuds due to the colossal sound pressure they create in the ear canal which leads to irreparable hearing damage – NIHL. Headphones aren’t much better. They also make it impossible to judge loudness and hence make compression parameter selection a crapshoot, resulting in over compression, as well as presenting issues with equalisation.

Your mix 03b, which I took at random, has excessive spectral content in the sub 125Hz region which spills into the lower-mid range. Not only does it contribute to a muddy and somewhat fatiguing delivery, but it’s fooling you into thinking the trebles are warmer than they really are. It also makes speakers clip a lot sooner for a given loudness due to excessive energy. But I can make out the acoustic guitar popping out momentarily right up at 16kHz, which is pretty ugly, why not you too?

I think you are fooling yourself; louder appears better, even if it isn’t [better]. It’s a psychoacoustic trap someone with experience would be aware of.

It is certainly much louder than mine (by 4LU’s PL), as well as containing significant non-linear artifacts which adds to the impression of loudness. Mine is more dynamic, and by definition, dynamic is more exciting, having a wider loudness range than yours as well as a higher momentary loudness value. Now that’s not me expressing subjective opinion, but an emotionally detached, unbiased, objective one.

If we factor in your own personal biases, such as taste and partiality which you were clearly expressing, we can understand the reasons behind the haughty demur. The bottom line is that I am hugely impartial, and you are hugely not

I can’t help wondering though, reading between the lines, if there’s some mix envy creeping in as well as some pent up frustrations

See you on the circuit.

Ha. No envy here, trust me.

I've never defended any of my mixes. I've even referred to how much they suck in my post. I try different things each time as a learning experiment. Sometimes things works and sometimes they don't. And earbuds are all I have and I know they're a limitation. That said, even with those limitations, I still think my mixes have more emotional impact and speak to the artist and are probably more enjoyable to the end listener and I think that's paramount. The excitement isn't in the earbuds (or whatever the delivery system is) it's in the song. I was mostly upset by how you essentially sucked all of the fun and emotion out of the song and that's the biggest sin of a mixer.

We obviously have different ways and philosophies towards mixing. Which is fine. I learn something from every mix I listen to on here from beginner to the professional. I'm not being haughty but just saying what I'm observing. Maybe I'm not being impartial. If this was a beginner's mix I'd say the same stuff but probably word it a bit softer. As someone whose I'm assuming has more experience I felt you could take more direct criticism. Maybe I was wrong to say anything, for which I apologize. Everyone else seemed to be tip-toeing around it though and I was in a passionate mood to reply. That's not a bad thing though.

Anyhoo, you do your thing and I'll do mine. See you at the next mix.