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  4. How to make a mix sound good on TV Speakers?

  • How to make a mix sound good on TV Speakers?

    M
    M
    Hi all,

    I am not sure what to look at when it comes to mixing so that the master sounds appropriate on TV Speakers as well as Good Stereo.

    ie. My mixes sound great on quality speakers, but tinny,crap on a cheap TV speaker.

    What happens is that the level is not consistent compared to a good set of speakers.

    I have TC Power core and I have experimented with 3xMaster plugin, but it still seems too thin, fades away at certain cues, etc. But when I play it back on a good set of speakers, its fine.

    Can anyone offer any suggestions or point me in the right direction please?

    Regards, Max.
  • N
    N
    It may just be that your TV monitors (really the combination of the monitors and the amp powering them) have a very narrow dynamic range, in which case you probably shouldn't pay any attention to them. But it's definitely important to listen to small speakers - just not those if they're not representative. But if it turns out they're telling you the truth about how it sounds on small monitors, then you have too much dynamic range. That can be a mixing or a musical issue, but the crude way to deal with it is to reach for a compressor.

    You might simply compare your mix to others that sound good on those speakers and figure out what's wrong.

    By the way, this might be an extreme example of why mixers mix on small speakers. Everything sounds good on the big ones, because you can hear everything.
  • M
    M
    Hi Nick,

    Thanks for your reply. Obviously DVD's, Films, TV shows etc, sound fine on the TV, so when I need to master for short films etc with no budget (I'm happy to do for the experience), playing back on the TV with picture, the music drops out as though its been limited or over compressed. I have no compression or limiters on.

    So I guess maybe you're right in the sense of the dynamics for the speakers to handle.

    Would you generally just apply compression on the MASTER outs? if so how much (ie soft, medium or strong). ?

    Any help would be appreciated.
  • R
    R
    I did sound for a show once where a guy came in to video it. This was at a time when stereo TVs were just coming into vogue. He mixed his sound feed down to stereo because he claimed it sounded better. When I asked him what about the people with regular mono TVs, his answer was that he didn't care. As long as it sounded good on his system, he was fine with it.

    I think compression is the toy to play with here. Also, you can probably put a high pass filter across your outs. VSL has a lot of bottom end. Your TV speakers can be expending a lot of energy trying to produce frequencies that just won't happen. Play around with the HPF and the speakers can do the job they were designed for. My TV actually has a pretty good pair of speakers, and even for a cheapo TV sounds pretty good, that is until I switch on the surround amp....

    Have a good experiment - I am sure you will find what works well. Do check that afterwards the mix sounds good on the biggies!