Today’s question comes from George in Hong Kong.
“I run Cakewalk8 using a Roland JV1080, D110, Kurzweil K2Vx, Yamaha drums, Digitech effects and Roland G1-10. Usually 8 channels firing into mixer for what I do. Everything sounds O.K. when I monitor on headphones but when I listen through my Hi-fi, which is good quality (using large Polk’s) the sound seems to be flat and colored (not so bright and almost nasal). CD’s, MD’s sound great through this system. When I play my recorded MD on other systems I get the same sound coloration.”
“Can you suggest what I need to get rid of the mushiness? I’ve tried adding a 2ch equalizer between the mixer output and the amp with some improvement but it’s still not right. I have an old 8ch parametric equalizer spare. Should I attack the individual outputs from the synths or am I missing something here?”
If I had a nickel for everyone struggling with these types of problems I could probably afford to live in Hong Kong. The one big mistake that I see a lot of people make when things don’t sound right is to add something (EQ, compressor, etc.). At least half the time the proper course of action is to take something away. You have a lot of high quality instruments that are known for producing good sound. What do they sound like plugged directly into your stereo with nothing in between (obviously you can only do this with one at a time)? If they sound terrible then I question whether your stereo is worthy of being such a reference. If the sound improves then it means you have something in the signal path (mixer, EQ, etc.) that is degrading the audio quality. This is not unusual in home studios. There’s a reason why really great equalizers are more than a few hundred dollars.
Sound is so subjective it would be hard for anyone to say you need more or less of anything specific without being there at your system listening to it. This is what studio engineers get paid for. They know how to make things sound good. For home enthusiasts the lack of this knowledge is often a barrier for them getting the sound they want. I recommend buying the best equipment possible at every point in the audio chain (your sound is only as good as the weakest link). If you have all great equipment then generally great sound is not more than a few steps away.
For the specific symptoms you describe you may get some improvement with either an exciter (like a BBE or Aphex) or one of the new mastering compressors (like the Finalizer or Quantum). In some respects I say these tools are Band-Aids and do not solve the real problems, but really it is only the end result that counts and they can work wonders.