How To Make Your Mix Sound Great on Small Speakers

Published: Thu, 07/18/19

You know that moment after you've spent hours mixing and it's sounding great in the studio?

Then you listen to it in your car, on your earbuds or on your Bluetooth speaker, and suddenly half of the mix is gone because there's no bass?

It's a constant problem to get your low-end to translate to small speakers, but I've got a great solution for you.

It's stupid simple really. You might even get mad because you didn't think of it yourself.

Ready?

The trick to making your mixes sound good on small speakers is...

MAKING MIX ADJUSTMENTS ON SMALL SPEAKERS!

Hook up your earbuds to your interface. Connect your computer to your Bluetooth speaker. Route your audio software to play through your laptop speakers. Mix with a Mixcube.

If you do this while you're still mixing inside the DAW you'll be able to make adjustments on the move, check them on your studio monitors and then find the right balance between all of your speakers. All without bouncing your mix and wasting time going back and forth between speaker systems and the studio.

If your bass is almost too thick on your studio monitors but is still getting lost on your small speakers, you might need to do some harmonic enhancements with your EQ.

Boosting the bass won't help it cut through on small speakers. You have to find the right harmonic multiples so that the bass cuts through no matter how small your speaker system is.

It's something I teach you how to do inside EQ Strategies - Your Ultimate Guide to EQ.

Eddie Mauro just purchased EQ Strategies to learn what all the knobs can do to help him improve the sound quality at his venue. He'll get some thorough ear training that will help him troubleshoot any problematic frequencies he finds in his mixes. If that's something you need to, head on over and grab your copy today.