The mix needs to do the work

Just a quick thought for today.

If you find yourself only enjoying your mix in a particular listening situation — or if you find yourself enjoying it unequally in different listening situations — then your mix still needs work.

And probably what it needs is better balancing and EQ — because that’s what makes mixes feel cohesive and consistent across environments.

If your mix only works properly on big speakers, because that’s when you can feel it or hear the bass the way you like it — then your mix still needs work.

And probably what it needs is better EQ and/or volume and/or saturation decisions on the drums, because that’s what we feel the absence of most keenly on smaller speakers.

If your mix only works properly when you’re listening to it loud — because that’s when it feels appropriately urgent and/or hard-hitting — then your mix still needs work.

And probably what it needs is additional compression or limiting, because that’s what makes music sound urgent — and when we listen loud, our ears add compression.

When your mix works generally well no matter where or how you listen to it — that’s when your mix is done. And not before.

Rigorously — jamie