Mixing in the car?!

[Nick FontaineParticipant]

Hello all!

I wanted to get everyone's feedback on this. I remember watching one of Warren's videos with Glenn Fricker, maybe one of the Feedback videos, and he said he sometimes finishes a mix in the car because the lower frequencies don't bounce back at you. I thought this was interesting and was wondering if anyone has tried this? And how did you set the EQ of your car unit? Because my truck amplifies a lot of bass (no subs). Thanks for your help! Happy mixing!

-Nick Fontaine

[Arthur LabusModerator]

Hi Nick,
my car audio is probably a refurbished pair of NS10 😉
I have no EQ in particular but some genaral settings like none, rock, vocal, classic and i change them pretty often.
But mostly use"none" or "rock".
I am not "mixing" in the car but i am checking them all the time while driving.
I can recognize if my mix is too boomy and too harsh.
If it sounds good in my car, then everything is OK.

[Nick FontaineParticipant]

Hey Arthur thanks for the reply. I listen to all my mixes in the car too. But I find that if it's perfect in my car, it's usually thin everywhere else. My room isn't acoustically treated yet though. That's my next purchase. I'm sure that will help. But when I heard Glenn mention that, it caught my attention. Lol

[Patrick SchindlerParticipant]

Hi Nick,

I have never mixed in the car, only doing occasional car checks. When Glen said he sometimes finishes a mix in the car, I would guess he mean mainly fine tuning the low end.

If your car stereo system boosts the bass, then that means your mixes will need to be bass heavy in your car, in order to sound full elsewhere. Referencing could help a lot there, which is of course much more tricky in the car. Loudness matching is a big part of proper referencing and that would probably best be done in the DAW, before taking the mix and references to the car. Of course as you do it more and more, you should get used to how it's supposed to sound.

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