my songs sound like crap on ipod headphones - why?

[PsyTox]

still, wouldn't quite use them as a reference. I am not a pro by far, but I usually play my tracks for comparison on a home stereo and again in the car (because I know I have a decent soundsystem in my car). If it sounds acceptable on all the systems, changes are the mastering engineer will not give me a beating when i send in my demo.

[GLiB]

I remember in a documentary with hawtin somebody was talking about him saying he was one of the first people to really start making the club sound instead of music for headphones. This music really is supposed to be played on a bigger system and what sounds good on bigger speakers isn't necessarily going to sound good on ipod headphones. You're always your biggest critic I wouldn't worry about your song not sounding quality on your ipod headphones I would be glad it sounds good on the bigger speakers. try using some high quality hi-fi or stereo speakers see what it sounds like on those. Little speakers simply won't translate big sound period.

If you want it to sound good on your ipod speakers, try producing your song through ipod speakers and see what it sounds like then on your big system.


Basically. No matter what you're going to think it sounds bad on your ipod speakers because you're always your own worst critic. I simply wouldn't worry about it too much and just make your music on your good speakers and get it to sound half way decent on hi-fi speakers.

[zongo]

There is only one explanation. iPod headphones suck. Music was never meant to be listened to through them. Especially not EDM. Mix with monitors and don't even bother listening to your tracks through the crappy white pieces of plastic.

That's the best advise here, +1 ! Nothing can sound good on such terrible headphones except for the commercial crap specifically designed for this purpose (I won't name names of course). But try to listen to a symphony with Ipod headphones : absolute sh!t !

[Barfunkel]

There is only one explanation. iPod headphones suck. Music was never meant to be listened to through them. Especially not EDM. Mix with monitors and don't even bother listening to your tracks through the crappy white pieces of plastic.

Still, if the music sounds completely wrong with them, the chances are that there's something wrong with the mix. There won't be huge bass or anything of course, but if the non-bassy parts sound wrong, you probably should do something to the mix.

[patrick bateman]

There is only one explanation. iPod headphones suck. Music was never meant to be listened to through them. Especially not EDM. Mix with monitors and don't even bother listening to your tracks through the crappy white pieces of plastic.

That's the best advise here, +1 ! Nothing can sound good on such terrible headphones except for the commercial crap specifically designed for this purpose (I won't name names of course). But try to listen to a symphony with Ipod headphones : absolute sh!t !

That is of course one way to look at things, but since the majority of people listen to music through their laptop speakers and/or ipod/mp3 player headphones/in ear phones, then you should be aware of the fact that these people probably not will buy your music, since it sounds shitty.

I'm not saying that you should make music on ipod headphones or so, but it might be a good idea to check how it sounds on various systems, including ipod headphones.

[blizt]

Only thing i can say is that all music i like and buy and think is good, sounds well on my speakers, on my monitors, on my ipod headphones and on some 50 euros sony headphnoes.
So good chance is your doing something wrong, but don't frustate same thing happens time when producing my music, the bass sometimes don't sound as good as on the monitors. Don't know why.

[AK]

what is the proposed frequency range for these ipod headphones?

If they cut off early and leave the track without any bottom end this is 1 possible explanation esp if the bass/kick are low, almost sine type. I think if you are going to use sub tones, your'e better off listening through things designed to play back those frequencies.

On the other hand if you want to be able to hear your music on tiny earphones bare that in mind while making the track, pick harmonically rich bass tones and kicks with more frequencies in the higher bass regions, if theres nothing above say 80hz, it might sound deviod of bass.

Obviously theres the mix issue too but cant comment on that but if its mixed ok, has good dynamic control and is well rounded and full, its reasonable to assume it will translate well on other systems.

There are a few psychoacoustic plugins available that 'add harmonics' to 'enhance bass' to a specified frequency. Not sure how they work but apparently they are not eq. Waves rbass and max bass. Bit of an expensive 'fix' though and even then thats assuming this is the issue. Who knows, would need to listen to it and then a/b compare with a commercial track of the same genre to be able to mention mixing decisions.

[zongo]

There is only one explanation. iPod headphones suck. Music was never meant to be listened to through them. Especially not EDM. Mix with monitors and don't even bother listening to your tracks through the crappy white pieces of plastic.

That's the best advise here, +1 ! Nothing can sound good on such terrible headphones except for the commercial crap specifically designed for this purpose (I won't name names of course). But try to listen to a symphony with Ipod headphones : absolute sh!t !

That is of course one way to look at things, but since the majority of people listen to music through their laptop speakers and/or ipod/mp3 player headphones/in ear phones, then you should be aware of the fact that these people probably not will buy your music, since it sounds shitty.

I'm not saying that you should make music on ipod headphones or so, but it might be a good idea to check how it sounds on various systems, including ipod headphones.

Of course I don't have the truth with me, I only speak from my point of view. I guess it's only a question of strategy... If you'd like to make (big) money with your music, then yes, I also think you HAVE to mutilate your mix so it can be played on those horrible headphones & car stereo etc. Sad but true.

I decided to go the other way and let my low end breathe

Why ?

1. The kind of music I'm producing doesn't really fit the "iPod sound". Tweaking the mix for this purpose would certainly "kill the magic"^^
2. This kind of music isn't very popular so the people loving it are well aware of this problem ; they tend to listen to dub-tech with a good monitoring set. those are usually educated people, they know the basics of sound (tiny shitty speaker = shitty sound).
3. I guess I don't really care about people listening to music ONLY using the default Ipod headphones and/or laptop speakers. Too bad for them, they will never know what they missed

This being said, I would totally understand someone doing the exact opposite for good reasons.

***

In some way this debate reminds me a lot of the debate about the Loudness war. Is it good or bad, good or bad for the producer and/or good or bad for the listener, etc... This other debate is also a matter of mix/mastering mutilation.

(Once again, I have to apologize for my terrible English speaking )