Mix with loudness on or not on amp?

Steinberg Lounge
#1

Hi there good people, I have not been here as much as I should have the last two to three years.

Before I’ve mixed a lot on headphones and gotten relatively good feedback on that
Now I mix mostly with speakers and sub.

What I am wondering is: use loudness on the amp when mixing or not?
I see both ways on this:
no Loudness: more real soundscape…
With Loudness: the setting that “normal” people are probably choosing anyway because it sounds “fatter” and “better”

So… If I make a great mix sans loudness it might be overkill if you turn loudness on

See what I mean?

Any input?

Kim

#2

A great mix without loudness on that will sound overkill if you turn loudness on, isn’ t a great mix…

#3

Don’t take this wrong, but I think you might read up a bit more or take a few tutorials on mixing because I don’t think you quite get it - sounds more like you’re level juggling than mixing.
Alternatively, experience is the best teacher, so just do it both ways and see for yourself.
Hint: You want a mix that sounds great regardless of whether the listener will use loudness or not. (and you’re not likely to get that if you mix with loudness on)

#4

+1
{’-’}

#5

+1
On some older stereos the loudness button was label Night. As you turn the overall volume down you usually want to boost the lows and highs so you can hear them again.

#6

Here are the culprits:

Harvey Fletcher and Wilden A. Munson were right on with this work
(I studied their development on this issue at university) but as Bredo posted:

But misused in nearly every home setup I’ve seen,

I totally agree.

It’s like serving someone a meal of which you are very proud
and the first thing they do (before tasting it) is to load it up with salt and pepper.
{’-’}

#7

Do current systems even still have a loudness button?

#8

This Xmas the wife ordered a Bose Lifestyle system for the living room.
No loudness button.
{’-’}

#9

No but some have a graphic EQ and it’s almost always configured with a great big smile on it’s face :laughing:
(OMG Some even use this in conjunction with the loudness button :astonished: )
((if that’s not bad enough, some even have separate bass and treble knobs as well, and these too will be turned up :open_mouth: ))

#10

I like to mix with Loudness on …

#11

Clearly you don’t know Onkel Grusome. :laughing:

#12

The guitarist from my first band gifted that same guitar to me for my birthday.

It’s nice to be loved. :slight_smile:

#13

Are they the Power Rangers?

#14

Ahh! The 'Disco Smile"

That’s my brother. If there is a knob,slider,fader, just turn it up full.
At least he’s consistent. :slight_smile:
{’-’}

#15

A regular Nigel Tufnel ehh?

#16

Thanks for all the replys guys.

And I DO concur: mix with loudness off, I just wanted your takes on this
The reason I even asked is as as Bredo says:
It is misused by almost all people in nearly every home setup I’ve seen, beacause “more is better”.
So therefore the thought struck me: why not mix with a similar setup to what most people misuse in their own home, hehe


And of course: a great mix will sound great with or witrhout loudness on.

I paticularly liked this comment:
"It’s like serving someone a meal of which you are very proud
and the first thing they do (before tasting it) is to load it up with salt and pepper."

Spot on!

All the best, Kim :nerd:

#17

Yes it is still alive and kicking :slight_smile:

I have a quite good two year old Denon stereo amp here that I use when mixing, and there is a loudness button on it, hehe :smiley:

#18

I of course agree but sometimes this isn’t totally correct.
Example: 1991’s “Black” album by Metallica mixed by Bob Rock…
It sounds very good without loudness, he has obviously really worked a lot with eq on this getting it as massive as he can, but if/when you turn loudness on it comes VERY close to overkill IMO

All the best, Kim

#19

Whatever you are doing now, it’s working!

I think it doesn’t matter as much as getting the sound you want compared to reference recordings you want to sound like. Then play your recording on every playback device you have, again against reference recordings. I use a 1996 Honda Civic, for example.

I think you already do this! Still, thanks for getting a discussion going!

#20

I’m glad someone beat me to this post. :laughing: