This may be a strange question, as I’m completely new to editing and it may just be a question of my having to learn EQ and other techniques, but the sound I am getting from my VSTs seems pretty tinny.
It’s okay through good headphones, but awful through my computer speakers and also in the audio mixdown. When I play it next to other music, it sounds like it’s coming out of an old transistor radio.
I’m using Berlin Orchestra from Orchestral Tools, which seems to be an amazing set of samples, but still getting this issue.
So, is this normal, and is it a question of learning production? Or does it sound like there’s an issue with my setup somewhere?
If it’s normal, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage, as I’m more of a composer and have little aptitude for technical production. I have tried playing around with the EQ for ages, but am not managing to improve the sound much. How do other people in my position manage this? Is it normal to have composers and producers working together so each works on a piece using their natural strengths? If so, how do these collaborations come about and where might I look to find someone suitable?
Sorry if these are all very basic things that most people already know…
Both of which are using your computer’s (PC, Mac?) onboard audio I assume? My knee-jerk reaction is to trust the pricey headphones over some so-so computer speakers. That said even dirt cheap modern speakers sound better than those old tinny radios. Lots of computers have audio settings which supposedly “improves” the sound based on music style, room type, or who knows what. You’ll want to hunt these down & disable them all.
One thing that audio folks, both beginners and old hands, use are called Reference Tracks. These are just great sounding commercial recordings, in a style similar to what you are working on. When mixing they use these references to compare against their current mix. Key to this is selecting Tracks you know really well already, stuff you’ve heard a jillion times.
But a Reference Track can also be used to debug Audio problems because you know exactly when it sounds right or wrong. So load up a few recordings into a Cubase Project and compare how they sound on headphones vs. speakers.
Yes. Cubase is sending out the same audio to both the phones & speakers. If they sound different from each other it’s happening after the audio leaves Cubase. The possible exception is if you are A) using the Control Room and B) are using Inserts within the Control Room. This isn’t something you’d inadvertently setup.
My advice is that you ignore EQ for awhile. All the libraries you’re going to use will already be fine tuned to sound really good. Most EQ adjustments you might make are going to be for nuances. And the truth is that with EQs, like many audio processors, there’s usually more ways to make it sound worse than better.
Thank you very much Raino. That’s a good idea about reference tracks. I didn’t know about it. I wonder whether it’s something about my mix or about the VSTs, as commercial tracks loaded into Cubase sound fine.
Can I ask, did you find it to have a tinny sound, or did it sound okay to you?
Right+Click on the Speaker Icon on the Toolbar and look at all the different settings and menu items. I bet you’ll find some sort of audio processing is enabled somewhere.