Broken Speakers or Shitty EQing?

[Beants]

So i was working on a track all night last night, straight headphones. The sample had a little too much high end frequencies, so i put it into FL and started EQing it. I took off alot of the highs, boosted the mids a little, and kept the lows at a nice level to where its not so bassy, but so where it doesnt sound like a high pass filter.

Sounded great on my headphones, but once i started playing it on my speakers, every time the sample hits, it sounds sorta staticy. not sure if thats the right word to use, but its basically just too much for my speakers to handle.

My speakers aren't the best, and theyre not in great condition either, so im not sure if the track just needs some better EQing, or if its time to invest in some new speakers.... any input would be dope!!

[MattCoops]

A set of decent studio monitors is a sound investment.
I found my Yamaha NS10s at Salvation Army for $30. Not saying you too will find a score like that, but you can get used speakers at a relatively easy price point.

I always thought it better to mix on speakers rather than headphones.

[Beants]

I always thought it better to mix on speakers rather than headphones.

yeah i feel it. its just i work on most of my beats at night after work and i share my room with my little brother AND sister (it fucking sucks). so i find myself mixing .... well doing everything by headphone ha.

pretty shitty conditions to work with, but i try my best to get a good outcome of it ha!

[l i f]

Couple just spontaneous things spring to mind, may be of some help..

Anything you're sampling was likely mixed and mastered by recording engineers, so you can probably trust that the eq isn't too trebley in reality, even if shitty headphones tell you that's the case.

To be double-sure, maybe run your samples through a flat eq before sampling.

Mids can be quite harsh, may explaining the speakers sounding bad.

A/B cross referencing may be a solution.. find a track you like that you know is mixed and mastered well and get used to how that sounds through your headphones/use it as a reference for your own stuff in the eq stages.

Headphone mixing is pretty much normal for me too, but I usually check how shit is sounding on earbuds/monitor speakers/laptop speakers as well just to get a better idea... it just has to sound pretty darn good on most things, rather that heat on one system but dogshit everywhere else - once it leaves your hands you have zero control over how other people are listening to it...

(If I narrow my options to one that my tracks have to sound best on, it's probably earbuds cause that's how I consume most music.. mp3's off my phone. My kids are the same, as well as basically every kid at their school... sit on a bus and 98% of ppl have earbuds in.. on and on)

[MattCoops]

Also, stuff can be mixed poorly but still have a good sounding outcome.
Take for example Black Moon's Enter Da Stage.

[LO-]

Yo, for headphone mixing, lows are usually the trouble range, I always trust a vu meter for mix down it will give you full control from overloads. Highpass the kick until it doesn't spike and adjust the bass, can keep it nice and low. Most likely at a lower volume than u expect, usually gotta turn your snares down a bit for mixdown, vu meters rule.

[Beants]

Yo, for headphone mixing, lows are usually the trouble range, I always trust a vu meter for mix down it will give you full control from overloads. Highpass the kick until it doesn't spike and adjust the bass, can keep it nice and low. Most likely at a lower volume than u expect, usually gotta turn your snares down a bit for mixdown, vu meters rule.

Good Looks!!! ill keep that in mind for my next sesh!!

[spwarlock]

I think the previous poster who mentioned that the sample was already mixed by an engineer is right.You shouldn't need to eq the sample too much.Usually if I'm doing any kind of eq on a sample its a lp filter to make it sound "dusty".Also I wouldn't high pass a kick unless your putting a a sub or something underneath it.Honestly w/ eq I try to do it as little as possible while still keeping the mix sounding good to me and not just cut out frequencies indiscriminately which can lead to its own issues.Also a lot of producers use less than top notch speakers and make some dope stuff so just work w/ what you've got
Hope this helps

[LO-]

Yo , unless your using ready made samples pre engineered you are going to at some point have to learn the basics of recording, audio engineering, gain staging , eq, dynamic compression, filters, and basic mastering, there is more to it and usually a right and wrong way of doing things in an standard fashion, the sound designer usually has a grasp over the entire spectrum of basic techniques. I think the most useful tool is the highpass filter. And ametures shouldn't use normalise or eq because they have no clue what is going on with the dynamic range of sonic wave dynamic amplification, it is the 'I made it so it sounds good effect' some talented people have an ear for it while others are neither talented musically or technically and have to develop technique and skill over time.
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[Beants]

And ametures shouldn't use normalise or eq because they have no clue what is going on with the dynamic range of sonic wave dynamic amplification, it is the 'I made it so it sounds good effect' some talented people have an ear for it while others are neither talented musically or technically and have to develop technique and skill over time.
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Very true, I forgot to mention in the beginning of this whole thing that the only reason i Eq'd it was to sort of take out a hat that was playing in the background. I didnt like the sound it was making so i took off some highs to sort of "Shush" it, so that the drums that i had would sound more clear.
Thats what i meant by making it sound good :p

Very true that all the mistakes i make are rookie mistakes but hey, we all gotta start somewhere right?

[Beants]

You shouldn't need to eq the sample too much.

Yeah, makes sense, as i said above though, only tried to EQ cuz i tried to take out a hat that was playing in the back :p guess i just failed at that attempt FUCK IT!!!

Thanks for all the feedback though!! greatly appreciate it!