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Mixing decisions have to be understood in context. The live rehearsal recording might sound warmer and more natural on a decent pair of headphones, but it'd so

Mixing decisions have to be understood in context. The live rehearsal recording might sound warmer and more natural on a decent pair of headphones, but it'd sound like complete mush on AM radio. The very sparse, crisp mixes of the 80s can sound harsh and synthetic to a modern listener, but they sound superb on a cassette boombox. Most pop mix engineers habitually toggle between a high quality monitoring system and a "grot box" speaker (often in mono) with good transient response but very limited frequency range. They understand that their job isn't to produce a mix that sounds good in the studio, but a compromise mix that sounds as good as possible across a wide range of low-fidelity playback systems. Modern mixes tend to be more neutral because of the general improvement in playback fidelity. Still, a competent pop mix engineer is giving a great deal of thought to how well a mix will work in a noisy restaurant or through the built-in speakers on a TV. They're thinking about people listening in the car or listening through one earbud.

williamcotton 3y ago
Yamaha NS10s are still the go-to “shitty stereo system” monitors found in most studios. Bounces listened to in cars and on phones are a basic mixing practice these days as well.
vr46 3y ago
Sure, but the mix is not the recording, and it's the masters that are the bone of contention here. And we have hundreds of contemporary albums that were all designed to be heard on all the same equipment, in 1987 alone we had Terence Trent D'Arby's debut, Pet Shop Boys' Actually, Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night, Whitney Houston's second album, Guns 'n Roses' Appetite for Destruction, U2's Joshua Tree, so I don't buy this argument that albums were mixed for these compromises all the time. All of those albums sound fantastic. The fundamental recordings of those Prince albums seem to be sub-par, although that has not been helped by some of the mastering of original CDs or cassettes. I originally had it on tape, but then did buy the CD, years later bought a newer CD and then bought the Super Deluxe. No big differences!

williamcotton 3y ago

Yamaha NS10s are still the go-to “shitty stereo system” monitors found in most studios. Bounces listened to in cars and on phones are a basic mixing practice these days as well.

vr46 3y ago

Sure, but the mix is not the recording, and it's the masters that are the bone of contention here. And we have hundreds of contemporary albums that were all designed to be heard on all the same equipment, in 1987 alone we had Terence Trent D'Arby's debut, Pet Shop Boys' Actually, Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night, Whitney Houston's second album, Guns 'n Roses' Appetite for Destruction, U2's Joshua Tree, so I don't buy this argument that albums were mixed for these compromises all the time. All of those albums sound fantastic. The fundamental recordings of those Prince albums seem to be sub-par, although that has not been helped by some of the mastering of original CDs or cassettes. I originally had it on tape, but then did buy the CD, years later bought a newer CD and then bought the Super Deluxe. No big differences!