Distortion on small speakers/headphones

[muthagoose]

Hello! I recently recorded a short bass tapping clip using a delay effect. When listening to the recording on my AKG K240 headphones it sounds fine, but when I play it on smaller headphones or my iPhone speakers there is some quite noticeable distortion in some parts.

I've tried changing a lot of different variables to try and pinpoint what is causing the distortion, but I can't seem to hit that sweet spot where the recording also sounds decent on smaller headphones or smartphone speakers.

Here is the clip if you'd like to take a listen:


The distortion seems to happen on parts where the lower notes "swell" due to the delay effect.

Is it the lower frequencies causing this distortion? Is there a frequency I should try to cut out? Should I change limiter settings, or is there something else I can try to tinker with?

When I recorded this the preamp bass knob was turned up all the way as well. Do I need to re-record using less bass on the preamp, or can this be saved by cutting out the lower frequencies, if that in fact is the problem?

I've also attached a picture of the settings and plug-ins I'm using for this clip. The EQ settings are not the same as in the clip, but should be pretty close.

Thanks for taking the time!

 

[Ender_rpm]

you may want to high pass the bass signal at 60-80 HZ if youre experiencing this. I can listen right now, butI'd give that at least a shot.

 

[silky smoove]

First off, very nice playing. Well done.

Looking at my frequency analyzer while this is playing the vast majority of the frequency content is in a range fro about 80hz up to around 250hz. You could try to high pass more aggressively (either higher or steeper) but that seems sufficiently high to me for not being annoying on small speakers.

Listening on my studio system it sounds quite clear with no apparent distortion. Listening on the speaker in my iPhone 11 Pro Max I can hear what you might think is distortion but in my experience is just a build-up of frequencies in the midrange where they're accentuated on typical smartphone style speakers. You could try a notch filter EQ somewhere between 200-500hz. Play around with it (Q value and amount of gain reduction) until you hear this clear up on your phone speakers.

 

[muthagoose]

First off, very nice playing. Well done.

Looking at my frequency analyzer while this is playing the vast majority of the frequency content is in a range fro about 80hz up to around 250hz. You could try to high pass more aggressively (either higher or steeper) but that seems sufficiently high to me for not being annoying on small speakers.

Listening on my studio system it sounds quite clear with no apparent distortion. Listening on the speaker in my iPhone 11 Pro Max I can hear what you might think is distortion but in my experience is just a build-up of frequencies in the midrange where they're accentuated on typical smartphone style speakers. You could try a notch filter EQ somewhere between 200-500hz. Play around with it (Q value and amount of gain reduction) until you hear this clear up on your phone speakers.

Thank you for the compliment, and a huge thanks for taking the time to listen and give me your feedback, I really appreciate it! I had some time today to tweak the EQ according to your suggestions and it cleared up the recording. Again, a huge thank you!