Headphone mix = harsh bass tone

[brianh]

I've recently been doing more sessions and have noticed that no matter if I'm recording in a big professional studio or a spare bedroom studio...my bass tone in the monitors is always really harsh and brittle. This is the case regardless of what bass I'm using, and I've used a lot different ones. Generally very high quality gear. I set all EQ flat most of the time. I also have this problem when I'm playing double bass...

I'm not too concerned with this because it doesnt seem to be a problem with the recorded signal. It always sounds nice a fat n the playback. However it's really distracting and I feel it keeps me from really feeling relaxed in the studio. Is this a common issue and is there anything I can do to avoid this?

 

[hunta]

I'm assuming you're recording direct. Usually the direct sound will sound pretty blah until it's tweaked in the mixing process. It shouldn't sound totally awful though, if it does then something is wrong. If it really is happening no matter what gear you use or where you record, I have no idea.. There must be some common denominator.

 

[brianh]

It's just whats in the headphone mix. It sounds great when it goes to the board, usually without any processing. I'm just curious to see if there is anything I can do to "warm up" my tone in the headphone mix.

 

[kbr]

Have you tried a different set of Headphones? I've found a number of studio headphones (especially the Sennheiser hd280s) sound really harsh with bass. My problem was solved by getting a pair of AKG 240s (they're still bass light, but not harsh).

 

[Son of Bovril]

headphones will ALWAYS sound harsh compared to your actual signal, as the drivers in headphones are simply too small to properly reproduce the low frequency waves. the solution is to ad a simple eq or low frequency band pass filter into the headphones line, that way you can cut the highs and sort of hear what you bass is actually sounding like...

 

[ldiezman]

yeah, unless you have a super tight fitted set of phones on your head, you're going to miss out on the Low end. I have had the same problem. I have also sat in the control room and tracked bass using the reference speakers. which sounded great, but it helps to be at a great studio with amazing gear.