Why Does My Mix Sound Bad in the Car? 

better start mixing your tracks inside the car

I came up with a simple solution. I brought my car into my home studio :)

Joe:"Has this ever happened to you?" *jams to country music* Me: no.

I liked the car mix better

I dont even have to do the "car-test" cause my mix already sounds shit on my phone😥😥

Secret point #6: it could also be your room. If you're mixing in a crappy-sounding room, with no acoustic treatment, this is going to mess with your ability to hear things correctly.

I always listen to my mixes as if it were someone else listening to it for the first time. It's a totally different frame of mind, and it's much more about soaking up broad strokes and vibe rather than ultra micro managing tiny details. It's almost like putting mental wool over your ears and stopping yourself zooming in too far.

Spot on the "reason number 2" I use my NS10s for *everything,* mixing, listening to music, videogame, movies. The way your brain calibrates on a set of speakers is impressive.

i remember the time when i was bad at mixing !! after 8 years i got way better and i was just a producer but now every song i produce includes Mixing+Mastering and more paycheck !!

I had to figure this stuff out on my own throughout the course of... 2 or 3 thousand mixes or so... Annnnnd I just wanted to say it makes me so happy to hear other people saying what I've been thinking for years. It's so much easier to find bad advice on this stuff than it is to find good advice, everyone wants to be an expert. That said, you're doing an awesome service to the beginner and intermediate crowd and seriously moving them in the right direction. Please keep it up.

I loved the opening segment. I call it the "walk of shame" back to the house when the mix sounds horrible in the car. You played the part perfectly. I've made it many times at 1:00 in the morning but I don't have that experience as much these days. I've learned my speakers in both my studio and car by using reference tracks for comparisons. Your recommendation to listen to everything on your studio speakers is spot on and it really works.

I had literal tears running down my face watching the intro to this because I have been living this problem the last week! I think it's just that Inexperience Factor as I'm just learning how to mix properly and that I added a bit too much high end EQ on the masters and killed the drums so now I'm going to try dialing that back and mixing my drums like a saw in your video for that (using a separate Drum Bus). Thanks for this! Gonna watch more of your videos as I go!

It's so true - my first produced album seems full of mistakes and not enough understanding about how to mix properly (I'm not judging myself as I recorded and mixed it all alone while studying sound engineering course ) but I noticed how after 3-4 years somehow my knowledge of things increased immensely and even tho I know it's not the end , but production feels miles apart from my first one! Great advice man

Even though been doing for many years, I still listen a new mix in my car, but, first I listen to the radio few songs, then swamp to the CD Player (Yes I have an old Toyota), and compare the tone. Radio always sounds louder in my car for some reason (Doh!), so I have to turn my CD up to match. So why in the car? Well, once my client leaves my studio with a master CD in their hand, first thing they will do is listen on their way home :)

I can't believe you made this video! 😱, I was afraid I was the only one experiencing this... Thank you!

I was smiling from ear to ear within five seconds. This happens with every one of my songs! I don't get too bummed because I know I'm not that good, but when I don't know how to diagnose and fix the problem, I end up like Sad Joe. All of your points were spot-on for me.

I was in tears @1:01 🤣😭😂💀 bruh you funny af man good shit

Just bring your car into the studio... and mix with your car there... problem solved

Loved this video!!! When you walk back to the studio with your head down. We have all been there!!!

Thanks Joe, great advice in this video. I'm in the middle of mixing my EP right now. This is the first time I am mixing on my own and I love the advice. Using references is so important. I haven't been doing that and I need to. Thank you for the reminder.

For point #2, "HDTracks" is an amazing resource for referencing high quality professional and modern music/masters

The best trick is to listen a lot of music in the studio. I'm fortunate because my studio is also my class room where I teach guitar for about 8h a day, every day! So I listen to tones of stuff on my monitors and my mixing room every day. I know how music sounds there.

After 40 years on stage, and hours in recording studio. I now have my first song with my own home studio. It sounds fantastic because nobody dares to say it sucks. HAHA! But I'm having a great time. The world of DAW's- pluging's etc. Watched hundreds of videos to get inspired and how to work with your DAW. Learned a lot from your videos how to work in studio one. THX 4 the VID's. PS: some have no subtitles (I am Dutch)

I love the way you put this video together. I have no choice but to subscribe.

Who else here loves sad Joe? The hanging head walk is priceless!

I'm thinking what happens is a lot of people starting out will get decent studio monitors, and not knowing how to use them yet, or how things are suppose to sound on them, they mix their song until it sounds like music does in their car. Lots of low end, maybe scooped in the mids area, etc. Then when they get the mix to their car, the mix is over exaggerated. Making it sound like poop.

Dude- Thank you so much for putting this channel up- your videos are helping me enormously, I Have learned so much from watching how you do your recordings the last few weeks, and now understand why my stuff stands to improve tremendously thanks to your GIRATS concept, and yeah - i never got it right at the source.

You’ve shone the bright light of truth on my musical journey Joe! I’ve tried everything that you mention and you made me laugh 😂 But I’m still plodding through. Thanks for all your advice common sense 👍🎶😊

You are too funny. This is so true. Now I critique every radio song in my car. Singing the hoots of the snare drum on a STP song. Or will someone please put a deesser on Alanis Morissette's vocal!!

Good video, touched on most of the points needed but one really big issue was left out... #6 - you can only mix what you hear. If the actual acoustic “sound” of your home studio is terrible then your mixes will not translate to other environments. I am a professional sound engineer and have been for over 20 years. I’ve recorded and mixed over 500 albums professional, have Grammy nominations, etc... I notice the acoustics of the room I am mixing in effects the final outcome of the mix moreso than anything else... I can mix on crappy speakers, good speakers, crappy recordings, good recordings, etc. and I can always get a good mix... but when the acoustics of the room are terrible, no matter what I do, my mixes sound terrible and I can’t hear what I need to do to fix it because it sounds great IN THE ROOM I am mixing in. A lot of ppl don’t realize that untreated rooms impart a lot of comb filtering into the acoustic sound of the room.... what that means is mixing in an untreated room is like mixing with a 31 band EQ on your speakers and a toddler just decided to move all the sliders for all the bands up and down to make a cool looking shape! Lol. As an example of what I’m talking about put a 31 band EQ across your mix bus and then just mess it up with some bands up 12dB some bands Down 12dB and some at different points in between... now mix a song with that on the mix bus... when you are done and you have the song sounding great, bypass the 31 band EQ and now see what happens to your mix... sounds like complete crap now doesn’t it? That is the same thing that happens when you move your mix from room to room and speaker system to speaker system. The solution is to get good acoustic treatment and set it up properly. And whatever you do, do not use foam for anything... get the good stuff, Owens Corning 703 fiberglass or roxul mineral wool. The thicker the better. If you put those panels in the first reflection points and then put some bass traps In the corners it will transform the sound of your home studio space and you will start hearing little subtleties in your tracks you never noticed before.

These are awesome points, especially about everything sounding bad in the car! Thanks so much for sharing!

Have watched many of your vids and this is my favorite. Had me laughing and learning all at the same time. Today I learned my truck stereo may be loud but that does not necessarily mean good. Thanks Joe!

pro tip: bring your INTERFACE into your car, and use one of the monitor headphone outputs for audio connecting to the cars aux port. when things dont playback similarly across different speaker types, its usually 50% improper mix environment at your studio, and 50% of the difference comes from a significant difference in playback engine/playback quality. Until you have a properly treated mix environment, just use headphones when EQ'ing. yeah, its kinda a pain in the ass to keep switching back and forth, but until the monitor speakers are in a treated room, your mixes will have huge inconsistencies across different formats + playback devices

1:05 Priceless Look 😂🤣😂 totally been there

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS VIDEO! YOU JUST GOT YOURSELF A NEW SUBSCRIBER ✨

Definitely subscribing. Your one of the few people who actually talk about this part of mixing

Thanks! I'm buying a car now!

The reason is that you spend your money in the studio, not on a car! Greetz

Love this video. Hope u have a great day joe

number one secret that changed my mixing skills : reference tracks ! I always have reference tracks in my daw when i produce / mix / master, it helps A LOT to not be in a "subjective perfect bubble "

Mix in mono, problem solved

Actually it might be that you mix your songs in stereo which may sound good to the ears in your studio because of the monitors and whatever so when you are in your car the mix is coming to you in mono as you sit closely to one of the speaker the trick here ladies and gentleman is to mix in mono. Thank me later

Great info and presentation. Love the walk back from the car… eerily familiar.

This is very true actually when u start producing crazy genres especially

It's definitely a faulty iPhone adapter :D .. Anyway I'll add also to mix others people music this help alot, and not just that but master mixes done by others.

Christmas tiiiiime is heeeeeere...

Sonarworks Reference and before it IK Multimedia ARC helped a lot with mix translation and recording better tracks. Good video, Joe!

I just checked my first final mix😆 in my car. Not bad!!! Just need to tweak a few things! Thanks for your help in these videos Joe!!

I mix my songs without listening to it. They always come out great. 😂

Video starts at 2:00

Your videos are great man! Lol made my morning.

You ROCK Joe!

Try to make sure ur decibel's aren't too high

oh man, I was watching myself in this video..hihihi Like

I find I have setup time in my studio prior to getting to work on recording or mixing. Moving gear around... changing cables, general clean up or organization, etc. During this time I usually will listen to some music on my studio system. Not just for the entertainment but also to acclimate my ears to the room and the sound system.

Absolutely invaluable advice, thanks bro.

3:08 Solution: simply listen to darksideofthemoon and immediatly go back to your mix

Why does your car have a ringmodulator ? :D

Hey Joe Guilder..I am a big fan of your voice speaking and singing:-) Amazing clarity in what u explain in the videos..cheers !!!

reaaaaaaly solid advice. thanks Joe, you gave me many things to think about and i'm better because of you. What I'm going to do immediately after commenting is subscribing, liking and turning alerts on.

- Know how to Mix/ Master: Bass

'Life is one big disappointment'

Nothing but facts. All spot on. Thank you!

That was hilarious! I have definitely been there and you recreated that scene so very well. Kudos

i know why your mixes are sound bad..look at your room and your speakers...wtf is going on

Instructions not clear enough I just bought a new truck with a system in it....

HOLY SHIT JOE 😱 at this exact point, your video was a game changer 🙏🏼 SUBSCRIBED !!! Thank you 👌🏼

This was extremely helpful! Especially the listening to other mixes

Does mixing in general make y'all depressed af?

Haha......every time!!!

Joe, Thank you for all of these videos. I've been watching them daily and I'm gaining alot of functional knowledge. I just read the cheat sheet and really appreciated that too. Keep it up man, You're doing the Lord's work.

#2 is a great point, I’ve recently been using songs I love for their production as references, almost to the point of copying them! But it’s mainly just for me to improve my mixing!

Your voice sounds like James Hetfield's voice :v

My car has ass speakers lol

Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️ As someone who always loved to play instruments, I started a RU-vid channel some months ago, just for the joy of making music and sharing it with others. I began to record myself just with a usb mic and Audacity 😄, suddenly hearing all my mistakes in flute playing (it's so true what you mentioned in point 4), thus getting better with every step. Then, some weeks ago, my way lead me to my first DAW. It was like "woooow, I don't have to use so much real instruments anymore!" 😄 And now everything seems more complicated BUT also more joyful than ever. I made (and will make) lots of mistakes along my way, still standing at the very beginning. Watching my stuff from a few months ago is all other than a pleasure 😂, because I have developed. It is so exciting to see how one's own demands increase with one's ability to do so. When I have finished a recording/video, I listen to my mixes on different devices (mobile, headphones, speaker, TV, etc.), for me this function best and saves me from nervous breakdowns. 😂 Thanks for all the tips to Sudio One, you are helping me a lot. :) Lovely greetings, Meike

I love your humor and comedy at the start of the video

The real answer is that almost everyone has no idea what they're doing and are too lazy to find out and most likely have never really succeeded at anything because they're incompetent. For those that aren't incompetent, unfortunately, the information is so scattered on RU-vid that someone would have to watch dozens of the correct videos to know a quarter of the essentials. Also, most everyone can't afford much more than the computer they have to mix on. My advice is to motivate yourself to really try, for once, to be good at something. Then you'll start committing to put in real effort. Expect to invest hundreds of hours...yes, hundreds. Don't like the truth? Then this isn't for you.

What is this white dad music?

Surely everyone has been in this exact situation. Years ago I also had issues trying to get mixes sounding good on my Bose dock as that unit is rather bass-heavy. This video is invaluable and also entertaining

Using a good reference track while mixing always helps me. I use a song I don't even really like which allows me to concentrate on the sonic qualities rather than the song. No matter how many times I've mixed tunes it still amazes me how your ears can adjust and 'wander off' down a path that's a million miles away from solid, great sound...

Beautiful Explanation Champ! Funny Skit too!

defiantly great advice ! and you are right about mixing. I play guitar very well for many years. But to mix is much harder than just playing. Thank you for great advice!

This is PRICELESS advice. Listen to well mixed music on your monitors. LEARN how they respond to other mixes, just like your headphones (if you use those for mixing). It's just learning how to react to certain frequencies and THEN applying that your mix knowing that they have a dip around a certain frequency and correct it.

By far the best mixing tip video on RU-vid.

short sweet n simple. always a perfect mix

Love IT!!!! Thank you!

Totally me...like this weekend. Good video! Thank you.

Hey man I love your channel. Keep it up!

Great video Joe!

Great VID Joe .. Thanks for sharing the info., but that make me really wonder what's the crucial use of the studio monitor if at some point it can lie on us

best video ever -soooooo funny looking forward to tomorrows coaching call

you are so good ...its soooooo down to earth

Good video, useful ideas and also funny to watch!

Great advice and information.

Very nice tips Joe! And tip number 4 is so true. Or to say with the words John Wolfert from JAM creative in Dallas ones said: there's is no formula for mixing, it's takes a lot of listening and creativity.

using reference tracks though out the production, mix and mastering process is a game changer . More important than the monitoring enviroment in my experience.

This is such a great video. Thank you so much! You deserved my like!

Love you because you make me so much laughing 😆 in this video. It’s a great combination of transferring knowledge and fun 🤩 I have clicked on the abo button 👍🏽

So funny at the beginnning! I like this video. Thanks for your advices!

Yeah it happen to me too .....love this tuturial