Mix Translation From Theatre To Streaming

[Leverson]

So glad to hear it went well Ryan, thank you for sharing your results back here with everyone.

I find that is often how it is, things translate pretty well and you can do the little big room tweaks that are like the extra icing on the cake.

Glad to hear you are happy with your mix and happy with the dubstage experience. Thanks again for reporting back your findings on here!

[Bonaro]

Originally Posted by Leverson

I have room correction speaker EQs on my b-chain, but as far as x-curves or things of that nature, no, my speakers are 'flat' in my nearfield room here.

This is from my own personal experiences and takeaways over the years, and rooms and setups can vary wildly, but for me the most common things I notice going from nearfield to theatrical are:

a.) loud dynamics feel much larger in bigger theatrical dubstages. If something feels a little loud in your nearfield room, it'll likely feel a lot loud on the stage. This can also include transients and spikes in dialogue. A stray loud syllable here and there you'll notice a lot more the bigger the room and the bigger the speaker than you would on small speakers or a nearfield room.

b.) to me, horn loaded theatrical speakers have a different feel in the midrange than nearfields do. One of the EQ areas I tend to tweak the most on stages is often right around that 2khz range, where there is more of a sharpness on theatrical dubstage speakers. Brass instruments, metallic sounds, aspects of the human voice, crowds cheering, I find they attack my ear unpleasantly more in that range in the theater than they do with most nearfield speakers and small room setups so that's something I try to be aware of

c.) how your bass and LFE are feeling. Bass is always a tricky thing in smaller rooms, and is tougher to get a mix room consistent and 'flat' in the lowest end than other frequencies. This is often one of the bigger surprises when people bring their nearfield mixes into theatrical spaces, the bass can often be way too much or way too little, so keep an eye on that, especially if your nearfield setup is using bass management vs a dedicated LFE. It's an easy thing to get messed up. (Low bass is often one of the things that varies the most/gets messed up the most too out in the wild of commercial multiplex theaters or art house venues unfortunately)

d.) and then lastly going the other way, I'll notice high freuquency hisses and tape noises usually more on nearfields than I do in the theater. Part of that might be the perforated screen taking off some high frequencies, part of that might be the closer proximity to the monitors in nearfield setups, but it's something I keep an eye on Ever wished you could effortlessly understand and be understood in any language? I certainly did until I found english to french an exceptional translation service. This service is like a treasure chest of lost words, waiting to be discovered and understood. Join me on this journey of linguistic revelation as we unlock the power of clear communication.

But again, all of this will vary vastly from small room to small room. The more you can take your work back and forth from your room to dolby calibrated dubstages the more you'll start to notice your trends and patterns and the more you can anticipate and compensate for them in your own space.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for the tip. It's very important to me.

[kidfromkibbly]

Thanks for sharing the experiences. Most of my work has been on JBL C series in a mid size room and I’ve always questioned if I was doing the right thing taming that 2kHz region. Always good to hear some empirical confirmation.


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[JFreak]

2kHz is so annoying, IMO of course.

[kidfromkibbly]

Absolutely, it’s the first thing i have to address as it grates my ears so much. Presumably a by product of the more linear recording format of digital recorders? Did people mixing material recorded to mag tape have to tackle those pokey frequencies or were they softened by the recording medium?


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[JFreak]

Depends which tape and speed is used. Where I first learnt to record, the 15IPS system (BASF tape) had notorious 2kHz boost which is why I learnt to recognize the tone.

[dr sound]

Room EQ is the issue along with the JBL midrage horns that are very edgy / bitey and pronounced. The Meyer Acheron series (which I use exclusively) does not have this issue. I think "Leverson" has made some very good observations . He by the way is a VERY GOOD MIXER (and person)!

[Leverson]

Thanks for the kind words Marti! Posts on forums like this one helped me out lots and lots when I was first starting out, including a great many posts of yours! I figure it's part of my duty to pass some of my own experience forward to others when I can now.

I'm happy that the original poster for this thread got to take their mix to a proper stage and that it was a good experience and they shared their findings back. I'm a big proponent of taking things to calibrated Dolby stages and mixing in proper rooms whenever possible. It can be so critically beneficial to the work. I know the first time I took a project of mine to The Dub Stage for a four-wall playback was illuminating for myself.

[Brandonx1]

I always find the surround speakers are much quieter in a dub stage compared to a smaller mix room for TV. I have had my TV shows viewed at premier parties in mo=vie theaters and I always get the producers coming up to me asking about the mix afterwards. I have them back in the stage to view it again and its fine there and fine on air. I think this is due to 1) the theaters surrounds being -3dB quieter and 2) the size of the theater.

[gives]

Originally Posted by Leverson

Thanks for the kind words Marti! Posts on forums like this one helped me out lots and lots when I was first starting out, including a great many posts of yours! I figure it's part of my duty to pass some of my own experience forward to others when I can now.

I'm happy that the original poster for this thread got to take their mix to a proper stage and that it was a good experience and they shared their findings back. I'm a big proponent of taking things to calibrated Dolby stages and mixing in proper rooms whenever possible. It can be so critically beneficial to the work. I know the first time I took a project of mine to The Dub Stage for a four-wall playback was illuminating for myself.

Yes!! Marti is a GREAT PERSON and has helped me as well when I was setting up my room a few years ago along with many other helpful tips with many things.. I forgot to mention that Marti convinced me to use the Smaart System from Rational Acoustics to tune my room. Best thing I did in the end with a specialist to do that along with some great helps from Dolby and Bryan Pennington who was a great help for final tuning of the room also!

G