what do you use for reference mix?

[Luke K]

Hi,

One thing i have not done much of lately is compare my mix to a reference mix. So i am thinking i should find a few mixes i can use.
What do you use? and does it matter if the track is mixed and mastered as much?
Otherwise where can you find "mixed" only tracks to buy as reference tracks?
Anyone have any good mixes they could share for this?
Thanks,
Luke K

[albee1952]

Its really a personal choice(despite a million live sound guys wearing out the old Steely Dan.......). I would grab some commercial releases in the same vein of your project(and remember that they will almost always be a lot louder due to mastering). I also recommend using the original CD and NOT any compressed version(iTunes AAC, mp3 or similar). iTunes can be set to rip as uncompressed wave if you need it "in the box". I have a CD player attached to a monitor/source selector for this(Presonus Central Station).

[ondruspat]

This page has a interesting list of reference releases:

http://www.digido.com/honor-roll-of-...ecordings.html

food for thought if nothing else....

[systemexclusive]

Originally Posted by ondruspat

This page has a interesting list of reference releases:

http://www.digido.com/honor-roll-of-...ecordings.html

food for thought if nothing else....

Wow! Nice article. Many thanks ondruspat to you!!!

[TOM@METRO]

Still the question of how to fight the loudness war continue, so I have decided only to be a little louder than everyone else.

[ondruspat]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

Still the question of how to fight the loudness war continue, so I have decided only to be a little louder than everyone else.

ROFLOL!!!

[1ace1]

I always use a reference that is similar in genre and overall production as the piece I am recording/mixing.

I recently did a blues session, they wanted an old school feel to the mix so I spent a couple of days listening to the 'Blue Horizon Sessions' and the 'Pious Bird of Good Omen'.

When it came to mixing the blues everything just slotted into place.

Regarding the loudness wars...

I just let them turn it up a bit so they can hopefully hear/feel the dynamics (that is if people still have any form of perception of dynamics in music anymore. Whispers are the same level as shouts I tell you... AS Shouts!!!).

A:)

[barters81]

I'm by no means a pro, but a pro once told me to simply listen to as much music as possible on your mixing monitors in your room. Unfortunately I'm constantly in trouble from the Mrs for what she perceives as not working in there...."But you're just listening to music". *shakes head slowly.....

[RiF]

Because it's always a bit tricky to compare a mastered-to-death commercial mix to my not-yet-mastered-and-maybe-never-will-be-mix, I like those Rockband MOGGs that contain stems of a gazillion of songs, mix those together and end up with a non-mastered version of a commercial song. This is easier to compare to what comes out of my Master Fader.
You can always lower the volume of a mastered track, but it's still a mix where they compressed and limited the snot out of.