TIPS - TRICKS - MYTHS - FAQ
These pages are updated frequently, and last update was: 2022-08-22

TIPS AND TRICKS

#1 - Mixing [1]: Masking/blending longer vocal delays with reverb(s)

While mixing any song and when longer delays are used for vocals, the delay will often not sound professional if used clean and as is, and so reverb is your best friend in this case, and in many other cases too. By masking/blending the vocal delay a bit with one or more reverbs, the delays will sound more soft, professional and will not appear so up front and obvious to the listener. Adding reverb(s) to softly mask/blend the delays will add space. There are several technics to do this of course, like having the delay going into a reverb or having the reverb go into the delay while adjusting the blend-knob (dry/wet) for the delay/reverb. This, however, will have you run into several obsticles. And so for most vocals (and even for most situations) the best way is to send the vocal signal to two bus/aux channels where one bus has the reverb on it and the other bus has the delay on it. Doing this will give you more choices/options regarding EQ, panning, compression and other useful tools when controlling the effects like for example ducking the effects (side-chain) to have the vocal sound more clear when the vocalist is singing. By lowering the effects in volume (ducking) instead of totally muting the effects while the vocalist is singing will allow the effects to come up in volume softly. Having the effects go from 0% wet to 100% wet will sound kind of hard compared with having the effects go from say 65% wet to 100% wet. In other words, often we want the transition of effects not to be that obvious to the listener, but sometimes it will be useful of course. For example if just one word at the end of a verse should be delayed to create a softer transition to another part of the song, like for example going from a verse to a chorus part or such.

Delays and reverbs are such important tools in mixing, even in so called dry mixes (shorter effects), and it is a good thing to experiment and think in different ways of how to use these effects. Imagine for example being at a concert if it's a live sounding song you're mixing, becuase then you will be pointed in the right direction regarding how to setup the delay and/or reverb parameters. There are of course better and worse ways of using these effects, but one thing to absolutely keep in mind is to not overdo it, because it will sound terrible with to much delay and reverb because the mix will be a total mess. Also keep in mind that too long delays can make some parts of the song sound out of tune, and that is not good.

To the untrained mixer it might sound fantastic with a lot of reverbs and delays, just like compressing the hell out of a mix on the master bus, but don't do it this way. A good mix engineer will create a very good sounding mix by treating the individual tracks and sometimes groups of audio, and NOT doing it on the master bus (the lazy and unprofessional way). Also, by doing this you won't go further in learning about mixing. And do not forget to actually listen carefully to what the effects are doing for the whole mix, and try not to use the solo function on the effects as much because you need to hear the effects as a part of the full mix to correctly be able to adjust different parameters of the effects. I hope this will help you in the future.

#2 - Vocal recording: Don't forget the sound coming from behind, the sides & above the vocalist

There are many products out there that are easy to carry with you, and fast to setup for any vocal recording session. However, these products will mostly be mounted behind the microphone where most often the microphone is least sensitive to reflecting audio and/or noise, and by that I of course mean if you use the cardioid setting on the mic or the preamp which in most cases would be used for most single vocalist recordings, these products will not do enough or as much to improve the sound as you might think. Well the more expensive ones might help a bit, and some products will take care of reflections coming from the sides. But instead, any sound/noise reflections from above, from the sides and from behind is what you should care about more. Most important is to make sure that any sound hitting the microphone from where you are standing will not enter the microphone, other then your voice. Of course your body and your head will stop some of the reflections of the room from entering the microphone, but you should make sure to use some kind of soft blanket or any other soft material to be used behind you. This will stop a whole lot of sound reflections from entering the microphone.

It is even better if you can do the same to the sides of where the microphone and the vocalist is placed. Mostly the hardest part to solve is the space aboove the microphone, mainly hanging some kind of soft material above the vocalist and the microphone. Luckely, it will do if you can place something soft just above the microphone, let's say a few centimeters above the microphone so that it covers a bit more than the size of the microphone (the area seen from above), for example if you can mount something soft that is of the same size as the microphone holder (the larger ones), roughly the size of a CD or a bit bigger. This way the vocalists voice will always enter the microphone with no obsticles in the way, but the reflections coming from above will not. In this case the vocalist is not as important to cover from above as the microphone itself, but if it is possible it is of course better to cover a larger area with soft material from above. Anyway, there are several ways of creating a cheap and effective vocal booth with whatever soft materials you might have lying around at home.

#3 - Master stereo bus in the box [1]: The only audio altering plugin for recording and mixing

While recording and mixing, a lot of people often use more than one plugin on the stereo bus. This is often a lazy way to quickly get a good sounding mix because it sounds more pleasing with for example compression on the stereo bus, but this will not help you in the long run because you will not learn how to truly mix, and it can destroy your final result in the end. This is kind of a beginners mistake, or even a stupid and dum mistake, but others will do this too. But I am not here to say what is wrong or right just for you, but I will explain how I see it;

First of all, what do I use on my stereo bus during recording and mixing?

Well, the only plugin that is active on my masterbus that can alter the master bus signal is a brickwall limiter that most often does not do anything at all because I know how to keep the audio levels well below zero db. I only use the brickwall limiter as a protection if I ever would do some stupid mistake that is not good for my ears or my gear, not to mention the artist(s) and/or vocalist(s) ears. That is the only reason, and I believe it should be the only reason to use the masterbus plugin section for recording and during the mixing stage. However, when the mix is done or almost done, and you're happy with the mix, then it may be time to add some gentle processing on the master stereo bus. It would be like putting some whipped creme on the icecream, if wanted, but that most often belongs to the mastering session. And if you're doing it to fix something in the mix that doesn't sound right, then... well, fixing it in the mix would be a better choice than trying to manipulate the whole mix using the stereo bus, as far as I can tell, and that is what I would do, and what I am doing.

To those who are used to using plugins on the main stereo bus it will feel a lot harder to mix, probably, especially if compressors are used on the stereo bus because these will give you a more pleasent sound often, and early in the mixing process probably. It is just as bad to use overall EQ'ing on the main stereo bus during mixing (a correctly set low/high cut/pass is ok), and even worse if you decide to change the EQ setting on the stereo bus because of something that doesn't sound right in the mix, because then you will alter the whole mix, and you guessed it; now something else will need fixing instead, and so on. Doing it this way will more often than not only introduce more problems to the mix.

My advice is to really work hard on any mix without using any plugins at all on the master stereo bus, except for as in my case using a brickwall limiter that does nothing unless I make any mistake. Your mixes will often sound much better in the end and you will probably learn how to properly mix much better in the future. Also, the dynamics will probably still exist while you're closing in on the end result of your mix, and that is mostly a really important part of a mix.

As an example; keyboard players that uses the built-in sequencer and write songs in the synth often think it sounds fantastic, but the song itself sounds so flat without any dynamics left, but it has that "radio" sound feeling that makes you believe it is a really good mix. Well, remove the stereo bus processing and then listen. I'm just saying. The manufacturers of these synths know exactly how to make you feel like this is a great tool for you in the store, and by heavy compression and effects on the stereo main output it will sound great to you, but it will have its downsides, and it will sadly not sound professional, but it can be a good thing for live events in pubs or such if you are solo artist/entertainer.

To do some fantastic mixing with great results there are no simple shortcuts. You need to know how to mix without that "creme" added to the stereo bus. Don't be lazy, do the hard work to mix and learn more and in the end I can assure you that you will be much happier with your end results, then you can have your "creme".

#4 - Master stereo bus in the box [2]: This is not your monitor volume control

The master bus fader is often used as a volume control for the monitors/speakers by less experienced mixers, and I can absolutely see why this is because it is right there on the screen (in the box) so why reaching for a monitor controller or the volume knob on the amplifier when the fader is right there? Instead you could use the software mixer program that is being delivered toghether with whatever audio interface you have, because most audio interfaces comes with this software or you can probably download it.

The master bus should be seen as a part of the mix since this is the master volume for the mix itself. You might ask why there is a fader at all and the answer is that it can be used for fade-in and fade-out functions, and it can be used to automate the volume, panning and muting of the whole mix.

I never use the master bus volume fader, nor do I use the panning knob since I believe these things should be taken care of in the mix. I would use the master bus fader to fade-in and fade-out if needed. However, for some special effects in a mix it might be needed to use the master stereo bus volume, panning and/or muting. You could for example automate a section to totally mute everything as an effect to get total silence, and then fade-in soft or hard from the muted state. Of course, in earlier years the master fader of the mixing desk often was used to fade-out the end of a song, and the master bus mute function got rid of noise etc. before the start of a song (if not gates were used).

And so I, as most professional mix engineers, mostly leave the master bus fader at zero db, the panning to C (center) and of course the mute button in the off state. The monitor/speaker listening volume should be adjusted on the amplifier, on the monitor controller or on the audio interface etc. These days one of these options will be available to most of us, and as I wrote earlier, if you like to control your volume in-the-box, then use the software mixer for your audio interface.

But as always, we all use our equipment in different ways, and if you believe you need to use the master bus fader as a volume control then by all means do it as long as you feel this is working for you without any problems.

#5 - How to actually hear compression: Mix and master at a very low volume, use headphones

So ok, I know it's hard to hear compression to anyone who doesn't have a trained ear, and there's also very fine details in the compressed signal that can be even harder to hear, but maybe you're listening the wrong way.

What most people do when trying to teach how to hear compression they often go into deep technical things, and that's great of course, but nobody seems to explain the most important part; your ears and volume level. I want you to understand how to actually HEAR the compression as good as you can, and you do not need to understand all details for that, but this is very, very important information that comes with great benefits, believe me.

First of all, your ears will act as a compressor the louder you listen to music/sounds. This in it self will make your ears insensitive to details as you will hear squashed audio, meaning you will not be able to hear the compressed audio that well. This is one of several reasons to why mix and mastering engineers will listen at a low, or even at a very low volume level while mixing and mastering. Probably about 90 percent of the time will be low level listening.

By using headphones you will be able to hear the compression and other details even better, but it is important that you don't listen loud. Turn the volume down to a very low level, use headphones, and you will hear more of the details, and of course you will be able to hear compressed audio signals easier. Give yourself a chance to hear details and compression.

So before you try to begin understanding and learning about compression, here's a tip for you:

If you want to be able to actually hear the compression you need to begin with what is most important, your ears and your hearing, meaning you must give yourself a chance to be able to hear compression. For this you must listen to a low or to a very low volume and this is the best way to begin learning and hearing compression and other fine details. I would say it is the most important step of them all since without you hearing correctly you will not be able to learn about compression, or hear it. In other words; don't force your ears/hearing to do the compression as this WILL happen when you listen too loud.
The ears are your most important tool in the world of audio, so please always remember that.

The benefits:

- You will not harm your ears (please take care of your hearing and ears)

- You will give yourself a chance to actually HEAR compression

- You will be able to hear fine details much better

- You will be able to mix and master for longer periods of time

- You will be able to learn better regarding compression if you hear it

- You will be able to create better sounding mixes and masters

#6 - Master stereo bus in the box [3]: The plugins ok(?) to use during recording and mixing

So what type of plugins are considered being ok to use on the master stereo bus during mixing/recording/producing (at least by Me) you might ask, and the answer is; any plugin that doesn't do anything to alter the audio output signal except for a brickwall limiter for mistakes and possibly low and high cut filtering for the whole mix.

For example; I always use some kind of spectrum analyzer that has as much information about the stereo output signal as possible. This is a great tool to use for when you for example hear one or more bad frequencies, but you cannot find them to fix the problems. The spectrum analyzer will help you isolate those problems, but you don't fix them on the masterbus.

Plugins that are used to display true peak level, phase issues, stereo image, LUFS, RMS, spectrum analyzer information and so on, is not only ok to use, but I believe it is good practice to use them in every mix and mastering session, and these plugins will not do anything to the stereo master output signal, they will only read the audio signal data.

#7 - Common sense & logical thinking goes a long way: Mixing on headphones your way (!?)

I am a very logical thinking person and I am all about using this with a good portion of good old fashion common sense. This is for example why I don't enjoy companies fooling people with products like decouplers for speakers or power cables that does nothing to the audio signal path. There's too much misinformation about both audio and audio products, and it is all  about making money from products that are pure BS. Dave Pensado (Pensado's Place) was for example fooled into buying super expensive power cables for all gear in his studio, and he even thought he could hear a difference. If he would be able to compare normal power cables with these super expensive power cables in a correctly executed A/B listening test, he would not be able to hear any difference, and he would save so much money. Later the author of the book "The Audio Expert", Ethan Winer, answered in an interview that Dave Pensado was tricked into buying such expensive power cables. He didn't use common sense or logical thinking, and it cost him a whole lot of money for nothing except for the look of the power cables. Now don't get me wrong because I really like Dave Pensado and his Youtube channel, but this show that even professionals can be tricked into buying pure BS products, and I really do feel sorry for him for this.

Just by thinking about whatever you are doing you can figure out a whole lot of things to do in different situations to achieve any goal you might have, and this would be according to the logical thinking part.

The first thing to learn is to make sure you actually know the source you are listening to. This means that a whole lot of the information that you can find online and in online forums a lot of times are pure BS. It is easy to believe what trolls and others in online forums, on Youtube etc. are saying, especially if there are several people saying it. But trust Me, that does not mean the information given is correct. One expample of misinformation is that you cannot mix on headphones, but guess what, most professional mixers today are travelling and bringing their laptop and audio interface with them, mixing in hotel rooms etc. using headphones. For most mix engineers the open back type of headphones are being used, and they may not be that cheap either. It all comes down to one thing; KNOW your sound! It doesn't matter if it is hifi speakers, studio monitors or headphones.

I will give you one example below;

MIXING ON HEADPHONES
You might have headphones with a frequency respons that doesn't give you good mix results that do not translate to different audio systems that well. For this problem, most people will believe they must buy other and more expensive headphones,

or use a headphone software plugin on the master bus channel to fix this issue, like for example Waves "NX Virtual Studio".

But before you do this there are a few really simple ways of taking care of this problem without buying anything, and without using a special headphone plugin, and it can even be more accurate too because it will be according to your ears.

When you are listening to your mix on different speakers and different audio systems and compare/reference the sound to a track/song you really like, then if for example your mix has too much 4-8 Khz compared to the other song, you will instantly know that these frequencies should be raised in volume at the main stereo bus so that when you are mixing you will automatically lower these frequencies in the mix because now they will sound terrible to you. In other words, you allow yourself to hear what is too much of these frequencies and therefor you will know you need to lower these frequencies. The same goes for mids and your low end. Just don't forget to disable the EQ plugin used for these EQ settings before you bounce/export your mix as this is only needed for your monitoring while you are mixing.

What you actually are doing by comparing your mix to other songs is to find out where in the frequency range your mix sounds bad and different regarding too much or too little of different frequency areas, and by exaggerating the level/volume of these frequencies (lowering or adding) to your listening environment you will automatically do the opposite to these frequency areas while you are mixing, and the result is a more accurate mix according to your hearing and headphones.

And so if there's too much of 8 Khz after bounce, then add for example 3 db of 8 Khz to the EQ on your master bus.

Likewise; if there's too little of 8 Khz after bounce, then lower the 8 Khz for example 3 db to the EQ on your master bus.

Do this to your low- and mid frequencies too if needed. So whatever you hear that is bad in your mix compared to a song you think sounds great, add the problem frequencies and level them opposite to your master bus EQ while, or before you continue mixing.

This way you will correctly setup your headphones and/or speakers so that you can get those great sounding mixes,

because now you have finetuned your heaphones so that you can hear what you need to hear, the bad frequencies.

Magic you think? No, it is just a bit of logical thinking.

#8 - Writing, recording & producing [1]: Steps 1, 2, 3... before the mixing stage(?)

Is there a special order to follow in music production? Well, both yes and no. Some things will of course not be possible to begin with. For example; you cannot create a mix or a master from a song that does not exist, so this will be something that comes last in these steps, and you cannot mix all the vocals before they are recorded, so these are real life rules that apply.

However, we are all different humans in so many ways, and it does not matter HOW we get the results we want, and so writing, recording and producing can be done in more than just one order. However you find your way to be creative, it can't be wrong, and this is great for you as long as you go forward and just create. So don't listen to those who try to tell you there are rules to follow, that there's a right and a wrong way of writing and producing a song, because guess what; we are all different, and whatever works for you is the way to go. So some rules cannot be broken, like what I mentioned in the beginning of this tip. You just can't create a mix of a song that does not exist, and you cannot create a master track of a mix that doesn't exist. But that's about it when it comes to the rules of in which order to do things.

For example; you might write a song while at the same time recording a piano, and so now you are writing and recording at the same time. And while you're writing and recording you might feel you would like to hear some strings and bass, or maybe you would like to hear a beat to get some "feel", well guess what, now you are actually writing, recording and producing a song. And so several things can happen at the same time, so about the steps of when to do things... there are no steps, and there absolutely are no rules in how to do this. Some may only write a song, some will both write and record, and some will do it all at the same time. It is only about how YOU get the results you want, and maybe you want to hear how the end result could be to get that "feel" for the song you're writing. It can also be that you want to record some great melody you just came up with, or any other ideas. So Listen; do it your way!

I have a short story to tell you that is the same, only it doesn't has to do with music, it has to do with playing golf, and this story will tell you how things can be totally destroyed.

While I was having fun with friends learning and playing golf I actually did really good. I hit that golf ball far, straight and overall did good. Then one day I was told how to stand in front of the ball, how to put my feet to achieve different swing results, what club to use, how to use/move my arms and hands during the swing and so on. And so this was to me rules to follow.

After that day my results only got worse for every day I played golf, and suddenly it was not fun to play golf anymore, because the results were terrible. I sold my golf gear and I have not played golf ever since, because of someone else telling me how I should play golf and how I should follow "the rules".

This story should really make you think, because comparing what happened to me regarding playing golf can happen to you and anyone that does not follow there own path. Do not do the same mistake I did while playing golf, meaning do not let other people tell you what you are doing wrong and how you should write, record and produce a song.

Just do it your way and feel great about it, this is important!

Then there are of course technical ways of doing things that doesn't have to do with your creativity regarding writing a song, but that is a totally different subject and it of course has to do with the producing of a song depending on how technical it gets, but even then there are no rules, only suggestions and advices, but learn and ask questions to become better at producing because we all will learn something new now and then, and this is what makes us better at things.

#9 - Mixing [2]: How to think about stereo spreading sounds - don't forget the frequencies

To understand why this way of stereo spreading different sounds is a good way to do it, you must think in frequencies.

I know this might sound strange to some of you, but as you probably know, the bass and the kickdrum sounds best if it lives in the center of the mix. Low to low-mid frequencies kind of belongs to the center of a mix. But sometimes low-mid frequencies will be panned a bit depending on what instrument it is. For example low-mid to high-mid instruments like for example congas will probably be panned a bit (see "Mixing [3]" below too).

Let's take congas for example; the lower frequency congas lives best around the center +/- (L/R) 0 - 5 percent, while mid frequency congas can be panned a bit more like +/- 4 - 10 percent from the center, and of course the mid-high sounding congas might be panned +/- 7 - 15 percent.

Now this is just an example of course, but you get the idea. By keeping the low-mids and the low frequencies in or close to the center of the mix you will get better sounding mixes. Mid-high to high frequencies sounds better than lower frequencies regarding stereo panning. However, you might want to look at the congas as a group of percussion that belongs together, like if you see a congas player on a stage. Then you might wanna move the whole congas "package" to the left or right in the mix.

And so if you want to do that then don't pan it too much out from the center.

This can also be used to fix phase issues, like for example a wide stereo piano. By only panning the mid to high frequencies out the sides, and keeping the mid to low frequencies in the center you will get rid of the phasing. To do this you might wanna check with a frequency analyzer that has a phase meter. Experiment with this because it is useful and important in a mix.

If you would like to spread the bass in a mix, then think about adding another bass sound and use an EQ to gently cut of the lowest frequencies and maybe add a bit more mid frequencies, then pan that sound out from the center. This way you will still have that low-end bass in the center while get a feel of the bass being spread out a bit (stereo).

This is the opposite of what can be done to vocals. The lead vocal should mostly live in the center of a mix, and the lead vocal I often live in the center with all or most of the frequencies. I usually sing the lead vocal three times to get one lead vocal and two overdubbing vocals. I do this on all lead vocal parts in a song. The two overdubbed vocals I use to create a thicker lead vocal sound, and to get a stereo feel of the lead vocal. I usually low cut and high cut these two overdubbs to get rid of the low and high frequencies, and then I pan overdubb one to the left, and overdubb two to the right, but not to a hundred percent.

I might pan the overdubbs out around 10 - 45 percent depending on how it will sound in the whole mix. Of course I also lower the overdubbs in volume related to the lead vocal.

To continue with vocals and hamonies; I always overdubb each harmonie to be able to create a stereo image. The harmonies I also treat the same way as the lead vocal, but these I pan out regarding the tone/frequency of the harmony. The lower harmonies (low-mid to mid frequencies) might be panned out 10 - 15 percent (don't forget where the lead vocal overdubbs live in the mix), the mid to mid-high frequencies might be panned out 10 - 35 percent while the mid-high to high frequencies might be panned out 25 - 50 percent. The percent of the panning will differ from song to song of course.

And so in other words, low to low-mid frequencies mostly belong to or around the center, and mid to high-mid frequencies can belong to around the center too, but can also be panned out a lot more while the mid to high frequencies of course can be panned to the max, left and/or right, but these can of course also belong to the center, so experiment with this because it will be different for each song, mostly. But be careful not to overdo the panning percentage becuase the harms still should be seen as a group and should be kept around the same space in your mix. I rarely pan the harmonies 100% out to the sides, I usually stay around 45 percent maximum, but again, it is all about how it sits in the mix.

#10 - Mixing [3]: Panning whole sets of instruments (they might belong together)

So let's take drums for example. The whole drumset should be seen as a group of sounds, and to pan a drumset it helps to think about how you would see and hear a drumset from a stage. Since the drumset is mostly placed in the center of the stage then of course the drumset should live in the center of the mix. However, this does not mean nothing should panned out.

As seen on a stage, the kick drum and the snare drum is placed mostly in the center, and so these drums should of course not be panned out. The hihat is often to the left of the drummer, but to you being in the crowd it will be on the right side, and so the hihat should be panned a bit to the right.

The tomtoms in a drum kit is placed from left to right starting with the higher tone tom and ending on the low note floor tom. This would mean that the high tone tom should be panned a tiny bit to the right, the tom after that might live in the center, and the tom after that will live a bit to the left while the floor tom belongs a bit more to the left. This of course depends on how many toms there are in the drumkit you are mixing.

The cymbals should follow the same stereo image. Crash cymbals, normally two of them, should be panned out a bit too; one to the left and one to the right, but not too far out. Then there is the ride cymbal, and this also should be panned out a bit and it depends on where you want it in the drum kit, it could be to the left, right or even in the center of course.

Other drumset parts might be for example a cowbell, and this also depends on where you want it. It can live anywhere in the stereo image, but not too far out from the drumkit center since it still belongs to the drumkit. Of course, a cowbell might be a percussion instrument too, so then you can pan it to anywhere you want to.

And so what about percussion?

Well, if we look at it as a percussion set being on stage, for example a conga player with several congas, then all the congas surrounding the conga player should be seen as a group. Now obviously the conga player cannot live in the same space as the drummer unless the conga player is placed on the stage in front of the drummer, but this is not that common. And of course, depending on what you as the mix engineer want to do, you can place the congas anywhere if you like, but if it is a real world situation then you should follow this example.

Pan each conga to the left, right or leave it in or around the center. When you are done with this panning and you want to place this group of congas for example to the left, then turn each conga panning knob equally to the left. This way you will move the whole conga group to the left while keeping the panning in the conga group. You could of course send all conga instruments to an AUX channel and then pan that channel to the left or right.

If you're not mixing after the rules of a stage stereo image, then... well, do as you please but still keep the frequencies in mind when you're panning because some low cut/high pass might be something you need to do.

#11 - Mixing [4]: Saving the mono listening experience while stereo spreading instruments/sounds

The bass instrument is a really good example of how to spread sounds and still keep the mono listening great. It is not that much to it actually, because what needs to be done is to adding another sound close to the bass sound in this case, or you can create a double channel with the same bass sound. If you do this then a low cut filter must be applied to the doubled bass sound you want to spread out in stereo. When enogh low to low-mid frequencies are cut you can stereo spread this bass sound, and because you have cut out the low frequencies it will not mess with the original bass sound. You can of course also do this with other low to low-mid sounding sounds and synth sounds that you wanna spread out in the stereo image.

The same trick can be used if you would like to pan out for example two electric guitars. Let's say you have two channels with a distorted electric guitar on each channel. What normally is done in a mix is to 100 percent pan one channel to the left, and the other channel 100 percent to the right. In stereo this will sound fantastic, but in mono it will not sound that great, you may even lose the guitar so much so that you cannot hear it in mono.

So what should be done to fix this?

Just make a duplicate channel of one of the two guitars, then make sure it is fully in mono and in the center of the stereo image (just like a kick drum would be). Then listen in mono mode while adjusting the low-mid to the higher frequencies, probably you need to adjust the level down of some of these frequencies. The frequencies on the centered mono guitar should be adjusted to a point to where it will sound almost the same in stereo as before you created the mono guitar channel, but in mono you should still hear the guitar(s). You can think of this trick as filling out an empty space in the mix, mainly in the center when listening in mono. The volume level for the mono guitar of course might need some adjusting so that this guitar doesn't sound equal or louder than the stereo guitars while listening in stereo.

Great trick, don't you agree?

The whole idea is to save the mono sound of the stereo mix so that when the listener is hearing the song through a mono speaker only, the mix should still sound great without any instrument getting lost or sound too low in volume level.

You might need to experiment a bit regarding stereo/mono listening. And always remember to check your mix in mono from time to time, even if we are living in a stereo image world there still are radios etc. that only has one speaker.

#12 - Mixing [5]: Using a spectrum analyzer & a reference track to get mixes to translate to other systems

This tip is a really good one and it will help you to get your mixes to translate to other sound systems, speakers and headphones of any kind if you are having problems with this. What's really great following this example is that you will learn much more regarding how you mix any song and you will learn your own gear like speakers and headphones too. As I say now and then, do not be lazy while mixing, go deep into every detail and you will become better and better for each day.

In this tip as an example I will refer to the artist "Toto" and their track "Africa". This is such a clean and great sounding mix that translates very well to different sound systems, speakers and headphones. Of course the production is fantastic too.

Below is a link to the track on Youtube. Listen to it on different sound systems, speakers and different headphones and you will not be able to say it sounds bad anywhere, and there's a reason to why this is. Of course, listening to Youtube is not the best choice, so if you can listen to it with better sound quality it is recommended.

Warning! Do NOT listen to those "HQ" versions of this song uploaded to Youtube, because some people seems to believe that raising the mid to higher frequencies equals high quality which is not the case, especially not regarding this song. That will make this song not translate as well as the original mix/master, and it kind of destroys the whole point of this tip.

Toto "Africa" link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTQbiNvZqaY

Add the song "Africa" to your mix project, with the mix buss clean from any plugins except for a spectrum analyzer. Solo the song "africa", the channel you placed the track on. Use the RMS setting (NOT PEAK) on the spectrum analyzer. Now study the frequency curve throughout the whole song and you will see how the mid to the high frequency range is treated in the mix/master. What you clearly can see is how low these frequencies actually are in volume compared to the rest of the frequency range. Some might say the mix was done following the "pink noise" curve, and in some way they did a bit, but that's not exactly true in total, because the RMS frequency curve is kind of very flat and low in volume from around the mid/mid-high frequencies. It is the "flat" part that doesn't follow the "pink noise" frequency curve.

The reason to why this track translates so well to different speakers is mostly because of the treatment of these mid to higher frequencies as a lot of "problem" frequencies lives in this frequency range. Of course, there are some "boomy" sound problem frequencies in the lower frequency range too, however these are not as bad as the higher problem frequencies because the mid to high frequencies are more audible, and humans are more sensitive to these frequencies (we are most sensitive to 1Khz to about 4Khz), and becuase of that we hear these "bad" sounding frequencies easier than the low frequencies, and therein lies the most of the problems when it comes to a mix translating to other sound systems, speakers and headphones.

When you are used to listen to your mixes and you remove a lot of the higher frequencies, it will not sound good to you because you are so used to hearing your mixes that way, but try to do the following;

Save or "hold" the RMS frequency curve from when you played the song "Africa", then un-solo and mute the channel where you have the song "Africa". Now you will hear your mix again. Now add an EQ to the master buss before the spectrum analyzer plugin and use the EQ to adjust your mid to high frequencies, and I am almost sure that you must lower these frequencies. When you are getting the same frequency curve, listen for several minutes on your mix, then compare it to the sound of the song "Africa", You will get used to this sound, and when you are convinced and happy again with your mix you should remove the EQ plugin from the master buss and re-mix whatever you need to re-mix to get close to the same RMS-curve, but remember that this will probably take some work, but you will also learn a whole lot by doing this.

Then listen again to the new mix on different speakers and systems and compare it to your previous mix on the same speakers and audio gear, and you will for sure hear the difference, hopefully it will sound much better already.

I am sure you will get it when you hear the difference in how your mix will translate to other speakers and headphones.

#13 - Mixing [6]: The mix is too bright sounding - is it a channel level, high, mid or low frequency problem?

In a mix, a master or in an already mixed song, the balance between low and high frequencies are really important, so when your mix sounds too bright, maybe it is because there's to little bass overall, or if your mix has too little of the higher frequencies, maybe there's too much of the bass frequencies, and so this balance can be hard to get right sometimes.

And so regarding this balance between low and high frequencies; lowering bass frequencies will make it seem like you have adjusted the higher frequencies up in volume, and it is of course the other way around too.

The problem that probably most mix engineers that just have begun to learn about mixing has stumbled upon is the effect of first lowering the bass, because there's too much bass, but then it sounds to bright so what do you do? Well, you lower the higher frequencies in volume of course. At this stage you are probably very close to the initial sound again, so you might just as well reset the EQ to its initial state before you begun to remove frequencies because the result in the end is almost the same as bringing the volume level down on that sound/channel. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.

I am sure many mix engineers, included my self, have done this. But of course most people learn from their mistakes, but it cannot hurt to bring this problem up, becuase it can be useful to know this type of balance while you are mixing.

But there's also a third balance in play here, and that is the actual volume of the sound/channel you're trying to fix/mix.

And so if you for example have a vocal that is too low in volume, but the high frequencies have a perfect level in the mix, but you are missing some low-mid to mid frequencies. And so the first thing most people do when a vocal sounds too low in a mix is to push that volume fader up. Now you can hear the vocal clearly, great! However, now the balance between the high and the low-mid frequencies are messed up, because the high frequencies suddenly got louder and that does not sound good.

But the low - low-mid frequencies now sound perfect in the mix. The low frequencies took the high frequency place regarding volume level. And so now you need to adjust the high frequencies down in level, right? Of course this is what you will do, but suddenly the vocal doesn't sound clear anymore and it has too much low frequencies, and so on... See the problem?

I know... it is hard to balance the frequencies, and in a mix the volume will add an extra layer of balance, so then you will have the balance between the higher and the lower frequencies, and those frequency areas will have a relation to the volume level in any mix, and no matter what you change regarding the level of frequencies or the actual volume level of the channel, there will be unwanted effects. However this is something you will learn to see and know in advance, before you start EQ'ing.

The balance of frequencies should also show you if you should add volume to frequencies, or if you should lower the volume of frequencies.

NOTE! There is no difference in EQ/sound quality between lowering or raising the volume of any frequency, but some people seems to believe this is the case, but it's not. It also has been proven in NULL-tests.

Anyway, I often find myself lowering frequencies in volume level instead of boosting frequencies. So if I would like for example a vocal to sound more bright, then I will not boost the higher frequencies, I will instead lower some of the low frequencies in volume level, because that will give me the same effect, only I now need to raise the volume level of that channel. If I would have raised the higher frequencies I then would have to lower the volume of that vocal channel.

And so it is all a matter of balance, and of course you can mix in any way you feel is working for you, but the important lesson here is regarding the tonal/volume balance.

#14 - DO NOT get LAZY: Midipacks, plugins, loops - Writing, producing and mixing.

If you are learning and want to learn more about recording, producing and mixing, then DO NOT get lazy!

The more you do your self the more you will learn, and it is also much more fun.

There's so much you manually can do yourself while recording, producing and mixing. The reason I bring this up is that music and songs will soon sound the same. For example, today you can buy so called midi-packs, and this is of course an easy way to create a song, but the issue I see with this is that you didn't write it, someone else did. And so the more of these

"ready-to-use" midi melodies you use, the more the song will sound like another song, it can actually be exactly the same as another artists song. Do you really want that? And do you not wanna sound unique? Don't you wanna learn instead?

This is already happening if you watch different and many youtube channels. They often use those free song libraries on the internet, and the best songs will be used the most throughout different Youtube channels. I'll bet you've heard the same song track on different Youtube channels, and if not then you soon will. Would you like this to happen to a song you claim you wrote? I mean, it will not be unique, or at least you cannot be sure that it is.

The same goes for those sample records with drum and percussion loops that you can buy.

In an interview with Bob Clearmountain, he mentioned this problem according to his own experiences.

Bob Clearmountain have mixed a whole lot of songs, and when he was asked about what he could do without, then he answered that he was really tired of hearing the same drumloop again and again. And this is just one mix engineer, now think about how many of us will hear that same midi-pack melody, or drumloop or whatever loop or midi-pack you will use.

And sadly, the best melodies will be used by more people the same way the best drumloops have been used by several artists. And as Bob Clearmountain said "Oh no, not that drumloop again", we will soon say the same thing regarding midi-pack melodies, only it will be much worse because more and more people create music today and the wide and easy access people have to these midi-packs today is a lot bigger than it ever was before.

So this is a part of why I bring up this subject, meaning DO NOT get lazy and buy your way to writing a song, because you won't learn and you will not be happy when you hear another song with the exact same melody, trust me. It may even lead to "copyright strikes" on youtube, or other legal problems.

The same goes for your mixing, only you may not buy something to help you, instead you might directly load for example a compressor, when you maybe should use volume automation first. The same goes for de-essing. Instead of using a de-ess plugin on your vocals, take some time and manually de-ess with some easy sound editing. This way you will of course get great sounding results as de-essing with a plugin can actually remove the high frequencies even when there's no "S" to remove.

So again, do not get lazy

Music should be about creativity, it is a form of art. So when you use melodies or chords written for a number of users out there, you will kill the creativity you have in you, and you can not say you wrote it either. And so I know I wouldn't want that.

It is like if a paint artist would buy a lake image or a tiger image drawn by another paint artist because he/she cannot draw them. But no paint artist would ever do such a thing, so why would it be ok in the music business?

And then there's that really great feeling when people actually like what you've been working so hard at; a great written song with great melodies, a great mix that translates to any sound system and speaker(s), great vocals and harmonies and so on. Then when people tell you how much they like your song you will be able to say that you did it all your self. THAT is what I aim for, among other things of course. I want to be able to be proud of what I put out there, and who wouldn't want that?

I will go much further than that, because the music that I create comes from within me, from my feelings, from my heart and soul, and so I want to believe that I have a unique sound, and a unique way of writing my songs, and because I write songs this way, no other artist will sound the same, and this I am proud of. Of course I am influenced by all the artists I like, so a part of my writing and producing of course comes from those artists and producers too, but I will still do it my way and the results will still be unique. What I am mostly happy and blessed with is that through all my life I've learned and listened to so many different genres, and by doing so I also have learned a lot from these producers, artists and records, but I will always put my own touch to what I've learned because I often only use the techniques being used, and so that still makes it unique.

And if you use other people that have skills you don't have, then that is ok. Just don't forget to give them credits for the work they have done for you and your song because credits are really important and it will show that you are happy with their perormance, and that you appreciate them and their talent, and of course, using another artist to help you with different things will FOR SURE give you a uniqe sounding performance comparing to for example midi-packs or samples etc.

So again; DO NOT get LAZY!

#15 - ...but I don't have the gear for it [1]: There are no excuses for not writing music etc...

Well... there might be a tiny excuse or two, like for example you cannot mix or produce without a computer, well actually you could with for example an ipad, but anyway; you sure can write music as long as you have a guitar, a piano or even an ipad or a phone. Of course, mixing on a phone may not be a smooth way of mixing, and I for sure wouldn't want to do that.

But writing music requires nothing really, except for a pen and a paper to write on.

For me, and I want to be clear that THIS is for me;

The minimum requirements for me when I am writing music is a keyboard of any kind, and that can be a simple keyboard on the iPhone. That is it. But of course I mostly write songs using my computer and a software synth together with a keyboard.

The minimum requirements for me when I am recording is a microphone, an audio interface, a computer, a DAW of course, headphones, a keyboard, my harddrive where I keep most of my music/audio. I may of course require other artists that can perform some instruments that I can not do, or I may bring in a female/male vocalist, but that mostly is required at the end of my producing because I will use "fake" instruments and/or I will sing the female/male parts during my producing, and that is until I can record the real performance from a musician or a vocalist if I am not singing myself. There is also a reason to why I want to use real musicians with real instruments (I will write a tip for that too below).

The minimum requirements for me when I am producing is a computer, a DAW of course, headphones, a keyboard, my harddrive where I keep most of my music and my own sample libraries as well as other sample libraries. I may of course require other artists that can perform some instruments that I can not, or I may bring in a female vocalist, but that mostly is required at the end of my producing because I will use "fake" instruments and/or I will sing the female parts during my producing, and that is until I can record the real performance from a musician or a vocalist. There is also a reason to why I want to use real musicians with real instruments (I will write a tip for that too below).

The minimum requirements for me when I am mixing is my trusty computer (I use an Apple computer), a DAW of course, my audio interface, my headphones, my keyboard, my audio harddrive, my speakers and I really do like my trackball (it is a Kensington Expert Trackball).

As a note; when I am writing music I usually use a piano sound or any kind of pad sound, and if we leave the minimum requirements, then I mostly use a microphone too. I often play and sing at the same time as I write vocals, text and melodies.

I do this because I want to hear what it sounds like, and I also like a bit of reverb and EQ on my voice while writing a song.

By writing songs this way I get a feeling for the song, and it is much more nice to actually hear your voice blended with the sound/instrument being played while writing a song. And so, well... it is just that nice feeling, but it is not required.

And again, this is according to my minimum requirements, and this is only how I like to work. My way doesn't have to be your way of getting things done. Do whatever feels right for you as long as you are writing your music.

So to say that you cannot write music because you don't have this and that, is no excuse. So please, get on with it!

#16 - ...but I don't have the gear for it [2]: You can achieve fantastic, professional results...

Listen, if you have a computer from around 2014 or later with a decent Processor and RAM memory configuration and some harddisk space, an audio interface, a microphone, headphones and a DAW with software synth plugins and a few plugin audio tools; then you absolutely can create super professional sounding music. What IS needed is some, well a whole lot of knowledge, because even if some productions are too large for this older computer, then there are ways of making things work anyway. There are all kinds of tricks to make things work for any audio session.

You can complain about your old computer, and that you cannot afford to buy pro-tools hardware and so on. But you should know that today there is no need for super expensive gear to achieve fantastic results. Most people cannot hear the difference between a mix done with pro-tools compared to a mix created in for example Logic Pro X or Cubase.

Why you ask?

Because it IS NOT about the gear, nor the DAW. It is not even about your speakers or headphones. This is about knowing what you are doing and knowing about your hearing, so it is all about you!

There's only three main things to worry about regarding gear/hardware.

- The speed of your computer ( processor(s) )

- The RAM memory

- The latency

That's about it!

If you know enough about recording (vocalist(s), real instruments), producing, mixing and if you like; mastering, and if you also know your sound from your headphones, then that is enough. I know it is a whole lot to know or otherwise to learn, but do not think for a second that you need to be in a super recording studio to get great results, because you don't. If anything your understanding about audio, if it is not that great, will show even more in a music studio because the knowledge needed for the outboard gear, the routing through patches, the mixing desk layout and functions, how to use an analog multitrack tape machine etc, will probably make you go totally crazy. This studio world you need to know, trust me. Anyway, you already have all the tools available, you just need to know when and how to use them, and you need to know producing and mixing.

Believe me, it is much easier to learn the DAW and the plugins compared to learning how to actually record, produce and mix in a real recording studio. I have gone through all of that.

I know these are some hard words, but it is the truth. Just like everything else it all comes down to knowledge and experience, and sadly there are no easy shortcuts for this. So if you think your results from recording, producing and mixing is about the gear you are using, then you need to think again because you would be a 100% wrong, because it is all about your knowledge.

I can agree to that once upon a time, around/from the 60's, 70's, 80's to mid/late 90's, the outboard gear and mixing desks were more important compared to today. A lot of mixing engineers and producers are still very much in love with outboard gear, and I don't blame them because the whole thing with being in a recording studio is one experience I will never forget, because it was fun, and it was a special feeling. I mean, what's not to love? Of course there were computers in the studios "back in the day", but these controlled midi signals and recorded midi. Today the computers can handle it all, so there's no need for mixing desks, outboard gear like effects, compressors, de-essers, distressors etc, but some still like them and use them, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but they usually can afford it too.

The outboard gear absolutely needed today is a fairly low cost audio interface that can handle at least 24 bit, 48Khz (16 bit, 44.1Khz is also totally fine if that's what you can afford). You may also need a good microphone, but remember that it does not have to be a condenser microphone because depending on your recording space/room, the condenser microphones can actually make it sound worse, especially the cheaper ones that often can have harsh sounding upper mid to high frequencies. There are a whole lot of inexpensive dynamic microphones to use for recording that many times will sound better, and one of them being the famous Shure SM57 (see link below), and it is priced at around $120:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shure_SM57

And so, again; it is all about you and your knowledge, and that will show the quality of your finished results regarding mixing.

So write songs, record, procuce and have fun, learn more about mixing and mastering if you like that part as well. I probably learn one or two things during every session regarding anything related to audio, recording, producing, mixing and mastering, and I get better at things I didn't knew about before, so we all learn by doing, there's no shame in that, instead be proud of what you learn every day.

#17 - Producing [1]: Blending plugin synths with real instruments = Professional & good sounding songs

This is a huge tip that really can change the overall sound of a song, more than you think. This tip mostly applies to those who are producing with a lot of plugin instruments, and of course it depends on what genre you are producing. If it is strictly electronic music then this may not be of any interest to you, so this you will have to decide for your self since for example bass will exist most of the times in any song, even if it is electronic music.

Ok, so we can use sample libraries to get closer to the "real thing", but it will never be as good as the actual real thing. On the other hand, who of those that are producing from home could actually fit and record a whole string orchestra? Who would have the gear to do it? Not that many I guess. And so then there are two ways of getting nice sounding strings:

1. You can use a software synth, or a sample library (this is not actually real, but ok sounding).

or

2: If you can, bring in someone who can play violin, cello or whatever instrument you would like for this recording, and just have him/her play different performances several times, maybe even on different string instruments. Then compare that recording to any sample library or software synth and you will be amazed of the difference, both in sound and performance.

This will probably sound like night and day, and when you've heard what actual real instruments with a great performer sounds like, you will not want to use the software synth or the sample library anymore. This is because when it comes to most instruments, the performance is what makes it sound so good and real.

I have always been a true big fan of the Roxette productions, especially the way the songs were produced, and the Joyride album blew me away. But the records before that also had some great production. While I watched a documentary about Roxette, Marie (the artist who sadly past away) said that what she liked was the balance between the synths and the real instruments because the real instruments gave sort of a softer feeling to the songs, more warmth, and I totally agree.

So if you are producing and recording in your home or in any other space, no matter what genre it is, it is always a good idea to blend the synth sounds with some real instruments. Take for example a real live percussion performance and try to do that with samples in a DAW. You may be able to create some good stuff, but the performance and sound of it, and the sounds that comes from for example congas is impossible to recreate using "single shot" samples, even if they're layered. The 128 velocity differences wouldn't even come close to those many sound variations created from only one conga during a live performance, not to mention string instruments.

Drum samples to many beginners and others believe there's enough if there is for example velocity changes in volume for let's say a snare drum. But this "simple" snare drum has so many different sounds depending on how hard the snare is hit, where on the drum skin it is hit, and if there is a rim hit, or a rim hit mixed with the skin on the drum and so on. So for only the snare drum it is required many, many samples, and not just one with different volumes in the velocity settings.

And so there is a big difference in a whole lot of software instruments compared to real played instruments.

You could also record a real bass player instead of your software synth bass. I can assure you that there will be a difference in both performance and sound, but many might say that there is only a bass sound, so how can there be any differene.

Well, it is the performance, and how the strings are being played, and this will vary throughout a whole song. Sure, there are good sounding bass sounds and samples, but it will never be the same as the real thing, trust me on this.

Recording real guitars instead of using any software plugin guitar player or any sample library will also make a huge difference, I promise you that.

I tell you; if you try this and you haven't tried it before, you're in for a big surprise!

#18 - Microphone trick: Dress your cheap condenser microphone to get a more professional sound

The most common problem with microphones that cost less than around $300 is that they sound harsh and too bright, but there is one way to fix this; dress up your microphone, well cover it using your normal footware (socks).

You may laugh at this, but just wait with that until you've tried it because you will be surprised.

Put one sock at a time on your microphone until you're satisfied with the sound and until the harshness/brightness are lowered in volume. You might end up with several socks on your microphone until you're satisfied.

Why this is working is because high frequencies are easier to tame compared to mid-/low frequencies. And so what's happening is that the worst frequencies and esses will be tamed a little bit more for each sock you put on your microphone.

I'll bet you are laughing now, but then try it!

You can hear what this trick is doing to the vocal sound on the new songs that DMP (Delirious Music Project) will release the year of 2023. I promise you that it sound very professional.

#19 - Don't mix while producing/writing songs, leave it for the mixing stage

I am almost sure that during producing/writing a song some mixing will happen, but try to not do that. Instead write and produce a song completely and of course some mixing will take place for vocalists, well for example headphone mixes.

What I mean is that you should try to keep producing/writing a song for it self, and then when the song is done you export all tracks into audio files. Then start a new project containing only the audio files when you're about to mix the song.

This way you will concentrate only on mixing, and not on producing/writing the song.

Of course, it is a good idea to be 100% sure that the song really is completely written/done before the mixing stage, and before exporting all tracks to audio files.

This is like mixing in the old days except for it is probably not from tape, it's audiofiles, but it brings the mixing of songs back to the good old days. This is also good because you will concentrate a whole lot more on the mixing and not producing.

THE MYTHS

#1 - Decoupling speakers: The products that do nothing other than taking your money
The hifi/audiophile/studio markets have been overflown by what is called decouplers like spikes, pucks, stands etc.

The inventors/companies building and selling these products argue your sound will be improved using their products.

The whole idea is to not have your studio monitors and/or hifi speakers sitting flat on the floor, mixerdesk meter bridge or any other surface. According to all these companies the vibrations from the speakers/monitors will travel from the speaker cabinets to the surface they are resting on and this will result in more vibrations getting worse through whatever material the speakers rest on, and this they say will result in audible problems. This is not true or accurate, and here's why;

The number one thing about speakers and studio monitors, well speaker cabinets in general, are that the speaker cabinets are designed and built to be as solid as possible so that any vibrations that might exist will be as small as possible. This is important to any company building speakers, and they all know it too, and they chose the material to get this done.
If any studio monitor or speaker vibrate so much that you will be able to see any rings in a glass of water placed on the speaker itself, or on the material the speaker is resting on, then the speaker in question is not very well built. Of course, you cannot place this glass of water in front of the bass woofer and crank the volume up becuase the woofer will create sound waves which, as you know, are vibrations travelling through air. The glass of water should be placed out of the way of the sound the speakers will generate, of course.

Even if the speaker cabinets will vibrate, which they all do a super little tiny bit, there will be no audible sounds and/or vibrations created because the speaker cabinets are built to NOT vibrate. A speaker or studio monitor that would vibrate that much that would create audible sound would be considered fawlty. Whatever vibrations making it to the material the speaker cabinet is resting on will be so tiny that you will never hear any effect of it. It IS NOT possible and not audible in any way, and you will not get a better frequency response, tighter bass (low end), clearer mid range etc, other than maybe becuase you have raised your speakers a bit so that the tweeter is at the same height as your ears, but it has NOTHING to do with decoupling or vibrations. You could just as well put a book for your speaker to rest on to raise the speaker to the height you feel sounds better. But of course, a book doesn't look as cool and professional as the decoupler products do, right?

Now think about what would actually be audible when you play a song or any sound through the speakers. The volume needed to make the speaker cabinets vibrate even a little bit will be so loud that you cannot hear any effect of any vibrations from the speaker cabinets or the surface they are placed on. You could probably not hear your self talk at that volume.

The audio will mask or override all possible sounds from any vibration you think you can hear. But the truth is you will only hear the actual audio from the spekaer elements, and no matter to what level you are listening to either. And so the sound from the speakers will by far be much louder than whatever sound the possible vibrations would create.

What you actually would BE ABLE to hear is rattling sounds from objects in the room created by the bass frequencies if you play loud enough. You have to silence or remove the objects that rattles and makes unwanted sounds and that's it. This is like the rattling we all have heard sometimes in cars with plastic parts, and these sounds are often almost impossible to find (just a side note regarding unwanted sounds). These parts you can hear because the actual sound waves makes these parts rattle, but it is impossible to compare car doors, roof (thin metal) etc. to a speaker cabinet.

The thing is that speaker cones will vibrate and thereby create sound, the speaker cabinets WILL NOT, and I ask my self... what is next? Should we create a product that contains some glue and foam to be glued to the actual speaker cones so that the vibrations of the speaker cones will vibrate less and create less audio? Hell, why not fill the woofer cone with accoustic foam while we are on this subject? And while you're at it, put some foam and tape over the tweeter elements too! I am sorry but all the myths and bad understanding regarding audio out there will destroy the future for a lot of people trying to get the correct knowledge about audio, audio gear and the tools that actually will be of any use and help. These decoupling products DO NOT WORK people because there IS NOTHING to correct or fix regarding vibration sounds, it is as easy as that.

I can see ONE GOOD USE regarding the small decoupling stands - the ones that can be adjusted in height, and that is to be able to adjust the height of your studio monitors and/or hifi speakers, but there are far more cheaper stands to buy for this function or you can do it yourself as a DIY project by using what you already have lying around, for example by using two equal sized books and wrap them with pillow cases you think looks nice.

So save your money, because decouplers will do nothing to what you are able to hear.

#2 - Powercables from hell: $40.000 vs. $5 - Can you hear the difference... really?!

Power cables are important, sure, but only because electronic gear and appliances need power to be able to function.
The only thing one might worry about regarding power cables running from the wall socket to the gear is if the power cables are so thin they might burn up, melt and start a fire. This means that whatever power cable is delivered with your gear will be more than competent, approved and safe to use, and the cable and the gear is tested to comply with regulations and laws in any country because of safety issues, meaning the cable is more than enough regarding quality.

But this is not the real issue. The real problem is in the myth and the many lies that's been floating around the internet being told by the companies that builds these power cables and/or the so called audiophiles or other non experts, and they say that audio gear will SOUND better with these super expensive power cables. Now think about this for a minute or two because, logically this is so incredible stupid to believe in, and here are a few explanations to why that is:

1. The power that is being delivered through the walls to the power outlet in any building will be about the same size and quality as with the power cables delivered with any electical product, well the wall power cables might be a bit thicker throughout the building to be able to handle several electrical appliances on one fuze. However, the building power cables running in the walls to the power outlets are NOT in anyway NEAR the thickness or quality(?) compared to what is being said about these power cables from hell, so why is that? Well, it is not needed for ANY approved electronic consumer product.

2. Since there are "crappy" but approved power cables in most buildings, there is no way to make anything better by using these super expensive power cables since the power being delivered will not suddenly, by some kind of magic, become better. The only thing you could do to a power cable is to make it thinner or in some way harm the power cables and thereby not following the regulations and so on, and this would be serious of course.

3. But if you don't believe the above, here's another point to why these super cables won't matter one tiny bit;

What do you think is on the other side of the back wall of your audio product? I mean the socket to where you connect the power to your electronic gear. Disconnect one of your audio products and open it up! You will clearly see the mains cables running from the backside of the power connector to the transformer, and these power cables will often be of the same size and quality as the main power cable that's being delievered with your electronic audio gear. And so having a larger power cable sitting in between much lower quality power cables, and thinner (standard) power cables will do NOTHING to the power being deliverd, and it will NEVER do anything to affect the sound path in any audio gear, of ANY product.

4. And the last point is that POWER being delivered to the transformer inside your audio gear has NOTHING to do with the actual sound (sound path) of your audio gear. If anything; the DC transformer and its components will filter the power through capasitors and so on, so that for example "hum" and/or "line-frequency" noise and small peaks in power will not be a problem. These kind of problems has already been taken care of by the manufacturer of any electronic audio gear, and so the delivery of the power with any power cable being thicker or having better quality will do nothing since it will be filtered the same way, no matter what power cable is being used. These super power cables will do absolutely nothing to the sound of your electronic audio product. And so all the internal cables will always be equal or smaller in size and quality as the power cable being delievered in the box with any new electronic audio gear. You CAN NOT improve the audio signal/path with a $40.000 power cable. Be smart and buy a nice car or some useful audio equipment that actually is of importance instead.

#3 - Loudspeaker cables: $70.000 or more vs. $50, can you hear the difference... really?!

So speaker cables... This subject I enjoy reading about, especially when the information comes from audiophiles.

What I do all the time is to ask them to do a correctly executed A/B blind listening test, and I ask this from companies and private persons (audiophiles). I ask them to do this test and repeat it ten times, and during the test switch between expensive loudspeaker cables and a "shitty" power cord standard appliance cable (using the cables inside of course). Not ONE company or audiophile person has welcomed such a test, and I ask myself why that is?! Of course, I already know the answer...

I believe they are afraid of being proved wrong, and so they are afraid of either losing money if they have a business, or they are afraid of getting to know the truth if they are audiophiles.

I feel sorry for these, hmm... audiophools(?!)... because they are really getting fooled in so many areas of audio. I really want to help them understand so they don't throw away money on BS products. Instead invest in room treatment that immediatly will make an audible difference, and I of course mean acoustic room treatment, which seems to be an area widely misunderstood by these audiophiles, and sometimes totally unknown too. Many of them actually don't understand the importance of acoustic room treatment, and it seems they believe that the more expensive gear and speakers they have, the better the sound will be, but without that correct acoustic room  treatment it will do them no good. They could save money by buying less expensive audio gear and speakers and instead use that saved money on acoustic room treatment, and this still will give them a better sound from their less expensive audio system.

So if you feel like you can skip the expensive look of these super expensive loudspeaker cables, and you only care about the sound, then buy normal/standard speaker cables, because that will do just fine for most of you out there.

I should mention that these cables are of normal home speaker setup lengths, and not several miles long (duh).

#4 - USB cables: $20.000 USB cable vs. $10 USB cable, can you hear the difference... really?!

Right off the bat, NO there is absolutely no audible difference between different USB cables as long as the USB cable in use has correct and good soldered connections inside, and that the USB cable is not damaged in some way.

And believe it or not, but people actually buy these expensive USB cables. It makes Me believe that those people got hit hard in the head by something falling out of the sky, I'm sorry but how can this be? Are people really getting crazy?

I actually don't know what to write more than that, because straight up, there is NO audible difference, and that is it!