Why does my mix sound bad?

When a mix sounds bad, it's rarely one big mistake. It's usually one or two of a handful of common problems: an unfair comparison, a balance issue, a build-up in the low mids, a kick and bass that fight, a harsh top end, or too much processing. This guide goes through them in an order that saves time, so you can find which one is yours.

Start with a fair comparison

A lot of "my mix sounds bad" moments start the same way. You play your bounce right after a released track. That track has been mastered, and it's probably louder than your mix.

Louder can fool you. Your ears don't hear all frequencies equally, and at higher levels their response is flatter, so you hear more of the lows and highs (HyperPhysics). A louder track can sound fuller and more exciting even when it isn't mixed better.

Before you judge your mix:

• Turn the reference down until it sounds as loud as your mix. A loudness meter that reads LUFS makes this easy. LUFS meters follow the ITU-R BS.1770 method.
• Pick a reference in the same genre, with a similar arrangement.
• Compare sections of the same kind, like drop against drop.

If your mix holds up at the same loudness, the problem may be smaller than you thought.

Check the balance

Most mixes that sound bad have a level problem before they have an EQ problem. A fresh balance often fixes more than another plugin.

1. Pull every fader down.
2. Bring up the part the track depends on most. In dance music that's usually the kick. In a song with vocals, it's often the vocal.
3. Add the other parts one at a time, each only as loud as it needs to be.

Then listen at a low volume. The parts that matter should still be clear. One caution: at low volume your ears pick up less of the low end, so use quiet listening to check the midrange, not the bass.

If a part only works when it's very loud, it may be the wrong sound for that spot.

Muddy: too much in the low mids

A muddy mix sounds thick and cloudy, and it's hard to pick out individual parts. It usually comes from too many parts with energy in the lows and low mids. iZotope describes mud as a build-up of similar sounds below about 400 Hz, and calls 100 to 400 Hz a range "rife with mud".

To find it:

• Solo two parts that play at the same time, like a pad and the bass, and listen for where they blur together.
• Sweep a narrow EQ boost through the low mids of a muddy part. Where it suddenly booms, cut a little.
• Put a high-pass filter on parts that don't need low end, like hats, pads, vocals and reverb returns. Check in the full mix so you don't make them thin.

Sometimes mud is an arrangement problem. If five parts play in the same register, EQ can only do so much. Moving one up an octave, or muting one, may do more.

Kick and bass fighting

If the low end sounds boomy one moment and empty the next, the kick and bass are probably fighting. Both carry most of their energy between about 20 and 160 Hz (iZotope), so they compete for the same space.

Ways to separate them:

• Decide who owns the lowest part. Either the kick or the bass holds the sub. The other gets a little less there.
• Sidechain. Duck the bass each time the kick hits. Ableton's manual describes this as a way to make the bassline make room for the kick.
• Tune them. Kick drums have a pitch (iZotope). A kick that clashes with the key of the bass can sound muddy however you EQ it.
• Change the notes. A bassline that plays between the kicks clashes less than one that lands on them.

The techno and house guides go further into this.

Harsh or tiring top end

Your ears are most sensitive between about 2,000 and 5,000 Hz (HyperPhysics). A little too much there stands out fast and makes a mix tiring to listen to.

Common causes are hats, claps, bright synths, distortion and the "s" sounds in vocals. Find the part responsible and cut it there, rather than putting a big cut on the whole mix.

If the mix only sounds harsh late in a session, it might be your ears and not the mix. See ear fatigue when mixing.

Too much processing

A mix can sound worse because of what's been added to it. A limiter works by lowering peaks. Push it hard and the drums can lose their punch, and the groove loses its push. Heavy bus compression can do the same.

Try this: bypass everything on your mix bus, match the level by ear, and compare. If the bypassed version sounds more alive, back off.

Extra loudness doesn't help much on streaming services. Spotify plays tracks at -14 LUFS by default and turns louder masters down, and Apple Music's Sound Check also evens out loudness between songs. Spotify notes that a dynamic master keeps its peaks, so they may feel louder than those of a squashed master played at the same level.

It only sounds bad somewhere else

If your mix sounds fine on headphones but bad in the car, or great on your speakers but thin on a phone, it doesn't translate yet.

• Listen on three or four systems you know well.
• Write down what changes on each one, with timestamps.
• Fix what shows up on most of them. Don't chase a problem that only happens on one system.

Get a fresh pair of ears

After hours on a track, you stop hearing it the way a new listener would. Take a break first. Then let someone else listen: a friend, a collaborator or a producer you trust. Ask specific questions, like "where does it lose energy?", and ask them to note the time.

If no one's around, Slapback's Engineering Feedback measures your mix against a released track it matches from its catalog. The catalog is electronic music, so the comparison fits electronic tracks best. You can also share the track, and collaborators leave notes at the exact second.

Quick checklist

• Compare against a reference at the same loudness.
• Rebuild the balance from the most important part.
• Clear the low mids on parts that don't need them.
• Give the kick and bass their own space.
• Find harshness at its source.
• Bypass the mix bus and compare.
• Check on several systems before you change anything.