Originally Posted by olemon
...and there's no way to know how they perceive it until it's out there.

I retired a few months ago and have been trying to spend time in the studio, mainly on refreshing old stuff I have on SoundCloud. Haven't done anything new in a long time. Haven't been here in a long time either. Anyway....

First, I go through my music CD's to find a good reference song and then I rip it to a Reference Music folder on the DAW and import it to the mix and eventual master projects.

Once I have a mix/master I'm happy with, I export a 16 bit wav file and burn it to a CD (cd-r are fairly cheap). Then I take both the reference and my song CD's to the Kia and the Ford for listens. I repeat the mix/master/car tests as many times as it takes.

Then I upload the wav file to SoundCloud (Private) and listen on my phone/earbuds and on an Anker SoundCore. I stream the reference song also on those same devices matching levels as best I can.

I'm getting tired of the car tests though. But I still have a CD player and an old Peavey powered mixer and PA speakers which I hope will replace the car tests. Again, I'll listen to the reference and my song on that same system.

I've stopped using SonarWorks. I have a partially treated room, and I bought a pair of powered Auratone's not too long ago to go with a pair of Kali IN 5 monitors. I know about the EQ trick to highlight the mid-range, but I got the Auratone's anyway $$. I find they do help me get closer to a good mix sooner.

Scott

Hi, Scott! Thanks for sharing your process, very informative. FWIW, I used CDs and then USB drives to audition music in my car for many years. Now I use my phone to access my Dropbox account via the Soundcloud app. All my masters are on Dropbox for sharing anyway, so it's really cut down on the time to get a song set up for the car. I'll usually listen in the car from my phone on both a Bluetooth and a wired USB connection, since they sound very different. YMMV.

DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)