HELP NEEDED!

[Mason White]

Hi guys,

I have a TASCAM DR40 field recorder and am having an odd issue.

When I play back something I have recorded through speakers it sounds odd and tinny, but if i listen to the same file through headphones the playback is absolutely perfect...so obviously the good quality file exists!

As I am editing for video, I need the file to play fine through speakers, but I just don't understand why it wont.

Any help hugely appreciated!!!

 

[Jarno]

MODERATOR NOTE: I moved this topic from "About Tascam Forums" section, where it definitely didn't belong to here, where it might belong, because it involves DR40. But to be honest, I guess this isn't DR40 problem but general equipment usage problem. If you have better suggestion of sub-forum this should belong, please inform me.

When I play back something I have recorded through speakers it sounds odd and tinny, but if i listen to the same file through headphones the playback is absolutely perfect...so obviously the good quality file exists!

Now...
1. What kind of (brand, model) speakers and headphones are you using?
2. How do you listen your recordings with them (connected directly to your DR, playing back files recorded with your DR with other equipment ...)?
3. How does commercial well-produced recordings sound with your speakers and headphones when played back with same equipment?

As I am editing for video, I need the file to play fine through speakers, but I just don't understand why it wont.

Obviously you're not editing video with your DR40 ... so what is your video editing setup? How did you transfer audio from your DR to your video editing system?

 

[Mason White]

Okay sorry about that.

It is literally perfect sounding with any set of headphones, but when I play the file on any laptop I have the problem.

Commercial music sounds fine on all the speakers I have used...

So I'm not obviously directly using the tascam to edit video...I meant I was editing video on FCP using the audio files which I have recorded on the tascam. the files were transferred by directly taking the files from the SD card onto my mac.

I just wasn't sure where the issue was.

 

[Alton3266]

You can't trust what you hear in earphones. Mix your audio with studio monitors. Make cds and listen on your stereo, your car radio, your portable cd players. That way you'll know if it sounds good or not.

 

[Jarno]

Sorry for late reply ... first of all +1 to everthing Alton said.

Your problem looks like getting good quality from different kinds of speakers/headphones. Achieving this is kind of art. You'll use EQs and compressors (and sometimes other equipment/software) to make this happen. But the most important thing is (as Alton said) to listen to the results with different systems. With experience you'll learn how to get the best results to make your music to sound good on every system.

Because of this problem the best professional studios have at least 3 kinds of monitors (in addition to headphones) for listening to the mix: makes comparison easier, when it can be done just by pushing a button instead of moving CD to different systems.