MIX CHALLENGE - MC103 April 2025 - Winners announced

[knob_Houdini]

“Hey everyone & @Strange—first off , deeply grateful for the time you took to share feedback on my mix! I’ll be honest, I totally thought I was still in the running for the competition—oops! But hey, your notes (and others’) inspired me to take one last swing at this mix, just for the love of it.

Quick backstory: I’m currently recovering from an accident, so I’m stuck working in headphone-land while I piece together a makeshift setup at home. Fair warning—the mids and bass might feel a little… questionable (cheap cans + no calibration = a mix engineer’s nightmare!). That said, your feedback’s been a lifesaver for tweaking things on the fly.

Even if this isn’t ‘competition-ready,’ I hope you dig the vibe! Huge thanks to @Mister and his team for this community and the platform for letting us all geek out together. Can’t wait for the next challenge—keep those tracks coming, and stay inspired!

P.S. If you blast this, maybe do your ears a favor and skip the $10 headphones. Just sayin’…”
here is my 3rd round final mix => Click here to Listen the MIX

Wow,
Round 2 was a clear sound win. I can only congratulate and thank everyone. The song really gained from your editing.
Since I'm the “client” this month, I have to be honest with myself and with you: I would ask every mix I receive here for improvements. These are not fundamental mixing decisions, but rather specific "small" adjustments that would be important to me.

MisterFox has suggested the possibility of a third round. And I think this is the best way to improve these final details in the mix. Seven mixes will be invited to round 3 and I am sure that each of these mixes can exceed my expectations.

I will ask these seven mixes for further adjustments in this round 3
(and please read the third line, too, you're really on the right track) :

► Show Spoiler

@VividPhase
- sounds cleaner, but a bit too hollow, maybe too much EQ?
- too much low end, especially in the 100-150Hz range
- BGV a bit too quiet compared to LV

@GeorgeCorg
- too much low end
- the mids sound a bit too hollow/empty
- 3.5 kHz range was reduced a little too much and too tightly

@JeroenZuiderwijk
- too much bass, approx. 180 Hz around 3 dB
- sub bass too much
- HH still a bit too harsh in the 4-5 kHz range
- Toms too quiet, too insignificant
@Drannob
- cut off at the beginning,
- LV 1dB too loud
- still a bit much HH and emphasis in the 4kHz range, approx. 1.5 dB
- funky Gtr too loud
- outro- gtr right and left a bit too loud
- Toms too undefined and a bit too quiet (especially from 2:27)

@scottfitz
- HH still a bit too harsh in the 4.5 kHz range
- Toms too quiet and undefined

@Mork
- why is the piano 2 so quiet?
- too much bass in the 80 Hz range
- LV too quiet compared to BGV, or BGV (“zu Dir”) too loud.
- auto pan funky Gtr is great
- Toms are very good, maybe LoTom a bit clearer

@titantraxx
- what happened to the input risers?
- overall very balanced and tidy
- Bass resonances at 45 and 150 Hz (narrow band about -5 to -7 dB )
- Low mids at 260 Hz should be a little less
- LV should be 1-2 dB quieter
- more air, around 3 dB from 5-7 kHz and above

@Mister Fox will tell you more about the round 3. It's not the usual way, but he approves this proceed.
I hope you will agree, too, and you're "happy" to present me your best mix for my unimportend taste. Thank you!


This is bonus information, if you want to continue editing I would like to ask for these customization requests for the other mixes in the second round:

► Show Spoiler

@Miłosz
- LowEnd too loud, pushes too hard into the bus compressor
- Bridge BGV too loud and muddy/boxy
- Outro Gtr right and left too loud
- the overall mix lacks clarity, becomes increasingly indistinct at the end

@LowlandsWave
- far too much low-mid around 200Hz
- about too much 3.5 kHz removed
- Toms too unclear/quiet

@MartialFromentin
- too much low end,
- a bit too much low-mids
- a bit empty, the mids of the various instruments/vocals could be worked out better (see 2kHz range).

@Mellow Browne
- almost 10dB too much low end below 100 Hz
- therefore everything is a bit uninhibited

@MadMav
- LV a bit quiet
- Resonances in the bass range (60 and 150 Hz range)
- overall a bit dull and midrange-heavy

Other participants who asked for feedback:

@Crazy Loco, this is definitely also a good mix, would also have fitted into the 2nd round. I noticed the following things:
- LV too loud
- Gtr too muffled, too quiet, not spatially integrated
- a little too much low end
- the end seems too contrived
- Mids a bit too weak, hollow
Thanks for the discussion about my song

@knob_Houdini, thank you for taking the trouble to adapt your mix outside of the competition. I like the result much better. I noticed the following things:
- Drums very hollow, without mids
- Vocals without treble, somewhat nasal/ mid-range and too loud (2dB or more)
- too much sub and bass

Greetings
Peter

[Strange]

Dear mixer community,

In the last few weeks I have heard my song at least 500 times, it feels like 5000 times, which I heard 1000 times years ago.
I'm glad that's over now :-)

Once again, I would like to thank all the participants who listened to my music and did their best to make it shine. This is a great honor for me.

Just like in real life, you often lose focus at the end of a project. For example, two participants forgot the rules at the end and uploaded the mix again or didn't pay attention to the loudness specifications.

From the remaining five mixes, there were three submissions that flattered my ears the most.
In all three, I hear a balanced and coherent frequency spectrum, a pleasant and appropriate spatiality and good interplay between the instruments.

The winner impressed me the most with its growling, crisp bass sound, just the way I like it.
The second winner has a completely different overall sound, which is just as engaging, but doesn't sound quite as balanced to me, especially in the treble.
The third winner sounds just as impressive as the number one. However, the kick sound is not to my taste and doesn't fit into the overall soulful picture for me.

Many thanks to the winners:

► Show Spoiler

1. @Mork
- very balanced
- Bass much clearer and crisper
- my number 1

2. @scottfitz
- very harmonious overall, still a little too treble-heavy
- the bass range has changed slightly, it hums and booms a little more than in R2
- the piano in the chorus has got more reverb and more low mids, seems a little less tidy

3. @titantraxx
- crisp bass range, a little too EDM-like
- still a little harsh at higher volumes
- a little too much reverb in the verses, which also booms a little too much in the low-mid range

Many thanks to the other participants in the third round. I would also like to give you a short feedback:

► Show Spoiler

@VividPhase
- already much more balanced than R2
- still a little empty in the low-mid range and therefore not as warm

@JeroenZuiderwijk
- slightly clearer and rounder than in R2
- overall very high-mid emphasis
- the bass range could be tighter, less sub, less 100 Hz, more kick fundamentals, more warmth in the low-mid range
- a little more air from approx. 7kHz

@GeorgeCorg
- you have exceeded the true peak limit
- the high mids are more present
- the low mids still lack fullness and warmth
- Bass much more transparent and rounder

@Drannob
- you have forgotten the rules and re-uploaded the Mix, sorry.
- much fuller and more balanced than in R2
- still a lot of sub bass
- claps a little too harsh
- lacks some warmth in the low mids

outside the rating:
@knob_Houdini
- once again a clear improvement
- too much reverb for me
- HH still too loud
- the bass range could be cleaned up a bit more
- the 200-300Hz range is still a little under-represented.
- a little too harsh in the treble

I am very happy that I was able to have and share this experience with you all. A few months ago, @Mellow Browne recommended that I take on this challenge. I'm glad I followed his advice. I learned a lot about my own song and about mixing as a whole. It has so much to do with listening. And that's what I've really been doing a lot of in the last few weeks: Very rewarding!

So, if anyone still has tracks in the drawer, I can only recommend you to contact @Mister Fox. I can only thank him once again for his tireless work, his commitment and the super nice contact.

Many thanks and best regards
Peter

[Mister Fox]

First and foremost, congratulations to the winners!
We are ending the game here, there will be no more mixing rounds.


The winners podium consists of:

1. @Mork .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2, Mix Round 3)
2. @scottfitz .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2, Mix Round 3)
3. @titantraxx .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2, Mix Round 3)

For learning purposes:
Here are the Statistic Sheets for Mix Round 2 and Mix Round 3
Mix Round 2 - Overview of Submissions (PDF - updated: 14-MAY-2025 05:00 UTC+2/CEST, full sheet)
Mix Round 3 - Overview of Submissions (PDF - updated: 23-MAR-2025 10:15 UTC+2/CEST, full sheet)




We perform with the usual - in order of the winners podium (first to last spot), please select one license out of the pool and mention it in this thread, then (important) get in touch with me via PM with your full name, email address and your plugin selection. If one company has been selected, it is not available for the rest of the podium anymore.

I'll update the "winners podium" thread shortly.


Thanks again for your participation. You can leave the thread alive if you want to exchange tips/tricks, edits, etc.
And thank you @Strange for the final words of feedback and encouragement.


Please check out Songwriting Competition 093, which is currently in the "Final Feedback and Voting" process. You can listen to 10 interesting entries, share feedback, or get a general idea how this game runs to maybe join the next one.

See you on the flipside.

[elements]

Congratulations to the winners.

Personally, I thought it came down to getting the bass sound right and this has been reflected in the results.

Thanks to @Strange and @Mister Fox .

[Strange]

Congratulations to the winners.

Personally, I thought it came down to getting the bass sound right and this has been reflected in the results.

Thanks to @Strange and @Mister Fox .

Yes, and the HH and the reverb!

Greetings
Peter

Thanks for your participation.

[Drannob]

Congrats to the winners

And sorry for not following the rules, I didn't know. Luckily, in real life, you can send a mix back to the client if you made a mistake, lol. While I can understand this rule in the first round, it doesn't make sense in a second or third round where there are few participants. But those are the rules, too bad for me
I haven't listened to the latest versions of the mixes again due to lack of time, but I've really liked @scottfitz's version from the beginning!

Thanks again @Strange and @Mister Fox !

[JeroenZuiderwijk]

Thank you @Strange for your hard work and keeping the mix challenge alive! Congratulations to the winners!

And as always, thank you mr. Fox for organizing.

Cheers,

Jeroen

[Strange]

I've really liked @scottfitz's version from the beginning!

Me, too.

[Mister Fox]

And sorry for not following the rules, I didn't know. Luckily, in real life, you can send a mix back to the client if you made a mistake, lol. While I can understand this rule in the first round, it doesn't make sense in a second or third round where there are few participants. But those are the rules, too bad for me

Apologies for the inconvenience. Maybe I should make this more clear in the "participant info newsletter" as well. However, every mixing round adheres to the given rules, and that is also mentioned as "please pay attention to detail still" in the update posts.

Now you know, and that won't happen anymore in a future game.

[Mork]

Woohoo, thanks a lot, I‘m stoked!

Congrats to the winners and everyone who took something away from this challenge!
I‘d love to participate more in the discussion, but there’s just no time left between work and my little son. So I’m glad at least the mixing effort paid off!
And thanks again Peter! This is one of, if not THE best decision posts ever, explaining your thought process, giving feedback and not leaving everyone wonder why they were chosen or not. Been there and it can be really frustrating.

For my plugin I’ll pick the MH Supergate.

See you next time