I was referred to this studio by a professional engineer I've worked with in the past. However, the studio is now currently closed. The engineer took an excessive amount of time to snap the track to grid. He proceeded to spend more time setting up this Hip Hop song to his liking so that it would be easier for him to mix, I guess (I allowed him to due so thinking it would help his work flow). He was missing a plug-in on the vocals that completely changed the sound of the song. I offered to pay the $29 for the plugin, or to even try to connect my iLoc, but he stated he did not have access to the internet.
I usually listen to all final mixes on standard iPhone headsets, but I forgot to bring them. We listened to the mix on his studio speakers, and it sounded OK. I paid and left. When I listened to a copy of the song in the car, it was pretty bad; the levels were off and the vocal tracks were horrible. When I listened on the iPhone headsets, technically, it was bad mix. You could hear pops, the vocals and chorus levels were off, and some instruments could not be heard. Also, I had professional concerns about him retaining a copy of the song on his computer after he issued a full refund due to my dissatisfaction with the mix. I advised him to make sure that he had removed all files from his computer that he accessed from my hard drive.
In summary, I have never had a track given back to me that sound less professional than the mix I took in. He does know how to add vocal tricks. However, it was not enough to compensate the flaws in his final mix. I recommend that he asks for a copy of the PTX file before the session begins to ensure he has all plugins on the track. I also suggest that, in order to maintain the client's trust, that he never keeps a client's music on his computer after all business is done. I had to request that any files he downloaded be removed due to copyright infringement concerns; this should have been done when the session ended.
The studio is very clean and roomy. read more
