Balancing Theatrical Mixes with Consumer Device QC, How?
Hey everyone, I’m grappling with a persistent issue on the film I'm currently booming for. It's a drama shot on an AMIRA, and the sound for dialogue, specifically, sounds fantastic on our studio monitors, full, clear, and perfectly balanced with the music and effects. I'm using my MKH 8060 and a MixPre-10 II, so I'm confident in the recordings themselves.
The guide (not a specific one you linked, just general good practice guidance) recommends checking the mix on various consumer devices. The problem is, when I listen on a laptop, or even some phone speakers, the dialogue just disappears into a muddy mess, or the music overpowers it.
How do you all approach this? Do you intentionally sacrifice some of the studio mix quality to ensure it translates better to smaller speakers, or is there a trick to preserving the theatrical experience while still making it listenable elsewhere? I really don't want to compromise the beautiful, nuanced mix we have for the cinema, but I also know a lot of people will see it on their laptops. What's the best way to compromise here without butchering the theatrical standard?