Why should your mix sound good on phone speakers?

[floatingvibes]

The mix must sound good on the phone, and key phrases must be audible through the phone's speakers because 95% of your music will be listened to on that device. Even though you have monitors that cost over $3000, the key control for the mix is actually on the phone speakers.

 

[lazy-site]

Anyone who says translation happens in mastering, not mixing, probably isn't very good at mixing and relies on someone else to fix it. That's just not true. Mixing is where build-up occurs, stereo imaging happens, and mono-compatibility and phase issues must be resolved. It's also where individual instruments can clash and become problematic for certain speakers and frequency ranges. If my track has a bunch of elements almost entirely below 80 Hz, your mastering doesn't do much to make it translate to a phone speaker without also affecting other aspects of the track. Mastering helps, but it's a method of building off the mix to make a track "competitive" while being optimized for the format, like vinyl or streaming. If your mix doesn't translate before it goes to mastering, it will still not translate afterward.

 

[Material_Sky]

While a good mix is fundamentally important, ensuring that your music translates well to phone speakers is primarily a function of mastering, not mixing.

 

[Ok_Bookkeeper]

I don't buy that. People who listen on phones don't care much about the mix; they want to hear the song. Those who care about the mix will use better headphones or speakers. I mix for them, not for phone speakers. Your mix will be fine if you have a good mix of speakers and maybe a couple of other references, like a car or AirPods. Trust your ears. I agree that the general balance should be good, but your detailed mix decisions don't come from listening on a phone speaker, nor do they significantly change how it sounds on one!