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Hello Exposure,

My goodness, you "complain" about your music being "muddy" and I wish I could make music like what you just did here with "Animated Cheese". I love this mellow, long-ongoing music, fantastic! I could listen at that something like one hour in a row with perhaps here and there some small variations rather than your "short" 5 minutes :-)

I am not a sound- nor a recording-engineer, so let's hope some of our members are and can help you on that level with your matter. I took the efforts though to listen your music (both tracks) in my rather basic Hi-Fi stereo setup, being a NAD C368 digital amplifier and B&W 683 S2 speakers (so not monitors) in bi-amping setup with (basic) Audioquest cabling and I have to say this doesn't sound to bad at all! I have CD recordings that sound really worse compared to your recording!

Okay, to your recording, what exactly do you mean with "muddy"? Do you mean that it's kind of muffled? Kind of not 100% crystal clear? If that's what you mean, yeah... far away I recognise that but as said I got CDs they would kneel down for your recording quality.

But one thing comes to mind... and that's cabling, especially the quality of cabling which is seriously underestimated by many people (not saying that you are one of them :-) Just trying to make sure if you have thought of everything). With what kind of (quality) cables are you handling your audio path within your modular system? Not the one or two dollar stackable cables I hope? Nothing against it, for testing purposes, but if you are trying to boost up your recording quality, you certainly should check your entire audio path regarding cables and their quality. Now I don't want to go into the discussion of "define quality", everyone for themselves can decide, I guess, if you have reached the level of quality for your cables or perhaps not yet.

But let's say a stackable cable might be not as good as, just taking an example here, a Cordial CPI x ZZ ZZound patch cable. That one is using a cable with wires of 0.18 mm2 which I feel is still a bit less :-) I for example use for non-audio cables (CVs, triggers, gates, etc.) self made cables of 0.2 mm2 and the more simple patch cables of Make Noise (which might be less good in quality than the Cordial CPI x ZZ) and for my audio path I use cables with 0.34 mm2 wires (about the maximum that still fits within a 3.5 mm plug ;-) ). Not saying that you have to do the same thing but just as an example here. Anyway within the modular most likely not so important.

However going out from your modular, those cables to your mixer and from your mixer to the recording device, I would take there a bit more than a one or two dollar cable so to speak.

Your second track, the "Animated Cheese Edit" sounds to me just a fraction more crisp, which is good I think. Though the noise-hi-hat sounds I hear, these sounds could be improved in quality in my opinion, but we are talking here about "high level nagging" towards audio quality ;-) But I don't think these noise-hi-hat sounds are related to your muddy or muffled issue. I think that's rather the sound source of the noise-hi-hat itself. It also is a sound that you just might want to sound it like that.

Other than that (check the cables you are using I mean), I can't help you I am afraid. On my stereo installation I am happy to listen to your music.

For taking this to another (higher) recording level, I think you need advice of members who are more into recording engineering.

Good luck with your recording-quality-improvement and I can't wait for your next track(s)!

Kind regards, Garfield Modular.