Semi-pro group SOS has released another single, this time When I Go, a contemporary country song by singer-songwriter Dylan Conrique. While the singing on the track is good, some balance issues from the mixing process leave me with more questions than answers.

Soloist Sophia Bonasso helms the track with a powerful voice and tasteful melodic reinterpretations that distinguish this cover from the original. Bonasso also brings some dynamic and emotional levels to a song that could easily be one-note. The ensemble matches that sound quality and shifts the energy along with her. And yet, the group still hews close to the original track's texture of sparse verses and fuller choruses, a now recurring theme of Saul De Anda and Alex Zubillaga's arrangements.

As I wrote about Greedy, the previous single SOS submitted to us, this track also suffers from balance issues. It's most noticeable starting at the bridge (the most powerful part of the song) where Bonasso, for some reason, becomes the second or third most important layer behind the vp and the bass, and at the same level as the background vocals. This choice continues through the final chorus and outro to the end of the track.

However, I decided to listen to the track again without my nice headphones and instead through my laptop speakers, and the balance was different. I could hear Bonasso perfectly, and the bass, vp, and ensemble were lower in the mix. I am not a sound engineer, so I don't know the answer to this question, but how do you plan for and mix/master a track to which people will listen using different kinds of speakers (i.e. smartphone, AirPods, studio headphones, car speakers, laptop, etc.)? Should I be listening to the tracks we review through different types of speakers every time? Have sound engineers shifted their approach these past few years given the changes in listening habits, particularly for young people? (These questions are how you can tell I'm a scholar of popular music, not a sound engineer.) Test out the different balances for yourself by streaming this new cover by SOS!