Are you using reference tracks?

Here's a Dada Life video on it.

The basic idea is this: Take a song that you know is absolutely slamming. A full on banger. The best track in your library. Put it in an audio track on your DAW and solo it. Listen to the drop. Then unsolo, mute the track, and listen to your own drop.

What does their track have that your track doesn't? The differences should SCREAM out at you. You can use this for a lot of different areas of your own production.

Here are some videos by SeamlessR that can help explain how to analyze that sort of stuff.

Here's a Dada Life video on it.

The basic idea is this: Take a song that you know is absolutely slamming. A full on banger. The best track in your library. Put it in an audio track on your DAW and solo it. Listen to the drop. Then unsolo, mute the track, and listen to your own drop.

What does their track have that your track doesn't? The differences should SCREAM out at you. You can use this for a lot of different areas of your own production.

Here are some videos by SeamlessR that can help explain how to analyze that sort of stuff.

That's a great idea, thanks for that! I was also thinking about stereo widening and what not, would that have to do with this?

Refer to the frequency spectrum. If there is a space on your spectrum that is fairly empty, your track won't sound full. when using reference tracks as mentioned above, look at how that track looks on the frequency spectrum compared to yours. you can view the frequency spectrum with most EQs by enabling the analyzer. Metering plugins also usually have spectral analyzation modules.

So for example, say I'm lacking in the mid and highs by a few dB, what would you suggest to flesh them out? I guess it depends on the track and the sound you're going for, but any ideas?

Maybe you've experimented with a few audio / video editing applications and noticed some applications have a default FX chain on every channel?... usually at least an EQ, and a compressor. Apparently, that's a big step towards best-practice mixing technique. Applications like iZotope's Alloy are even designed to have a plugin instance placed on each track in your audio project. It's an EQ->Transient Shaper->Harmonic Exciter->Dual Compressor->De-esser->Limiter chain, with a thorough description of the appropriate use of each in the User's Manual. As a beginner, it can serve as a checklist of tools (in a logical order) to consult first before wading through your library of plugins without a clear direction.

You might be hard-pressed to achieve presence in trying to "correct" the mix with plugins. Consider the arrangement as well. If you can place additional instruments in the mix (positioned in the stereo field to separate them from other voices) without clutter, it'll sound more natural than boosting levels.

Chorus can be used to emulate the sound of multiple similar voices with simulated variations. Reverb adds space to a mix... used well, it can emphasize the presence of significant parts and also heighten the contrast between the foreground & background elements (3d mixing: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/nov94/3dmixing.html). In doing so, the clarity gained adds an intensity to the overall sound.

I think a good question is: what should a full frequency spectrum look like?
I can look at the spectrum anlyzer, but how do I know what is lacking?

compare to a reference track

I think a good question is: what should a full frequency spectrum look like?
I can look at the spectrum anlyzer, but how do I know what is lacking?

maybe if it's kinda hard, you should do a filter and analyze them on separate freq range. i normally screenshot some of my fav songs on 20-100 hz, then on 100-500 hz, etc etc (using SPAN + stereo imager that has visual, like ozone 7). then compare it to how my mix is currently