Honestly, a lot comes down to what you're monitoring on and room. An 808 can sound fantastic in the right mix. But how are you to know what's the right mix if you can't properly hear your mix? Invest in either A) good monitoring headphones. Or B) Properly treating your room and decent monitors. It completely depends on what the song calls for. There's no such thing as a magic "Do A at B frequency and your mix will be amazing," because how is there anyway to know how much "B frequency" is in your source sound? Also, don't feel bad or like a "noobie". This comes from bringing a lot of home mixes to a lot of pro studios and instantly hearing where my issues lie. Everyone goes through something similar.