Mixing on IEMs

Big Mike B

New member
I don't know how many times I've been told not to mix on headphones because "they lie to you". Understandable, as hearing a sound coming directly from a source is different to hearing it in the context of a room.

Here's the thing. I can in no way currently afford a set of professional mixing monitors. The closest thing I have is a set of PA speakers used by my band for rehearsals. However, I also have a set of Shure SE215 in-ear monitors, and these technically don't qualify as "headphones".

For those who don't know, these are a set of "professional" quality in-ear monitors which are meant to have a flat frequency response. Now here's my question. Could/(should?) I use these for mixing and/or mastering?

The way I see it, professional mixing studios are treated in specific ways to kill reflections and to give the room a very flat frequency response. Since these bring the sound directly to my ears, there are no room reflections, and the response is very close to flat.

Thanks in advance.
 
In every way that matters, iem's are headphones.

The biggest thing about headphones is the fact that the left and right channels never interact, like they would in a room. One of the ways they lie to you is they isolate the two channels and create a much different stereo field than a set of speakers do.

As for flat frequency response, it will.always depend on the fit of the iems. If they aren't fitted properly, the frequency response can change drastically. That is something you don't have to worry about with headphones.
 
Mine are a perfect fit, which is why I'm so eager to use them.

Say I compared the stereo field to that of a reference track, would that help?
 
Big Mike..........the bottom line is that experience with recording and mixing will almost surely lead you to the conclusion that headphones of any type are not going to easily get the job done for you alone. Short of that and short of funds.........you can only do with what you have...........and that will mean A LOT OF MIX TESTING on other sources........your home stereo if you have one.......your car stereo........etc....etc........if you use headphones to mix on..........and each of those systems will "lie" a bit to you as well. Headphones do have a place as a mix reference.......but just as one test among many. So.........mix.........reference test.........mix again........test again.......until you are able to get some decent monitors and make a room that won't let you down.
 
I have multiple pairs of 215s with foam plugs and custom moulds. They are absolutely awful for mixing on. I should qualify that. For some forms of music, they actually work. Modern synthesised and sample club and dance music. No good for anything that needs you to mix a proper soundstage. The reason is simple. In ears can let you pan left to right, but depth is pretty much lacking. You need to hear the sound in the air to put instruments and sound sources in the right place. As said, both ears need to hear both speakers, and then your brain can process it properly. Binaural sound can't do this, so decisions made on in ears or headphones often sound very odd on speakers. So you can mix, but it may not translate well to speakers. Indeed you can end up with sounds inside your head, which is impossible on speakers.
 
Although they may differ in some details, just about every microwave oven is functionally the same. That's because over time the design has evolved to be the most sensible, economical and effective.

The same applies to recording studios. So if you want to get clues about 'best practice', just have a look at how studios work. What we see are lots of pictures of people working at consoles located between sets of speakers. We do not see pictures of people sitting there with headphones on.

It is true that time and technology change, but the basic function doesn't. So we see consoles being replaced by DAWS and interfaces, and the control room window being replaced by a computer monitor. But we still see the speakers.

So, yes, you can mix on headphones. You can mix on IEMs (which are functionally the same). But there are reasons why it is not recommended practice (as others have noted).
 
Work, save, sell some stuff. Get some decent monitors. Otherwise you are selling yourself short.
 
For those who don't know, these are a set of "professional" quality in-ear monitors which are meant to have a flat frequency response. Now here's my question. Could/(should?) I use these for mixing and/or mastering?

Tracking,. Maybe. Mixing, doubtful. Mastering,. no way. I'd bet that your IEMs are likely not flat. If true, thats a big red flag stuck on top of the already mentioned stereo/imaging issues. So thats two big extra issues to deal with on top of learning to mix. I'm guessing the only legit mixers who can really defend headphones are using industry standard models that are not cheap and are designed for the job. They also have also been using them for years and are well aware of thier shortcomings. They probably also have two sets of monitors and one are yamaha ns-10's.

That being said..For live performances I use a Tascam field recorder and monitor through these $10 earbuds (which work suprisingly well for reference,. Clear and decent but not overhyped bass) covered with some 3M Earmuffs. I also own a few pair of those earbuds and am commited to them for this specific purpose. Results are decent but the expectations are lower from the get go. So the argument could be made that everything depends on what your ultimate goal is.

Your logic is sound, use headphones to remove room complications from the equation. Alot of us have the same thought starting out. Unfortunatly, removing the room noise just adds another layer of complication to mix. Its kinda like trying to hear stereo with only one ear,. your missing information so your never going to hear whats really going on. Or another good example,. It's like trying to understand women.

For private use,. If I was just trying to capture band practice/song ideas, initially using only headphones for tracking/,. I might try restricting the project to mono to keep me sane,.. But I'd still want better headphones. Sony 7506's ($100) / Superlux HD668B ($40)

Good luck!
 
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