yeah the plugins and crossfeed for headphone mixing I think helps...it simulates how our ears hear in stereo/mono both ears hearing both speakers.so with headphones you kind of want the same effect/ mix of the L&R where as headphones can be too much stereo separation....so the cross feed thing is good,imo. I have a free plug that I stuck on my master buss...its kind of like a mono button but more stereo-ish.
ive read pro's with real money made on headphone mixes and working in a portable setup and one whose even grammy stuff with a small UA-interface and plugs and headphoned a mix. ("headphoned" is a gearhead phrase not yet accepted by Websters Dictionary Committee)
anything is possible is my belief....the billboard top chart with a MXL 990 lead vocal mic etc...or a Platinum XTC using a Squier guitar as the main axe....
is it possible? yes. .....can anyone make it work? probably not.
I had a reduced my hr room to a closet and this obviously would mean a headphone mix is probably better. so I grabbed some Beyer DT something and a Grace Headphone amp to see. My verdicts still out because I have another headphone amp thats really really close to the Grace which is really pro-well done stuff. A lot of interfaces have crap headphone amps and are so unconcerned with the headphone amp they dont even mention the specs.
as for headphones...I was just reading the beatles used shit headphones for tracking all those sessions and they sounded horrible and are discontinued.... for mixing today theres some nice OpenBacks with the sky high price as the limit.
Id prefer a high end headphone amp + hiend headphones for mixing over a closet-acoustically crap room in theory.
But Ive not made any great mixes yet and if the room is done right theres the obvious first place choice.
I cant think of the billboard tracks done on headphones but if you search for hours you'll find them probably.
Im not even sure anyone uses speakers for playback anymore...most consumers are smartphone and headsets right?
car stereos......hifi home consumer systems seemed to die out and faded away.
add: Dee Speaker - emulator of studio monitoring aka crossfeed
DeeSpeaker FREE Nearfield Monitor Emulator VST/AU Plugin
this might be worth a listen and has crossfeed and dual headphone amps. 16/44.1....if that isnt a big deal.
Behringer MONITOR2USB | Sweetwater