Headphones for mixing

B

BajoElSol

New member
hey folks, anyone recommend any good headphones for mixing, under $100 and available on the internet?

thanks
 
I recommend saving your money to purchase monitors. Never mix with headphones. I learned the hardway.

your recording projects will be so much better with monitors
 
BajoElSol said:
hey folks, anyone recommend any good headphones for mixing, under $100 and available on the internet?

thanks
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Hey man, I need a really good car for under 500$. Let me know.
 
I guess it all depends on one's definition of "nice" or "good".
 
Unfortunately, it's true... no headphones are good for mixing, even expensive ones... you simply don't get an acurate idea of the stereo image, frequencies will stand out that shouldn't or vice-versa, spacial effects like reverb will be impossible to judge etc...
As far as finding some decent headphones for under $100, you should be able to do that - it's just that headphones are best left for use while tracking, or editing late at night (and of course you can check a finished mix on them too, just not as your only point of reference).
 
I have a pair of AKG 240s that I am fond of, and a pair of AKG K110M phones I like as well. The latter cost $$75 I think.

I "mix" on headphones, but I think the definition of "mix" is ambiguous. I edit on phones, check for noises, overall balances, timing, blah blah. I use phones 90% of the time so I have to rely on them a LOT. For the actual "mix" I use monitors.
 
It sounds like you live in Cascade Locks. I think you need to move upland to Cooper Spur and diffuse those e.q. issues. I love Mt. Hood! :)
 
Consider getting a pair of the new Event ALP5's. They are powered, phase and time aligned and give an astoundingly accurate image. Not to mention NOT lying about the frequency balance. If you mix on a pair of these I can virtually guarantee you will get a mix that sounds good on anything from a car stereo to a home system. They are small, fit on a small adjustable type of stand....and away you go.......
 
I think it must be about every 2 months that we go through another mixing on headphones thread. Do a search to find the previous discussions that tell you why it doesn't work. I'll throw in my usual plug for AKG 240DFs (difuse field), which are more expensive than the standard 240s, but much better for getting a mix close with. In the end though, no headphones can overcome the problem that the ears and brain are isolated from the time/phase/amplitude/angle of incidence differences that they encounter and process in free space. These elements play a large role in spatial location and the interpretation of time based effects like reverb.
I don't think it's a complete waste of time to mix with headphones. But you can only get so far, and the last 20% or so just has to be done with monitors.
 
I just started recording and I mixed just two parts on headphones. I converted them to mp3. In my excitement, I uploaded it to my .mac account for others to listen. I listened to it at work and it sounds horrible. I'm buying monitors this week
 
Robert D said:
I don't think it's a complete waste of time to mix with headphones. But you can only get so far, and the last 20% or so just has to be done with monitors.
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This is what I've been trying to tell this board for a while now, but nobody wants to hear it. :rolleyes:
 
TheDewd said:
This is what I've been trying to tell this board for a while now, but nobody wants to hear it. :rolleyes:
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Well, I think the danger is that you can make bad mix decisions in the cans, and then not end up fixing them in the monitors. I think it's probably best to just clear the board and construct the mix from scratch in the monitors, but with an understanding of what aspects of the mix are probably wrong due to the headphones, one could reasonably expect to be able to dial in the verbs,fine-tune the stereo image, address phase issues, etc. by monitors after constructing a good deal of the mix in the cans.
 
Robert D said:
Well, I think the danger is that you can make bad mix decisions in the cans, and then not end up fixing them in the monitors. I think it's probably best to just clear the board and construct the mix from scratch in the monitors, but with an understanding of what aspects of the mix are probably wrong due to the headphones, one could reasonably expect to be able to dial in the verbs,fine-tune the stereo image, address phase issues, etc. by monitors after constructing a good deal of the mix in the cans.
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Well the same can be said while using monitors.
Unless you are using very nice farfields in a professionnaly built studio, you should always check your mixes on other systems.
This is especially true for nearfield users.
Indeed, me thinks nearfields are as bad as headphones when you look it that way.
The added phase accuracy is negatively compensated by the less accurate frequency response/extension of nearfields compared to headphones.
I always do the bulk of mixing on headphones, then switch to my mid/far field system, then to my car...then I go back and fix and...
 
3 things in life are certain: (in no particular order)

1. death

2. taxes

3. if you ask about mixing with headphones here, you're gonna get beat up.

Since this is a HOME recording forum, sometimes some of us actually record at home. With families. With kids that may go to bed earlier than some of us want to quit recording.

Sometimes you've gotta do rough mixing with headphones. I recently bought AKG 240S headphones ($99) and they seem to work quite well. When I put my headphone mix through actual speakers, it's surprisingly close to what I was hearing in the headphones. (That didn't happen with my old headphones)
 
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