Are skull candy headphones good for mixing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Blakx
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Blakx

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i cant get studio monitors so what headphones can i get ?

i like skull candy cuz there stylish but how are they in the professional world?
 
NO headphones are good for mixing. But, if that is all you can get I'd go with Sennheiser HD280's.
 
I will tell you right now that you may get made fun of for this question. Just warning you.

First off, no. 1. No headphones are ideal for mixing. Studio monitors will be ideal for mixing, and even then, some are not quite good for it. 2. Skullcandy headphones do not even market themselves for that purpose. If headphones that market themselves as being great for mixing are not great for mixing, then what are headphones that do not even attempt to go down that alley? 3. A less effective, but logical technique, is using a bunch of different speakers and headphones, and mixing the project so that it sounds good on all of them.
 
The headbands on Skull Candy phones tend to break easily. They may have fixed that in new models because of all the complaints though.
 
Arent skullcandy headphones extremely bass heavy? If you mix with these, youre gonna get an extremely off balanced mix.
 
No headphones are particularly good for mixing but Skull Candy would be especially bad.

To mix, you need to hear a natural, neutral sound so you understand what your mix will be like on a wide variety of speakers and headphones. Skull Candy are designed to colour the sound and emphasize the bass. A mix done on them would sound appalling on most other equipment.

Sorry.
 
This is going to buck the conventional wisdom around here, but there is a growing trend in the pro audio community toward using super high quality IEM's as a real alternative to reference monitors.

Here is a review of the Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitors.

Now I must admit that I have not tried these myself, I am simply bringing this info to the attention of readers of this forum, because I find it to be personally interesting, and because I have given serious thought to investing in something like these, or some JH Audio's, or any number of other options currently available.

The ability to do a real usable mix (or at least get working on one until you get back to the studio) while on the road is attractive.

Another benefit is the fact that if these can work as advertised they will truly take your room out of the equation.
 
It will be a while before I buy a $1000 pair of ear buds.
 
arcadeko said:
It will be a while before I buy a $1000 pair of ear buds.
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Me too. :p
Just saying, mixing on headphones (or good IEM's at any rate) is now becoming a possibility.

Though obviously a bit out of reach for the skull candy crowd.:cool::rolleyes:
 
phlopip said:
wow. . . just . . . wow.
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Um, has the rule about being nice to noobs been rescinded, maybe because everyone was so entertained when I ripped into a noob about a week ago? :D:spank:

arcadeko said:
It will be a while before I buy a $1000 pair of ear buds.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, like digital watches, pocket calculators and computers, the price will come down?:confused:
 
stevieb said:
Um, has the rule about being nice to noobs been rescinded, maybe because everyone was so entertained when I ripped into a noob about a week ago? :D:spank:
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The n00b forum is the only place where n00bs are guaranteed not to be fun of. That, and the other forum down at the bottom where no trolling is allowed.
 
Hey OP person, :D

I warned you about the dogs, OP. Don't worry, man. We were all new at some point. It's just that you double-whammied us not only asking about mixing on headphones, let alone Skullcandies. If you gave us an amount of money you're willing to invest, we could recommend you a nice pair of monitors or if we absolutely have no other choice, a nicer, flatter pair of headphones.
 
For mixing, as already stated, you really need some decent monitors...some here can get good stuff with headphones, but that is the exception.

I do use a pair of skull candy earbuds as a reference when I mix. I'll do it on the monitors, then plug in the headphones to see how it's going to translate. Usually I lose a lot of the bass in the headphones, so they help me get a nice balanced mix that will translate well. But as my main mixing sound, no they do not work at all.
 
uagahhh..ummm..... your better off with no sound and just using a visual spectro analyzer. Its not as stylish though.
 
as I always pop in to say ..... you CAM mix on headphones but you have to spend more money to get a good enough headphone amp and reference headphones than it would cost to just get some starter monitors.
I have a headphone rig that would cost you a grand or so ..... that's way higher than you'd have to pay for some decent entry level monitors.
 
I wouldn't use them for mixing. I do use many different headphones as a reference though. If you MUST use headphones, i would try KRK's.
 
CrowsofFritz said:
I wouldn't use them for mixing. I do use many different headphones as a reference though. If you MUST use headphones, i would try KRK's.
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be better than earbuds but if you do anything serious you'd want something more like a pair of Sennheiser HD650's and a high quality audiophile headphone amp. That's what I use plus a mid-level Headroom headphone amp but that's a chunk of change which is why i said that although you can do it, it's really cheaper to just get a set of monitors.
 
I will often rough mix something on the cans while the Mrs. is in bed. I don't have a sound proofed studio, just a regular room downstairs. My Senheisers do not make the best of it but it will do until I can get a clear day, when everyone is out. So by all means, mix on your headphones - but set aside a Saturday afternoon or some time when you go through that mix with a fine toothcomb on a reasonable pair of monitors.

Reasonable monitoring doesn't have to cost the earth, if you're on a very tight budget. I think second hand is the way to go. I use a very old NAD 3020 domestic amplifier with a pair of JBWs. I find the older, solid state gear gives me a reasonable overview of what it should sound like on most systems, because it's very neutral, with a well-developed mid-range, compared with many of today's budget home stereos. You can pick up amps and speakers like this for next to nothing, these days. I've actually got people to try my mixes on many types of equipment, ranging from an i-Pod, a cheap domestic stereo, right through to my own 'audiophile' system in the lounge and I've had no complaints yet. In fact, I've had a lot of compliments, which is nice.
 
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