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pasnu
New member
If I buy headphones for around 200 dollars, can I mix with them? or is it a must to have speakers?
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
Monitors. I've never been able to mix on headphones.
aaronmcoleman
The truth is out there!
Yes. But it's not going to translate well. I don't know that anyone who is half way decent does that...I may be wrong, but I doubt it.
Steve Henningsgard
New member
Headphones can be quite useful in mixing, and if a good set is used properly, you can get some pretty good results. The biggest disadvantage that headphones have over good speakers is their imaging. When you're listening to music on speakers, they're generally in front of you, and so the stereo field extends only as wide as your speakers (for the most part). Headphones extend all the way from one ear to the other, and so panning can be interesting. When you have speakers smashed against your ears (as headphones are), certain details can become more apparent, and others can get masked.
arcadeko
Illuminatius Overlordious
I have to use both - Actually I use three - I use KRK monitors to do most of the mixing, then I play it through a Sony Shelf Stereo system to hear it more like a home stereo - I use $30 Sony studio headphones also to really get in there and check it out (and to give my wife a break from hearing the same song 500 times 
- I wouldn't rely solely on headphones -
After I am all done i burn it to a CD and listen to it in the card, much to my wifes dismay!
I think the car stereo test is critical...
- I wouldn't rely solely on headphones - After I am all done i burn it to a CD and listen to it in the card, much to my wifes dismay!
I think the car stereo test is critical...
Steve Henningsgard
New member
I have to use both - Actually I use three - I use KRK monitors to do most of the mixing, then I play it through a Sony Shelf Stereo system to hear it more like a home stereo - I use $30 Sony studio headphones also to really get in there and check it out (and to give my wife a break from hearing the same song 500 times
After I am all done i burn it to a CD and listen to it in the card, much to my wifes dismay!
I think the car stereo test is critical...
Agreed! I've got four sets of headphones that I check on: an overall nice, well-rounded pair, a critical pair, the shitty $30 consumer cans, and my ipod ear buds. The last two are for pretty much the last stages of mixing though, as with the car test.
kcearl
I see deaf people
theres a hundred threads on this and a hundred opinions...the search button is your friend
Dogbreath
Im an ex-spurt
Didn't I just see you in da womb?
guitaristic
prophet of Dave
I'd say monitors are a must-have. Most headphones boost bass, and that won't translate well. Though I do like to use headphones to adjust levels and such, that's about as far as they go for me.
nate_dennis
Well-known member
Sufjan Stevens first two or three records were mixed on headphones. Will it take more work? Yes. Is it do-able? Hell Yes.
G
Greg_L
Banned
You can mix on tiny laptop speakers if you want. It won't be good, but you can do it.
guitaristic
prophet of Dave
Oh yeah, I totally agree. I was just thinking in terms of time efficiency!
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NYMorningstar
Recording Modus Operandi
What's better, mixing with headphones or with your eyes?
guitaristic
prophet of Dave
G
Greg_L
Banned
I mix with my feet.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
That, of course, depends on the headphones. Good audiophile types can be way flatter than most of the moderate priced monitors we mostly use. Of course, you start looking at 100 bucks and up for those. But My Sennheiser HD-600's are pretty flat.
As for the 'in-your-head' thing .... there are products that aleviate that for the most part.
I use Headphone brand amps with their crossfeed circuit but some new I just noticed might also be a good solution for you 'puter recorders and it's fairly cheap ..... $100.
VRM Box
Aldwyn
Warning: Gets Naked Often
Headsphones are just about my last tool when mixing. I always mix with the KRK RP 8s until I am happy. Sometimes I will then tweak moving over to some M-Audio StudioPro 3s. Last (and sometimes never), I go back to the headphones, just to make sure.
But usually I just trust in my KRKs.
But usually I just trust in my KRKs.
aaronmcoleman
The truth is out there!
I've mixed with headphones when my wife doesn't want to hear the song for the millionth time. Always too bassey, vocals too high, EQ way off, generally sucky mix. I've never gotten a good mix from headphones. I use them as reference for those who will be listening on headphones, and generally a good monitor mix is alright in the phones too, but not the other way around.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
I'm betting ya'll haven't tried mixing with a good reference headphone set-up.
Of course, you gotta kick out 7-8 hundred bucks at least to get the kind of stuff I'm talking about but it's simply not true that good headphones emphasize the bass.
A good quality headphone amp and a set of say, Sennheiser HD-600's or 650's is flatter than any of the cheap monitors anyone around here uses.
Don't get me wrong ........... I'm not advocating for headphones over monitors.
Decent monitors in a decent room are always gonna be better.
But I can get a better mix on a good set of audiophile open-air cans than I'm gonna get in a bedroom studio with a set of 200 dollar 'monitors'.
Further ......... there is a tendency to think that speakers are accurate and flat simply because they have the word 'monitor' in their name.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
VERY many cheap monitors are just small bookshelf speakers that they stuck the words 'reference monitor' on as nothing more than a marketing ploy.
If they were all flat and accurate ..... they would all sound pretty similar.
They don't ...... they're all over the place.
Ther fact is, there are situations where, as aaroncoleman said, it's useful to be able to use 'phones.
So I'm just saying to research it and get a headphone rig that will be decent for those situations.
I have about 8 hundred in my headphone rig (you can go a LOT more) and the mixes I get out of it are very similar to what I get using my monitors.
So with the right rig you can make decent mixes ...... it's absolutely possible if you have the right gear .......... period. So if you're in a situation where you simply HAVE to use 'phones ..... you'll be able to do so effectively.
Don't just grab a 50 dollar pair of sony's and assume that all headphones sound like that .....just like monitors, they don't.
.
Of course, you gotta kick out 7-8 hundred bucks at least to get the kind of stuff I'm talking about but it's simply not true that good headphones emphasize the bass.
A good quality headphone amp and a set of say, Sennheiser HD-600's or 650's is flatter than any of the cheap monitors anyone around here uses.
Don't get me wrong ........... I'm not advocating for headphones over monitors.
Decent monitors in a decent room are always gonna be better.
But I can get a better mix on a good set of audiophile open-air cans than I'm gonna get in a bedroom studio with a set of 200 dollar 'monitors'.
Further ......... there is a tendency to think that speakers are accurate and flat simply because they have the word 'monitor' in their name.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
VERY many cheap monitors are just small bookshelf speakers that they stuck the words 'reference monitor' on as nothing more than a marketing ploy.
If they were all flat and accurate ..... they would all sound pretty similar.
They don't ...... they're all over the place.
Ther fact is, there are situations where, as aaroncoleman said, it's useful to be able to use 'phones.
So I'm just saying to research it and get a headphone rig that will be decent for those situations.
I have about 8 hundred in my headphone rig (you can go a LOT more) and the mixes I get out of it are very similar to what I get using my monitors.
So with the right rig you can make decent mixes ...... it's absolutely possible if you have the right gear .......... period. So if you're in a situation where you simply HAVE to use 'phones ..... you'll be able to do so effectively.
Don't just grab a 50 dollar pair of sony's and assume that all headphones sound like that .....just like monitors, they don't.
.
aaronmcoleman
The truth is out there!
ok, you got me, $800 headphone set up may work just fine. My $25 sony set (half of the $50 one) sucks as do most set ups that cost less than $800 for mixing.