Headphones for recording and mixing, what to buy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tuff genius
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:D ;) :p :eek:

Yo T>G>:]

No headphones for "mixing."

For listening, tracking, clicking or clacking, Beyer 250s or the 750 models will give you a good sound.

Of course, there are "good" AKGs, Sony, H.G. a bonanza of cans that will do the job.

Hoping you have little labor on Labor Day.

Green Hornet :D
 
The Green Hornet said:
:D ;) :p :eek:

Yo T>G>:]

No headphones for "mixing."

For listening, tracking, clicking or clacking, Beyer 250s or the 750 models will give you a good sound.

Of course, there are "good" AKGs, Sony, H.G. a bonanza of cans that will do the job.

Hoping you have little labor on Labor Day.

Green Hornet :D



yep....what he said....to the power of two!! (squared).
 
I don't think a mix/ master is complete until I listen through my Sennheiser HD600's (powered with a DIY PIMETA amp).
Headphones can reveal things that your average monitor can not. It's all relative. If you have $10,000 monitors (I don't) then maybe you don't need the cans. For $150 you can get some HD 580's on eBay.

Generally, you can get great headphones for way less than you can get great speakers.

As others have said, don't mix on headphones, but I believe they are great for use as tools in the mastering process.
 
Oh geez...here we go again :rolleyes:

NO HEADPHONES FOR MIXING!

Where's the damn volume control on this thing?!
 
TaperChuck said:
I don't think a mix/ master is complete until I listen through my Sennheiser HD600's (powered with a DIY PIMETA amp).
Headphones can reveal things that your average monitor can not. It's all relative. If you have $10,000 monitors (I don't) then maybe you don't need the cans. For $150 you can get some HD 580's on eBay.

Generally, you can get great headphones for way less than you can get great speakers.

As others have said, don't mix on headphones, but I believe they are great for use as tools in the mastering process.

ok....hopefully we all understand this concept now!!!
let's make this a freekin' sticky?....
 
out of curiousity, what is the wisdom and theory behind not using headphones for mixing?
 
elementary said:
out of curiousity, what is the wisdom and theory behind not using headphones for mixing?

This would be fine if the standard for listening to all music was with headphones but it isn't, we listen to music through speakers. So you will not get an accurate mix if you base your levels and separation through 2 speakers mounted to your ears. There are many influencing factors with non headphone mixes that will throw your headphone mix out the window...reflecting sound waves, room acoustics or wide open areas, frequency response to materials, etc. Headphones are essential but do not base your mix on it solely.
 
The easiest way to discover the practical differences is to compare a couple of your own mixes made with both cans and speakers. Many of us relied on only headphones early in our recording work and quickly became frustrated by how great our mixes sounded on headphones--and how poorly the mixes transfered to consumer stereo systems. The switch to monitoring with speakers can produce much more transferable mixes over a variety of systems--assuming that your monitors are decent and that you've taken plenty of time to get to know their sound. From my own limited experience, if I can't really trust my monitor system, mixing's a real pain in the ars.

J.
 
Sorry for butting in here, but I'd strongly recommend listening to your mixes with headphones and earbuds after mixing them with monitors, just to find out how the mixes translate to headphones. As popular as iPods and protable CD playes are these days, the MAJORITY of music today is listened to on headphones and earbuds. Don't forget to try the mixes in your car and a fairly crappy boom box too. ;)
 
kid klash said:
Sorry for butting in here, but I'd strongly recommend listening to your mixes with headphones and earbuds after mixing them with monitors, just to find out how the mixes translate to headphones. As popular as iPods and protable CD playes are these days, the MAJORITY of music today is listened to on headphones and earbuds. Don't forget to try the mixes in your car and a fairly crappy boom box too. ;)


you bring up a very valid point Kid K...about the iPod trend..
:rolleyes:
But if I ever found out someone listened to my music via a fucking iPod, I'd go insane!!
Kindest Regards..
Superspit.
 
kid klash said:
the MAJORITY of music today is listened to on headphones and earbuds.

I find that hard to believe. Car stereos, home stereos, concerts, tv... older generations don't really use ipods, all being beat out by earbuds? It'd be an interesting study to find out though.
 
I've noticed a bit of a trend where kids are starting to wear large headphones to listen to their iPods as opposed to the wee crappy earphones. I tend to do that myself. iPods obviously aren't ideal, but they are a great way to stay boredom free on the train:)

Cheers for answering my question guys:)
 
RH5m's

I've had a pair of RH5m Headphones from Yamaha for years...
I love the bass they give you and they're very clear for a mere 49.00 bucks...
It's a semi-closed headphone that has great bass response and good clarity for a very reasonable price...

I have a number of pairs around the house AND in the studio becuase most of my clients love the sound they get when they record with them...

Once in a while I'll use them for reference when mixing...
I mix down using my studio monitors but also agree with Kid K that I use more than one device to assess my mixes...

Try the RH5m's I think you'd like them...
 
riffy said:
I find that hard to believe. Car stereos, home stereos, concerts, tv... older generations don't really use ipods, all being beat out by earbuds? It'd be an interesting study to find out though.

The majority of music being sold (either as downloads, CDs or music DVDs) today is new, "contemporary" music, not classical, jazz, blues, golden oldies, "classic rock", etc. That's pretty easy to verify. The people buying the downloads or CDs and ripping the songs to MP3 are young/younger people, not middle-aged and older folks. The young/younger people are very iPod oriented. They also listen to music being played from their car systems and boomboxes. But still, the majority appears to be coming from earbuds and lightweight, inexpensive headphones.

I know this is a bit of a paradigm shift for many of us (me included), but it's the direction the music business is going.

I still mix and master through two types of reference monitors, but I also check the mixes with earbuds, headphones, a boombox, my car stereo, and even Auratones (mono AND stereo)!
 
On the subject of headphones for tracking purposes, I'm looking into getting the Behringer HPS 5000s to start with - do any of you guys know HOW closed they are? I like my headphones to be loud when im recording, coz i always wear earplugs, and the louder i play - the better drums sound; but I nearly always hear a faint clicktrack or guide guitar in the final recording, esp. in drum breaks - will the Behr's bleed much?
 
i dont like the behrs. very tight and uncomfortable. im not sure which ones i have though.....
 
kid klash said:
Sorry for butting in here, but I'd strongly recommend listening to your mixes with headphones and earbuds after mixing them with monitors, just to find out how the mixes translate to headphones. As popular as iPods and protable CD playes are these days, the MAJORITY of music today is listened to on headphones and earbuds. Don't forget to try the mixes in your car and a fairly crappy boom box too. ;)

Kid and many others have been raising this important point, and I don't doubt it. Fortunately, many of us homerecording types have the option of making music for real listening by others like us, without major concern about commercial popularity. As a session guitarist, I've worked on pop stuff that I'd never buy, but my meager home studio answers only to me. That non-music day job, for better or worse, does allow some musical freedom.

J.
 
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