Headphones-Speakers...pitch change?

[jdavis]

Got a question about pitch and headphones. I recorded something this evening, and was monitoring it thru the headphones for half, then switched to my speakers. When I switched to the speakers, it sounded like the pitch was a little off from what I heard when I had the headphones on. Since I record vocals with one earphone on, and one off, this seems like it could present a problem. The pair of headphones I have are a good Fostex pair(model # number unknown right now), and so I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this problem. Is it the headphones, the speakers, or my imagination? Let me know whatcha think. Thanks ya'll!

***Justin***

 

[vox]

Apparently with loud monitoring your ears can actually start to hear flat!

What supposedly happens is when the monitors are too loud your ear drums have to oscillate through a longer distance, just like a spreaker 'kicks' out further when played loudly, if the distance is too great they cant recover fast enough and end up vibrating more slowly than they should be, resulting in a flattened note.

 

[Queue]

This is NO MYTH. Increased volume does effect pitch perception. It is more prevalent in headphones. I can't remember where I found a nice explanation of this, but trust me it is true.

I thought I was going tone deaf , as all my vocal recordings were off pitch... One headphone ear on and one off will help, as then you can hear your own voice normally, but reduction in the volume is the real key.

I've actually started to use some crappy ear-bud speakers. They allow enough sound from my voice in, yet are quiet enough that I don't have the pitch problems, and don't bleed into the vocal mic much. YMMV

Good Luck!!!

Queue

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

jdavis, Queue and vox are correct. You should heed the information.



spin

 

[fenix]

You guys are missing something! Dude, what are you recording on? If it is analog tape, your record speed could be different from your playback speed on your recorder. This will cause some pitch stuff going on.

 

[jdavis]

i'm recording digital into protools...so I doubt that tape speed is a problem here . So, is the idea to record with maybe, both headphones on, so I can match the pitch of my vocals with the pitch of the playback in the phones?

 

[Queue]

If it is too loud, you'll NEVER get it right, as you are matching to the perceived pitch, which is incorrect.

You gotta turn down the volume. If you are still flat, try one ear.

Queue

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

fenix (in the voice of Gary Coleman from 'Different Strokes'),

"What chu' talkin' bout'..."



spin

 

[struberg]

i know about the doppler effect of speakers, but this only should make a reasonable impact on bass speakers at high volumes.
If you have an ambulance car passing near you, you can hear the tone of the sirene getting higher when it draws nearer. The same thing happens to a loudspeaker - the tone will get higher when the membran comes closer to you, and lower if it oscillates back into the speaker chassis.
You can clearly hear this phenomen if the speaker oscillates more than +-5mm (what usually only bass speakers do).
Thats one reason why speakers with larger diametes usually sounds more accurat (They have to oscillate less to move the same amount of air)

 

[struberg]

i found a good description of doppler effect on loudspeakers on the net: www.stereophile.com
that explains why it also has an heavy effect on midrange...

greets,
Mark

 

[nessbass]

Damn, I should check this with the singer of my band next time we record....
Didn't know that something like this can exist.

David.

 

[struberg]

the first time i ever heard about this phenomen was by listening to a pair of active vacuum tube driven Martin Logan CLS-II electrostatic speakers. They consist of a large conductive aliminium foil with a conductive grid in front and behind the foil. If you switch plus 2000 volts to the front grid and minus 2000 volts to the foil and the back grid, the electrostatic force will move the foil a few hundreds milimeters to the front grid.
This isn't that much, but imagine a speaker with a membrane of 3 square meter

This speaker have virtually no doppler effect but the price is not even cheap..

 

[Queue]

This isn't a technical explanation of why it happens, but is a good practical explanation as to how to deal with it.

It is in the part titled "Headphone Mixes"

InterMusic Article

Queue

 

[struberg]

A fine site btw! Have your read the 20 delay tips - great!

 

[Queue]

I'm still making my way through the "Recording Vocals" series...

Queue