Mixing in headphones

L

LukeDrum44

New member
Just wondering what you guys think of mixing in headphones rather than speaker monitors,


As far as I know it's not ideal to be mixing in headphones as you can get a much more uncoloured sound from decent monitors.
But as a University student it's not always ideal to have speaker monitors on my desk and doesn't even give me the chance to position them well due to the limited space of the desk, so I decided to take my monitors home for Christmas and leave them there.

My question is: Is mixing in headphones doable or is it just a really bad option?
And if you can mix fairly well in headphones which headphones would you advise to go for?

Thanks in advance!

Luke
 
From what I understand, mixing in headphones would be a good idea if people were only listening to your songs through headphones. But all the listening methods are just so different, from home speaker systems to cars to PMPs, that your mixes could end up sounding amazing on your computer through your headphones, but awful everywhere else.
 
Do a quick search of the forum, the headphone issue has been discussed to death. A short summary: it is do able to an extent. You'll have problems with the low end, and panning, among other things. Options include the Sennheiser HD series, Sony MDR, and a lot more.
 
If it is such a bad idea to mix through headphones because it will sound bad through speakers, why isn't it a bad idea to mix through speakers because it will sound bad through headphones? I mean these days probably most (or at least close to half of) listening to music is through headphones.
 
dainbramage said:
If it is such a bad idea to mix through headphones because it will sound bad through speakers, why isn't it a bad idea to mix through speakers because it will sound bad through headphones? I mean these days probably most (or at least close to half of) listening to music is through headphones.
Click to expand...

same reason blockbuster movies are shot with 35mm film cameras despite the fact that some of us will be watching it on anything from an old tv to a iphone. It's not as circumstantial as that though. The sonic image that is projected through headphones is inaccurate. The point of monitoring is to get as accurate of an image as possible so that when people play it on their crap devices it will still sound "decent" to them. The headphones/car speakers and all of the other consumer goods should conform to what the pros use not vice versa.
 
guitarded2 said:
same reason blockbuster movies are shot with 35mm film cameras despite the fact that some of us will be watching it on anything from an old tv to a iphone. It's not as circumstantial as that though. The sonic image that is projected through headphones is inaccurate. The point of monitoring is to get as accurate of an image as possible so that when people play it on their crap devices it will still sound "decent" to them. The headphones/car speakers and all of the other consumer goods should conform to what the pros use not vice versa.
Click to expand...

Well ok, thanks I've been wondering about that.
 
If it is such a bad idea to mix through headphones because it will sound bad through speakers, why isn't it a bad idea to mix through speakers because it will sound bad through headphones? I mean these days probably most (or at least close to half of) listening to music is through headphones.
Click to expand...
Try to make a mix sound really bad on headphones...
 
Headphones can be used for Mixing, I had to use them a lot at College also. So I would suggest a good pair of headphones and to really get to know your headphones by listening to commercial Mixes and studying how they play on your headphones.
And when you get a chance listen to commercial Mixes on monitors and headphones, A/B ing them.
You will want to finish your Mixes on monitors though, I would never use headphones to finish a Mix, but you can get pretty close to a finished Mix using only headphones.

G
 
I've heard a couple tracks from a guy who did it in only headphones. It translated fine.

That said, I have 0 confidence I could pull it off myself.
 
Bear was OK unless you were stupid... then he'd growl a little...:rolleyes::laughings:

I can't believe it... another "mix on headphones" thread. Who'd a thunk it...?
 
Hi all,

Lots of people think you can't mix well with headphones, but here's a guy who say that you can, and explains how, and what the potentials pros and cons are in some detail. It's an article by Martin Walker who runs a studio and is a respected contributor to Sound On Sound magazine.

Mixing on Headphones

Let's face it, this is HomeRecording.com not BigShotStudio.com so many of us don't have the luxury of soundproof rooms - and we have neighbours and families who might not take kindly hearing the same thing played over and over and over and over...

Doing some of your mixing on headphones is just one strategy to help end the week with the full complement of teeth and fingers. I think it's worth exploring. :)

Cheers,

Chris
 
Yes, point taken Hakea, but the question is asked here regularly, and almost invariably, by newbies who have very little knowledge of recording in the first instance, and who currently have about $0 to invest in gear, to see if they can utilise the headphones they already own, rather than go out whoring or selling crack to schoolchildren to finance monitors...

So in the sense that the question is usually asked around here... I think the generally given advice, "Not the best idea, better to find a way to get monitors" is good advice. Depends on the value you put on your time too, I guess...;)
 
Hakea said:
Hi all,

Lots of people think you can't mix well with headphones, but here's a guy who say that you can, and explains how, and what the potentials pros and cons are in some detail. It's an article by Martin Walker who runs a studio and is a respected contributor to Sound On Sound magazine.

Mixing on Headphones

Let's face it, this is HomeRecording.com not BigShotStudio.com so many of us don't have the luxury of soundproof rooms - and we have neighbours and families who might not take kindly hearing the same thing played over and over and over and over...

Doing some of your mixing on headphones is just one strategy to help end the week with the full complement of teeth and fingers. I think it's worth exploring. :)

Cheers,

Chris
Click to expand...

Thanks for that article link - very good info. All the info about panning was useful. Like you said, not all of us have the luxury of a soundproof room where we can endlessly repeat our songs through monitors.
 
I do lots of my mixing on headphones, but mostly detailed stuff and just general check backs at night...and vocals...I mix all my own vocals in my cans, damned if Im letting the neighbours hear my weird shit lol


You can do a lot with cans, but you'd have to be pretty skilled to mix an entire track and get away with it, and that isnt me, or most of the folks that ask about mixing in headphones
 
you can mix in headphones but you have to spend more money on a good pair of cans and headphone amp than you would on a pair of decent monitors.
 
I think just as important as spending money on a good pair of cans is investing even more TIME in learning to judge what a sound on your headphones will translate to on other systems.

I don't think anyone has ever said you can't mix on headphones, just that, for a beginner, it's easier (and likely to produce better results) to have a decent pair of monitors. The level of detail that excellent SOS article goes into is as much an indication of the difficulties (and learning curve) involved as a justification that headphone mixing is a good idea.

Frankly, like many people, I have to do big chunks of my mixing on cans--but I also have the option of listening through good monitors before I take any final decisions. I also spent far to many years of my life recording location audio for TV when the ONLY option for monitoring is headphones. That helps you learn what your listening for...but makes you appreciate studio monitors in a big way!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top