Mixing with Headphones

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calgarychris

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I am unfortunatley in a position that I can't mix using near field monitors. I moved into an apartment with the thinest walls on the planet, and cranky neighbors to boot. So I have to mix using a pair of headphones. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good set of open headphones that would best serve my purpose? Price not really an issue.

Thanks for the help.

Cheers,
Chris
 
AKG K240 headphones are a good choice. Used by many for tracking. About 100.00.
My wife uses a pair of Sennheiser HD 565 -about 200.00 They make everything sound good so they may be a little tougher to mix with.
Good luck with your mixing AND the cranky neighbors.

Terry
 
I'm in the same boat - don't feel alone.

I have a set of beyer DT770 that lets me hear bass down to 25 Hz or so, not talking marketing specs here on the box but my actual measurements. I'm also breaking in a set of DT880 that don't have as much low bass but the mids and highs are better than the 770's. I've got a set of HD600's too but everything sounds pretty good in there so I just usually listen to references in there to neutralize the ears - oh yeah, enjoy good music too!

The beyer 770 & 880 can get me thru many things - still I have to come out in the nearfields - can't help it. Even low at 60dbSPLC there's things I just can't hear in the phones. Many people do 50-60dbSPL whisper listening I'm finding out along with a combination of other things. There is no way I can hit 90dbSPL anymore even for a minute...so I just have to get real good at whisper balancing and using the phones...
 
This may sound lame, but don't forget the old reference of listening on your car stereo to mixes. Our 2 cars are my private "sound rooms" where I can roll up the windows and crank things. Added bonus is if it sounds good on those shitty car speakers, it'll probably sound good almost anywhere.
 
calgarychris said:
I am unfortunatley in a position that I can't mix using near field monitors. I moved into an apartment with the thinest walls on the planet, and cranky neighbors to boot. So I have to mix using a pair of headphones. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good set of open headphones that would best serve my purpose? Price not really an issue.

Thanks for the help.

Cheers,
Chris
Click to expand...

*****sigh*****

I can't believe this is actually being asked again.... :(
 
AKG K240DF is hands down the right phones for this. They're a little more than the regular K240, but worth the extra bucks when using for mixing vs tracking. DF stands for difuse field. Here's the scoop.....
the K240DF: "follows the criteria specified by the IRT in Munich for a 'diffuse field' equalization curve that provides headphone listeners with the sound pattern and characteristics of a room with reflective, non-anechoic surfaces."

Maybe there's a little marketing hype there, but I own a set, and it's the only set of cans I've ever used that I can tweak a mix with and have it make sense in the monitors later. They're also really comfortable to wear for long periods.....a secondary, but not altogether unimportant factor in your case.

-RD
 
I track with a pair of Sony MDR 7506. I've also used the AKG's cited above. It's a shame that you can't use nearfields. I would think that at a reasonable volume during reasonable hours, mixing should not be a problem. After all, it's not always necessary to mix a high volume. In fact, sometimes a lot can be learned playing a mix that's barely audible. And many suggest mixing at a level comparable to a spoken conversation. Oh Well....
 
fraserhutch said:
*****sigh*****

I can't believe this is actually being asked again.... :(
Click to expand...
Lucky for you that you don't have to ask...thanks for the help! :mad:
 
vwcsonic said:
This may sound lame, but don't forget the old reference of listening on your car stereo to mixes. Our 2 cars are my private "sound rooms" where I can roll up the windows and crank things. Added bonus is if it sounds good on those shitty car speakers, it'll probably sound good almost anywhere.
Click to expand...
That's not lame - just part of the signal chain for us apartment warriors! ;)
 
I suggest these:

Sennheiser HD600
AKG K240DF
Beyer Dynamic DT-880

Those are about the flattest dynamic open cans you can get. Flatter than this? Look at electrostatic systems in the $k range.

If I was going to be stuck with one pair of phones that "does it all" I'd have my trusty Sony 7506 with me. It shows inconsistencies like no other. The problem is the stereo image (due to the closed design), which you have to get use to it so that it translates well to speakers.

EDIT: It's also very important to invest in an headphone amp if you go the headphone route. Otherwise, you won't get the flat response you should.

EDIT2: This is my FAVOURITE link :rolleyes:
Whad'ya Mean I Can't Mix with Headphones ????
 
you just can't mix in cans, it doesn't work. You'll get 100% better mixes monitoring at low volume than you will using cans. Get into the studio building and display forum and look at treating the offending wall between you and the cranky neighbours and save your ears from an early death
 
LemonTree said:
Get into the studio building and display forum and look at treating the offending wall between you and the cranky neighbours and save your ears from an early death
Click to expand...

There's a lot of good advice down there but I'm not sure anything would solve your problem. Sound isolation is what you need and the only answer to that is mass and/or space--neither of which are cheap or available to the average apartment dweller. It would be more cost effective to buy your neighbors an all-expenses-paid vacation in the topics twice a year than trying to soundproof your apartment.
 
Wow... do your neighbors complain about the TV volume? Or the "bedroom-noises" ;) as well?
I would think that monitoring on referrence monitors no louder than the TV would be better than trying to mix on cans. Use the cans for the details like verb tails and positioning.
If the cranky neighbors complain about TV and other normal sound, then you have other problems that you need to take up with the apartment managers.
Just some food fo thought.
 
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