The consensus among experienced engineers, sure enough, is that you mix with monitors, and check individual tracks for additional problems with cans also. But as several people have pointed out, you have to do what you have to do, and if you can't afford monitors right now, or if you can't use them because of noise considerations, you need a plan B.
It takes a lot longer, especially if your mix is dense, but in the beginning, I tended to do this- I would set a prospective mix, and record every setting in a log. This includes all fader levels, any panning or EQ, etc. Then I would burn it to a CD (now 16 bits, 44.1khz), and go listen to it in the car, and take notes. This is too loud, too bright, etc. Then I would adjust the settings, do it again, and repeat. Often it would take a week or more to get a marginally acceptable mix, but it got better over time, as I began to understand how the mix would translate to a real world cheap stereo system. Hell, I had to do this, and I *was* using monitors.
Derek, I know you got into a shooting war with Blue Bear over this issue, but don't take it too seriously. In his own gruff way, Blue Bear is trying to help, and from a technical perspective, he's right, of course. Sometimes people who've sweated and worked for a lot of expertise and a lot of gear, need to be reminded that people in other situations have to look for the best way to do something wrong. I understand you're doing voiceovers onto pre-mixed tracks, and your room sucks, so you have to work in a situation that is specialized, in an acoustic space that is less than ideal. My point- Bruce isn't really an asshole, they just draw him that way. -Richie
