What sounds better - phones or speakers

[Monkey Allen]

So, it's better to mix and all that using some nice monitor speakers right...but at the end of the day what do you think your and any music sounds better on? Your headphones or your speakers?

Speakers are good for blasting a bit of vol...but when you listen through headphones to a great recording, you can hear every nuance and every little bit of tone. Something like Dark Side of the Moon, sounds awesome anywhere, but in headphones it's possible to really hear it, if you know what I mean.

Headphones can enable you to hear nuances in songs that otherwise you miss.

I suppose the basic question I'm asking is...do you think headphones are fun for really close listening and at making hearing a good song even better?

 

[cusebassman]

I agree with you in part here, especially when it comes to tracking your own material. My good Sony headphones were wonderful for getting the sound I wanted out of any instrument I was going to record, because they painted an accurate picture of the sound I was capturing, aside perhaps from the low bass end. They recently broke, and I have been temporarily trying to use a much cheaper set of Sonys, that sound terrible. The mid-range is exaggerated and there is almost no low or high end output from them.

The point is, for everyone who says to mix your material through monitors, if you recorded with shitty headphones to begin with, the signal you captured might be terrible. I am trying to record acoustic guitar - if all I can hear is the midrange of the instrument, I can't tell if my mic placement is giving me far too much, or not enough bass - same for the highs.

So I agree that good headphones are not only helpful for getting a good picture of what you are recording, but are entirely necessary. I'd rather use a good set of headphones, and test mic placement, than use crappy ones, and have to go listen to test recordings on my monitors everytime I try a new mic position - it just wastes a lot of time that way.

As for listening to existing material from other artists, I do find that good headphones will allow you to hear things clearer than when you are listening on most sound systems - especially when it comes to stereo imaging and background sound.

I recently listened to a particular song from one of the new Barenaked Ladies albums on headphones for the first time, and it was like listening to an entirely different song - I could hear some interesting use of layered vocals, I heard instrumentation I couldn't hear before, and the layout of the instruments themselves felt much more real since I could hear the proper positioning much better.

Of course, I agree with most that you should, in fact, mix with good monitors since they will give you the most accurate picture of what might be going right or wrong frequency-wise in your recordings... but headphones do bring a lot to the table that even monitors won't give you (at least as well), simply based on the fact that they are place feet away from you, and certain output just gets lost in the wash.

 

[Monkey Allen]

Yeah, I've mixed enough of my own songs on headphones only to know it's not a great policy to mix by...with my headies anyway. I have Sennheiser HD497's. With them I find it's not too difficult to get something that sounds full and even warm...but when I switch to monitors to listen the results are pretty thin and bad. I have M-Audio BX5 monitors.

I have found that getting the best warmth or desired tone from listening on monitors, usually pleasantly surprises you when you eventually have a listen in your headphones...the spacing etc is much better.

I think most people know this...I knew it, but being too lazy, or not wanting to play my song loud over the monitors for various reasons while mixing, meant I was settling for quick easy but poor results.

I was just interested in finding out what people thought about headphones for real nuance listening. I was wondering if the pros like their own songs on headphones or speakers. Obviously it depends on the speakers or how loud you want to play it. But I could imagine some musicians really digging headphones and being able to hear those little things that you don't always pick up on with speakers.

I suppose it's a recording enthusiast type of question

 

[cusebassman]

I suppose it's a recording enthusiast type of question

And a recording enthusiast's opinion you got

I always enjoy going in and listening to something over headphones because it does in fact expose a lot that would otherwise be overlooked.

 

[cusebassman]

Of course, enthusiast doesn't necessarily mean professional

 

[Monkey Allen]

Hey I enjoyed your answer...from one non pro enthusiast to another

 

[MonkeyShock]

Monkey business?

This is a good topic. I admit to having mixed with phones on, though I know it's not good practice...I use 'em to get close, then tweak without. I don't have serious monitors, just some Altec pc speaks and sub, but when I think I'm done with a tune, I disk it and play it on ghettoblasters, the truck cd player and my pc's to double check EQ.
For personal listening though, I do prefer phones as I do a lot of panning.
Dark Side is a fine example, and I use it as reference. It's classic.
Guitar Center has some Sony phones that are made for DJ's. The ears flip so it's great for recording....you can flip one off to hear your playback as you record. They cost about $80, but I swear they're useful and have good sound, but I wear my Sennys when I don't wanna hear my girl yappin'.
Cheers!

 

[Lectric_Lab]

but when I think I'm done with a tune, I disk it and play it on ghettoblasters, the truck cd player and my pc's to double check EQ.
!

Good points about reference playback on as many type systems as ya got....I've got some BX8's and they tend to be bass heavy, so listening on diffrent type speakers is crucial to a good mix. Headphones are a very important piece of gear, whether casual or studio use, gotta have them. I have the Senns 280's, not expensive, light on the bass end, but give me good placement, volume and pans....there's nothing more relaxing than putting on the cans and listening to Floyd layin' on the couch...A+