Why do my recordings sound better through headphones?

[onlyhuman]

I record myself playing Irish fiddle, piano. I think I have lo-fi ears, I can never tell what my recordings would need to make them sound better, more bass, less bass, more treble, it's all a mystery to me. One thing I've noticed is that my recordings sound better through headphones. Does that mean anything?

Sorry this is so vague. That's just the way I am. But I thought it might ring a bell with somebody.

 

[six]

AFAIK that's normal. Try not to do the final mix with headphones in the first place.

I think I've once read about the reasons, but I forgot - it's enough to know that it's like that.

Do a search, I'm quite sure it has been discussed before.

 

[TimOBrien]

Whad'ya Mean I Can't Mix With Headphones????
http://www.bluebearsound.com/articles/headphones.htm

Yup, headphones artificially color the sound because your ears are then working SEPARATELY instead of together as they do when you are standing in front of monitors or a band.

 

[onlyhuman]

Thank you!

That is really great! My ears are normal after all, and I won't do my mixing through headphones any more, problem solved. Thanks guys.

 

[CIRO]

4 hours and problem solved ?! Nice to Know...I´m treating my room since 2007, only "now" it´s sounding better than headphones

Ciro

 

[Massive Master]

Any mix sounds decent through headphones... Great mixes, crappy mixes - You really have to mess something up considerably for it to not sound acceptable through phones. One of many reasons why they're worthless for mixing.

 

[onlyhuman]

4 hours and problem solved ?! Nice to Know

Ciro

I know! Mrs Onlyhuman is now preparing a list of the other problems she says I have, and she wants me to post that here too.

 

[CIRO]

Serious now, what "Massive" saids; everything sounds "good" on phones, including crap mixes. 90% (or more) of troubles most people talk about ("I need a sub", "a better preamp" , "my monitor have no or too much low end" ... threads), should be solved with proper room treatment.

Ciro

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I know! Mrs Onlyhuman is now preparing a list of the other problems she says I have, and she wants me to post that here too.

With all due respect to the missus, I am NOT going to clean out the garage.



G.

 

[joeym]

........because 'phones just love to lie to you!

 

[legionserial]

Apart from sweetening the sound, headphones cut the entire room out of the equation when you're mixing. It's not good.

 

[BushmasterM4]

I believe headphones play a great part in mixing. Sorry, but I do. I mix using my monitors and headphones (2 sets of phones actually). I use a pair of Sennheiser HD600's and HD280's. You can hear artifacts better with headphones. Many of which if you just used monitors would not be noticed.

 

[TheGuitarMan]

Any mix sounds decent through headphones... Great mixes, crappy mixes - You really have to mess something up considerably for it to not sound acceptable through phones. One of many reasons why they're worthless for mixing.

I disagree about everything sounding good on headphones. Depends on the headphones.

I still wouldn't mix with them, but it's not because my headphones make crappy mixes sound good. It's because mixes by headphone usually lack coherency when listened to on speakers. One has the tendency to mix vocals too loudly, etc. It's just not a good idea to mix on headphones.