Why not mix with headphones?

  • Thread starter Thread starter elenore19
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elenore19

elenore19

Slowing becoming un-noob.
I get that monitors will give you the best overall clarity and whatnot, but why is it such a bad idea to mix with headphones?
It seems to me that everyone just never even goes there.
 
I've mixed with headphones a lot, and while I learned how to mix with them (ie: learning when something sounds too loud even though it's not), I've never made a mix on headphones where I was 100% happy with it when listening on speakers.

The stereo image on headphones is unrealistic, not to mention most things just sound better.

Headphones have their purposes. For tracking, or for checking details like making sure you didn't overdue reverb, etc. But I would never make a final mix on headphones.
 
MadAudio said:
Psychoacoustics.
Click to expand...
So it's bad because of the sound being so close to your brain when listening that you pick up extra noise in a way?

I've always found that if it sounds good in my headphones, it sounds good through the monitors. I also found that when attempting to mix with my headphones I really can zero in the sound that I want, with my monitors I find I have to place my head in a perfect spot to get the "good" sound and even then I can't tell as well if it sounds like I want it to or not.
Yes, I'm inexperienced. Yes, I'm not recording in a pro studio by any means. Yes, my monitors are sub-par.
But I just wonder if it would be such a bad thing to mix with headphones.

danny.guitar said:
I've mixed with headphones a lot, and while I learned how to mix with them (ie: learning when something sounds too loud even though it's not), I've never made a mix on headphones where I was 100% happy with it when listening on speakers.

The stereo image on headphones is unrealistic, not to mention most things just sound better.

Headphones have their purposes. For tracking, or for checking details like making sure you didn't overdue reverb, etc. But I would never make a final mix on headphones.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Alright. Thanks. Yeah, maybe that's the deal with me as well. I just wish monitors were more portable and not so many extra cables. I'm going for a portable recording setup. So not having to deal with the monitors would be a definite plus. But yeah. Thanks for the input. That helps a lot.
 
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