Mixing on Headphones .. ?

[Wavelogix]

hello guys ,

for the past 2 years , ive just been mixing my tracks only on the Behrnger Truth monitos , in an untreated room ..

but recently a friend suggested , that using headphones during mixing help reveal a lot of details which cant be heard on monitors [ presuming im also working in an untreated room ] ,

so , do any of you guys , also lissen to your mixes on headphones while mixing themm .. ?

also , what are the experiences on headphones while compared to monitors ? As in stereo imaging , reverb , delayd and fx settings etc etc ....

PLEASe write up more on this ..

thank you everyone ..

[G&L_player]

so , do any of you guys , also lissen to your mixes on headphones while mixing themm .. ?

also , what are the experiences on headphones while compared to monitors ? As in stereo imaging , reverb , delayd and fx settings etc etc ....

PLEASe write up more on this ..

thank you everyone ..

One can certainly experience just as great a variance by changing headphones! I recently moved from a pair of AKG-K100's to some Sennheiser HD280 pro's. Man, I'm picking up nuances and perfect (stereo) placement very clearly. FYI: I normally go through many sets of headphones over the years and try different ones. The closed-end models can really put one in their own audio world.

[Left Headphone]

Just treat the corners of your room with 4" thick mineral fiberboard or rockwool. I have been mixing with headp's for over 3yrs, and my mixes always suck.

My fiberboard is here and I'm ordering my monitors soon. I hope to do something like this: http://www.hp-h.com/p/hapicmpur/basstraps.htm

[JumpingJackFlash]

IMO, there are 2 reasons why you should not mix on headphones;

Firstly, you get an exagerated sence of panning; hard right and hard left are 180 degrees apart, whereas they should (with normal monitoring) be much less that this, around 60 degrees ish. This can lead you to make weird decisions with panning, and also with the relative balance of what is panned to the sides.

Secondly, most amateur headphones cannot accurately reproduce the low bass content. Even if you get an expensive pair which can do this, - the whole thing with bass is that you should feel it as much as hear it. This is especially important on rock or dance music when the kick should physically hit you in the chest. - You can never get this same feel on headphones.

But, there is something in favour of using headphones, and that is, as you said, you don't hear the influence of the room. - This is a good thing in noisy rooms, or romms with poor acoustics. You have to decide whether this reason outfavous the above reaons.

[M'Snah]

Checking the sound with headphones in addition to mixing with monitors is always a good idea. I use headphones when it gets too late at night, although my *expensive* hifi headphones are not the best for mixing

[zeoy]

Learn your monitors, learn you headphones then use both. I usually mix on headphones cause I cant push my monitors without anoying neighbours and family. Then tweak a few bits on monitors when I can crank them and go back to headphones to make the final EQ tweaks for the low end. Then I listen in car, hifi etc. to see how it translates and go back from the begining to fix it if necessary. Of course it depends on the equipment, room etc. If you have a good pair of monitors in a nice room you dont have to go the headphone route at all. Using only headphones it's hard to do a proper mix but it's possible. I'm using Beyerdynamic DT770 and m-audio BX5. Since m-audios are relatively good for mids and highs but lack in the bass department I use my headphones to check what's going on down there ( mostly below 80Hz).

[cptgone]

I agree, headphones reveal sonic detail, but you do need speakers to get a good view of panning, mix mud, low frequencies.

[Wavelogix]

hello ,

thank you everyone for writing .....

i just tried doing a simple mix of relatively 4 channels on my sony headphones [ very crappy ones ] and the mix sounds PERFECT on the headphones , but as soon as i lissen to the mix on my TRUTH monitors , the level are all awry and the stereo width is really really WEEIDDEEE .....


now as i mentioned earlier , i make music in my hall room , and its not possible for me to treat my room and neither am i going to be moving out in a new room , which i can TREAT any soon ....

I also am considering of buying a decent pair of headphones like the AKG / SENHIESER .... but ,

what exactly should i check for , while im listening the mix through headphones , adjusting sample lenghts , decay and stuff is great on headphones . but the mixes soudn really really different on the monitors later and i feel like resettin the mixer and doing them all over again ....

i hope , u guys have understood my dilemma .. please keep writing

thank you ...


PS :- it is also possible , that while im doing the mix on headphones , it isint being affected by the room acoustics tht i am in , but when i listen to the same mix on monitors , the room acoustcis come into play and thus make the percievement of the mix different ... ??

PLEASE keep writing

[Hovmod]

PS :- it is also possible , that while im doing the mix on headphones , it isint being affected by the room acoustics tht i am in , but when i listen to the same mix on monitors , the room acoustcis come into play and thus make the percievement of the mix different ... ??

Of course.

Which is why you should listen to your mix all over the place. In headphones, cars, your little sister's boombox, the kitchen, clubs, auditoriums and so on...

But never only in headphones. You can learn the shortcomings of your phones and adjust a little, but that's still a bit blindfolded. I do that, but I'm not aiming at a carreer as a procucer either...

[Martin E]

I do a lot of the initial work on my headphones. But you still have to check your mix on monitors when you're finished. The room you're in while playing the mix is very essential. I could never do a mix in my living-room. It's got wooden floors which is as bad as it gets.Luckily my studio is in the attic with carpets and loads of other stuff to dampen the sound. If you still have to mix in a room with bad acoustics you can try to hold your hands over your ears from behind. More or less directing your ears towards the monitors. Just like if you were having an hearing problem. This will eliminate a great part of the room acoustics. It's a trick I learned from someone mixing live bands for a living. These guys usually have to work in venues with dreadful acoustics.

[Wavelogix]

umm .. maybe hearing a lot of stuff on my headphones for a couple of days , will also tell me more abt my headphones ..


but , pls keep writing guys .. !

thanks you

[thecontrolcentre]

listen to your mixes on as many sets of speakers, in as many different places as possible ... you're never going to be able to mix accurately on headphones, it just can't be done IMHO. Try monitoring your mix on a boom box as well as your behringers if you can ... i use an old Sharp ghetto blaster with a CD input for checking "radio" compatability ...smaller, quieter speakers can reveal problems with bass levels, and kik drums that you may not hear on bigger speakers (and vice-versa).
listen to commercial CD's (not mp3s) on your system to get used to what pro mixes sound like ... and good luck

[jivamukti]

PLEASe write up more on this ..

There are already other threads on this issue here. S for search?

[sixstring7mtf]

I think the best way to mix in my experience (tho its not very much) is to mix using a very flat type of output like headphones or speakers with no preset/sub and then when you're absolutely happy with it (and this has sent me back to the drawing board more than once) mix it down to a track, throw it in the car, throw it in the home system, in a friends system, etc. so that you can make sure its what you want. It'll sound different in each situation, but keep in mind you want it to sound good and professional in each of these settings. If that is achieved, I think you're well on your way.

[G-Ro124]

hello ,

thank you everyone for writing .....

i just tried doing a simple mix of relatively 4 channels on my sony headphones [ very crappy ones ] and the mix sounds PERFECT on the headphones , but as soon as i lissen to the mix on my TRUTH monitors , the level are all awry and the stereo width is really really WEEIDDEEE .....


now as i mentioned earlier , i make music in my hall room , and its not possible for me to treat my room and neither am i going to be moving out in a new room , which i can TREAT any soon ....

I also am considering of buying a decent pair of headphones like the AKG / SENHIESER .... but ,

what exactly should i check for , while im listening the mix through headphones , adjusting sample lenghts , decay and stuff is great on headphones . but the mixes soudn really really different on the monitors later and i feel like resettin the mixer and doing them all over again ....

i hope , u guys have understood my dilemma .. please keep writing

thank you ...


PS :- it is also possible , that while im doing the mix on headphones , it isint being affected by the room acoustics tht i am in , but when i listen to the same mix on monitors , the room acoustcis come into play and thus make the percievement of the mix different ... ??

PLEASE keep writing

If you aren't gonna use your Truths, could I buy them from you secondhand ??