Super easy question: headphones sound better

[Earwitness]

My voice is "singer-songwriter" at best--not trained, not professional, not anything but earnest, I suppose.

Anyway, when I record something on my iphone or ZoomH2n, and play it back through some decent headphones, my voice can sound pretty okay. I guess what happens is that I might end up moving the note during a lyric where it will end up at an acceptable place, but it's not flat-out on pitch for the whole note.

If I play the same thing through my computer speaker or some other external speakers in my office, the notes come off flat and weak. Think, bad American Idol. Put the headphones back on and the same phrase sounds decent (in a singer/songwriter sort of way).

So, my simple question is, for average singers, do headphones make you sound better and lower quality speakers flatten the notes (or appear to)? Which is "real"? By that, I mean, which version is a listener in front of me more likely experiencing? I'm sure that a trained singer with a strong voice would sound good either way....

[muscmp]

do you use the headphones when you are recording? if not, perhaps that is why they sound different. otherwise, the only difference is that the music is going directly inside your head with headphones, and not with the external speakers. of course it does depend upon the quality of the headphones and speakers too.

play music!

[RayCJ]

What brand of headphones? I want a set for me!

On a serious note (pun intended), if your speakers tend to emphasize the frequencies that you happen to sing off-key, it will make your singing mistakes easier to hear. Your headphones either (or both) emphasize the strong aspects of your voice or, de-emphasize the weak aspects of your voice, it will give you a little advantage.


BTW: If you have listened to the same recording many, many times, take a break for an hour and do something else. When you come back, you might find that your voice sucks no matter if played thru speakers or headphones.

Ray

[clintj]

Could be the effects of the room itself when listening through speakers you're hearing as well. Room acoustics can color sound a good bit, while headphones let you hear the sound in isolation. I know my headphones are rather less forgiving of bad mixing choices in the upper midrange frequencies than my near field monitors, for example.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[KevWind]

First your OP is a bit confusing?

This statement seems to be talking listening in through the HP's while your recording "I guess what happens is that I might end up moving the note during a lyric where it will end up at an acceptable place, but it's not flat-out on pitch for the whole note. "
because obviously your "moving the note" while recording.

But this statement seems to be talking after the fact playback.
If I play the same thing through my computer speaker or some other external speakers in my office, the notes come off flat and weak. Think, bad American Idol. Put the headphones back on and the same phrase sounds decent


So first it seems like you are commingling two separate concepts into your question.

And second your not relating very specific information (what kind of "computer and speaker and other office speakers are you actually talking about ) For example laptop computer speakers are generally the smallest cheapest and worst sounding speakers to listen to and because the lack dynamics they are very mid range focused .

With all that said:
In answer to your actual question, "in general" no headphones do not make you "sound better" (simply by being headphones) and no speakers do not "flatten" otherwise on pitch notes, nor do they increase the amount of flattening... unless of course they are defective.

But that does not mean they cannot expose fattened notes or make them more noticeable because they either hype or (emphasize) that range or simply lack dynamics and the "Fletcher Munson curve" is kicking in. The one exception as someone suggested is that if (and it's a big IF and not likely) but IF for some reason the room your listening in has some really weird room mode anomaly right at the pitch you may be off at. Then that could be part of this issue also.


Also neither is "real" per se, in that neither is actually going to sound (exactly) like what a listener sitting in front of you is going to hear. That said most likely in general if your actually hearing flattened notes from any playback source then that is probably "real" and is probably what the listener will hear.

[MikeBmusic]

I think your terminology in your post is confusing people. I think that you mean in speakers, your tone is flat-blah not flat as in the opposite of sharp (pitch)?

As KevWind says, what speakers are you using? What does your room sound like? Headphones take the room out of the sound equation.

[Earwitness]

No, sorry for the confusion. I meant literally flat as in not sharp.

I hesitated to post in Record, because I am, as said, not a good singer, and the question involves low-quality reproduction.

What I think may be happening is that, whether making a recording with headphones on or just hearing myself in the room as I sing, I may kind of push a note up to where it belongs as I pronounce a word, so it may end in a satisfactory way, and the pitch alteration can come off as just expression, if it works.

When played through my computer speakers (either from my laptop or small speakers hooked to it), the notes just sound flat, but with headphones (these are Bose noise-cancelling headphones), I am imagining that that I am hearing the better expression coming through and the phrase seems to work.

So, my question was, first, whether this was a universal thing, and second, whether a listener in front of me was more likely to be hearing one or the other version.

There may not really be an answer, and the answer may be, as stated, that I just sing lousy either way!

[Earwitness]

Originally Posted by KevWind

First your OP is a bit confusing?

This statement seems to be talking listening in through the HP's while your recording "I guess what happens is that I might end up moving the note during a lyric where it will end up at an acceptable place, but it's not flat-out on pitch for the whole note. "
because obviously your "moving the note" while recording.

But this statement seems to be talking after the fact playback.
If I play the same thing through my computer speaker or some other external speakers in my office, the notes come off flat and weak. Think, bad American Idol. Put the headphones back on and the same phrase sounds decent



So first it seems like you are commingling two separate concepts into your question.

And second your not relating very specific information (what kind of "computer and speaker and other office speakers are you actually talking about ) For example laptop computer speakers are generally the smallest cheapest and worst sounding speakers to listen to and because the lack dynamics they are very mid range focused .

With all that said:
In answer to your actual question, "in general" no headphones do not make you "sound better" (simply by being headphones) and no speakers do not "flatten" otherwise on pitch notes, nor do they increase the amount of flattening... unless of course they are defective.

But that does not mean they cannot expose fattened notes or make them more noticeable because they either hype or (emphasize) that range or simply lack dynamics and the "Fletcher Munson curve" is kicking in. The one exception as someone suggested is that if (and it's a big IF and not likely) but IF for some reason the room your listening in has some really weird room mode anomaly right at the pitch you may be off at. Then that could be part of this issue also.


Also neither is "real" per se, in that neither is actually going to sound (exactly) like what a listener sitting in front of you is going to hear. That said most likely in general if your actually hearing flattened notes from any playback source then that is probably "real" and is probably what the listener will hear.

Thanks. This did address the question I was asking. I appreciate your input!

[Sage97]

Happens to me every single project. I track and listen using my ATH M50s and the vocals sound great. Then I listen through my Adam A7 monitors (neither low nor high end quality) and certain spots are noticeably pitchy. I've just accepted the fact that my monitors are more honest than my headphones so I never "finalize" a project until everything sounds acceptable through my monitors.