PSA article on Mixing with Head Phones

[KevWind]

Kinda interesting

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pro...-on-headphones

[H165]

Makes lots of sense to me. I mix with headphones at times.

I very much prefer mixing on my monitors, because I listen to real speakers.

It's personal preference, and subjective, but I can't see any sense at all in spending energy, time, and money on a good production and then listening to it on 1/4" earspeakers or ridiculous chirpy-bird computer speakers.

Headphones are convenient for privacy, sound canceling, or keeping the peace, but not much else.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by H165

Makes lots of sense to me. I mix with headphones at times.

I very much prefer mixing on my monitors, because I listen to real speakers.

It's personal preference, and subjective, but I can't see any sense at all in spending energy, time, and money on a good production and then listening to it on 1/4" earspeakers or ridiculous chirpy-bird computer speakers.

Headphones are convenient for privacy, sound canceling, or keeping the peace, but not much else.

We should note :: First I think it's safe to assume what the PT Expert author is talking about or is assuming,,,,, is mixing on good Mixing head phones not ear buds

Second from personal experience auditioning mixed audio, on ear buds and or computer speakers, can go along way towards not getting a nasty surprise after having uploaded to a streaming service

[Bob Womack]

I can still remember this lesson, part of the discussion of monitoring and Psychoacoustics from Dr. Ken Jacobs (RIP) in Audio Recording Techniques at the University of Tennessee, way back in 1980. Ken said, bluntly,

"DON'T MIX ON HEADPHONES... EVER!"

and taught us the content echoed in the PT Expert lesson to show us why. Of course, as Kev mentioned, there is value in checking your mixes on cans.


That's Ken on the right with his hand on an Ampex AG440. The Synclavier II is by his right hip.
I'm on the left, leaning on an MCI JH110 two-track. That's about my last time with a clean shave.

Bob

[Glennwillow]

Interesting...

- Glenn

[Al Acuff]

I use a headphone amp which has an analog cross feed circuit built in. You can build your own pretty cheaply if you like to DIY.

https://www.linkwitzlab.com/headphone-xfeed.htm

[FrankHudson]

Interesting idea I hadn't though of in the linked article: a recipe to make headphones sound more like a set of speakers in a room.

Several years back Focusrite made a little headphone box with associated software (the VRM Box). I'm guessing it did something similar.

Mixes done in one listening format (headphones vs. speakers) don't always translate ideally to another, though of course the same could be said for different speakers or headphones too. The VRM Box was a handy way to audition one's mix and hear how well it translated. After reading the lined article upthread, I think what it's author suggested was some of what the VRM did.

I use headphones when mixing for these reasons:

To hear detail. I suppose ideal monitors in an ideal space would eliminate that need, but I don't have that. How smooth was that edit? Did I fix that noise issue? Slapping on my 'phones I double check

Because I don't mix in a dedicated studio space, but a home shared by others. If you do too, imagine how fascinating others in your home find overhearing you audition a short section a dozen times. Yes, that's a compromise, and furthermore, I'm one of those people who is never comfortable wearing cans for a long period of time. But I can make progress on a mix that way when otherwise I'd have to stop.

To validate a mix. When I was releasing fewer things for others to hear I did this fairly consistently. I'd listen on my monitors, then in my car -- my old VW has surprisingly accurate speakers -- not only for another source but to hear if I have things too low to be heard with environmental noises for something I expected to be listened to in a "pop music" way. And lastly I'd listen on earbuds as well as a good set of headphones. I assumed then that some of my listeners would be on headphones, and some of them would be on not-great headphones at that. I sometimes checked on low-end computer speakers too.

This is probably less important for AGF staples like solo acoustic guitar or just guitar and voice, but more so for full rock band or other larger ensembles. I also don't want to make myself out to be a accomplished mixer/producer. I stumble a lot and don't feel my skills or results are a model.

In my current situation, I assume the majority of my listeners are using earbuds and even though my production schedule is insanely quick, I still try to do a final check listen on earbuds before release. I have pulled back what I thought were "final" mixes based on that check.