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And to answer the topic question truthfully, people say that because that’s what they’ve been told they’re supposed to do by all the “authorities” on the matter. But they want you to listen on headphones cause the mixes are still shit.
Huh?
Your auricle, aka pinna or the fleshy outer-part of your ear helps determine the location of the sounds around you. They're like 'shields' that have been with you for your entire life, so your brain has gotten used to their shape, size, etc.
Try folding both, then stand a few meters from 1 speaker, with your back to it, and see if determining its location is more difficult. Or better yet get a friend to replace the speaker, and have them move around while talking. 👍
There's an interesting YT video. I'll try to find it.
Edit: Couldn't find the video, but there are several on YT - search for "Pinna filtering effect".
I have to mix in headphone and reference in our car and on a shitty Bluetooth speaker, my workspace is so acoustically poor that I don't even bother with my monitors anymore, there's just no point.. big thanks to whomever posted the vid, it was a source of inspiration and reassurance..
I prioritise mixing in headphones but one has to be aware that there isn’t the natural amount of left-right crossover in air that speakers or external sound sources will inherently give.
I recently bought these:
https://global.shop.sennheiser.com/products/hd-560s
When I’m doing a final mix, I listen on the kitchen bluetooth speaker, some old wired earpods, the iPad’s own speakers, etc. Then I tweak anything that jumps out.
Between this, and mercilessly eq the non-essential frequencies from each track (no bass, and little treble for guitar, low shelf and nothing above mids for bass, etc), I get results that sound pretty good anywhere.
I’ve been testing new monitors recently, and realized that mixing is one tiny part of what I use them for. You definitely don’t need super accuracy when composing. Just something that sounds great.
How do you like the 560 S? Is your iPad able the drive them sufficiently without a DAC/amp?
Very curious about these new cans. My K702 don't sound good w/o a DAC/amp.
Thanks.
One of my takeaways from that excellent video was the idea of consistency and "just getting used to" a consistent headphone environment. Using the same headphones for years and years, replacing them when they begin to age, and using a model that has stayed consistent over the years. It's really true that your brain adapts to changes in listening environment over time. It's also true that knowledge of what to adjust for to make things work in other environments builds up over time.
I like what @Daveypoo said… if you can listen to your stuff over and over and it doesn’t turn to shit then you’ve got something…. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will sound good in every situation.
I’ve been watching a lot of SNL lately and I’m always shocked how badly they can mix the bands that perform.
I'm getting to like them more. Initially they were giving me a bit of mild and very short-lived tinnitus after use, but that's no longer the case. I think they're perhaps not as open-backed as I imagined (though of course, they are – it's just the seal, which is quite sealy). I never use them loud, and on the iPad no problem, can't imagine why there would be though – they come with a 3.5mm stereo jack adaptor – strangely, from an inline 6.35mm stereo jack socket to 3.5mm stereo jack plug, the opposite way to usual. The excessively long cable is nothing but annoying, still the same shape as it was tightly wrapped into and sticks to bloody everything.
They have a wider soundstage than my old late-1980s Sennheiser HD-480 Classic that they’ll replace (bought in about late 1989 I think, to replace an earlier pair of Sennheiser HD-480 (non classic) that got nicked). Those HD-480s have perished foams and padding, and perished covering on the headband padding, but I've replaced the earpads with some cheapo equiv about a decade or so ago, they're doing well but the cable entry plug on the right is a bit dodgy, has been for years. Parts for that are starting to be hard to find, so I thought I'd better move up to another more modern pair rather than keep replacing everything on the HD-480s, nice though they are. The main thing I was hoping for from the new HD-560S is a more spatially individuated soundstage, and I've got that, so I’m happy.
The impedance of both the new HD-560S and the HD-480 are about the same, about 100Ω I think, which isn't really ‘high’ (actually just checked, the HD-480 were 70Ω, the HD-560S 120Ω, I'd call that about the same in that almost every device will just go ahead and put sound out through them without trouble). I also use them on the headphone output of my Steinberg UR22C audio interface, also good there, and of course direct into my now sadly obsolete lockdown MacBook Pro (the 2019 i9 big hot thing).
Thanks for the detailed information @u0421793! Very very helpful. Glad you are liking them!
Strange thing about specs and impedance - my AKG K702-65ths sound extremely quiet, with very little bass and treble when connected directly to my iPad or iPhone. They require a lot of voltage to sound decent, even though their sensitivity, impedance (62 Ohms), and other specifications don't imply that. I've had the Austrian-made K702 and Q701 as well, and it was the same experience.
You need to always have a pair of headphones on hand, plugged in, and ready to pop back and forth. What are you gonna do if you have a really cool mid-side balancing effect or stereo enhancement effect going on with some sidechained compression or something? if you don’t test it with headphones youd have to be joking or have the perfect studio environment with perfect hearing (as others ITT have already mentioned). Cuz those effects could sound cool on monitors but then you pop your headphones on to find out it’s actually an all-out assault on the senses, with stereo mayhem bouncing all over the place. Lol this happened to me once and I actually got dizzy from the sound, it was like the audio ASMR equivalent of putting on bifocals if you don’t need them lmao... another good reason is: perhaps some annoying little frequency could be slightly panned and you might not tell with the monitors, but this kind of thing might really stands out with headphones. If you don’t check, then your listener will get ear fatigue and turn off your track. Or your music snob friend will make fun of you haha
Then, once you print a test mix, try it out on a shitty Bluetooth speaker, in your car, on your phone, and especially in mono to make sure it even sounds pretty much the same; you’ll possibly need to sacrifice some cool panning effects, mid-side/stereo effects, or other super low-frequency parts in order to make sure it still translates in all cases. Make sure any of those things are not ‘super integral parts’ to the song you’re working on, and if they are - make sure that some of it translates to mono. Average people listen to music on shitty quality phone speakers or small Bluetooth speakers, so it has to still sound good in all cases.
I know mixing in mono doesn’t sound fun and isn’t really the topic of this thread, but while we’re on the topic of headphones vs. monitors, i think it kinda makes sense to bounce back and forth between all of them before you start to really get neck deep in your mix. It will save you a lot time from having to fix it later.
Seems like monitoring with flat response is starting point along with listening in your car, ear buds, headphones, phone speaker. Most importantly knowing your monitors is probably the key.
Good video on what to be aware of when using headphones for mixing and mastering:
All three seasons of Are You Listening? are excellent btw if you haven't seen them. Highly recommended.