Headphones are great with every part of mixing except space. But checking your mix on speakers – any pair of speakers – will do wonders for your headphone mix. Isn’t this entire article about being able to mix without speakers? Secret #3: Check Your Mixes on A Pair of Speakers Unfamiliar with the concept of reference tracks? They’re an amazing mix tool. Use three to five different reference tracks to really prep your ears for the mix. This is especially helpful to people who are used to mixing on monitors or have just gotten a new pair of headphones. Seeing exactly what other pro mixes sound like in them. That’s one of the secrets to getting used to your headphones. Study every element – the low end, the volume balance, the panning, the reverb, and so on. These are professionally mixed songs that sound similar to the song you’re working on. Like I said above, I’d recommend the Sennheiser HD 600’s.īefore each headphone mix, pull up a few reference tracks. That way you really learn how your headphones sound. But as I said above, the thing that matters most is listening to as much music as possible in whatever you get. It’s worth spending a little extra money to get a pair of open-back headphones rather than your average run-of-the-mill headphones. This gives the headphones a much flatter, accurate response. There’s a difference between dedicated mixing headphones and your pair of Beats by Dre.ĭedicated mixing headphones are known as “open-back headphones.” They have a grill on the sides of each ear that allows the headphones to push and pull in the same way a set of speakers would. Secret #1: Use Headphones That Were MADE for Mixing Follow these, and you’ll have everything you need to get just as good a mix as you would with your monitors. Here’s the 5 secrets to a killer headphone mix. There are some tricks that make it possible. Now, a good mix on your headphones isn’t assured. So What Are the Secrets to a Good Headphone Mix? Once you learn how your headphones sound, your mixes will be ten times better. It’s more important to listen to hours of music through a pair of headphones than it is to spend a thousand bucks. But honestly, you can get away with using much cheaper headphones, like the Sony MDR-7506’s (which come in around $130). The pair I would recommend are the Sennheiser HD 600’s, which are a little pricier (coming in around $400). With the acoustic treatment and high quality studio monitors, the price tag can go up quickly.īut in comparison, headphones are pretty cheap. When you’re starting to build your studio, there’s one thing you realize very quickly: This is called “referencing your mix,” and it’s popular in even the biggest of pro studios.Ĭan’t tell if a compressor is working the way you want to? Keep a pair of headphones by your side to find out. One common practice is to check your mix in headphones when you’re making subtle changes on your monitors. That means you catch things you don’t catch on speakers. Headphones allow you to “zoom in” on different elements of your mix. You can hear a level of detail that isn’t available with your monitors. Wearing headphones is like holding up a magnifying glass to your song – it reveals things you never heard in your speakers. Better to mix with a decent pair of headphones than in a crappy room!īenefit #2: It’s Easier to Hear the Small Stuff Honestly, if you don’t have a well-treated room to mix in, then headphones might be your best option. It gives you more freedom in how you express yourself creatively. I’ve talked to many indie musicians who like to mix out in public – in the library, a coffee shop, at a park, whatever. But headphones are consistent.Įvery time you pop them on, no matter where you are, you know exactly what your song will sound like. Since we build our studios out of our homes, our mixing rooms are usually hard to tame. With headphones, you can bypass the room completely. For DIY musicians like us, that’s a big deal. Here’s three benefits you’ll get from mixing your song with a pair of headphones.īenefit #1: You Don’t Have to Worry About Room Acoustics I’m here to tell you that mixing with headphones is not only possible, but sometimes even better than mixing with speakers.ĭon’t let the critics get in the way. There are only guidelines and rules-of-thumb. Purists will put it down, saying that mixes will always turn out worse just because you’re not in an actual room with actual speakers. There’s a lot of fighting when it comes to mixing with headphones. What Are the Benefits to Mixing with Headphones?
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