Mixing With Different Headphones In Mind

[sdoggingsworth]

Before I release something, I tend to listen to it on a variety of different headphones, from my Sennheisers to my ear buds to make sure that it sounds decent no matter where you listen to it.

I tend to do all of my actual work with my best headphones on, which means a little bit of an increase in bass (not massive boost, but still bassy nevertheless).

Does this mean that to anypony listening with low-to-medium grade headphones, the bass is actually mixed too low? It always sounds like garbage to me when I try listening to it on my earbuds, but I can't tell if that's because I'm failing somewhere in the mixing process, or if I'm just plain spoiled, and iPod earbuds are rubbish no matter what.

Any advice?

-Sprocket

[vladnuke]

Are you using Dre Beats, or any similar high-end headphone that amps the bass? Because that is not what you should be using for recording. Seinheisers typically have a very neutral tone, so do Shures. Try listening to different songs on both your headphones and ear buds, and hear the difference to make sure that it isn't just the buds.

[Matthew N.]

I have 5 different sources to test my tracks on, and it is definitely a good idea to play around. Note though, that if anyone has crappy headphones with no bass whatsoever, it is their fault.

I test on:
Sennheiser HD439
Regular headphones
Canal (those that go into your ears) headphones
My 5.1 custom-built bass cannon set
and my friend's car system

The more neutral (balanced out) the sound you test on the better.

[the4thImpulse]

It always sounds like garbage to me when I try listening to it on my earbuds, but I can't tell if that's because I'm failing somewhere in the mixing process, or if I'm just plain spoiled, and iPod earbuds are rubbish no matter what.

Ipod headphones are terrible at reproducing sound but since many people use them you will likely find them in studios as reference monitors. If you don't have a accoustically treated room and top of the line monitors, amplifiers, soundcards, even wires then you will not get an accurate representation of the music your making. This is why you listen to your songs on as many sources and as many locations as you can. If your music sounds bad on one of the systems then listen to professional music to see how it compares, if they both are bad then you won't have much of a problem. If yours is bad then write down the problem areas and go back to your daw and try to fix it as much as you can. Keep in mind you will never get e perfect mix on every system you test.

I produce with studio monitors, and I test my work on:
- Beyer Dynamic DT880 pros (600 ohms)
- Cheap 2.1 computer speakers
- Sony MDR XD200 (DJ headphones)
- Ipod Headphones
- Car speakers
- Laptop speakers
- Various Live PA systems at my church

[sdoggingsworth]

I use Sennheiser HD 201s, and a slightly higher end Sennheiser that I actually don't know the model of, and a really bassy pair of Spitfires.

Everything sounds fine on the Sennheisers, but there's no bass whatsoever on the ipod earbuds. There isn't a lot on regular professional recordings either, but the problem is slightly more noticeable with my own work - (it could just be because I've heard every detail of the song I've been working on about 200 times in the last week and a half). On the other hand, if I compensate by mastering the bass higher in the whole mix, it could get too bassy everywhere else.

It sounds passable on the bassy Spitfires, but I don't want to get any bassier than that, or the sound will get ruined on any system with a bass boost.

I guess all that's left to do is burn a disc and try it in my car. That's the last test. Thanks, everypony.

[Ed Viper]

I produce with Klipsch proMedia 2.1 computer speakers (a 2.1 system built for music. Novel idea, ain't it?), and normally get pretty good mixing results. I really freaking love these speakers.

However, it is probably better to produce with studio monitors...bah humbug...

Anyway, I have a pair of JVC HA-S360 headphones, as well as an old cheap pair of Sony headphones, both of which I listen to my track through at least a few times before exporting anything to get a feel for how it sounds on different hardware.

[HMage]

Always have some cheap speakers and headphones for "shit check". The most important sounds should be recognizable in these.

[Navron]

Sort of related to headphones:

There's been a lot of talk on mixing and mastering with headphones, but there's one big thing that people overlook when doing so.

Headphones force the sound into your ears (not a very technical term, I know), which is great if you're producing music to be listened to...on headphones.

If you're making music to play live, play on good computer speakers, good car systems, etc, then mixing and mastering with headphones is going to present a ton of problems. The most notable of which is:

Direction

Now I'm not talking about panning here. Obviously somebody can easily mix sounds into the left and right channels of headphones and speakers alike.

What I'm talking about is your ear's natural ability to create a sense of depth and direction to the sounds it hears, by your brain determining the direction of various sounds and the time difference that it reaches your left/right ear.

Simply put, when you mix and master on headphones, and then play your song on a big PA system, it may sound like crap. Why does it sound like crap? Well, you've created a mix that fits perfectly when right/left stereo information is being directly fed directly into your right/left ear, however there is no determining factor whether or not you've created a mix that allows a person to decipher that naturally, when listening without headphones, because you have one giant difference between headphones and monitors.

With monitors your right ear hears music from the left channel, and vice versa, which is called bleed through. With headphones, only your left ear hears left channel, and only your right ear hears right channel.

Reference: http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mix ... eadphones/

[colortwelve]

I use crappy $30 headphones to make my music, and tend not to shit check them because I've never needed to. Though when I finally get to invade my mastering engineer friend's house and use his gigantic monitors, I'll probably explode twice, and my music will probably do the same.

[Maelstrom]

- Various Live PA systems at my church

Bahaha classic.

[the4thImpulse]

- Various Live PA systems at my church

Bahaha classic.

I got keys so I have acess to three systems, the youth room has eight 20" subs that I DJ on twice a week.

[sdoggingsworth]

@NavyBrony: Good point.

I tend to burn a disc of a song and try it out in my car just to see if it works in a non-headphone situation. Unfortunately, by the time that happens, I've usually pretty much almost finished. I can't really fine tweak that way, and keep burning discs back and forth. All I can do is take notes.

I tend to use my laptop's natural speakers for a "crap" check, and it seems to do okay, though I have to confess, I still haven't quite gotten the hang of mixing with multiple different listening set-ups in mind. Maybe because I have limitations in my own selection of listening stations.

[Sgt-Whip (DJQ)]

Yeah, NavyBrony has really laid down the importance of checking out your sound on multiple systems. The bleed through stereo effect that you get with monitors over headphones is incredibly important to consider.

In addition to that, everyone else is right that you should check your mix on multiple sound systems. It's not unreasonable to have a high end check and a low end check to make sure you've covered everyone who could possibly be listening to your sound. This is also a way to make sure you get the best possible sound out of all the possible platforms.

Headphones for close listening
Monitors for checking stereo effect and overall frequency
Earbuds or laptop speakers to check your frequencies without sub bass or high quality sound.
Professional Home setup to see if the bass is booming on the sub woofer or ear shattering on the treble.

If you don't have all these things (I most certainly don't have a professional home setup. That's hella expensive.) There are certain ways to get around it. One is to mix visually using vectorscopes, spectrums, oscillators, and db meters. The other (the old pro way) is to put your demo on a CD and head out to your local professional audio store to test out your sound on bigger and better speakers.