Producing using headphones?
- Thread starter pinder325
- Start date
Headphones aren't recommended for mixing except for referencing for the best results but for composing and arranging feel free to use whatever you like..
You can do whatever you like as there really are no rules though..only guidelines, if your mix sounds good it doesn't matter what equipment was used in achieving the results.
You can do whatever you like as there really are no rules though..only guidelines, if your mix sounds good it doesn't matter what equipment was used in achieving the results.
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Manwell Beats
beatsbymanwell
I use headphones to make most of my beats. I usually make beats in places where I can't have speakers, coffee bars, libraries, on lunch break at work. Usually I bring things back home and mix on my speakers. All I can say is make due with what you've got, don't let that hinder you from making music!
By default you run into issues whether you are using speakers or not, whether you are using headphones or not. Monitoring is an art in and of itself. What can be said though is that a poor reference, whether that is a speaker solution or a headphone solution, will cause massive damage on the final product. What can also be said is that an average engineer picking up some speakers or headphones and then starts to mix, will likely end up with monitoring issues. This is because great monitoring needs to be well integrated into your audio work and your audio work well integrated into your monitoring. It has to align, it needs to become a complete kit. What varies is how easy it is to integrate some particular monitors or headphones and that is primarily about the quality of the speakers/acoustics or cans (the audio interface is also important). And yes, when you have it right, it integrates easily and does not become an issue, then it becomes a matter of the monitoring performance of the engineer.
My experience is that with higher price you need fewer references, with lower price, more references. I would not use only a single reference, at least two references are required, but that is just my opinion.
Furthermore, cheap monitoring tends to reveal the high end in a way that is unpleasant, so you start to bury it although there are beautiful frequencies in there that should not be attenuated.
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Also wanted to say that it is important to be aware of how the monitoring solution compresses various parts of the frequency range, ideally you want minimal compression so that you can dial in the correct amount of compression in order to end up with nice sounding dynamics. It is also important to be aware of the "weak spots" of speakers or cans, they might for instance have too much or too little low end, so when you use that as a reference point you have to balance with that weakness included, not excluded. That's the art, to integrate the monitors with whatever strengths and weaknesses they have, some are then more challenging to integrate than others.
But it is not only about the speakers or cans, when you don't know for instance how bass heavy your monitors/acoustics or cans are compared to monitors/acoustics or cans out there, your escape from a monitoring issue in that case is by doing proper A/B. So over time you will basically learn how to make mixes/masters that translate well simply because you become more and more experienced at knowing the target frequency response to dial in.
Constantly trying to get a wider perspective on monitoring is the smart route.
One more thing. It is actually also important to understand what commercial hit mixes that have a great frequency response, like what are truly great sounding mixes. Many think that just because a mix has been popular on the commercial level it must have a great frequency response. It is not like that. These mixes are great due to other things. It is worth spending a lot of time choosing the right reference mixes.
But it is not only about the speakers or cans, when you don't know for instance how bass heavy your monitors/acoustics or cans are compared to monitors/acoustics or cans out there, your escape from a monitoring issue in that case is by doing proper A/B. So over time you will basically learn how to make mixes/masters that translate well simply because you become more and more experienced at knowing the target frequency response to dial in.
Constantly trying to get a wider perspective on monitoring is the smart route.
One more thing. It is actually also important to understand what commercial hit mixes that have a great frequency response, like what are truly great sounding mixes. Many think that just because a mix has been popular on the commercial level it must have a great frequency response. It is not like that. These mixes are great due to other things. It is worth spending a lot of time choosing the right reference mixes.
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BRHSM
New member
I use headphones as well as speakers and I can say that my headphones work better for me. Part of this is that it's way easier to setup than speakers.
When setting up speakers you need to consider a lot of things like room dimensions, angle , height and stuff like that. headphones can just be popped on.
The reasons why people say headphones don't work are dated. these reasons can be that the quality of headphones are bad or they cover your ear in a non acoustic way.
Headphones have come a long way since then and they are at this point a good method of listening to audio.
Also they get more comfortable every year so you can sit down longer without having your head squashed by the thing!
Of course this is still going to happen at some point and this is the main reason speakers are better.
I hope this helped
BRHSM
When setting up speakers you need to consider a lot of things like room dimensions, angle , height and stuff like that. headphones can just be popped on.
The reasons why people say headphones don't work are dated. these reasons can be that the quality of headphones are bad or they cover your ear in a non acoustic way.
Headphones have come a long way since then and they are at this point a good method of listening to audio.
Also they get more comfortable every year so you can sit down longer without having your head squashed by the thing!
Of course this is still going to happen at some point and this is the main reason speakers are better.
I hope this helped
BRHSM
BestHeadphones
New member
I think custom headphones are the only way to do that. Beat headphones or anything like that i don't think so.
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