Mixing with headphones

[monkeyking]

Kinda dumb question, I know I should have good monitors but is it okay to mix with decent headphones? Like beats by dre.... tour. Lol yeah they ain't the big one but I honestly don't notice a difference

[VirtuosoTheGod]

Beats By Dre Are Horrible Headphones For Mixing Man.. You Want Studio Headphones Like Beyer or Sennheiser For Mixing.. Beats By Dre Are Purely For Listening Purposes..

[BeatGenerals]

I like using the Beyedynamic DT770 Pros to get some of my mixes.

[MattiasS]

I don´t have any monitors yet. I use my AKG K240 studio phones. They are quite cheap and sound pretty nice. Big bang for the buck, but i find it quite difficult to master with headpones. Monitors are much better for that purpuse..

[bconover93]

I'm getting me some ATH M50's soon. best bang for your buck right there.

[DJR]

Ideally you should have a collection of high quality studio montiors to reference on, including an avantone, in a professionaly treated environment.

If not, just do the best you can with what you can afford to buy. And use as many different refrence sources as you can find.

[binary_10essee]

I have a pair of monitors but occasionally they are too loud, people sleeping and such. So I use my headphones. I have Sony MDR-V6's and I am pleased with the results I get when "mixing" with them (I use them for rough mixes until I can use the monitors).

[Louis Studios]

... is it okay to mix with decent headphones?

The simple answer is no. Of course you can use them to reference your mix, but no "Professional" song should be mixed on headphones. That being said not everyone has the luxury of a nice monitoring set-up, so if you have to mix on headphones make sure the frequency response is flat and take regular breaks; yours ears become fatigued more quickly with headphones.

[Bobcat]

The simple answer is no. Of course you can use them to reference your mix, but no "Professional" song should be mixed on headphones. That being said not everyone has the luxury of a nice monitoring set-up, so if you have to mix on headphones make sure the frequency response is flat and take regular breaks; yours ears become fatigued more quickly with headphones.

Ouch.

The answer is yes of course!! I use my monitors only for DJing or putting music when people are over - but I produce always with headphones. I use the Sennheiser HD 25-C II - they're pretty much the best on the market, over the years (over 20 years actually) they've become a standard in the industry, a bit like the Technics 1210.

The reason they're the best is because they give you the exact sound of what's being played. Other headphones try to make the sound "nicer" or attempt to change/modify it. So basically what you hear is not 100% what it IS like. So it may sound good in these headphones, but in your car stereo or in a club it will probably sound crap - whereas on the HD-25's, if it's sounds good on them, it sounds good everywhere.

With monitors you never hear as precisely as with headphones, because there's also the whole room acoustics thing. You don't have this problem with headphones.

But the most important thing is that you KNOW you're headphones. That means, you're listening to all your music on them, and you know exactly how which element will sound on them. And then you can compare - for example, I listen to certain tracks with these headphones and I will also hear these tracks in clubs. So now I know that this particular track with those particular elements (the way the kick or the bass is for example) will sound like that in a club if it sounds like that in my headphones.

Very complicated and confusing thing - but if you re-read it several times, it's really easy to understand!

Hope this helped!

Bobcat

[monkeyking]

Nope, I understood it in the first read, thx so much. Sounds very awesome. And at $200 they are pretty cheap for the industrie's standard. Will definitely look into it! THanks!

Can someone else co-sign this?