Headphone Mixing

[jaxvon]

A call to all the recording engineers out there, and all those who aren't but know what they're doing.

Okay, I'm looking at getting into the field, if just as a hobby. I have a class right now at college where I compose electronic music, record it, etc. I mix on my phones (MDR-7506s), but when I put it over the Genelecs, it sounds...not so good. I realize speaker placement and acoustics are part of the issue, but are there any general rules of thumb when it comes to mixing on phones in a way that it will sound good over speakers?

 

[jaxvon]

Bumpity Bump Bump!

 

[MDS]

I am not a professional and what I do is more akin to 'mastering' than mixing, but I've read alot on the topic. I think the general rule is to not use headphones exclusively for mixing unless you intend to only listen to your mix on headphones.

You need to get the mix right before you get to the mastering stage. At the mastering stage, headphones are invaluable for hearing the subtle details. I use them to ensure that my fades are smooth, to check for backround noise that may need to be removed or if I have to fix glitches in the audio that any cross-fades or editing I've done transition smoothly and the click or pop is no longer audible.

Anyway, a good read you might be interested in is 'Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science, by Bob Katz. Bob Katz is a well known recording/mixing/mastering engineer (Steely Dan and many others). He does discuss mixing as well. Being a student of this stuff, you might find it useful. His web site is: http://www.digido.com.

 

[WmAx]

A call to all the recording engineers out there, and all those who aren't but know what they're doing.

Okay, I'm looking at getting into the field, if just as a hobby. I have a class right now at college where I compose electronic music, record it, etc. I mix on my phones (MDR-7506s), but when I put it over the Genelecs, it sounds...not so good. I realize speaker placement and acoustics are part of the issue, but are there any general rules of thumb when it comes to mixing on phones in a way that it will sound good over speakers?

The headphones are useful for tonality reference and as a 'microscope', for finding distortions and other undesirable artifacts.

There are 2 ways to mix for speakers using headphones:

(1) Experience, lots of it, involving trial and error, comparing to speakers in order to condition yourself to recognize and correlate the difference in headphone imaging, soundstage, etc. and pretty much know how it's going to turn out on speakers.

(2) Use a DSP device with your headphones, that you have tuned/approximated to your HRTF, in order to have a speaker-like soundfield.

The cheapest decent unit such as this, that I'm aware of, is an AKG Hearo 999. But, it does cost approximately $400 USD.

http://www.djmart.com/akghe999pr.html

Technically, I believe you could do just as good(and with more potential accuracy) for 2 channels using something such as a Behringer DCX2496 and feeding the outputs to a mixer and remixing the delayed vs. non delayed signals for the crossfeeding, using the DCX to apply various delay and frequency response functions -- mixing back at a mixer panel. However, this would be difficult as while it has the raw capability -- you would need to know the specific HTRF for your head in order to successfully do it....

-Chris

 

[soundriven]

Practice, practice, practice... I routinely mix TV shows in Pro Tools using Mackie HR824 monitors, but on occaision, need to "go mobile" and mix on a laptop Pro Tools system using headsets (sony 7506's). My approach is not nearly as scientific as going the HRTF route: I just make it point to listen to good mixes that were originally done using speakers...on the 7506's. A pattern emerges: everything that works on speakers tends to sound a bit exagerated and heavy-handed on headsets. Background elements will seem a bit too loud on headsets, but if they are dropped back in level so they sound right in headsets, they will all but dissappear on speakers. In breif, mix very boldly and aggressively on headsets, and then check the result on speakers. It will probably sound okay. A litle too bright, a little too bottom-heavy, and a little too much seperation on the 7506's generally translates to an acceptable balance on speakers. But it is important to listen back and forth until you learn how much is enough.

 

[djoxygen]

To rehash and add to what others have already said...

For anything I care about, I never mix exclusively on any one monitoring system.

At the office I use Genelec 1032As (by my boss's choice) and Sony 7506 cans. Funny how the boss bought a 2/3 octave graphic EQ to permanently compensate for some problems with the 1032s in the lo-mids, but *refused* to give Mackie HR824s a serious consideration.

At home I use 824s, 624s, 7506s, and Sony MDR-V6s (better low-end and less high-end crispy than the 7506s) in addition to dumping stuff on my iPod and listening in the car and on my Powered Partner 570s elsewhere in the house. And if I'm working on club stuff it gets a spin at the club where I DJ before I lock in the final version.

The low-end on the 824s (down to 40Hz) is so tight that I could (and have) easily put way too much thump in a mix, leaving no room for the rest of the frequency range in my mastering peak limiter and making for lots of muddy fuzz in my car. With enough experience you could easily mix on your 7506s.

And at my old studio we had to spend time education our rap/hip-hop clients as to why their mix didn't rattle the windows in the studio like it did in their cars.

The point being that there are many good monitoring systems and no perfect one. You *have* to listen on multiple systems, no matter what your primary mix monitors, because you *have* to learn how your primary system compares to everything else in the world. Mixing (and mastering) is both about making it sound as good as possible and compromising at the same time.