Why not mix with headphones?

[John Link]

More than once I've read advice against using headphones for mixing, but I don't recall any specific reasons. Would anyone care to list some reasons? What sort of mistakes might one make by using headphones?

Thanks,
John Link

[spkguitar]

Taken from an article by Lionel Dumond:

Headphones provide a grossly exaggerated picture of the left-right spatial relationships in your mix. An ideal stereo field is sixty degrees apart relative to the listening position. Headphones are 180 degrees apart, and also don't account for the fact that the sound emanating from each of two normal speakers reaches both of your ears, not just one. Sounds panned dead center seem to originate from your pituitary gland, not from in between a set of speakers where they belong!

[Stiff]

What spk said, and I also have a hard time with the bass if I use head phones ONLY. But that might just be me.

[spkguitar]

Yeah, there are more reasons that just that one that I listed, and as Stiff points out, frequency response is one of them.

[John Link]

Thank you for the link to article. I'm convinced.

Now, what do you mean by frequency response as another reason?

I will continue to mix with my Monsoon MM-700s, so might any of you have any sugestion of how to set the level of the sub-woofer? See http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...fpart=1#856851

John

[spkguitar]

Definition of Frequency Response

If you're going to do any serious mixing, I would recommend getting a set of proper studio monitors. The Monsoons may be high quality (read expensive) consumer multimedia speakers, but they are still just that: consumer multimedia speakers.

[tball]

I always reference mixes using headphones. I typically will mix using Genelecs,NS-10s,Sony 7502 Headphones, [bleep] Boombox, Mono TV Speaker,car stereo and earbuds. I would never mix exclusivly with headphones, but I think they are an important place of reference. Moral of the story - use as many sound sources as possible.

[yOkO]

besides all above,
the sound is a phenomenon that implies a medium for the sound waves to travel,
when you hear in headphones there's only the air betwen the phones and you ear,
need to feel the bass and the frequencies moving the air 'till they reach your body,
besides having an eq specifically for your enviroment and even using at least a blanket in the backwall to prevent the sound coming back again to you, i'll be crossing waves.

[John Link]

spkgtr, I know what frequency response is, but what do you mean by it as a reason for not mixing in headphones? Maybe that headphones don't have flat enough response? How about the Sony MDR-7506 headphones? I like them a lot and have read many reviews that say their frequency response is quite flat.

I know that I might do better with monitors other than the Monsoons but they fit my budget (I already own them) and my space constraints. I hope someone can suggest a method for seting the sub-woofer level.

John

[spkguitar]

Yes most headphones are not flat, and most headphones don't have a full range of frequencies. Many also "hype" certain frequencies to make up for limitations introduced by pure physics.
(The MDR's are good headphones, though)

There are certain things that happen to sounds when travelling through the air that do not happen when delivering the sound directly to the ear canal. Air attenuates higher frequencies, so when mixing in headphones you will have the perception that your mix is brighter than it actually is, resulting in a dull sounding mix when played on loudspeakers.
Similar issues happen with lower frequencies, obviously, but in the other direction; you tend to boost the lower frequencies when mixing with headphones, to get those deep vibrations normally produced by moving lots of air, then your mix sounds muddy on loudspeakers.

Moving 1 inch of air takes a lot less power at all frequencies than moving 6-10 feet of air, and some frequencies need more power, some less, to move more air.

I also agree with tball; headphones, and a variety of other medium, should be used to reference your mix (does it sound good on a boom box? does it sound good in the car? does it sound good in headphones?), but I still recommend good monitors and moving air for mixing.

But I'm just a schmuck with an 002r and an opinion. In the end, if it sounds good, it is good.

Not sure if many people here will be using the monsoons, so you might be waiting a long time for assistance on that one.