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> most music is done on something like $100 MDR-7506 Musicians wear headphones in studios when recording, but audio engineers pretty much never use headphones
by riprowan 10y ago
> most music is done on something like $100 MDR-7506
Musicians wear headphones in studios when recording, but audio engineers pretty much never use headphones for mixing except as microscopes to listen in terrific detail for something in particular.
Mix engineers mix on speakers almost exclusively.
- doctorshady 10y agoConsidering how many people listen on headphones as opposed to past decades, would it not be a valid choice to do more headphone mixing?
- riprowan 10y agoIt's true that you can "mix for the listening format." This is just my personal experience and opinion (and that of pretty much every audio engineer I've worked with): headphones lie. Ears are designed to perceive sounds in 3-space, not to have individual channels shot down the ear canal bypassing the outer ear, with a sealed transducer directly loading the eardrum. As an audio engineer, you're looking for the truth, and this isn't the way for your ears to best perceive it. Moreover headphones are generally fatiguing compared to a good set of studio monitors in a tuned control room. So the most representative mix - regardless of listening format - is going to come from speakers. I think most audio engineers are going to agree on this point. Some audio engineers "mix for the format" - I suppose if you want a mix that is optimized for headphones, then yes you're going to at least check the mix with headphones, but I still doubt many engineers would do the mix on headphones. Seasoned engineers know that listening fads come and go - the way to make a mix that will stand the test of time is to make a mix that sounds good on anything, and "good studio monitors in a good room" is going to get you there best.