Mixing with Headphones

A lot of sound engineers and producers will say “never mix with headphones”. I say; “mix your music with headphones only if there’s no other alternative”. Plus I would add that you should not mix with headphones if you’re mixing for an album or for something that will become the end result with no further production involved (ie; commercially released download or streaming).

With that said however, there are situations where you can do good mixes with headphones. Examples are demos for publishers or even final mixes for television projects. These types of ventures can be finalized with a good set of headphones if you are careful and have alternative form of references of your mix such as your car or home stereo.

For me my car stereo is my best reference because I spent so much time in it. In my car I listen to music sources not only from the radio, but also CD’s and mp3’s. When I listen to music in my car I’m usually not consciously aware of the eq’s or the details of the mix but rather just enjoying the music, so my ears have become accustomed to listening to certain frequencies a certain way. When I drop in my own mixes to listen to in my car, my ears will instantly recognize if there is anything off. I’ve actually taken some of my dance mixes that I’ve referenced in my car and played them in dance clubs and found no issues or problem in the mix when played with other songs.

The last 4 or 5 songs I’ve produced for film and TV have all been mixed on an old set of Sony MDR V6 headphones that I’ve owned for several years. The reason for this is because I’ve been strapped for time and I’ve had to mix them in my apartment, and the wife doesn’t appreciate the quality of nice loud speakers… . The thing is I’m very used to these headphones. I know that they tend to be light on the bass end and if I’m not careful, I’ll wind up adding too much bottom end. To counter-act this problem I’ve sort of trained my mind (and ears) to automatically cut-off anything under 50hz on kicks and bass parts. Of course I never consider a mix finalized until I’ve referenced it on another system (like my car). Even when I do a mix with my near-field monitors I always run out to my car afterwards and listen to the mix before I commit to it.

The fact is that you can create very good mixes on headphones, however if you’re not accustomed to your cans you will eventually have to go back and fix things over & over until they sound right. The best way to get use to your headphones is to listen to a lot of different types of music on them before you sit down to mix. And I’m not talking about listening for a few minutes or a couple of hours as you would before mixing on speakers. I’m talking about spending several days or weeks listening.

Your car or home stereo may have become your trusted source of how a mix should sound because you dedicated enough listening hours to it that your ears automatically can notice if something is off. The same has to be considered when mixing with headphones. Once you become use to your new cans, you’ll be able to tell yourself not to push more highs or cut off certain frequencies that sound to loud or too soft on them.

Now the reason why I would not mix album cuts on headphones is because I am much more detailed oriented on those types of mixes than anything else. This is not to say that I dumb-down mixes for TV or to present to publishers, but cuts on an album will be listened to over and over by a consumer where as mixes for TV or Film will only play for short periods. Publishers and labels who listen to demos know that the song (no matter how good it sounds) will most likely be re-recorded again, so most won’t care if the cymbals were too low or your kick didn’t have enough punch.

When mixing for an album I want to be able to listen to all the nuances and dynamics and how they will be delivered to the listener. Headphones will unfortunately give you a false presentation because there is no air or space between you and the speakers. Needless to say that even the stereo signal will not be perceived accurately. Check out this article by Hugh Robjohns in which he better explains spatial positioning and how they differ from headphone to speakers.

Weather you decide to mix on headphones or on speakers, it basically comes down to “trusting your ears”. You have probably heard enough songs and other types of productions on various systems both small and large where you know what sounds good and what sounds awkwardly off. Listen to music other than your own without prejudice. Hear how certain instruments are placed in mixes, how eq’s and effects work together in a mix, then trust your ears to make the best mixes you can.