Known this for awhile (as concerns me) but wondered if others do this. Was just listening to one of mixes, my mind wandered to other things (but still listening out of the corner of my mind (is there a song there?)) and I actually heard the song objectively. It was a part of the song I'm very critical of. But by having no preconceived notions or expectations, not listening while still aware of the song, I thought to myself, that part of the song is OK. Other times, a part that I think is fine, I will think needs to be changed. I listen best, at times I think, while in this state of mind. It would be nice to enter this state at will but it only comes at various times. Guess it's the old story, just too close to the project. Anyone else experienced this state of mind?

Absolutely.  Sometimes I'll turn up the volume enough (but still comfortable) so that I can walk around the house and listen.  It's amazing what pops out (or doesn't) when you do this.  It's also great for ideas if you're in the writing phase.  I'll be making coffee or whatever and listening to the song down the hall and suddenly an entirely new part will pop into my head.

I hear better when I don't look at the screen.    Honestly, I find that turning it off sometimes and just listening seems to give me more objective results.  I do the walk around the room and outside of the room thing as well.

Listening in another room is a great way to have, not a critical listen, but an average, everyday experience w/ your mix.  And usually you are doing something else - making coffee, straightening up, anything to take your attention off the things we obsess over while sitting in front of screen.  I have my speakers set at one end of the room while I face a side wall while working.  I can hear to mix fine, but after I tweak I turn my chair to face the speakers and move forward a little toward the center of the room.   Not only is it a sweet spot, but I'm not facing the screen so I'm forced to listen, not look.  And no reflections from my screens, etc.
@

You can also experience the same effect by pulling up an old song you haven't listened to in a long time.
 
My problem is whenever I do that I hear new flaws and want to dust off that old project and fix it up. Consequently, I never really finish a song - I just get bored with it.

I agree and I think this is an interesting fact. Also +1 to the concept of not looking at your screen as well. That is the way it used to be done. There were no screens in the old tape days. You HAD to pay attention.
 
I find this with mastering too. Once I have mastered an album rather than listen to it carefully (of course I do precision listens first) I do the exact opposite. I like organising a dinner party with friends and during that I put the mastered CD on very much in the background and pay no attention to it. What I find interesting is if there is a problem eg one of the tracks slightly too loud or too soft for some reason it jumps out at me and I hear it and think I must fix that. It is quite interesting how much you can hear while being distracted with something else.
 
I also like to drive around in the car and have it on low and chat to passengers etc and the same thing happens there as well.

Yeah, it's very important to change your frame of mind every so often while you're assessing your mixes. I often put things on my iPod and go out for a walk for twenty minutes or so. That's no good for analytical mix engineer type listening, of course, but that's the point. You go an experience it like a regular listener, outside of a studio context.
 
As well as it helping you stop obsessing over details that don't matter, it's amazing what previously unnoticed flaws will leap out at you.

Whenever I hear one of my mixes in any different context or different setting, I always notice some big flaw.  So I listen to it again, thinking that I might consider fixing the problem, but it sounds fine this time.  Listening is such a subjective experience.
 

chasmcg
Known this for awhile (as concerns me) but wondered if others do this. Was just listening to one of mixes, my mind wandered to other things (but still listening out of the corner of my mind (is there a song there?)) and I actually heard the song objectively. It was a part of the song I'm very critical of. But by having no preconceived notions or expectations, not listening while still aware of the song, I thought to myself, that part of the song is OK. Other times, a part that I think is fine, I will think needs to be changed. I listen best, at times I think, while in this state of mind. It would be nice to enter this state at will but it only comes at various times. Guess it's the old story, just too close to the project. Anyone else experienced this state of mind?

I don't do what you do simply because I can't. It's good you can put yourself in that realm bro...it means you're not too far gone yet like me. What I mean is...part of you is ruined for life because you got into the engineering field to some degree. That means, you don't listen to music like an everyday listener. They don't hear the things you listen for because they haven't been taught what to listen for.
 
The gifts we have are both blessings and curses. I try as hard as I can to shut this part of me down so I can just listen to music like a normal person. But try as I may, the engineer in me comes creeping in. I used to have to listen to something 3 times. Once as an engineer, once as a musician, once as a music lover. Now I can do it all in one listen, but the engineer in me always seems to jump out of the cage.
 
There were times I couldn't listen to something because the production was so bad...or a drum kit was terrible, or vocals sounded like the singer gargled with razor blades. Prime example, I love the Beatles but it annoys me that some of the drums are panned to one side. So much so, I have a hard time listening to songs like that. Though it's cool, it bothers me...what can I say? So I usually listen to songs like that in mono. LOL!
 
I hate mono effects....I hate noise/hiss, I hate over-saturation, I'm not down with some of the 60's guitar tones, I hate drums that sound like you're punching cardboard boxes and putting verb on them, I hate any bass that sounds like Mccartney's (you know, that dead string, lack of pristine "ting" and sustain?)....stuff like this affects my listening really bad. So much so, I can lose out on enjoying certain songs.
 
It's rare for me to listen to music out of the corner of my mind. I can't listen to music and do anything else other than listen to music. I don't like to talk to people if they say "Hey, I got the new Porcupine Tree....let's listen to it." To me it's like "if we're going to listen, please don't talk to me while it's on. If you want to talk, turn the darned thing off!" I don't play music in the background when I'm doing things. I need to stay focused at all times in just about everything in my life and I find that music distracts me from the other things I'm doing.
 
It's weird...I'm a very good multi-tasker, but music stops me from doing other things correctly. The only time I can listen to music is when I want to hear it for enjoyment, in the car, while I shower, and when I want to sit and listen to something seriously. All other times...it just takes me away from what I'm doing...which is a GOOD thing, but not necessarily at that time. :) So though I can relate to what you're saying, it's not something I have been able to do often partly because music is such a "give me attention or nothing at all" type of drug for me. :)
 
-Danny

 
I totally share this kind of experience, chasmcg
 
I think it's important to be able to listen that way. At the end this is the way "normal" people are listening to music in 
a day to day environment. If a song still catches your attention when you're "not really listening" you have a mix that works.
I can also confirm Danny's comment. It happens to me all the time when I'm in a store, that I'm listening to the mix of the music running in the background, more than concentrating on my shoppings....