Little advice needed here. I'm basically a home hobbyist who pursues a music interest as a relief from the pressures of running a non-musical business. So while I'm committed to developing my production skills and would be over the moon if something came of it, it's not as if I have paying clients to keep happy on a deadline, and there's no hurry. 

Basically my current apartment setup is that I could not mix for long periods on monitors (I can make noise before 10pm, but sound travels in my building to the extent that I would not want to be bothering my neighbors with endless loops of 8 bars that I'm working on). Also, acoustically treating the room is out of the question. So mostly, I've been mixing with a pair of Grado SR80i headphones, which I certainly didn't purchase with a view to mixing, but they've got such a focused, balanced sound that it makes using them a joy. I've kind of gotten familiar with the sound and of their limitations. I also use the Redline Monitor plugin from 112dB which addresses some of the problems with the stereo separation of headphones (it's not perfect, but it really helps). 

I have an old pair of nearfields in storage that someone gave to me years ago, but to be honest I can't even remember what they are. I'm getting to the point now where I could really use some kind of monitor setup to check my mixes on from time to time, even though I'm doing most of my work with the cans on. 

I have a pair of crappy Bose computer speakers that I could use (having heard some mixers say they use speakers like this to really push them into improving their mids etc) but I was wondering if I might benefit from something like a pair of Avantone Mixcubes as well, to check my mixes on at a reasonably low volume every now and again (and perhaps in mono too). I figure this way, I have the highs and the mids covered, and I just have to make allowances for the lows the best I can, as I've been doing up to this point (to be honest I keep my low end as simple and uncluttered as possible anyway). 

Any thoughts? 

Yes, you could surely benefit, but we need a budget first! $200? $500? $1000? Do you want some new headphones too that might be more ideal seeing as you're doing most on headphones?

Yeah that's a point I could probably benefit from spending $300+ on some more suitable headphones. But I'm just wondering if I might first benefit more from the addition of an external sound source to check my mixes on, and the Avatones do seem to get a lot of praise and are certainly quite cheap into the bargain. 

Sharke, I've been doing 95% of my mixing through headphones for a few years now, because the room isn't treated. I use Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones, with Tannoy Reveal monitors occasionally. A few others like these headphones too;

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2606011

While I tend to agree that a nice room with studio monitors gives the best representation of what is really in the mix..... 

I also know that many times, this is simply not possible for many hobbiests to achieve and use when they want. In my case, I have family members who do object to hearing the same song, let alone the same bars of that song over and over as I tweeze envelopes and EQ, and more. 

I have a cheap set of Yamaha headphones. I picked them up for $30 at one of the big box music stores a few years back. I do not hesitate to mix on them when I need to. Before I will release the song for public or commercial use, I will check it on my studio monitors to be sure it is balanced correctly with levels and EQ. 

The secret I think to using headphones to mix is to understand their frequency response and limitations, learn the cans,  and check the finished mix on some reliable studio speakers. I think ears fatigue more quickly on cans than they do on speakers. So keep that in mind too as you mix.

jamesg1213


Sharke, I've been doing 95% of my mixing through headphones for a few years now, because the room isn't treated. I use Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones, with Tannoy Reveal monitors occasionally. A few others like these headphones too;

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2606011

Thanks for turning me onto those, I'll definitely head down to B&H Video to give them a listen. They seem very reasonable at around $130 on Amazon too. 

Guitarhacker


While I tend to agree that a nice room with studio monitors gives the best representation of what is really in the mix..... 

I also know that many times, this is simply not possible for many hobbiests to achieve and use when they want. In my case, I have family members who do object to hearing the same song, let alone the same bars of that song over and over as I tweeze envelopes and EQ, and more. 

I have a cheap set of Yamaha headphones. I picked them up for $30 at one of the big box music stores a few years back. I do not hesitate to mix on them when I need to. Before I will release the song for public or commercial use, I will check it on my studio monitors to be sure it is balanced correctly with levels and EQ. 

The secret I think to using headphones to mix is to understand their frequency response and limitations, learn the cans,  and check the finished mix on some reliable studio speakers. I think ears fatigue more quickly on cans than they do on speakers. So keep that in mind too as you mix.

Yeah I was thinking about having a few pairs to switch around while mixing. I sometimes switch to a pair of crappy Apple buds as well and I'm also randomly moving volume up and down at different (reasonable) levels to keep my ears on their toes. I have a pair of bottom of the range Sennheisers in a closet somewhere, maybe I'll dig those out too because they seem to be representative of the colored, bass-heavy sound you get in cheaper cans. 


I think a lot of the fatigue you get with headphones is from the extreme stereo separation. The Redline Monitor helps a lot with that. My biggest problem with cans is that I cannot crank them up to drive the bass much. I already have damaged hearing to some extent (tinnitus from those early rave years!) so everything I do on headphones has to be kept at a reasonably low volume. It's so easy to listen to cans too loud....and I'm well aware of how damaging that can be. Townsend and Entwistle  used to listen to mixes on cans in the studio at stupid volumes and their hearing was shot to pieces...I'm also aware of what happened to Andy Partridge of XTC. He had the cans on in the studio and was listening to silence at high volume in order to check for noise on a track, when the stupid engineer triggered a snare sample at full volume into one of his ears, and he's had severe tinnitus ever since. Got to be very careful with cans!

Can't go wrong with Ultrasone...

http://www.spectrumaudio.com/ultrasone-pro-900.html?gclid=CKfZ88DXhbICFQTNnAodQGcANg

Maybe I'm being a bit pedantic here, but surely listening through headphones counts as monitoring.

Don't forget there are systems that can be used in conjunction with quality headphones that can simulate a room environment and remove a lot of the problem with the over wide stereo image you hear from wearing phones.

http://global.focusrite.c...dio-interfaces/vrm-box