Headphones for Mixing

Send us a text


The typical music consumer these days is listening on earbuds or
headphones. Or maybe on the tiny speakers in their smartphone.
Few are listening on speakers, at least none of any reasonable
quality.


It makes sense for us to take this into consideration when we mix
a song.


Engineers have always had to make adjustments and compromises in
order for their mixes to translate well for the public. Since
most of your work will be heard on some sort of personal
listening device, it is often good to either mix using
headphones, or at least check the mix that way.


In this episode, I talk about my personal preference for
headphones for mixing and listening, which goes back decades.
Sure, I use the studio monitor speakers as another reference, but
when it comes to details, I just hear more with the headphones.
This is especially true when editing.


Everyone has to develop their own approach to this, and I expect
many people prefer monitoring and mixing through their expensive
monitor speakers. And there are times when speakers are the way
to go, such as when more than one person has to listen, or when
you want to get that visceral experience of feeling the bass.


 


Many people in the world of recording were saddened to hear of
the death of Joe Tarsia, founder of Sigma Sound Studios in
Philadelphia. Joe was a pioneer, always on the forefront of new
technology. Many successful engineers came up under Joe’s
mentorship. I know I will miss the interesting conversations I
had with Joe, going back to the late 1960s.


You can listen to my conversation with Joe Tarsia from 2020 in
episode 26. Here is the link:


https://www.buzzsprout.com/942952/5418067


There is also a YouTube video of the same conversation, with some
extra content, including a series of photos from Joe’s career:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMwTQ8XhY9c


email: dwfearn@dwfearn.com
www.youtube.com/c/DWFearn
https://dwfearn.com/