Speakers vs. Headphones

[adi26]

Hey guys,

 

So I am really getting annoyed by why my productions sound so different on headphones compared to speakers. I producing using speakers and they sounded really good. But when I heard them on headphones it sounded total crap.

 

The bass was not at all booming, the drum hi-hats, effects etc. sounded louder than they did on speakers and ruined the rhythm of the track. The pads also sounded a lot louder and covered the sound of the bass.

 

Now, is this a typical problem? I understand that my headphones are good quality but is this a production issue or is this a mastering issue? What are the general ways of going about it? Should I trust me headphones and just do all the mixing of the song again?

 

Thanks,

 

-- Adi

[Holger Lagerfeldt]

*Usually* trust your monitors over your headphones.

 

What headphones are you using?

[el-bo]

in an ideal world it would be monitors, but the level of quality of the monitors and the extent of the room alteration necessary for accurate monitor results are usually out of reach of most users

 

i use a pair of grado sr325i headphones and seem to get great results...at least those who i've shared 'raw' mixes seem to think so....

 

as i'm of 'no fixed abode', i really have to rely on these as i don't have monitors at my disposal

 

lagerfedt...your studio (both old and new) make a little 'sex wee' drip down my leg

 

i would love to 'work' in that environment...so beautiful

 

i'm sure you have no problems with mixes 'translating'

 

all the best

[adi26]

I use the SONY MDR-7506 pro headphones. They are pretty good, I am not doubting that part of it.

 

I agree that I should trust the monitors and the production does sound good on the monitors. However, I tend to compare professional productions with my productions. The regular itunes tracks dun sound a whole lot different on headphones. I can understand if the the bass is less because of the lack of a woofer but I have never seen pads, hi-hats and all that sounding louder on headphones, lol.

 

Could this be a mastering issue?

[dkgross]

I use AKG 701's, and I simply LOVE to mix on them. I'm always thrilled how good things sound on my JBL LSR's after I've done that. I usually go back and tweak a few things here and there. But for a lot of my late night work when the wife is asleep upstairs, I use the AKG's.

[Kent Sandvik]

There are various problems with using just headphones for mixing/mastering. For example, you could hear the stereo separation quite well due to two isolated points of audio fed to each ear. So there's a false perception that some instruments sound louder than what they then actually sound like using speakers.

 

Same with low frequencies, depending on the headphones, crappy ones do not handle low frequencies well, expensive one too well, resulting in unbalanced mixes.

 

The best is to use both headphones and loudspeakers. Most use referenced monitors close to the ears which is a good compromise.

[adi26]

Yup, thanks guys !!

[kongwee]

Still need loudspeaker if you care about planing the soundstage of your mix.