Can You Mix In Headphones? Closed vs Open Back for the Best Sound

hello and welcome back to the channel today I'm going to be talking all about headphones because in one of my previous videos where I talked about the importance of studio monitor calibration and mixing on studio monitors I got the same three questions over and over again firstly what about just mixing on headphones can you mix on headphones secondly what ohm value of headphones should you use so what resistance of headphones 32 ohms 250 ohms etc and what's the difference and thirdly which are better for mixing and mastering open back or closed back headphones and why so that's what I'm going to be talking about in this video it's all about headphones so let's just dive right in I want to quickly say that as I talked about the negatives of using headphones I also have solutions for most of these problems so you just wait a few minutes I've got a lot of actionable tips and advice you can use to get a much better response out of your headphones most of the questions focused on can you just mix in headphones why do you need studio monitors so that's what I'm going to start with basically when is it a good time to grab the headphones and when might you want to rely on studio monitors so firstly there's loads of things that headphones are fantastic for which is why I would recommend all beginners just simply start on headphones they're cheaper for a start than investing in a set of studio monitors they're also obviously far more private so you can use them anywhere and they also sound the same anywhere whether you're on a bus in your studio in a living room they're gonna sound pretty much the same whatever you use them and because you don't need to worry about how your room is interacting with the sound as long as you know what good music sounds like on your headphones it's usually a really good reference to go towards another positive is that they're excellent for fine editing tasks especially if there's noise in the room listening for clicks pops distortions and also when setting reverb trails like reverb times and delay settings using headphones and just getting really locked in and closed in on what you're doing it can really be helpful however there's plenty of times when headphones start to fall down and this doesn't mean that you can't mix on them of course you can but it means that there's areas where studio monitors just Excel and the first thing is that it's really difficult to gauge your stereo separation properly on head because they're almost too perfect they give you all the right channel in the right ear and all of the left in the left ear and there's no crosstalk between the two channels so what this is is when you're mixing in studio monitors this is my right hand studio monitor that's my right here might be flipped for you the way I hear the right channel is actually that I hear it in my right ear and a bit of it in my left and it also bounces around the room and I hear the sound in a very spacious way whereas in headphones you simply hear only the right channel in your right ear and this means that things tend to sound really wide and separated in your headphones even if you try to do a mono check so you press mono on your interface or on your mixer the sound in the headphones is still really separated so it can actually be hard to gauge how instruments are sort of folding on top of each other and mushing together whereas in studio monitors you just get this more spacious sound where you can typically tell where instruments are stepping on each other quicker another reason is fatigue and the enjoyment of music so often especially in hot climates if you've got to wear headphones for four five six hours it's going to get really hot often sweaty and just becomes really heavy and uncomfortable and I know that sounds like a really pathetic problem it's not something I actually deal with in my studio because it's really cold here I live in Scotland but especially if you're in a hotter climate so if you're you know many places in the States or in India or potentially in southern Europe especially if it's a hot or a humid day listening in headphones can become really fatiguing and just not enjoyable whereas studio monitors there's no pressure on your ear you've got a good airflow and it's not really something that you have to worry about another potential issue along with the mono compatibility is checking for phase problems and it's not always a problem in headphones it does depend on which type you have but anyone that's ever recorded you know live drums bass guitars you know that getting everything in phase and also with the correct polarity really really matters and often engineers find it easier to check the phase on studio monitors it can absolutely be done on headphones especially if you know what you're listening for but it can sometimes be harder to list Alfre especially if you're new to critical listening and finally the last potential issue with headphones is that many many people said but what if I'm listening on flat headphones it isn't that okay and the thing is there is no such thing as a flat pair of headphones as far as I'm aware almost every pair of headphones even mixing and mastering headphones have their own tonal balance profiles just it's down to the electronics the drivers the shape the size your own ears everything will affect the curve of the headphones so to speak I'm oversimplifying it even my favorite headphones right now not at all sponsored these are extremely bright in the high-end they've got a nice little bass boost on them as well I really really enjoy that but they are not flat the way that my studio monitors are flat when I've calibrated them so although you could simply listen to a lot of reference tracks and then your own music to gauge how you should be mixing the issue is if your headphones are overly bright it can mean that it can be really difficult to judge the clarity in the mid-range or if they're really Basie it can be difficult to be accurate and make really precise and accurate moves down in the low end however these problems I've mentioned I have a couple of ways to get over them so firstly as for the mono compatibility issue a tip that a friend of mine gave me which also helps for the overall balance of instruments is actually to just plug your headphones in turn the volume up really high separate the cones out a little bit just like this and then hold them away from you or put them down on your desk and then just listen to your song and also listen to a few bits of other music and often this gives you an idea of how it sounds when everything sort of mushed together the way it might be on a phone speaker or small pair of speakers and when I only had headphones this was a really really good tip it often helped me tell when a vocal was far too loud or quiet or whether high hats were being lost under the mix or were far too loud so genuinely try it seems like a little bit of a gimmicky trick but it did help me and it might help you to now as for fixing that crosstalk issue where you really should be hearing the right channel in your right ear and your left ear and the whole room there's a couple of software's which I do not use and I'm not sponsored by the companies so I don't even own these softwares one is can opener by good hurts and another I think is waves and X and quite a few people swear by these and also loads of people would never go near them what these do is they feed a bit of one channel into the other and they also simulate more of sort of an acoustic room space I suppose so there's a lot of you know complex algorithms and coding that I do not understand that goes into them but the advice here is that there are several mix engineers and producers who do rely on tools like that when they're traveling where they can only use headphones and I thought I should at least mention it to those that might be curious see if you can get a free trial or something like that test it out it might be for you and then that issue about the headphones not being flat well just in one of my previous videos as I mentioned sonar works for flattening your studio monitor response sonar works has a headphone addition where you can actually flatten out the response of your headphones so they've measured the response of probably hundreds of headphones at this point and you can also have yours individually calibrated for a perfect response and just in the same way that their plug-in and standalone software flattened out the response of your studio monitors they can do the same with your headphones this tends to have mixed results between people whether they like it or dislike it but there's no doubt that it makes it flat personally in my headphones I've over the last three or four years I've become so accustomed to the sound of these wonderful headphones that it was a bit odd for me at first especially in the top end but when it came to the bass it really just extended it made it sound really really good so I do turn I do turn the headphone addition on to check the bass at least but I do quite like the sound of my headphones so if you're struggling with your headphones it might be worth checking out those three software's that I just mentioned okay so I'm gonna move on to the next question now because I think I've covered the sort of headphones versus studio monitors debate and I hope that's helped a little bit the next is what ohm value of headphones should I have some headphones simply come up one and others such as these bio dynamics or ver dynamics they come in different options from 32 ohms 250 ohm versions so you've got low and high own versions people are asking which should I get and why and which ones sound best now it all depends on what you're going to be plugging it into so if you're listening to music or mixing from a smartphone or a laptop with a headphone output you're going to want a lower own value because these headphones require a lot less power or gain to get a really really high volume so if you're just listening on your phone or your laptop you won't need to turn the volume all the way up and you'll still have a super loud super full signal however if you get at 250 or a 600 ohm pair of headphones and plug those into your laptop output or your phone even with the volume maxed out you're not likely to get the right amount of volume that you can actually hear what's going on it's going to be very quiet in your ears even though the volume is maxed out and to properly drive these higher ohm headphones you want to make sure you have a decent audio interface I've managed to get a really good volume out of all of the audience interfaces and I'm sure other people can comment down below what they use whether it works or not but typically if you have a good headphone amplifier or a good audio interface you'll be able to drive 250 ohm headphones no problem at all now when it comes to the sound quality differences between the two so in an ideal situation you're in a studio you've got a headphone amp or an interface which which headphones sound better I believe along with many many other professionals and audio files that the higher ohm headphones just sound generally better typically a deeper richer bass response kind of a wider deeper soundstage it's quite difficult to put this stuff into words and kind of vocalize it but just generally a better image better sonic image I suppose and for many people just for the sheer enjoyment of listening to music as a hobby typically you'll see people using higher ohm headphones however I think a lot of people including myself in a blind test would not guess correctly every single time it really does depend on the source material if you're listening to a low-quality mp3 file or you're streaming at a low quality I I don't know if I could even tell the difference being completely truthful whereas if I'm listening to a very high quality file that's been fantastically well mixed a mass I would be able to tell the difference between a higher ohm headphone and a lower ohm headphone but they're both gonna deliver excellent results and it typically matters what brand you choose on what type of headphone tends to matter a bit more than just obsessing over own values and finally I'll try to keep this last question brief whilst the difference between close back and open back headphones but more specifically which one sounds better for mixing and mastering most people will know you've got two general classifications of headphones you have closed back headphones like this if my camera will focus which has a hard shell on the back that prevents noise leaking out into the world and keeps things quite private even without any active noise cancellation technology and then you've also got open-back headphones that look a little bit like this where they have a grill or a mesh on the back which allows sound to escape and also sound from the room to leak in to the headphone as well long story short I much prefer open-back headphones for mixing and mastering but there are times when closed back headphones are far far superior firstly if you're not in a private environment and you need to listen to what you're doing and there's people talking or there's noise you definitely want to use closed back headphones you won't be able to use open-back headphones if you're traveling if you're on a plane or a bus or any kind of noisy environment or even if there's people talking in your studio it's gonna really bother you because you're gonna hear absolutely everything however when I used to produce in a duo or whenever I have artists on is quite nice because when I put these open-back headphones on I'm not wearing them for fashion clearly I can hear what everyone's saying and I can also hear my own voice really clearly so I don't feel like I'm being as antisocial and locking myself away but in a lot of cases this openness and lack of privacy is going to be an issue another one is for recording which I wasn't really going to talk about which is that because sound leaks out of these headphones everyone else can hear what you're listening to sound will leak into the microphone the metronome will leak out so they're not really great for recording you can get away with it but it's not ideal but I think by far the main reason people choose between them is comfort and audio quality so firstly the open-back headphones are usually in almost all brands are more comfortable there's air flow and the heat can get in and out so they typically stay at a really nice temperature on your head no buildup of like sweat or heat or anything like that and sometimes they're even lighter than the clothes back versions because they've got a grill there's less material so often there can be a little bit less pressure on the headband again these are really known issues for a lot of people but it's worth mentioning and then when it comes to the sound quality the open-back headphones are just so much wider deeper more spacious now there are times when closed back headphones sound a bit better often the bass can sound more punchy but not necessarily deeper or full but with the open-back headphones it was a really interesting experience when I first tried this and when I listened to any new music it's a completely immersive spacious experience of sound completely different to anything else that I'm used to hearing you hear all the instruments separated around your head everything feels extraordinary 3d and for the sake of pure enjoyment this is what I usually like to listen to music on first just to really gauge a song and just enjoy it but also this quality of having a really wide and deep soundstage means that I find them excellent from mixing I find it much much easier to judge stereo width and panning decisions and also just overall balance with these on my head as opposed to a pair of closed back headphones and although I said the bass was a little bit more punchy with the closed back headphones or even a lot more punchy I find the bass in this is just deeper and more enjoyable and a fuller sound even if it's not quite as fun or punchy or pokey potentially depending on the genre of music you're gonna listen to and mix one might win over the other but I know so many engineers and myself included just prefer open-back headphones when we can but that does depend on being in a nice quiet environment and knowing that you're not gonna bother anyone with all the sound that's leaking out as for any recommendations for which headphones you should use any brands that I prefer now most people know that I've used bio dynamics for years I just find them to be absolutely bomb-proof and I've really enjoyed listening on them they always I can pads off wash them they always come up really clean and good the pads are really large really soft and it means that one when they're on my head I kind of just forgot they're there sometimes they feel like there's like little pillows on my ears which is really nice this is not a sponsored video but I know the bio dynamics are widely trusted as almost an industry standard in headphones and some people like the look of the mic whenever I'm wearing them in my tutorials I'm definitely not wearing them for the sake of fashion that's for sure I'm wearing them for the function of them and they sound really really good I also have quite small ears and quite flexible so having something that sits over my full ear really helps because if something presses on to my ear it tends to just call a lot of build-up and heat but other brands that are fantastic are audio technica I've used those before and I know that a lot of people swear by Sennheiser headphones typically these brands with a long heritage of headphone design they tend to not mess anything up usually their headphones end up being really comfortable really accurate and just sound great where it's often the newer or younger brands that are trying all sorts of crazy wacky designs typically they only work for a small fraction of people and they're not perfect for everybody anyway I hope I've cleared up those three questions I don't want to drag this out any longer so thank you very much for watching I hope that helped any questions at all drop them in the comment section down below I'll be trying to answer as many as possible but thank you very much for watching and I hope to see you in the next video - hope you have a great week bye for now

Channel: In The Mix

Views: 364,863

Keywords: mixing in headphone, headphones for mixing, closed back or open backed, which ohm headphones, mixing, headphones, mastering, headphone comparison, dt 770, dt 1990, DT 770 pro, music production, music production (genre), how to mix music, mixing in headphones, mastering in headphones, the best headphones, for mixing, best headphones, professional headphones, how to make music, in the mix, mixing advice, studio, home studio, mixing mixtakes, can you mix in headphones

Id: neYr0u4iq0Q

Length: 17min 6sec (1026 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 14 2019