Who’s mixing on headphones?

I do a ton of work on headphones. Not necessarily 100% of the mix, but a good chunk.

I use Sony 7506s — horribly bright on their own, but with Sonarworks, they actually sound pretty good, and it brings them really close to the sound of my speakers (where I also use SW). The trick is to force yourself to use the headphone correction in spite of how much of a shock it is at first. After a while, your ears adjust, and you realize it is indeed more accurate and helps way more than you thought.

I've been using the same Sonys with SW for 5 or 6 years, so at this point, I know them like the back of my hand, which is what allows me to actually work on them. If I were starting over, I'd probably choose different headphones.

Once you become acclimated to working on headphones, I honestly feel like it's not too different from working on speakers. Use reference mixes often and approach EQ, compression, etc. the same way you would normally. The only real issue I've run into is levels — headphones definitely bring out the small details more, so you might be tempted to settle for lower levels than you normally would (i.e. turning down vocals, using less distortion or reverb than you should, etc.). For that reason, I always double check on speakers (especially my car stereo).

IME, the usual complaints about headphones having inaccurate low end, weird stereo imaging, etc. are way overblown. Provided you have a decent pair of studio headphones you know well, you can absolutely make things sound good.

I do 95% of my mixing on headphones. Bose qc35 with noise cancellation on. Prior to the Bose, I was mainly between AKG Q701 and HD650s. I have 2 sets of Amphion bookshelves, PMCs, Event 3-ways, and Adams that go untouched.

I do a fair bit on headphones. But still perfer to on monitors. I spend hours doing stuff on headphones though(editing). I use HD650s and AKG702's. Plus ATM50x as well here and there. I used to use the 7506's but my god just too damn bright.

Use either Grace m900 or m920 headphone amps or built in one on the Hapi, which I actually like more than the grace.

I'm monitors first here as well. I do check mixes on cans frequently, though. I never consider a mix "done" without them. My first choice is the ATHM50. I have the Sennheiser 650's as well. The Audeze LCD X are a fine reference as well. I check on the 7506's, too, in large part (and even as bright as they are), because I've used them in radio broadcast work for the last 30 years. I've heard so much music on them that they've become one of those things I feel compelled to check things on, since I'm so familiar with them. All these are utilized through the RND headphone amp (multed out on the patchbay from the RND 5088 master buss. I use the Lynx Hilo headphone outs often, too.

Thanks guys. I'm going to have put some serious time into it and see if mixing on headphones is something I can learn. I think the payoff would be great. Coincidentally, I ran across this video today and really enjoyed Andrew Scheps take on it. I've heard him talk about mixing on headphones before but this was a little more detailed and candid.

45 didn’t exist when I bought the 35s. I actually bought the 35s for sound cancellation in my old cube at the day job. They had an A/C system that cooled the server room which was super loud an annoying, so I bought the Bose. The more I listened at the day job, the more I liked them. Tried them on a mix on day and was sold. My studio partner actually just grabbed a set too.

Since starting this new job, Bluetooth cans have become a huge part of my life. I've been trying a bunch. The winner so far is the Sennheiser HD450BT. I can't deal with sizzly headphone highs and the 450s sound nice and flat. I also like the button layout and pairing behavior. The only problem is they start feeling too tight after an hour or two. I've also tried the (pricier) Senn PXC 550-II, which are much more comfortable but I hate the top end, everything sounds sibilant. The Sony WH-CH510 and Sony WH-CH710N both sound ok, but they're not that comfortable. The Audio Technica ATH-SR30BT sound terrible to me.

So I'm looking for something to sound as good as the Senn 450s but be more comfortable. I've got the Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC Traveller and the Status Flagship ANC showing up this weekend.

And yes, I am going a bit crazy with this.

I just reworked a mix from the ground up on headphones. I took a mix I worked on recently that I felt was "close" but ultimately not as good as I know I'm capable of.

As you all know, when you work on something for a while, you lose the big picture as well as the small details. That's where I was in the end.

So for new perspective, I decided to do it all in headphones. I had purchased some Monoprice Planar M570 headphones a while back and I used them here and there for a while but can't say that I gave them a thorough testing.

I gotta say, the mix is better than it ever had been before. The planars were pretty honest in the midrange and top end, although I think I got used to the strident stuff in my mix too quickly because I know I heard it to start but then didn't notice it again until I listened here at work. The low end was a little bit boomy after the mix. The M570 seem to have a good low end, but I think its sloped slightly. I didn't feel like anything was "missing" but the low end is a few dB heavier on other systems.

I got mine open box for a lot less than the 300$ retail price and I'm pretty happy with them as mixing headphones so far. I think I might use them instead of NS10s for mix checks from now on.

Have been leaning on Senn HD650s and an RND headphone amp since the pandemic started.

They get me really close but I still like to hear things in other environments, including the Focals at the studio and in the car.

I do think the pitfalls are that you can’t really judge the bottom octave that reliably (mastering can sort me out here, it’s hard even in a good many control rooms I have worked in) and the center channel balance can be a little off since phantom center isn’t phantomy with cans on. I have that Can Opener plugin, but I don’t wind up using it too much.

Sometimes verbs that fit like a glove with cans on don’t work as well for me in the real world. That happened today.

Sennheiser HD600's do the trick for me, and switch over to AT ATH50's to compare.