James, I don't buy a lot of my plugins, I just find free ones that work well enough. However, this video convinced me I had to buy a Waves NX plugin. I got the demo of the different headphone mix environments and settled on Chris Lord Alge's studio to purchase. My mixes improved immediately. I used to have a well balanced mixing room at my house, but now I live in an apartment and have to mix on headphones. This really helped the mixes translate. Thank you so much.
Thanks for another great video, and for using some of the Golgotha Experience music, again! I first discovered it on one of your earlier videos - It's beautiful work and very compelling. 🎯
Great information to chew on.. I mix our Live Broadcast from headphones, (Sennheiser HD280), every week. We are no set up with a DAW at this time to be able to try this. Hopefully in 2023. However this past Sunday I had a thought to just try some different panning on the instruments to see what the results would be like. I thought just doing that did make a difference in the mix. Any tips with just mixing from the console?
stereo instrument channels will have no problem panned hard left and right, if they are sourced from mic pairs be careful of their directivity, orientation and separation to sound source to avoid phase cancellation on mono playback devices or comb filtering effects human hearing receive spacial clues from loudness differences (pan control), time delay reaching left and right ears and how your head is shaped (head transfer function), limit panning if effects are not being added to mono channel, or use stereo mics technique to start with
@@philiptong4978 Wow! That's a mouthful...Ha! Thanks for the extra tips!!! I will note these in my Field Mixing Guide that I keep in my techie bag on Sundays. I think I try to achieving perfection knowing that I am not able to.. Thank You @ Phillp Tong....
Thank you for some great information. Would you recommend using the NX software while mixing a live stream? Also, I was wondering is there a way you can use the NX software for a live stream if you do not live professor?
Amazing presentation, but a little confused about panning error you mentioned and how NX can help, but when you panned everything hard and and right it sound extreme on the headphone listenning, but with the speaker emulation sounded not too extreme, okay you said because some of the left is heard by the right and vice versa. But then the room is also fooling you, because those it sounds okay in speakers, but too wide and wild in headphone, so those who gonna hear the song in the speaker will hear it as too wide and weird, according to your we example. So what changes if panned something right or left whether you listen through headphones or speakers, doesnt change the fact of the reality of they will sound in whether speakers or headphones. Very confusing, but with reverb is understandable that mixing in headphone might make you put too much reverb because you are not listening in room with reflections, but that also is funny, because if you have dampened reflection in your room you wont reverberation of your room, you are not explaining these few things clearly enough. Its all very funny, because if you mix with a really flat headphone also you might have your eqing descision not too far from speakers reality. But the problem with flat headphone is that, I would be tempted to make it pounding if am doing edm, but because the headphone itself is not putting enough headphone to produce pounding bass, I will pushing till i hear the energy of the bass, but reality I would don too much in the real world, also in the highs if the headphone is not bright enough even a little more tha usual, then a sibilant vocal if played in most system will sound forgiven in a so called flat system. Meanwhile if the highs were a littler exergerated it will quickly reveal any potention harshness. Which is why all the studio headphone are never flat, never, infact no flat headphone exist on Earth. MDR 1706, is really bright, DT 770 and most them are bright even painfully bright, should I go mentioning other headphone for studio, because they reveal hisses, or sibilant elements easier by being a little excess, so that when you make everything sound bright as you like and heavy as you like, yes even if they sound not heavy enough or not bright enough, that is the natural or better place to be, than neutral that makes you mix too bright and too less bass because there wasnt enough. To me then with speakers, go dialing in right amount, or use reference tracks. So I think people have not learn headphone mixing is why, I used to have a sony speakers when I hear my kick a little causing my speaker to vibrate like rattling a bit then I know its good enough in the real world. And I also think headphone makes clear low end than speakers with woofers, because sound so big and punchy that you might miss to see if certain parts of the bass frequency be cut a bit, but a good headphone with clean bass reproduction would be better to see clearly. I just think certain headphone makes your mix translate but then we blame it all headphones. This is just something people need to learn, but people have taught it to a tabboo to use headphones. its an interesting thing. The only I can say about speakers where you cant live without them is choosing bass drums and snare drums, in speakers it sound real, and you can chose the best samples than most headphones. but then any little speaker will do, even if the room not treated. because one time I was making a beat just having fun, I loved everything I chose as which kick, snare, hats etc, and I made a lovely beat, all in headphone, after a couple minutes or hour, I switched to speakers it sounded weird, not the levels or panning, but the actual samples I chose, this was weird, so I just chose a better sample while on the speakers and it also sounded nice in headphones. This is something I heard heard anyone talk about, everyone just saying the cheesy stuffs like, dont mix or make music in headphone, even then my then headphone were not even studio headphonem which they were my choice might have been okay. So i think its not hard as we make it seem, Andrew Shephes mixes with this sharp headphones SONY MDR 1706
@@AttawayAudio as someone who often mixes with in ear monitors at our church it’d be interesting to hear what those drawbacks are and what to look out for?
Hey James, my biggest challenge is that I want to improve my online mix for my church. I'm thinking about using headphones because where my computer is located for online mixing is near the sanctuary. Though I'm using studio monitors, I'm having difficulty dialing in the instruments. What's the best option. I'm using studio one daw along with the SQ6
You actually can get a good mix using headphones, with some prerequisites. Before you throw on your cans, you must understand your headphones and how they will respond. Secondly, don't crank up the volume because your mix in the end will not translate at normal listening levels. And finally, be aware of the ambient volume in the room. Too loud environment will make it deficult to mix. However, headphones are great when everyone in your house is asleep and you don't want to wake them up.
if you mix in headphones or speakers not loud enough, you would be disappointed when you hear your music in a loud venue like a concert or night club. you need hear it loud to reveal what could be potential sibilant would be sounding okay, but crank the volume, pros do this, when you hear loud, you notice all sorts of problems that were not apparent when working in low volume. if its sound nice loud it will sound nice in low volume, not the other way round. fault show easier in loud set up. Dont give bad advice. I can tell countless stories of hearning some of mix been played in large system, and I was I could mix this right now hearing in this system, even with the reflection of the big room, its just that been so loud and huge, it shows reveals anything that was almost harsh more, any bass that was too boomy or too honky shows more. This is why pros say dont make your bass too much in volume. but all these wont be notice when you listen in low volumes all sounds clean and lovely. use this advice and thank me in your heart. I bet you go find a venue, with huge sound system, or look for a night club to play your tunes while you listen, and you will be suprised at a few flaws you didnt pick up on before, especially if you didnt give it to be mastered with a mastering pro engineer. I told you.
I used to mix in the same headphones with my laptop, and it sounds great and I used the same tracks (daw original files installed) in my new laptop and it sounds like complete sh!t, not even the midi sounds for Kontack sound good but worse..What is happening here!!! So its not all about the headphones and external speakers !!!
That Ocean Way room is kind of magic. Thanks James!
James, I don't buy a lot of my plugins, I just find free ones that work well enough. However, this video convinced me I had to buy a Waves NX plugin. I got the demo of the different headphone mix environments and settled on Chris Lord Alge's studio to purchase. My mixes improved immediately. I used to have a well balanced mixing room at my house, but now I live in an apartment and have to mix on headphones. This really helped the mixes translate. Thank you so much.
Thanks for another great video, and for using some of the Golgotha Experience music, again! I first discovered it on one of your earlier videos - It's beautiful work and very compelling. 🎯
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing this with us. Outstanding.
Thanks Ernie!
Great information to chew on.. I mix our Live Broadcast from headphones, (Sennheiser HD280), every week. We are no set up with a DAW at this time to be able to try this. Hopefully in 2023. However this past Sunday I had a thought to just try some different panning on the instruments to see what the results would be like. I thought just doing that did make a difference in the mix. Any tips with just mixing from the console?
stereo instrument channels will have no problem panned hard left and right, if they are sourced from mic pairs be careful of their directivity, orientation and separation to sound source to avoid phase cancellation on mono playback devices or comb filtering effects
human hearing receive spacial clues from loudness differences (pan control), time delay reaching left and right ears and how your head is shaped (head transfer function), limit panning if effects are not being added to mono channel, or use stereo mics technique to start with
@@philiptong4978 Wow! That's a mouthful...Ha! Thanks for the extra tips!!! I will note these in my Field Mixing Guide that I keep in my techie bag on Sundays. I think I try to achieving perfection knowing that I am not able to.. Thank You @ Phillp Tong....
Thank you for some great information. Would you recommend using the NX software while mixing a live stream? Also, I was wondering is there a way you can use the NX software for a live stream if you do not live professor?
Amazing presentation, but a little confused about panning error you mentioned and how NX can help, but when you panned everything hard and and right it sound extreme on the headphone listenning, but with the speaker emulation sounded not too extreme, okay you said because some of the left is heard by the right and vice versa.
But then the room is also fooling you, because those it sounds okay in speakers, but too wide and wild in headphone, so those who gonna hear the song in the speaker will hear it as too wide and weird, according to your we example.
So what changes if panned something right or left whether you listen through headphones or speakers, doesnt change the fact of the reality of they will sound in whether speakers or headphones.
Very confusing, but with reverb is understandable that mixing in headphone might make you put too much reverb because you are not listening in room with reflections, but that also is funny, because if you have dampened reflection in your room you wont reverberation of your room, you are not explaining these few things clearly enough.
Its all very funny, because if you mix with a really flat headphone also you might have your eqing descision not too far from speakers reality.
But the problem with flat headphone is that, I would be tempted to make it pounding if am doing edm, but because the headphone itself is not putting enough headphone to produce pounding bass,
I will pushing till i hear the energy of the bass, but reality I would don too much in the real world, also in the highs if the headphone is not bright enough even a little more tha usual, then a sibilant vocal if played in most system will sound forgiven in a so called flat system.
Meanwhile if the highs were a littler exergerated it will quickly reveal any potention harshness.
Which is why all the studio headphone are never flat, never, infact no flat headphone exist on Earth.
MDR 1706, is really bright, DT 770 and most them are bright even painfully bright, should I go mentioning other headphone for studio, because they reveal hisses, or sibilant elements easier by being a little excess,
so that when you make everything sound bright as you like and heavy as you like, yes even if they sound not heavy enough or not bright enough, that is the natural or better place to be,
than neutral that makes you mix too bright and too less bass because there wasnt enough.
To me then with speakers, go dialing in right amount, or use reference tracks.
So I think people have not learn headphone mixing is why, I used to have a sony speakers when I hear my kick a little causing my speaker to vibrate like rattling a bit then I know its good enough in the real world.
And I also think headphone makes clear low end than speakers with woofers, because sound so big and punchy that you might miss to see if certain parts of the bass frequency be cut a bit, but a good headphone with clean bass reproduction would be better to see clearly.
I just think certain headphone makes your mix translate but then we blame it all headphones.
This is just something people need to learn, but people have taught it to a tabboo to use headphones.
its an interesting thing.
The only I can say about speakers where you cant live without them is choosing bass drums and snare drums, in speakers it sound real, and you can chose the best samples than most headphones.
but then any little speaker will do, even if the room not treated.
because one time I was making a beat just having fun, I loved everything I chose as which kick, snare, hats etc, and I made a lovely beat, all in headphone, after a couple minutes or hour,
I switched to speakers it sounded weird, not the levels or panning, but the actual samples I chose, this was weird, so I just chose a better sample while on the speakers and it also sounded nice in headphones.
This is something I heard heard anyone talk about, everyone just saying the cheesy stuffs like, dont mix or make music in headphone,
even then my then headphone were not even studio headphonem which they were my choice might have been okay.
So i think its not hard as we make it seem,
Andrew Shephes mixes with this sharp headphones SONY MDR 1706
Great, thats what we are just dealing with.
What about high end in-ears like 64 audio A12t? I expect it would be the same issue found with closed back headphones only worse.
In-ear monitors have their own set of challenges compared to headphones, but aren't really inside the "open/closed-back" design considerations.
@@AttawayAudio as someone who often mixes with in ear monitors at our church it’d be interesting to hear what those drawbacks are and what to look out for?
Hey James, my biggest challenge is that I want to improve my online mix for my church. I'm thinking about using headphones because where my computer is located for online mixing is near the sanctuary. Though I'm using studio monitors, I'm having difficulty dialing in the instruments. What's the best option. I'm using studio one daw along with the SQ6
Combination of headphones with Nx Mixroom and some small speakers that sound terrible
Hi, i like your all videos, your Teaching style is so nice thank you. Jesus bless you. Sir where is your Church ?
You actually can get a good mix using headphones, with some prerequisites. Before you throw on your cans, you must understand your headphones and how they will respond. Secondly, don't crank up the volume because your mix in the end will not translate at normal listening levels. And finally, be aware of the ambient volume in the room. Too loud environment will make it deficult to mix. However, headphones are great when everyone in your house is asleep and you don't want to wake them up.
if you mix in headphones or speakers not loud enough, you would be disappointed when you hear your music in a loud venue like a concert or night club.
you need hear it loud to reveal what could be potential sibilant would be sounding okay, but crank the volume, pros do this, when you hear loud, you notice all sorts of problems that were not apparent when working in low volume.
if its sound nice loud it will sound nice in low volume, not the other way round.
fault show easier in loud set up.
Dont give bad advice.
I can tell countless stories of hearning some of mix been played in large system, and I was I could mix this right now hearing in this system, even with the reflection of the big room, its just that been so loud and huge, it shows reveals anything that was almost harsh more, any bass that was too boomy or too honky shows more.
This is why pros say dont make your bass too much in volume.
but all these wont be notice when you listen in low volumes all sounds clean and lovely.
use this advice and thank me in your heart.
I bet you go find a venue, with huge sound system, or look for a night club to play your tunes while you listen, and you will be suprised at a few flaws you didnt pick up on before, especially if you didnt give it to be mastered with a mastering pro engineer.
I told you.
"see me beatz "
I used to mix in the same headphones with my laptop, and it sounds great and I used the same tracks (daw original files installed) in my new laptop and it sounds like complete sh!t, not even the midi sounds for Kontack sound good but worse..What is happening here!!! So its not all about the headphones and external speakers !!!
Wow, Man!!!!