Trying to get a decent mix results with headphones

[offpeak808]

I've been getting excellent results recording live at my club with a pair of
AT4051's out front, a few spot mics, an occasional direct, and sends from
the mixer.
All 3-7 tracks gets into the HDR, and I'm trying to get a balanced level/mix
while working only off headphones in a back office with out the luxury of a
pair of NS-10s or Genelecs. We're not talking Bill Schnee mixes here. My
goal is just getting a simple but decent balance/EQ, so that when it's
played on different systems it sounds flat and even. But I'm getting wildly
different results. Headphone's (K240s and a pair of Grados) might sound
absolutely crap, but in the car and on computer speakers it's fine, or it
sounds well balanced and perfectly Eq'd in the phones but there's a giant
hole in the center and all guitars disappear when I play over a consumer
stereo. Or when I play it over a boom box, the reverb gets out of hand, and
sounds like it's swimming in watery jello filled closet. The common ground
is hard to determine.

Since I'm limited to an office desk to do this, I'm wondering it I should
build a pair of Auraltone type 4 inch monitors or try to find similar style
computer speakers to listen off of for balance, guess on the bass, compress
everything more to the front, and keep winging it until eventually I'm able
to mix off of cereal boxes.

[Scott Dorsey]

offpeak808 > wrote:
>
>Since I'm limited to an office desk to do this, I'm wondering it I should
>build a pair of Auraltone type 4 inch monitors or try to find similar style
>computer speakers to listen off of for balance, guess on the bass, compress
>everything more to the front, and keep winging it until eventually I'm able
>to mix off of cereal boxes.

Absolutely. Even a pair of cheap computer monitors will tell you more about
ambience than headphones will. And you can still use the headphones for a
check mix on the bass.

Personally I recommend the NHT Super Ones for the application if you have
the budget for it. Get your position as far away from the main hall as
possible, maybe in a quiet bathroom or broom closet.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Arny Krueger]

"offpeak808" > wrote in message

> I've been getting excellent results recording live at my club with a
> pair of AT4051's out front, a few spot mics, an occasional direct,
> and sends from the mixer.
> All 3-7 tracks gets into the HDR, and I'm trying to get a balanced
> level/mix while working only off headphones in a back office with out
> the luxury of a pair of NS-10s or Genelecs. We're not talking Bill
> Schnee mixes here. My goal is just getting a simple but decent
> balance/EQ, so that when it's played on different systems it sounds
> flat and even. But I'm getting wildly different results. Headphone's
> (K240s and a pair of Grados) might sound absolutely crap, but in the
> car and on computer speakers it's fine, or it sounds well balanced
> and perfectly Eq'd in the phones but there's a giant hole in the
> center and all guitars disappear when I play over a consumer stereo.
> Or when I play it over a boom box, the reverb gets out of hand, and
> sounds like it's swimming in watery jello filled closet. The common
> ground is hard to determine.

The thing about mixing with headphones is that it can be very dependent on
how much experience you have to generally listening and mixing with
headphones.

There's no doubt that each of the environments you mentioned would be best
served by a different mix, but your goal is to serve them all well with the
same mix.

If you can't get working with headphones working for you now, you're
probably best off getting some good monitors, and revisit the headphone
thing when you have appreciably more experience.

But you'll probably find that speakers aren't the silver bullet, either.


> Since I'm limited to an office desk to do this, I'm wondering it I
> should build a pair of Auraltone type 4 inch monitors or try to find
> similar style computer speakers to listen off of for balance, guess
> on the bass, compress everything more to the front, and keep winging
> it until eventually I'm able to mix off of cereal boxes.

You would do well shooting a little higher than that!