Mastering & eqing using headphones?

[Jay Pace]

Allo

I am thinking of buying a pair of sennheiser HD650s. They are gorgeous, comfy and the sound quality is exceptional.

My rationale for justifying the purchase is that I currently use Alesis Mk2 Actives which have a fairly hefty bass response and colour the mix too much. Whilst I know that some things (stereo separation, transients) can only be properly appreciated through using monitors, I would have thought that mastering audio using top quality headphones was better than using mid range monitors.

Does this make sense? Would it be better to eq, mixdown and master using accurate headphones or is it essential to hear things through speakers?

Answers on a postcard, first five entries win part of a horse.

[romelpotter]

Answers on a postcard, first five entries win part of a horse.

the answer is - its best to use the headphones and the speakers, combine them to get a better overall picture of the mix, also get some crap speakers, try playing it through them, if it sounds good then your on a winner.

i would like the ass bit please :dontevengothere: :lol: ;)

[dirty_bass]

DON`T do any final monitoring on headphones, if you are looking for a pro sound.
There have been many articles about this here.
Essentially, you will get volumes worng, the stereo mix, and eq.
Due to the nature of having the sound so close to your ear.
Good for working at night, when you wanna keep the noise down, but shite for a final mix.
I`ve got a set of beyer, studio monitor headphones, much better than those senheisers, and there is no way I would do a final mix on them.

When you play stuff made on phones through a rig, it will sound sooooo bad.

Your monitors are fine, and their is no reason why you shouldn`t be doing good mixes with them.
Play more stuff by pro`s through them, get an idea of the response they have.
They don`t coloour the sound that mch, I know a few producers with em and they do fine.

[romelpotter]

i stand corrected, but i would still like the ass bit please ;)

[Jay Pace]

Solid response - many thanks.

I'm afraid the horse parts may be subject to availability though. Perhaps I should have mentioned that. ..

[loopdon]

i stand corrected, but i would still like the ass bit please ;)

an omen, you got 909 posts

[romelpotter]

touchet :lol: :lol: being 505 and all
lmao :lol:

[Patrick DSP]

i came across this a while back, I converted it into a PDF...

"Mixing On Headphones
What To Use & How To Do It
Published in SOS December 2003
Printer friendly version
Technique: Recording/Mixing"

www.patrickdsp.com/studio/headphones.pdf

[Milesy]

first thing to remember about mixing down on headphones...
it gives you a messed up perception of the stereo field.
it will probably sound excellent on the phones but when
you play out it will sound awful