community.pirate.com

Just got new headphones... now my old tunes sound bad but my new tunes sound bad on my old headphones :D

Production and recording
#1

Not that this in incredibly surprising - new headphones everything sounds different!

I just upgraded to some Beyerdynamic DT770 250ohm after producing with really cheap headphones I had lying around. I realise they aren’t the most neutral headphones but i got a good local deal soooo went for it :smiley:

So the new headphones are good - I can hear a lot more detail and more importantly i find them easier to wear and listen to for long periods of time as i produce - but the tracks I make on them definitely sound weird now on low end sources like phone, laptop speaker etc etc

I figure the general option here is to also get out the crappy headphones and check the final mix on that and make some adjustments but maybe there’s something else I should be doing? Like getting to know the dynamics of the new headphones more so i can deal with it ahead of time or something? (for instance the seem to have a loud low end bass but not so loud bass frequencies above that… but that also could be because i can actually hear sub bass now which i couldnt before)

I can’t really use monitor speakers just because of where I live… (landlord lives above me)

My headphones are plugged into an old VCI400 dj controller and it has enough output to drive the headphones fine.

Anyway maybe the answer really is just also check on other sources and mix to those and try and find a balance but just wanted to make sure there wasnt something else i should be doing. (i’ve see people use applications to load different sound profiles into their headphones too)

#2

Unfortunately mixing on headphones is never ideal and like studio monitors you’ll rarely find two different makes that sound the same. main problem with mixing on headphones are the bass frequencies and getting a realistic representation of what the mix will sound like in the “open air” so to speak.

Might be worth getting a speaker emulation plugin like Wave’s Abbey Road 3 Listening to mixes by yourselves and other artists that you love the mixes of and getting to know your headphones really well.

That or get down to pirate studios and mix on monitors…just sayin’ :wink:

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#3

Just gotta learn your devices signature and use multiple reference points, I’ll reference on my studio monitors, laptop speakers, iPhone speaker, car speakers, Sony noise cancelling headphones and some AirPods or something. These are all the common device types people will hear your tunes from and using them all as reference points will really cover all your bases and gives you a good average. You can also load up a reference track in your daw that’s close to your songs genre and A/B between them to hear what a professionally mixed and mastered track should be sounding like in your current environment.

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#4

Get a Toronto studio and I can use my credit then :wink:

But yeah thanks that’s sounds like a good idea. I don’t need to nail the mixing I just don’t want it to sound unexpectedly different from place to place - if I had something I was releasing seriously id probably do something more serious in terms of locking the mix down. Like booking a place to get it done proper.

A waves plugin… and it’s on sale too… waves plugins on sale… what a coincidence! (j/k)

Thanks Gareth! Weird to say as I am also Gareth. It’s like i answered my own question.

#5

LoL hello Gareth, funny I only noticed the sale after I posted the link. I have the plugin myself but even though I have set of Adams and NS10’s I still find myself referencing every now and then with Abbey Road 3…particularly good if you’re going to be spending long hours mixing on headphones.

Also don’t rule out a Toronto Studio, Pirate just launched 3 more studios today one in Berlin, 1 in New York and another one in London ;)…so Canada I’m sure is on the cards

In the meantime a good mastering engineer can help solve that issue of things sounding different depending on the listening enviroment/system…but a mastering engineer can still only do so much with a mix.

It’s worth learning a bit about mastering yourself if you don’t have a budget for mastering at the moment as it will definitely help with how your music translates from one medium to the next…and knowing how mastering works can also help with how you approach your mixing.

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#6

Yeah I totally want to learn more about mastering and mixing as I progress (ive only really been producing stuff for about 6 months so still very early days) but I know its a total rabbit hole so I’m trying to just only dip my toes in right now and learn the right amounts at the right time.

But I’m hoping this community will help quite a lot in that regard.

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#7

Well I’ve a thread over here where I’ve written some mixing tips and strategies and will be adding a few more articles over the next few days dealing with the likes of mix dimensions, Top down mixing techniques and a few others so have a browse through some of that and see if it helps.

Also as you’re working on tracks post them up as work in progress tracks (WIPs) in the ‘Feedback Room’ and the community is really helpful in pointing out ideas for arrangements, mix suggestions etc to help you out more.

Looking forward to hearing what you produce!

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#8

Ahh that’s a great thread… I’m gonna run through that with my latest project and see what happens.

Cheers!

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