Ok, this always seems to be a hot topic on most recording forums and I don’t understand why people still think that mixing with headphones is so much worse than mixing with monitors. In fact, I think that it’s more important to mix with headphones than it is with monitors. I introduce to you your new studio mix environment…
Yes, I am just awaiting the evil comments…”How dare I say such a thing”.
After reading an interesting article about why you should not be mixing primarily with headphones I decided that this approach was wrong, and I’ll tell you why…
Most people listen to their music with iPods, their phone, or their computer.
and to do this they typically must use headphones. Yes people today digest their music with a small portable device and a headphone no one sits in front of their home stereo any more, well, maybe this guy still does:
If the ultimate music listening environment is most likely a set of headphones then why not mix with a pair of headphones, and while you’re at it, a pair of crappy stock iPod ear buds. If you still can’t wrap you head around the idea of sticking these admittedly crappy-sounding headphones into your ears and mixing your clients work, at least think about creating multiple mixes. (done with headphones, monitors, multimedia speakers) This can at least give you different variations with which to choose from later.
Now I’m not saying abandon the monitor all together–let’s not be hasty. The studio monitor, along with as many other playback sources as you can find will still be a major part of the studio environment, but I’m saying re-evaluate the way you view you mixing priorities.