Headphones are my studio (?)

[Event Horizon]

Hi guys im new here.

due to the fact im mostly not in the same place and moving around constantly i find myself most of the time producing music with my KA6 and headphones (their also alright for starters imo)

is there a right way to work with headphone in order to make 1 person production and reach "professional" sound?

thanks upfront

 

p.s

i do have monitors but their too big for the place im mostly producing music at

[recursion loop]

Hard, but possible.

 

Import a reference track into your DAW and try to match the overall balance, also check your stuff at different sound systems. 

[Event Horizon]

Hard, but possible.

 

Import a reference track into your DAW and try to match the overall balance, also check your stuff at different sound systems.

thanks alot for the tip man! will sure do that

[Imba]

Well doing it only on headphones since 2008... go listen and decide if it can sound professional or not. It's all up to you how hard you work


And try to rest ears every hour for 10-15 mins 

[antic604]

Hard, but possible.

 

Import a reference track into your DAW and try to match the overall balance, also check your stuff at different sound systems. 

 

In addition to the above, the general rule would be to use less of everything: less reverb, less delay, less tweaking, less panning, etc. because headphones tend to make those things sound great and exciting, but then on speakers it easily turns into a mess and a lot of important detail gets lost / masked. Also, I hear it's a good practice to actually work on a low volume, because that allows to get the mix balance better. Then, if possible use those same headphones to general listening of music, videos, etc. so that you get to know them. Lastly, listen to your mix on as many other players as possible - phone, laptop, TV, car audio; it doesn't have to sound great everywhere, but it's important that the key elements of your track are clearly heard.

 

Stating the obvious, good (flat response) headphones are a must as well - I can advise either Audio Technika ATH-M50x (closed) or Bayerdynamics DT990 Pro (open).

[Event Horizon]

thanks for the replies guys will do that.

and yeah im using ath m50x

[Wamphyri]

Hi! I've read your question and I've been looking for a good pair of headphones lately, because all I was doing with my Technics RP-880 (open, conceived for DJing) sounded so different in any other speakers that I had to change them. Nowadays I have a Beyerdynamic's pair of DT770 PRO (closed) and they sound perfect. They don't enhance the sound, any frequency, nothing. Just the sound, as-is. I had to retouch anything made with those Technics, listening to it with the Beyerdinamic

[the goa constrictor]

I'd say that you could probably produce the backbone, or majority, of your tracks through headphones only. 
I'd probably play the tracks on various systems when out and about to compare them, then definitely hit up someone's place with proper monitors to do your final mixdown and send it to someone to master.

[Martian Arts]

Headphones have come a long way. I have a treated studio, use two pairs of reference monitors (Alesis mk2 actives for the "hi-fi" reference and Mackie HR824s mk1 are my main monitors).

The absolute final mix I check on Focal Spirit Pros. They are actually fantastic as they are *extremely* detailed across the whole spectrum.

 

I don't enjoy writting music on them, so I use the monitors but it was never easier to mix a track + you don't need expensive monitors and acoustics with a good pair of studio headphones, so I recommend them to people that are on a budget, but want to nail every mix.

[Imba]

Headphones have come a long way. I have a treated studio, use two pairs of reference monitors (Alesis mk2 actives for the "hi-fi" reference and Mackie HR824s mk1 are my main monitors).

The absolute final mix I check on Focal Spirit Pros. They are actually fantastic as they are *extremely* detailed across the whole spectrum.

 

I don't enjoy writting music on them, so I use the monitors but it was never easier to mix a track + you don't need expensive monitors and acoustics with a good pair of studio headphones, so I recommend them to people that are on a budget, but want to nail every mix.

 

 

Low end is hard to clean on monitors, so headphones are perfect for that imo... and for some other things too.

 

Whatever you choose it will be hard in beggining but after some time ears will get used to it

[Martian Arts]

Exactly, especially for the low end, good studio headphones work wonders, cause what you hear is what you get, whereas in a room there are two major parameters that cost an awful lot of money to eliminate, room modes and monitor low end response.

[recursion loop]

I'm currently mixing my stuff mostly in headphones too, mine are AKG 272 HD, would you recommend upgrading to the Focals?

 

I also have monitors to check my mixes but unfortunately my room is not so great.

[Martian Arts]

Never used them so I can't comment.

[Taika-Kim]

I got AKQ Q701 phones recently, they completely crush my Adam X-series monitors since my room is untreated. I have had the acoustic plates.... Just... Over there for some time, been just lazy And anyway I still don't have bass traps. I prefer the AKGs to my older Sennheiser HD650 and Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro headphones. The sense of space is unerally good, and thet are exceptionally accurate. And a very good deal used

 

The best way to work is to learn to listen. Listen to everything. In detail. Listen to the silence too, and you realize ther is none... When you know how to listen well, creating sound becomes easier. And in a practical sense, for me it has been a long process of doing tracks at home, playing them at big sound systems to see how they actually sound outside, correcting for that, and also listening to my music with a lot of different sound systems. So again... It goes back to listening. Listen to a lot of different music. Listen especially a lot to anything else than trance analytically once in a while. And protect your hearing! It's your most valuable tool as a musician!

[Padmapani]

I got AKQ Q701 phones recently, they completely crush my Adam X-series monitors since my room is untreated. 

i trust my adam a8x monitors in an untreated room more than my akg k701 (should be very similar to the q701). i do have to move around my room to check different (bass) frequency ranges, which can be a bit tedious, but at least i can finally hear the whole bass frequencies with the monitors.

 

i really think these two have completely different "characters" and complement each other perfectly. the a8x have a very pleasant sound with fat bass and extremely precise/flat high end. the k701 are weak on bass, have a very detailed midrange and pretty crisp (or sometimes harsh) treble. if something sounds balanced and good on both, it will sound nice on any other system i have tried (which aren't too many but i couldn't do a mix that sounds decent on all of them with previous setups).

[Taika-Kim]

The main difference between the Q701 and K701 is the redesigned padding and vents in the cups, creating a stronger bass response. But they use the same drivers and other parts. 

 

The Adams are great, but I have the A5X model, they cut the bass somewhere below 75hz so I'm having much less bass than you will get with the 8s. But mainly I'm thinking about very slight EQ changes etc, I notice I can hear smaller adjustments accurately with the phones than with the monitors. Mainly actually I find I tend to mix the leads a bit too quiet with the phones, the bass is pretty good straight out from them. Of course I check everything with the monitors, but also I'm living in a community with other people and even though the sound insulation is pretty good here, I feel more comfortable working on phones so nobody even by accident does not have to listen to me adjusting some piece of melody for two hours, or whatever

[Padmapani]

ah, yes. for precision eq-ing headphones make it much easier to hear what you're doing. it's just for overall frequency balance and low end that i fail most of the time without monitors. though the a8x have a disadvantage compared to the smaller adams: it's really hard to make something sound horrible when played through them