Reflekshun,

Headphone monitoring for mixing is going to make you crazy. IMO it's impossible to mix in cans (especially when judging verbs). It's a nice second reference but very dicey if you really want to mix on them. Headphones may be good for revealing "issues/problems" in the mix that aren't detectable if your mixing environment is less than stellar.

That being said, I use Sennheiser's open ear headphone design and saved up to buy a pair of HD600's which are perfect to my taste. I've also heard HD580's and HD280's and thought that they would also be excellent choices. There is quite a bit of dicussion on this if you google search at RAP. I found a very good price on new "grey market" Sennheisers on eBay.

Thankyou For your post Curious G - that makes alot of sense! I'll definitely consider speaker monitors next since i already have a decent pair of headphones... a little average on the very high end frequencies, but bah - speaker monitors will hopefully help me with that. thanks again!

Hey Reflekshun,

Sounds like you've got a plan.

There are several Aussies here who can make suggestions on this type of stuff if you need a local angle. There are also alot of searchable threads on "Best Monitors" in certain price ranges too.

I noticed you're a fairly recent poster, would you like to tell us a little about your set up and the kinds of things you work on?

Good luck and happy mixing!

here's my version of the awful compromise (that's actually working fairly well):

i record and mix both with headphones and speakers. in my case it's because my "control room" is the size of a large closet, and i don't think i could make speakers sound right. so i have a pair of speakers i know and trust pretty well in the next (larger) room, and some cables connecting the computer. i do what i can with the headphones -- i find they're fine for getting sounds and basic level-setting and compression of individual tracks. the phones give a very detailed sound, really, so they're good for these tasks. but when i get to making overall mix tweaks, judging reverbs and pans, and even EQ, i find frequent trips to the speakers room quite necessary.

Get some Yorkville YSMP1's

http://www.gear1music.com

Do not even try to mix on headphones.

Headphones couple the left channel to the left ear and the right channel to the right ear -- they are binaural. When listening to a set of speakers both ears hear both sources (stereo). It is a completely different sonic experience.

Headphones are good for foldback and for tracking, when you need to hear minute details. This goes double for a project studio where you will not have good enough monitors or a low enough noise floor to hear quiet signals or small (but real) problems (like disortion, gritty reverb tails, full fades).

Do not buy "nice" audiophile phones. I have Grado phones which uncompromisingly reveal flaws in the sound. There are many other options.

When you have a pair of monitoring speakers available you should really try mixing two song excerpts, one using cans, and another listening to the monitors at a moderate level; then compare the two mixes. I once tried this and was amazed by the amount of 'obvious' EQ problems and balance anomalies I didn't hear when mixing with the cans on. Cans are great for checking certain details but in my experience they fail to give you a precise idea of how your mix is going to sound through speakers - even if you're really used to the headphones and have used them for countles hours... it's definitely not commendable to have this as your sole option. I never heard of any recording enthousiast who regretted getting decent monitors, they don't have to cost a fortune to help you a lot in the mixing process. Just my $ 0.02...