Monitors or headphones, which one should I mix in?

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to share with you all which environment you should use to mix in.

Let’s get started. 

Monitors

So basically speakers. Right, speakers that you don’t press up against your ears like a boom box. 

Except these speakers that we’re talking about are special. 

They are specially designed to sound flat. 

And actually for the mixing engineer, that’s a good thing. 

What happens is that when you hear a song flat, it sounds neutral and you can hear everything that it’s supposed to sound like. 

A lot of times many speakers and boom boxes and headphones will be bass boosted. 

Which gives you a false sense of completeness in your mix. 

Which is not good for mixing.

So you need to listen to your mixes on a flat environment. 

The problem with speakers/ studio monitors is that you need to have a good room in order to mix in. 

As a matter of fact, there is a perfect environment that you’re supposed to be in in order to mix. 

And that’s in a square room with no windows and no doors, I know right no windows and doors, there’s no such thing as a room with no windows or doors, how would you get in right? 

But technically that’s the perfect environment. 

And you have to place your speakers and your equipment in the middle of the room in order to sound good. 

But of course, not everyone has that perfect environment, so we have to make due with what we got. 

In reality there are also some best practices, like one best practice is that you are as far away as windows as possible and keep the monitors away from the corners of the room. 

Personally me, I don’t have that. 

I have literally the exact opposite of that. 

I have my monitors in the corner of my room and right next to a window. 

So like you make due with what you got. 

Headphones

The problem with studio headphones is that they are bass boosted.

There is something about the actual physical headphones that it’s impossible to make flat, or almost flat. 

However, you can mix on headphones and there are some notable producers who mix on headphones. 

And Headphones allow you to hear the small discrepancies in a faulty audio recording. 

For example if you’re recording voice, you could hear the voice hitting against the microphone more easily.

Or you could hear the SSStttt when a person says super.

And you’re able to adjust those problems easier. 

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to mix with headphones and as a matter of fact it’s recommended to mix for some things. 

But you need to spend a lot of time listening to already professionally mixed and mastered songs through the medium which you’ll be mixing. 

So say if you want to mix with headphones, then you need to listen to a lot of music through the headphones that you want to mix with. 

So which is better?

In a perfect world, you would mix with both. 

But sometimes things aren’t available to us. 

If we don’t have speakers, then mix with what you got and make sure to listen to a lot of professionally mixed and mastered music through the mixing medium you’re going to be mixing in. 

Remember it takes a lot of practice in order to make a great song, so keep at it and you will get through eventually. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!