Mixing on speakers vs Mixing in headphones

[Rmonik]

One more thing i want to mention: as we have heard in so many drum processing threads on here already: You can not polish a turd. What i mean by that is the following: Famous producers start with really good bass sounds as such, without resorting to mixing tools at first. In reason, i found myself EQ'ing each sound to hell, whereas in Ableton, if i put in a sylenth, is sounds good as it is. Some minor tweaks can bring out the best parts, but i believe that the same result can not be achieved with average stuff.

[JannikR]

One thing you should keep in mind is you should mix in MONO. a lot of older engineers recommend this. the reason for this - almost no one listens to your finished product in a true stereo environment.

This is a very bad tip, and also not true. It applies to strictly club music - but anything you would listen to at home will almost always be stereo. I listen to all my music on headphones for example, and it annoys the hell out of me listen to tracks that doesn't work with stereo sounds.

[Rmonik]

Yeah, don't mix in mono. However, listen to the mix in mono once in a while, to make sure you're not gonna have phasing or whatever.

[Luke Icard]

listen to this mix on headphones.

then listen to it on speakers.

see what i mean?

[unknownastronuat]

One thing you should keep in mind is you should mix in MONO. a lot of older engineers recommend this. the reason for this - almost no one listens to your finished product in a true stereo environment.

This is a very bad tip, and also not true. It applies to strictly club music - but anything you would listen to at home will almost always be stereo. I listen to all my music on headphones for example, and it annoys the hell out of me listen to tracks that doesn't work with stereo sounds.

I think you misinterpreted what i said. just because you mix in mono, doesnt mean your finished product is mono. you clearly produce a stereo track, but the best way to do this is to mix in mono. that way, you can easily catch phasing issues and use eq more effectively. bounce the final mix as stereo. and most people (think people not like us on this forum, more just the average person who listens to music) dont have a true stereo environment. a lot of people listen to music straight from laptop computer speakers - essentially a mono source. mixing in mono cannot hurt your mix, its simply used as a tool to get a better stereo mix. think of it this way, if you can get a good mix in mono, it will sound great in stereo. but if you get only a good mix in stereo, it will probably sound like shit in mono. i know this tip seems a little backwards, but a lot of professional mix engineers highly recommend this, and they have been mixing for 20 plus years. disclaimer: im not saying you should mix in mono the whole time - just use it as a tool to get a better mix

[Rmonik]

He didn't misinterpret anything, it's not a good tip. You have stereo, make use of it! Having two channels makes for so much more mixing freedom, so why should you use it? But yeah, check the mono version once in a while.

[Oblion]

So are we talking about mixing tracks live or are we talkin about mixing as in are music production cause honestly Speakers is the only way its gonna work well for either unless when your producing u got some epic ability so seperate the frequency's without hearing them wich i dont. Ive been playing vinyl live at shows for 15 years and and I dont know how you understand what the music is doin if u cant hear it LOUD on speakers, dont u want to hear it in its fullest? why would u just use headphones??? Is it an afffordability thing? do u not have room to put the speakers on your desk? I dont think Headphones are acurate IMO but if u can do more power to ya but Ill take my KRK's over some headphones ANYDAY.

[Oblion]

One more thing i want to mention: as we have heard in so many drum processing threads on here already: You can not polish a turd. What i mean by that is the following: Famous producers start with really good bass sounds as such, without resorting to mixing tools at first. In reason, i found myself EQ'ing each sound to hell, whereas in Ableton, if i put in a sylenth, is sounds good as it is. Some minor tweaks can bring out the best parts, but i believe that the same result can not be achieved with average stuff.

Ive never used Ableton so IDK, but u say you have to do less EQ'in in Ableton? Im just curious cause ive used reason only and I dont see how that can be...

[JannikR]

So are we talking about mixing tracks live or are we talkin about mixing as in are music production cause honestly Speakers is the only way its gonna work well for either unless when your producing u got some epic ability so seperate the frequency's without hearing them wich i dont. Ive been playing vinyl live at shows for 15 years and and I dont know how you understand what the music is doin if u cant hear it LOUD on speakers, dont u want to hear it in its fullest? why would u just use headphones??? Is it an afffordability thing? do u not have room to put the speakers on your desk? I dont think Headphones are acurate IMO but if u can do more power to ya but Ill take my KRK's over some headphones ANYDAY.

We're talking about mixing as in production, not djing. And I don't see how headphones would be less "full" and accurate?

[Luke Icard]

dont u want to hear it in its fullest? .

the frequency range of headphones/speakers shouldnt be that much different. unless you have crappy headphones. thats not the best statement in the world to make.