Is studio monitors really necessary to do professional mixing...?

I mean could you learn to mix with headphones equally well, if you have very high quality head phones?

Maybe with using sound field emulator which moves L and R to where they should belong (30% from mid axis).

It is very appealing if you could do this, because you would spare yourself from all the acoustic problems of studio.


If you think that it is not possible, what are the main reasons? I mean professional headphones frequency spectrum should go pretty low. Is it the impulse response that is the problem?


Of course I think that you should really put a lot of effort into learning your headphones so doing a lot of A/B with different monitoring systems and soundscapes.

You could do it, but usually a song mixed with proper monitors translates very well to headphone listening, but not the other way around. It's not easy to learn, so not recommended.

It's not impossible, but it is difficult to do right, especially if you're new to it. There are some basic things you should research first so that you understand what the limitations are.

The biggest issue AFAIK is the attenuated bass response that you get with most standard (and high end) consumer headphones. There are headphones that purport to be made just for mixing which address this problem.

Read up on it and make your choices wisely.

Cheers
-B

Im sure its possible but what I find when I'm mixing is that I need to listen to the track at very high volumes so I know what its going to sound like in a club and you'll damage your ears with headphones if you do that

With "very high volumes" you'll damage your ears anyway, headphones or not. In fact you'll damage your ears (if unprotected) in the average club too.

My bad! I meant that I can listen to my mixes on higer volumes with monitors than my headphones without damaging my hearing.

You can use professional reference headphones to mix and use a professional song reference to mix to get it to sound similar to a professional reference in the same genre. You need to know that headphone monitoring/mixing is usually always only a second best option. The simple amplitude differences in signals in headphones and speakers and spatial and positional information are said to only create a believable/translatable impression when listened through correctly sited loudspeakers. The issue on mastering or mixing is to make it sound good on all sources rather than great on one source. Usually professional grade speakers or two is actually a given for professional work.

Sadly, the music game is very expensive and if people are paying you for professional work then you would need professional grade speakers because some reference points and equipment can save you money and time.

Below is a good article about mixing on headphones
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/mixingheadpho nes.htm

Yes it's always better to mix with good studio monitors.

Now if you want some very nice headphones, I recommend the Sony MDR-XB1000

You can also get plugins to aid in headphone mixing like TB_Isone I think its called

I recently got the KNS8400 and I can mix quite well (I'm learning to use them) and it sound great when I listen back from my Genelec. But I'm not an expert by any means, so....

Tricky to get things right with only headphones - great for judging reverbs and panning/spatial factors etc but poor in other areas. Whatver the case. turn it down! The best mix decisions are made at low volumes - especially in regards to judging appropriate volume levels of individual instruments.

Jim

Exposure to high volume sounds is dangerous regardless of the source. I believe the damage comes from the sound pressure levels at your eardrums, and therefore I think that your statement is nonsense.

I have a great pair of Sennheiser HD-600 where I can hear the low end clearly.
Every time I tried to mix on headphones there was something wrong with the low end compared to mixing on speakers.
Not sure why this is..

I believe great mixes can be achieved on pretty much anything with a wide enough frequency response. The key is in knowing your gear well. No set of monitors or headphones will be truly "flat". The most important thing to do is referencing. Not only your own tracks, but others' as well.

One other thing you want to consider is sound stage.. different headphones give a different sound stage (Depth)... It seems Open-back tend to be better in this regard over closed-back. I find hearing different instruments on closed back is a little easier for me.. so there are trade offs either way and each set responds differently than others.

Personally, I'd use as many sources you can possibly get your hand on to ensure your mixes are consistent. If you use one single set of speakers, headphones, monitors, etc then I think you are limiting yourself. I'd rather have a plethora of different sets from monitors to various headphones and maybe not all 'high' quality. Because not everyone is going to be listening to your music on high powered, expensive setups. Some people might be using the stock earbuds that come with their ipod or cellphone for instance.. or listening through multimedia speakers.. etc