What do you use to reference on

[Mike20]

Hey, i am curious, i have my Adam A7X as my main monitors, i used to own a pair of Yamaha HS80M as reference but they wasn't telling me anything i couldn't already tell in the adams really (learnt the adams really well) so i sold them,

Now, when i think a track is finished i test the track on my iPhone speaker, my cans, car, iPod headphones (ESSENTIAL - only £1 off ebay as well) - and usually i get a DJ in the local club to play it out for me so i can hear it (I'm not touring yet - make electronic)

I dont really use anything else to reference in,

My question.. What do you use? Anything you have found essential etc,?

Cheers

Mike

[tehlord]

I think you've got all bases covered!

My own referencing choice is a set of Sennheiser HD202s, my phone and a set of Creative Gigawork T40's.

[Edson Caetano]

I use Akg k414p and a pair of Thruth B2030a da Behringer... Not the best, but Good price

[Kaboom75]

AKG Q701 phones with an Arcam A85 is what I work with.

Bowers & Wilkins 602 s3 speakers.
Sony MDR EX 500 in ear headphones.

[AcidDean]

Can someone elaborate on what is meant by "reference" please?

For example, if I listen to a track I've made on £1 crappy headphones then listen on a pair of Adams monitors they will not sound alike. So I'm still none the wiser as to what needs adjusting, am I?

Does anyone mix so that their track sounds amazing on the cheapest headphones and if so doesn't it count for nothing if everyone out there is listening on different makes of headphone anyway?

I've never managed to grasp how to tell when something is mixed right by myself - all I can say is "well that sounds ok to me, on these partiular headphones"

[sunahura]

Hey, i am curious, i have my Adam A7X as my main monitors, i used to own a pair of Yamaha HS80M as reference but they wasn't telling me anything i couldn't already tell in the adams really (learnt the adams really well) so i sold them,

Now, when i think a track is finished i test the track on my iPhone speaker, my cans, car, iPod headphones (ESSENTIAL - only £1 off ebay as well) - and usually i get a DJ in the local club to play it out for me so i can hear it (I'm not touring yet - make electronic)

I dont really use anything else to reference in,

My question.. What do you use? Anything you have found essential etc,?

Cheers

Mike

Yamaha monitors will deliver

[Trakstar]

Can someone elaborate on what is meant by "reference" please?

For example, if I listen to a track I've made on £1 crappy headphones then listen on a pair of Adams monitors they will not sound alike. So I'm still none the wiser as to what needs adjusting, am I?

Does anyone mix so that their track sounds amazing on the cheapest headphones and if so doesn't it count for nothing if everyone out there is listening on different makes of headphone anyway?

I've never managed to grasp how to tell when something is mixed right by myself - all I can say is "well that sounds ok to me, on these partiular headphones"

Technically you are meant to try to achieve the most nuetral sound possible with your room acoustics and treatment and monitoring. Headphones have a way of increasing bass so you enhance what you shouldnt and so will sound bad on other mediums. I listen to tracks on several types of speaker systems as "references" because they show you where all the problems are within your mixing enviroment or after mixdown what you considered good on your studio monitors so naturally has to sound good on others ie: all the peaks and trughs which ideally should be very minimal as if you check out the acoustics in todays studios you might get some kind of idea of if there are holes in your mix as they show up on other systems. For instance if you sent a track for mastering and played it back in a studio room with really wanky acoustics you would probably wonder what the hell the mastering engineer was doing as he had access to a super clean mixing room and monitorsand so all the flaws of the room destroy the sound of the mix..Reflections and standing waves they call em my dear boy

[Trakstar]

The Idea is to spend at least 100-150 pounds when considering headphones such as AKG or an ARC system perhaps, with either KRK type monitors around £300-£1000, you can pull off a good mix on M audio Dyna range of speakers although they are well known for an uneven bass response, but this can be remedied even with monitor Isolaters that nuetralize the bass and so makes a decent set up for arounf £250. For this you could do a good mix bu the best idea is to get a good feel for the tone and shape of your favorite tracks played back and listening for where the reverb and extra vibrations are in your room, a good ear will become especially tuned into these rogue frequencies. Ultimately if I was running a bedroom studio, I would go with the Rokit KrKs 5s or some Adams A4 or 5s around 300-500 pounds a pair. if you are running pro you are talking room acoustics and monitoring in excess of at least 1000-3500+ on top of a few sets of monitors. At the minute I run the behringer B2031A with the 2 " dome tweeter and the 8 and 3/4 bass kevlar drivers and I have to admit they are incredibly efficient monitors that cost £350 from studio spares and are much better than the B2030s, they are a lot more clearer and they came as a matched pair and are doing me proud, as i am a hobby Studio and these do my needs, my next pair is under consideration for a smaller model to compare the sound on each and so gain an "Extra reference pair".
The B2031As had the added benefit of speaker placement and hi and lo filters to curtail the sound to the sound of the room. They went from a natural ringing on snare because the room was affecting high frequencies. A few flips later and the speakers were very natural withe aver wide sweet spot, most people dont recommend behringer but I would recommend these at a heartbeat for anyone on a budget as they are known to compete with speakers 3 times their size but are lacking in their super tight imagery, but what do you expect for 3 times cheaper, a good buy, next on the list is a pair of studio spare active SL10s at £200, they are a big factory and build things cheap and their products are highly recommended, so its a pair of these,KRKs, or there are now lots of smaller and more better imagery,I wonder if any one knows the best, mid range monitor for extremely the best Imagery. I would be very obliged because I am in the business of being ready to buy soom.

[ew]

There's really no reason to make it so complicated, to be honest

I do a lot of mixing and mastering with an old pair of really cheap Sony headphones. I've listened to enough music through them over the years to know how what I consider to be well produced music sounds like through them. I then play both .wav and mp3 versions in my car and through my home system- if they sound OK (and 99% of the time they do), I'm done.

ew

[V0RT3X]

I've been considering the upgrade to some Adam A7X speakers as I've heard nothing but glowing reviews about them. Right now all i have are my KRK KNS8400

[Nighthawk77]

Car stereo...ALWAYS.
Its good to get OUT of the studio and listen while doing something else.

Really helps..

[ObiWonder]

Been referencing my Tracks on my M Audio EX66's with ARC 2's speaker modeling.