Mixing without monitors

rico

Ok so I'm going down this rabbit hole once again and we have a recording of a gig that we want to get to a decent standard and use as promo.

The thing is I can't feasibly use monitor speakers at the moment so headphones are the only way to go. I'm told that open back cans are preferable so I am after some recommendations please! Budget around £150. 

Cheers!

guitarfishbay

If it's important then see if you can find someone you'd be happy with to mix it within your budget instead.

Mixing on headphones alone is not ideal.

If you really want some open backs I like Beyerdynamics, 880s would probably be an ok choice for mixing (still not as good as monitors) but they'll sound quite thin if you're used to commercial headphones or speakers.

Danny1969

Mixing a recording of a live gig will be filled with compromises .... there will be drums spilled into vocal mics and guitars in drum mics etc ... your lack of monitors won't be a huge handicap if you keep checking the mix's on other things and don't totally rely on cans. Today I was mixing a live recording and knowing most people will hear it via a computer / iPad or phone I mixed it on a bluetooth speaker 

timmysoft

You can get some really good headphone mix plugins, i use the waves one and its pretty decent through my £40 Sennheisers! 

domforr

Shure SRH1440 are really good but a bit above your budget. If you can find a second hand pair (like I did) I would recommend them.

antifash

Whatever you mix on, use different playback sources to check your work and then tweak. 

Stuckfast

Danny1969 said:

Mixing a recording of a live gig will be filled with compromises .... there will be drums spilled into vocal mics and guitars in drum mics etc ... your lack of monitors won't be a huge handicap if you keep checking the mix's on other things and don't totally rely on cans.

I think that's a non sequitur. Decent monitoring is just as important for mixing compromised recordings as it is for mixing any other kind.

Whatever you mix on, make sure to check the results on a few different speaker systems.

Winny_Pooh

Use open backs like DT880s & reference overall levels (overall low end, vocal volume level etc) on pc monitors/hifi or such that you are very familiar with and reference to typical genre recordings. 

Rocker

This may be a stupid question by why mix live?  Record everything and mix later????

rico

Rocker said:

This may be a stupid question by why mix live?  Record everything and mix later????

Sorry I should have been clearer. We recorded the gig in order to use the material as promo and now we are mixing it...

J_R_H

I have mixed loads of bands with headphones and it always comes out great.  You still haveto reference the track on speakers, wether you burn a cd off and play it in your car and take notes etc.

I bought sennheiser open back to start with but the lack of bass was a problem. I now still mix with headphones but not as much as I did.  I now use Bayern Dynamic DT150 (£112ish)  I have found these to be very true when mixing.  You just have to watch you dont go heavy on the bass and the vocals will sound the right level in your headphones butalways a little loud on speakers so keep that in mind.

most of the mixes on my website www.mobacousticrecordings.com were 80% mixed on those headphones

Snap

AKG 271 MkII, very good, and well within budget

mudslide73

Snap said:

AKG 271 MkII, very good, and well within budget

When I asked a similar question this was what was recommended. Very honest sounding imo. 

Snap

mudslide73 said:

Snap said:

AKG 271 MkII, very good, and well within budget

When I asked a similar question this was what was recommended. Very honest sounding imo. 

I've had a pair for a few years. They are very clear and uncoloured. Closed back, so isolate sound well. Pretty comfortable too, even after a long wear. Come with two cables - one straight one curly. Also they have a function where by if they aren't on your head, the sound cuts out. For me, strict home use, that;s a bit of an arse, as I often have the band round the back of my head. WIth the AKGs, they only work if the band is upright, as in over the top of your head. Minor thing really.

On the subjet of headphones I got the VRM Box which is supposed to emulate different monitor setups. Its bollocks

Stuckfast

I found the VRM Box really useful. It doesn't really make it sound like you're monitoring on speakers, but as a tool to check how your mixes translate it's very effective.

Snap

@Stuckfast

I don't think its very good tbh. It just seems to make things sound less boxy or more boxy really. I find a good analyser plug in, an eq and a multiband on the mastering strip a lot more useful tbh. I think the VRM Box is gimmicky. The only thing I ever used it for was to see if mixes would clip -  but getting to grips with mastering IMO is a better way of doing that.

I'm not convinced its a useful addition to a good pair of headphones if you are in a situation where you need to mix without monitors.