For example, bass frequencies can be lost through your walls, or collect in the corners of your room, which can make it hard for you to really hear the bass. <\/p>\n
This can cause you to erroneously increase the bass in your mix or master so that it sounds good in your room on your monitors, but then you find when you listen to it back on other devices…<\/p>\n
You hear a lot of mud, and way too much bass. <\/p>\n
So by working in headphones, you eliminate the room from what you’re hearing. <\/p>\n
Additionally, listening back on headphones can make “quality control” easier. <\/strong><\/p>\n You may find it’s easier to hear those little errors, sounds, or noises you don’t want in your song, and address them. <\/p>\n So while listening back on monitors in an acoustically treated room is the ideal listening environment, if you don’t have that, there are some advantages to using headphones.<\/p>\n This one is probably pretty obvious, but if you are going to be mastering with headphones, you want to make sure you are using the RIGHT kind of headphones. <\/p>\n But which kinds are right? <\/p>\n In short, there are three key “check boxes” you want your mastering headphones to check.<\/p>\n You want your headphones to be: <\/p>\n Well, you’re going to want to get the most linear or “boring” kind of headphones you can get. <\/p>\n You don’t want to use wireless headphones, as those use bluetooth, which results in a lossy audio signal.<\/p>\n You also wouldn’t want to use any headphones that provide a boost in any frequency range, like bass for example. <\/p>\n Probably the most egregious pair of headphones to use would be something like Beats by Dr. Dre (most overrated headphones ever?). <\/p>\n Here is what the frequency response of Beats is:<\/p>\n This graph shows what you hear when wearing Beats. The X axis is showing the frequencies, from 20Hz to 20kHz (which is what the human range is.)<\/p>\n The idea is that the line in this graph for all headphones and speakers, especially when mixing and mastering, should be as flat as possible.<\/p>\n Does this look flat to you? <\/p>\n Impedance is the effective resistance of an electric circuit or component to alternating current, arising from the combined effects of ohmic resistance and reactance<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Or, in plain English, impedance is a measure of the opposition to electrical flow. It’s how hard, or easy, it is for an electric signal to travel to a cable, in our case, a headphone cable. <\/p>\n Impedance is measured in “ohms”.<\/p>\n Headphones are usually rated between 8-600 ohms, with a standard around 32. <\/p>\n The higher the rating, the more efficient the headphones, and the higher the quality. However, headphones with a higher rating will also require a higher-quality audio interface, so if you’re plugging directly into a laptop, you might need headphones with a lower rating.<\/p>\n You’re also going to want to use open-backed headphones, as opposed to closed back.<\/p>\n Open-backed headphones allow for some degree of air and sound to pass through the cups, which can proivde a greater sense of depth and a truer portrayal of low frequency information.<\/p>\n In other words, you’re going to get a more accurate picture of your mix or master by using open-backed headphones. <\/p>\n With these three factors in mind, what are the best pair of headphones to get for mixing and mastering? <\/p>\n One pair that has been around for a long time, and generally regarded as one of the best for mixing and mastering is the Sennheiser HD600. With their flat frequency response, high impedance rating, and open-backed design, they are great for mixing and mastering. <\/p>\n They’re also the pair that I use!<\/p>\n But, if you want options, another great choice are the Beyerdynamic DT 880s.<\/p>\n Recommended Overall Rating: 4.7\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n A masterpiece of neutrality. Excellent for mixing and mastering. An industry standard.<\/p>\n Overall Rating: 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n Natural, vibrant sound as well as excellent spacious reproduction.<\/p>\n The next thing you’re going to want to do is use reference tracks. <\/p>\n Reference tracks are professionally mastered songs in your genre that you’d like your song to compare to, or stack up against. <\/p>\n Just drop your references into your DAW, or into a mastering tool if you have one, like iZotope’s Ozone or IK Multimedia’s T-RackS.<\/p>\n iZotope’s Ozone<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n1. Use The RIGHT Headphones<\/h2>\n
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Frequency Response<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orpheusaudioacademy.com\/stagingnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/beats-by-dre-frequency-response-chart.jpeg\" "\\"beats-by-dre-frequency-response-chart\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\nHigh Impedance Rating<\/h3>\n
Open-Backed<\/h3>\n
Best Headphones For Mastering<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orpheusaudioacademy.com\/stagingnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/HD600-large.jpeg\" "\\"HD600-large\\"")
<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSennheiser HD600<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orpheusaudioacademy.com\/stagingnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/DT880-large.jpeg\" "\\"DT880-large\\"")
<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nBeyerdynamic DT 880<\/h4>\n
2. Use Reference Tracks<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orpheusaudioacademy.com\/stagingnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/track-referencing.png\" "\\"track-referencing\\"")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orpheusaudioacademy.com\/stagingnew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/t-racks-mastering.jpg\" "\\"t")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n