monitoring : headphones or speakers ?

[willi1203]

Hi !
When you are on location, do you always manage to set up speakers monitors ? I personally mostly don't have enough time to, although I don't like to monitor with phones...

[bishopthomas]

I guess it depends on what you are doing in a live setting. If you are just tracking and set up by the stage or at FOH then use a good set of headphones. If you are mixing straight to 2-track or doing a live broadcast then you need to be isolated with a decent pair of monitors.

[fifthcircle]

I've been monitoring on headphones for years and gotten great recordings. I prefer speakers and find life easier with them, but if you know how to listen to your particular set of headphones, you should be able to get a very good mix. Heck, all but the first example on my website were mixed on headphones (similar on my demo that I send out).

For years, I only mixed to stereo- direct with no multitrack. That was fine, but now I record multitrack. This is for several reasons- 1 it prevents me from making mistakes in the moment (especially with mutes of microphones), 2 it allows me to leave the console at home, and lastly 3- I can do things in post to a multitrack mix than a stereo mix- especially where reverb is involved. In the end, I'm still usually monitoring on headphones and the final mix/master reflects very few changes to the original recording.

--Ben

[Roland]

The problem with headphones is that they offer a "false balance", in that balance issues you can hear immediately on even not great speakers are difficult to hear on phones. Obviously "experienced" engineers compensate for this by rule of thumb style working, knowing gain structures on their desks etc, and as Ben put it, if you multitrack projects there is a lot more margin for post production fixes these days, invariably done back at base where reliable monitoring is (hopefully) known.

Regards


Roland

[Jim vanBergen]

Have done entire live mixes on cans but prefer good nearfield monitors. Sometimes you can't get good isolation/space/setup/etc, and then you need an excellent closed cup can.

[matyas]

Originally Posted by Jim vanBergen

Have done entire live mixes on cans but prefer good nearfield monitors. Sometimes you can't get good isolation/space/setup/etc, and then you need an excellent closed cup can.

What would be some good recommendations for this? (I just got back from doing a live wind ensemble recording, in a high school auditorium with no isolation, and I felt that I was getting too much live bleed into my humble AKG [forget model number] cans.)

[fifthcircle]

Originally Posted by matyas

What would be some good recommendations for this? (I just got back from doing a live wind ensemble recording, in a high school auditorium with no isolation, and I felt that I was getting too much live bleed into my humble AKG [forget model number] cans.)

I'll let you know when I find a pair that I like...

In all seriousness, closed cans have a lot of issues with their reproduction of sound. Unfortunately, in the live world they are a necessary evil. I'm currently using Sennheiser 280 headphones, but it was a close call between those and the ultrasones. In the end, the price and isolation abilities won out and I liked the sound of the Sennheisers a touch more. I've also used the standard Sony 7506's which are ok (a bit bright) and the Sony V700 DJ cans (poor construction and a huge low end, but seems to translate relatively well).

I really prefer the sound of open-ear headphones, but I've been in numerous isolated situation where there was some noise issue that kept me from being able to use them. In the end- for all the issues using open ear headphones, I can't justify the price of a great set. May as well just bring the speakers and deal with the same issues without a cord attached to your head.

--Ben

[Jim vanBergen]

Originally Posted by matyas

What would be some good recommendations for this? (I just got back from doing a live wind ensemble recording, in a high school auditorium with no isolation, and I felt that I was getting too much live bleed into my humble AKG [forget model number] cans.)

I gotta say, Ben hit the nail on the head. I use Sony 7506, Sennheiser HD25 and HD280, AKG 240 (yuck), Ultrasones and Grado RS-1...and every one of these models has issues in terms of reproduction. Some are better than others in several areas but sometimes the 7506 gives me the biteI need in a loud enviroment without as much hyped bottom of the 280... ergo I always bring a couple of pairs and choose one as part of the process & scenario. In terms of ABSOLUETTE accuracy I find the Grado, when properly broken in & paired with a Grace reference headphone amplifier to be the closest but it is comparably VERY expensive and is not a great headphone in isolation/tough environments. It's almost always a combination of the two, and what I have ended up doing a lot is developing a mix on cans, checking it on monitors while the performers wait &/listen to my process, and make adjustments until I have a tonal balance I like.

I hope this helps.