Headphones for Mixing and Mastering

[Whoops]

My own design of course!

Oh, that looks great.

I want that!!!!

 

[RuudNL]

I still have one left... (I have built a couple for Dutch national radio.)
Features are:
- Stereo/mono switch
- Left channel only
- Right channel only
- Reverse stereo
- Good quality Alps potentiometer

 

[kags]

I also use SoundID into Goodhertz Canopener to my headphone amp. I turn Canopenr off after getting my basic balances as I find it does some strange tonal things, but I love the way it allows me to hear stereo placement over cans.

I love the “liveliness” of the Beyer 770s but I find the Sennheiser 650s translate he best to the outside world for me. I don’t get along at all with Sony or A-T headphones for mixing or production.

 

[k brown]

I still have one left... (I have built a couple for Dutch national radio.)
Features are:
- Stereo/mono switch
- Left channel only
- Right channel only
- Reverse stereo
- Good quality Alps potentiometer

For others rolling their own, I'd recommend including a way to reverse absolute phase.

 

[MicMaven]

I think people might be confusing 'Rumours' with the previous Mac album - "Fleetwood Mac" (1975- first Mac with Buckingham and Nicks ['Rhiannaon', etc.]); that was a very muddy/tubby sounding album. I never had a problem with the overall sound of 'Rumours'.

SORRY. MEA CULPA (MY BAD) -
YES - That is correct - and it was MY mistake that started us on a goose chase. Sheesh ... I am embarrassed. Can I use my "Mulligan" and escape while I consume a take away serving of crow? James - K8JHR

 

[rock soderstrom]

For others rolling their own, I'd recommend including a way to reverse absolute phase.

Can you elaborate on that?

 

[Electrobumps]

I also use SoundID into Goodhertz Canopener to my headphone amp. I turn Canopenr off after getting my basic balances as I find it does some strange tonal things, but I love the way it allows me to hear stereo placement over cans.

Will have to try this out. I don't understand why more monitor controllers don't have L&R reverse it's such a great tool for perspective and ear fatigue.

 

[RuudNL]

For others rolling their own, I'd recommend including a way to reverse absolute phase.

Scientific research has shown that hearing is not sensitive to absolute phase. The only circumstance where absolute phase can be important is when someone hears themselves through headphones while speaking or singing into a microphone. But that's what we have the phase switch on the microphone input for...

 

[k brown]

Can you elaborate on that?

Depending on how they were recorded/mixed some mix balances can sound different at different states of absolute phase. The most dramatic example I've heard is Peter Gabriel's 'Red Rain'. More audible on loudspeakers than headphones, and most audible on simple two-way spkrs with first order (linear phase) crossovers. Different elements of the mix come to the 'foreground'.

A more correct term is 'absolute polarity'.

I should add that absolute polarity is of no concern when making recordings, because it can be reversed any number places along the chain to the final listener; the only place to set it is at the final playback stage.

 

[Gold]

Scientific research has shown that hearing is not sensitive to absolute phase. The only circumstance where absolute phase can be important is when someone hears themselves through headphones while speaking or singing into a microphone. But that's what we have the phase switch on the microphone input for...

I don’t doubt that scientific research has shown absolute polarity can’t be heard. It’s wrong. It can’t always be heard. It depends on both the program material and the reproduction system. I have heard it many times and can pick it 10 out of 10 times when I can hear it.

Whether to correct it is another matter. One would assume that the bass drum should produce compression and not rarefaction. If that’s the way it was mixed it may not sound better “fixing” it.

 

[Brian Roth]

I wish I remember where I saw two examples of the audibility of absolute phase.

One used something like a sawtooth test signal. The other used a saxophone (?). Both were mono sources, however....but I could clearly hear the difference even on my modest computer speakers.

Bri

 

[k brown]

My apologies for derailing the thread into an absolute phase/polarity discussion; it's a 'polarizing' topic.

 

[Electrobumps]

I don’t doubt that scientific research has shown absolute polarity can’t be heard. It’s wrong. It can’t always be heard. It depends on both the program material and the reproduction system. I have heard it many times and can pick it 10 out of 10 times when I can hear it.

This is something I've never heard being discussed in the studio world before. I also spent a lot of time in mastering rooms, normally with a tray of tea. The engineers showed and taught me a lot. This never came up and I'm pretty sure they didn't have a button to switch it. I've never seen it checked in any mastering session I've attended in other establishments.

When you can spot this 100% of the time does this relate to the playback system? For example, we can easily spot a stereo speaker setup out of phase 100% of the time and this is almost always system playback related. Or are you saying you are hearing reversed absolute polarity mixes on correctly set up playback systems?

If the master does sound different with absolute polarity reversed should it actually be changed, is it actually relevant at the mastering stage because the mixer/producer has delivered a master that sounds the way it sounds in the absolute polarity that it was delivered in?

OP - Any thoughts on what headphones you are going for .

 

[Gold]

When you can spot this 100% of the time does this relate to the playback system?

I didn’t say that. I said when I can hear it it isn’t my imagination. I specifically said it can’t be heard in all cases.

 

[Electrobumps]

I didn’t say that. I said when I can hear it it isn’t my imagination. I specifically said it can’t be heard in all cases.

Apologies, I must have misunderstood your post. I read it as you could hear it 10 out of 10 times. Which I equated to be 100%. So when you do hear it are we talking playback system correct source material absolute polarity reversed?

 

[Gold]

Apologies, I must have misunderstood your post. I read it as you could hear it 10 out of 10 times. Which I equated to be 100%. So when you do hear it are we talking playback system correct source material absolute polarity reversed

I don’t check it on a regular basis but it’s easy enough to do in samplitude and probably a lot of other DAW’s. If I suspect something’s up I might check it. Sometimes I hear a difference and sometimes I don’t. If I hear a difference I might change it or I might leave it alone. I know my system is polarity correct.

 

[Newmarket]

My apologies for derailing the thread into an absolute phase/polarity discussion; it's a 'polarizing' topic.

Boom Boom

 

[Newmarket]

Scientific research has shown ..

tbh that's never a sign of a definitive conclusion. Some other research will be along in a moment
It's fairly widely reported that some sounds that are highly asymmetrical can be perceived differently depending on polarity. eg handclaps.

 

[kags]

I always check the kick drum and bass instruments and lead vocals *in relation to* the rest of the mix during a mix. I’ve never tried purposely flipping polarity in an entire mix during mastering or before printing.

I have a pair of Tannoy LGM 12” coaxial monitors (from Bob Marley’s studio, I’m told) and a speaker tech once told me that I can try the tweeter in either polarity against the woofer to see which way suits my preference. He said there wasn’t a noticeable freq response price either way, but the personality of the mids would change (obviously). I’m about to re-cone the woofers and maybe I’ll measure the FR and impulse response of the monitors with both tweeter options at some point.

 

[svyet]

I also use SoundID into Goodhertz Canopener to my headphone amp. I turn Canopenr off after getting my basic balances as I find it does some strange tonal things, but I love the way it allows me to hear stereo placement over cans.

I love the “liveliness” of the Beyer 770s but I find the Sennheiser 650s translate he best to the outside world for me. I don’t get along at all with Sony or A-T headphones for mixing or production.

I think it was on the GS forum where there was actually some discussion with someone from Goodhertz about what CanOpener does EQ-wise. Some people complained about the EQ changes. Goodhertz said it was based on a (their?) mastering room response or something like that. I personally like what CanOpener does, as it seems to tighten everything up and push it a little further out from between my ears. Like you, however, I will switch it off now and again to simply have another mix check variant (i.e. a purely headphone image). And like I said, there is very little discrepency between what I mix through my aforementioned monitoring chain (including CanOpener) and what I hear through my friend's uncalibrated Genelec 8040's in his studio which is acoustically-treated just enough. I mention those aspects because in that way his setup is a little more "real world" in offering me yet another mix check variant. But it's also reassuring for me given just how consistent Genelecs are even without calibration, and that I'm able to mirror them closely with my headphones (except for reverb behavior and some of the more mid-forward characteristics of the Genelecs; and the fact that they are speakers haha). I think it's a pretty healthy average that translates well.