Mixing and mastering with headphones

    We've got lots of people recording and mixing with their PROFILERs. Some have full studio setups, others are still battling with room treatment, monitors, family, and neighbours.


    I've often wondered about mixing and mastering with headphones. There are lots of issues with that, but I just downloaded a plugin (AAX/VST3/AU) that addresses the problems and lets you do some things you can't with monitors. Considering what it can cost to treat a room this is worth a look.


    https://www.dear-reality.com/products/dearvr-mix


    They do a good job of explaining what this does on their site (link above), and there's a brief video that explains what this is better than I can. So far, I'm liking it.



    Hint: If your DAW can't find the plugin, the installer puts the dearVR Mix files in these folders (in Windows 10). I had to add these paths to the plugin preferences in my DAW. Your DAW may find them automatically, but mine didn't.


    Thanks ST , interesting stuff... I often do big parts of the editing and some mixing on headphones. For that I do like the crossfade function of the SPL 2Control really a lot. Way more expensive that the plugin above but a great help (2Control at Thomann).


    Also Graham gave some very good advice here regarding mixing on headphones...


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    One thing I keep wondering since these kind of software tools were introduced:

    Let's say you like it, get used to it and mix your music productions through this. Now you've finished your work and bounce / mixdown / print that song. If you listen to this song now, using e.g. MusicBee or whatever regular media player software (but the same headphones) ... doesn't it totally throw you off that it sounds different because the music player software can't use the dearVR plugin?


    Useless remark:

    The virtual voiceover in the brief video is terrible, hope the product is better than that :D

    Quote from lightbox

    One thing I keep wondering since these kind of software tools were introduced:

    Let's say you like it, get used to it and mix your music productions through this. Now you've finished your work and bounce / mixdown / print that song. If you listen to this song now, using e.g. MusicBee or whatever regular media player software (but the same headphones) ... doesn't it totally throw you off that it sounds different because the music player software can't use the dearVR plugin?


    Useless remark:

    The virtual voiceover in the brief video is terrible, hope the product is better than that :D

    Hi, lightbox.


    There's always going to be some kind of disconnect between the mixing environment and the listening environment. We get to create an experience for someone who will be listening in an environment that's different from ours. It has to be easier to do that consistently when our end of the process is stable and acoustically sound.


    There's a simple Bypass function. It has level compensation. This lets you experience your work with/without the plugin at any point in the process.


    Here's an excerpt from the dearVR Mix manual.

    Quote from ST

    We get to create an experience for someone who will be listening in an environment that's different from ours.

    Yeah, I'm aware of that, obviously :)

    My point is only about me, myself and I. Listening to the same thing with and without the plugin will likely throw me off. Guess I'd rather have some hardware solution so the listening is consistent no matter where the playback happens (DAW or media player). Might be just me though and I was curious how you deal with that.

    I'm using headphones for mixing, however, to properly balance track levels before rendering, I have to use my studio monitors because I find the headphones less accurate on loudness --probably because of the proximity of ears to the drivers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.


    My headphones do allow me to tweak bass levels nicely since they are not subject to room bass trapping, etc. Not to mention the nice isolation from the outside world and being able to play at appropriately loud volumes without aggravating others.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    I do the bulk of the work with my headphones as to not drive my Wife crazy. When I get close to the final product, I switch over to my monitors for another reference point. Then I do the master and listen to it on everything from my phone to my car and any other system I can to verify how it sounds on multiple devices. I may go back and make some changes after that to get what I want for the final product.

    Quote from JEverly

    I do the bulk of the work with my headphones as to not drive my Wife crazy. When I get close to the final product, I switch over to my monitors for another reference point. Then I do the master and listen to it on everything from my phone to my car and any other system I can to verify how it sounds on multiple devices. I may go back and make some changes after that to get what I want for the final product.

    You may be the ideal user for dearVR Mix because you can simulate how your mix will sound in several virtual environments (e.g., car, kitchen) within the plugin.


    I noticed that dearVR Monitor (a much more comprehensive superset of dearVR Mix) is on sale, and for the difference, it looks like tremendous value. Check out the videos on the product page that explain it better.

    Quote from ST

    You may be the ideal user for dearVR Mix because you can simulate how your mix will sound in several virtual environments (e.g., car, kitchen) within the plugin.


    I noticed that dearVR Monitor (a much more comprehensive superset of dearVR Mix) is on sale, and for the difference, it looks like tremendous value. Check out the videos on the product page that explain it better.

    That is interesting. I had not seen those. They are definitely something to consider, especially the one that is on sale for $79. Thanks for linking those.

    The secret to mixing with HPs is in having a clear speaker reference from the beginning and having multiple HPs. I do most of my mixing and mastering with HPs, they are my most comfortable tools, I know them since a decade ago (some of them) So I know what to expect afterwards.


    For starters you have to choose your weapons correctly, I for example use K701, M50s, DT880 pro and DT770 pro. I get all the info I need for mastering with those, as I understand quite well the profile of them all. Once the track is solid on 3 out of the 4, is ready for small tweakings, and I just test it on the car stereo, earbuds, tv speakers and so on so forth.


    For getting to that point, I had to understand Mid frequencies positioning and how it beheaved on the phones ABing with speakers in a studio. Afterwards, I just use my HPs for mixing. I have studio monitors, but at home I do most of my mastering at night, so no choice there.

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