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Originally Posted by Philco /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Peter, it doesn't matter if the cans are plugged straight into the mixing board. If you don't use crossfeed, you can't properly judge the phasing issues that exist between the left and right drivers.
Is it possible to mix on cans without crossfeed? YES! but getting good results will take much more time and care.
I guess the particular recordings you always refer to had not much bass content or at least, not many phase issues with the bass. I'm more into mainstream pop/rock music where I have to use lots of compression and effects to get the sound required for the genre. These effects induce phase changes that I need to hear properly, hence the use of crossfeed.
B0dhi has it right ! I suggest you read his reply again !
It doesn't matter if you have perfectly flat cans, indeed, flat cans are not recommended, because anyways, the transfer function between the head and the cans is not linear across the frequency range (as compared to speakers). Headphones NEED to be colored in order for us to hear them as flat. But that's another issue...
Also, seriously, do you work for Ultrasone ? Are you affiliated with them in any way ? I've seen very few "objective" people defend a particular brand so much.
I love Beyers, but I also quite like AKG. It's just that I think Beyers (I used DT770 and DT250 in studios) are more useful to point out the deficiencies. Not because they are flat, but because they are accurate, which is different. Accuracy is presenting things as they are, flatness is an even frequency response. Those are different things you should be aware of.
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As I said previously, I am not a recording engineer. So, there are technical situations which would better be addressed by a sound engineer. The two tracks in which I was involved where the mix was done with headphones was Jazz music. Both of the tracks included, among other instruments, the String Bass. The rest of the instrumentation varied with the tracks. One was a big band with a vocalist and the other was a smaller group consisting of a rhythm section and 4 horns.
I have no doubt that a crossfeed filter would be necessary for mixing pop/rock music with headphones, especially considering the exaggerated effects that are utilized in some of these recordings. But, wouldn't it be true to say that the more accurate the headphone, the less need there is for crossfeed? I know that is an overly simple question that could probably be answered from several different perspectives, but is there not an element of truth to that idea?
No, I do not work for nor am I affiliated with Ultrasone in any way, other than, of course, owning a pair of Proline 750's. No, I just really like the Proline 750 and, when I have defended it in these forums, it has usually been because people have written negative things about it that, I know from a lot of personal experience, are absolutely not true or there were extenuating circumstances that affected the way they heard the Pro (Proline) 750's. In some situations for example, people were judging the Pro (Proline) 750's sound before it was "burned-in". In other situations, they did not have the headphones positioned correctly on their ears and some did not have the cable attached correctly. There were also some who just didn't like the sound of the S-Logic effect. I don't understand why but I accept it.
I couldn't name all of them but over a period of several years, I've heard several different headphones. About a year ago, I started attempting to make a deliberate study of the most recent "audiophile" headphones. Over the span of approximately 30 years, intermittently, I would be involved in different studio productions and during that time I heard a number of different headphones used mostly by musicians and vocalists in recording studios. I couldn't name the headphones I heard, for the most part, because I rarely paid attention to what brand of headphones I was using (I didn't own them). I do remember noticing the names on some of them such as Sennheiser and Koss but I couldn't, now, tell the model numbers because I didn't pay attention to that. My attitude was I could either hear clearly through them or I couldn't.
About 6 months ago, I was set to buy a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770's. Overall, I found their sound, if not accurate, but pleasant. Then while at the store, I "discovered" the Ultrasone line and, to make a long story short (if that's possible at this point) decided I much preferred their sound.
I hope that answers your question.
Your production involvement in pop/rock music interests me because I've only once been involved in that genre. The situation included a vocalist (I won't tell you who) and it was a mess because this person didn't sing well and there were a lot of "special effects" such as pitch adjustment that were used on the track (not by me). The sessions were annoying, to say the least. The whole situation caused me to feel anxious to go back to the "purity" of jazz and classical recordings.
By the way, when I was adolescent, my family owned one of your televisions.
