Things To Consider When Choosing the Best Headphones for Mixing and Mastering

Although studio monitor speakers are generally better for primary mixing and mastering, open-back headphones are affordable and convenient alternative options for situations where you can't make a lot of noise or don't have an acoustically suitable room. They also make great reference monitors to see what your mixes will sound like to listeners using high-end headphones. You can also bring your headphones on the road if you are planning to mix in different locations. Headphones are also useful for checking unwanted hisses, clicks and pops, and are also ideal to use for focusing on subtle details of each individual track.

Open back headphones allow the diaphragm of their drivers to move more freely with less air resistance or pressure than closed-back design. This results in less internal reflection which in turn provides a bigger soundstage. This is useful when making critical panning and level decisions as open back speakers are useful as a secondary reference alongside studio monitors. The tradeoff, however, is less isolation. This makes them less than ideal for tracking and more suited for reference, mixing, and mastering.

Frequency Response

Most studio headphone manufacturers add a high-frequency roll-off since high frequencies sound louder when close to the ears. They also add a slight bass boost for you to feel thumping rhythm like what you hear from monitor speakers. It's highly recommended to look for headphones with the closest to a neutral frequency response so you can hear the clear and natural audio in your mixes. Most open-back headphones have an extended frequency range on both ends for deeper responses.

Comfort and Durability

Comfort is a subjective factor yet should be considered since you will be mixing or mastering for long periods of time. Open-back models tend to be more comfortable compared to closed-back headphones. Their designs have grilles that expose drivers, which gives a natural and 'airy' sound when mixing. They allow sound to leak from both directions of each earcup and let your ears have a bit of space, which gives your ears less fatigue while listening for hours at a time. In cases of mishandling, some manufacturers provide replacement parts for ear cups or cables, especially for higher-priced headphones so you don't have to replace an entire set when parts wear out.

Headphone Terminology

Clamp Force determines the pressure or tightness of ear cups on your ears. It's ideal to find headphones that provide an even amount of clamp force where they're not so loose as to fall off easily by minimal movement, and not too tight so as to be uncomfortable.

Sound stage refers to the perception of width and depth of the sound coming in from the drivers of the headphones. This recreates the placement or imaging of instruments while listening.

Roll-off refers to the gradual attenuation (reduced volume) that occurs often at the lower or higher end of the frequency range of headphones or speakers.

Transient response is how fast a driver reacts to changes in the audio.

Impedance is how much resistance the headphones provide to the source. Higher output amplifiers or interfaces may benefit from higher impedance headphones while lower impedance would be easily driven by most interfaces and mobile devices. Running a low impedance headphone with a high output interface or amplifier is fine if you control your volume. However, matching a high impedance headphone with a low output sound source like cheaper interfaces or mobile sources may result in the driver being underdriven. Cranking low output sound sources may result in output stage distortion and may affect your perception of the mix.

HRTF Plugins and Studio Simulators

In recent years, plugins have been developed to simulate a studio environment on headphones. They were initially inaccurate stereo processors that only simulated the delay between the ears. HRTF plugins were later developed that simulated the time delay according to the head size and shape of the user. This usually requires taking measurements of the user's head. I've encountered plugins like Tonebooster Isone Pro, 112dB Redline Monitor, Beyerdynamic Virtual Studio, and most recently Waves NX. They're not perfect replacements for a pair of studio monitors in a well-treated room but they do allow for a bit of alternative monitoring situations. Think of them as palette cleansers especially when determining how loud some of your layers can be when presented in an acoustic environment. These types of plugins have helped many of my mixes translate across different systems. I usually use them after initial mixing without them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do headphones matter for mixing?
You can be fine with going from tracking to mastering with just headphones. It takes a lot of familiarity with your pair in order to get results that translate but it is definitely doable.

Are open back headphones better for mixing?
Open back headphones give you a wider soundstage, making it easier to place layers with panning and levels. While not as accurate as using studio monitors, the perception of space makes panning decisions translate better.

Why shouldn't you mix on headphones?
Headphones tend to have a less consistent left to right space so panning decisions may not be entirely accurate to where you want some elements to be placed. Some open back headphones have a wide soundstage that is closer to how studio monitors behave. However, this doesn't always equate to accurate placement and loudness perception. It's still important to reference your mixes on speakers when you can.

How loud should headphones be for mixing?
There is no one volume where you should mix. It's good to listen at all volume levels to account for the Fletcher-Munson frequency curve. Chris Lorde-Alge often mixes at low levels with his speakers to have a better feel for the actual impact of some elements. This can also be done with headphones.