Can you mix and master with just headphones?

[@Renaiz]

Monitor speakers give some kind of illusion especially in untreated rooms. Ear phones are preferably better

[@vladimirjianu5767]

It was very informative! I have some studio headphones. I am just starting out. If I just have headphones, do I need an audio interface?

[@Lucassnydermusic]

Don’t need one but you’ll need an audio interface if you ever want to use studio monitors or a microphone. Also a headphone amp which routes into an audio interface will help make headphones sound even better. It depends on your headphones impedance as well and how much it takes to power them.

[@twintelemusic]

Hey, I have a question! So I had to move my studio back into my bedroom which means back to headphones. I am currently in the process of finding a good pair of closed back headphones as my environment isn't always silent. But besides that, I thought I'd ask for a video suggestion on how to properly process/mix/master vocals for remixes? Specifically extracted already processed vocals? I am aware of all the potential headaches that comes with but there are times it's possible to find a isolated vocal version someone may post on youtube or even the vocal acapella itself that sounds really nice with minimal artifacts to the ear. I have found that there is almost no videos on youtube of edm producers showing their process. I'd like to know the do's and dont's. The process from beginning to end - Gainstaging, Clip Volume adjustment if the waveform is drastically uneven or even just way too low, then onto processing like getting rid of unwanted frequencies usually left behind, how to enhance them with common plug-ins or even abelton stock. I work on a lot of remixes for practice and vocals are just always so tedious to me. Adding effects and vocal chopping techniques is another beast to master, but mainly getting the vocals to sound as clear as possible. How to properly reference them to another track and so on. I also find it very confusing when I get advice from blogs, youtube producers and then others argue against their methods for example: EQing the low end > Soothe > Utility in Mono > fresh air > and so on. Someone had said that mid/side EQ was pointless or using the method of utility in mono wasn't needed. I guess my ears are just not trained well enough to ear for things I'm supposed to. Also reading meters, etc. I'd like to know what to hear for and look for on a spectrum analyzer. The order of plug-ins or the best method. Sorry if this is a lot and all over the place! But I love the way you explain things. I'd say I'm near intermediate advanced with production but vocals whether its a male or female there are different approaches to them. Would greatly appreciate it :)

[@Lucassnydermusic]

Do you have a budget in mind for headphones? The only ones that come to mind that I know of that would work well for mixing are the Neumann NDH 20s. I’ve mixed really well on in ear monitors as well, so those could be an option too to be able to drown out outside noise even more. Onto the vocal question. Each scenario is different but if you’re extracting a vocal from a pro track that means it’s already been processed a ton so I’d lean towards basically not doing anything to it at all except for using tools to remove unwanted, weird artifacts. You won’t need to use any compression at all but maybe some delays. I’ll definitely make a video on this and thank you for the idea I think it’s a great ides for sure.

[@twintelemusic]

​@@Lucassnydermusic around $400? and I never heard of using in ear monitors for music production! Do you have any recommendations? I'll checkout the Neumann's as well... thanks a bunch! I am looking forward to watching! :)

[@Lucassnydermusic]

@@twintelemusic Nice if that's your budget definitely check out the Neumann's. They have some closed back NDH 20 or open back NDH 30s but I'd recommend a headphone amp to bring out the best of them. Might be better to save money and get something like the audio technica ATH-M50X's with a headphone amp.