I'd, respectfully, disagree on some things here David.
The 'best' mixing environment isn't a 'properly designed listening space' at
all. It's one of the more interesting evolutions in music / sound in recent
years that there has been a move away from mixing in such places, which don't
have any relevance to how the results (a cd, a film etc etc) will be listened
to. As with all these judgements there is no 'right' or 'proper' place. When it
comes to field recording for example it could be argued that the last thing one
should always aim for is to mix the recordings in a studio / designed for sound
setting - which is, in effect, the opposite to the material collected. At the
end of the day its all down to the ears anyway & they are always personal of
course. I think part of this is also the point you were making anyway ?
'As field recordists, we have no option but to use headphones' - I know what
you mean but actually we do have other options. I sometimes record without
listening to the recording activity - so recording without monitoring the
equipment. This isn't because I don't care about the recording - far from it.
For me its to do with getting closer to the act of listening in situ. Aside
from that, in actuality the history of field recording has only relatively
recently been about the use of headphones at all times. Location sound, yes -
but field recording was very often done without the use of headphones other
than to set basic levels.
on the basic subject of this thread, whilst its a personal thing anyway, I for
one can't see the advantage of such an emphasis & reliance on headphone
listening in this context. It seems to be a product of the mainstream music
consumption industry rather than any effort to improve listening.
--- In "Avocet" <> wrote:
>
> I think we're getting lost in theory. Of course the best mixing
> environment is a properly designed listening space with top class
> loudspeakers with five zeroes in its cost, but if you put up a mic in
> there, you will get some very odd results. The final mix is to be
> listened to on a home system with no acoustic treatment and
> indifferent speakers and will sound very different from the mixing
> studio.
>
> Compared with that, any good headphones are comparatively free of
> resonances, multiple path lengths and the whole mess we listen to at
> home, but this is the environment we are recording for.
>
> As field recordists, we have no option but to use headphones. If we
> have decisions to make about background sound, selecting objects to
> highlight and balancing between these and other factors, we have to
> train our ears so we can judge what our recordings will sound like on
> a loudspeaker system.
>
> Different headphones of course sound different, but we generally don't
> have eq on the listening end while recording. We have to use our ears
> to do the "equalisation" and this is where it important to know your
> headphones. There are no "best" headphones, just ones which suit your
> ears and temperament.
>
> David
>
> David Brinicombe
> North Devon, UK
> Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum - Ambrose Bierce
>
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