Can You Mix In Headphones? Closed vs Open Back for the Best Sound 

Timestamps 1) 0:50 - Pros and Cons 2) 8:30 - Which Ohm value sounds best 3) 11:20 - Closed or Open Back?

People teaching good video communication skills should use your work as an example. Not a syllable or second wasted

I have to mix in Headphones because I don't have the space nor the money for audio monitors. You need to make the best off of what you have! :)

Your videos are just pure gold! You're calm, choose your words well, and the content is just amazing. Subscribed!

Thank you for not being one of those "never mix in headphones" people. So many RU-vidrs seem to not understand the reality of people's situations. Also, I've gotten some great results in headphones. It's all about understanding how things will translate.

You're videos are extremely informative, half of my knowledge of music production is from your videos only. Keep doing what you do:))))

You're always gonna get the best results using different sound devices. I do the majority of the work in my earphones. Then when I feel like I've got a basic mix done I'll use my monitors to fix things up. I also use my laptop speakers which are pretty good for general high-end mixing like the snares, hats etc. Then I use some open-backed headphones and check that everything still sounds good. Finally, I'll take out and use my car speakers, if there are low end issues then your car with its bass-heavy speakers and closed acoustic environment will expose them - don't forget that if it's a big track then a lot of people are gonna be listening in a car.

Thank you so much Michael, for all you do. I would've never have learned what I know now without knowledge like this. ❤

Keep making amazing insightful videos! You’re a real blessing to all producers!

You inspired me to sit and enjoy my 990 pros, Open Back all the way!

I just want to personally thank you for your content, man. I've learned so much from your channel and in a lot of ways have fallen in love with music production and engineering from perspectives I never thought I could understand and progress in, relative to my reality. I grew up in a family with not much money, but was bountiful in the love a music and in an art-form that money on some level is required to improve quality, I look for every way to get better for the cheapest way possible. And with so many channels that say you need the newest, top of the line, sleekest products to improve. It's nice to see that my, now 7 yr old Presonus Studio Monitoring headphones M-Audio Axiom Air 25 MIDI keyboard can still be enough. But honestly, it's your sincerity and obvious love for music that makes me compelled to push myself outside of my comfort zone to try and understand and learn as much as my ability and brain will allow. I absolutely love that you just get down to business and and make the content about the reason we're all here, THE MUSIC!!! But it seems like an ocean of RU-vid content is click bait and/or about the guy or gal that's creating the content, rather than the content itself. So I feel a real sense of professionalism from your channel because not one video seems to be about vanity or subscriber-gathering or making yourself wealthy and/or successful. It's just a very pure and genuine love for music and an obvious sense of satisfaction from being able to help guide and teach others how to develop their own ability and understanding of music production and design. And for myself, personally, I don't care if I ever become "successful' in the music industry. I don't make music for that purpose. I MAKE MUSIC BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH IT!!! It's my escape, my therapy and meditation. So to see your content reminds me every time of why I'm still learning and why I WANT to keep learning, because music is for all of us and it brings us together as humans on a meta-physical level. So genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you bro. Keep doing what your doing because you've personally impacted my life in such a positive and meaningful way that I want to learn as much as possible to pass it on to the next guy who's never been good at anything, except this. Much love and thank you again for everything.

I'm new to the family but I feel so welcomed such a clear explanation 😎

Great video as usual Michael. the amount of music production knowledge i have learned from your channel is amazing thank you so much

This is not based off of this particular video, but rather after me watching several of yours over the past couple of days. Being a teacher myself, I'm really intrigued by your way of speaking calmly and focused to the camera. It's VERY evident that you know very much about the topic at hand. But you also have a way of really being present when you speak. I think I could listen to you for hours about any topic. Do you have anything to share regarding how you've become this good at teaching? Keep it up! You're really helping me sort out this production and mixing thing :D

I LOVE how you explain everything perfectly and dont force your opinion. Amazing!

this guy is looking and talking not only clever and very polite but always gives you the best answers possible.

Thankyou for everything you do brother 🙌🏻 ♥️

Damn. After watching a bunch of your videos ... You and Warren from Produce Like A Pro are definitely my favourite "music production" RU-vidrs. Insane amount of information presented in an impeccable fashion. Thanks for your work!

Well done. Such a great description of why open air mixing is important, beyond using only headphones. Thanks!

You couldn't have updated this video idea more conveniently. I just watched your older video yesterday. I appreciate it.

I'm in India. and I remember starting out on headphones and just finishing the project with sweat

I'm very happy that I've discovered your channel. Direct, no stupid way of talking, no stupid "jokes"...very professional and simple, you sir, are the best here. PS: you remember me of a certain, glowing "vampire".😅 Dont know why tho.

Awesome vid. Simply put, no fillers, and answered it all really clearly. Thank you!

This is such an amazing video, as an artist myself I use Open Back headphones and my sound comes out very nicely, I need to invest on a pair of Closed headphones just in case I am in a noisy area. Thank you so much for this info!

This video just solved the problem I had with volume! I was wondering why my levels were not right after I'd exported. Turns out I just put my computers volume on max while my headphones were plugged into my computer's aux. Beginners mistake, but now I know! Thank you so much In The Mix!

I asked a question regarding this in the last video, thanks for covering! 😃

I've been shopping for a new pair of headphones. I'm so glad I caught this video before I bought anything. Wonderful explanation; thank you.

The most enjoyable video tutorials, so much information with such narrative and audio/video quality! Thank you for your work!

1:53 Micheal: "However, there are plenty of times where headphones start to fall down..." Me: yea when I shake my head

I have done lot of projects for different clients in the past 20 years and most of my work was finished on headphones. My main work is demo recordings of classical music. I would say, using Studio Monitors are not essential for great final results. If you have really good headphones you can mix in them but, you have to listen to the mix also in different sources like crappy headphones, then on your cellphone, a pair of crappy stereo monitors, on your computer speakers. Not all of them but at least three different sources because at the end of the day most people that will look you out will listen to your tracks on cheaper headphones or computer speakers, so those are the sources that you can focus on. I love my headphones and I have the Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro. I use a headphone amplifier to bring the best volume to mix. I also listen to my mixes in mono and work on them a bit that way before the the mixdown. I also use a Phase meter on the master track to check for any phase problems. By the way, love the video. Just wanted to say that if I waited to have the best monitors, I would have never started on my business 20 years ago. Also most of my work is on the go and monitors and room acoustic treatment materials are not portable things. Cheers!

Thank you for providing such a great explanation to all of these music production questions with such a calm demeanor. So many youtubers are just too...hyper.

Beautifully clear and articulate. Really well done. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge!

If someone is still confused, Simply buy a studio headphone and just get used to its sound. Listen to professional songs on them and focus on several things like how the kick is sounding or the bass or different elements in the headphones. After few days/weeks of using it, you'll definitely get better at mixing with your studio headphones. PS Using this video's tips are definitely gonna help you out, especially with the Sonarworks Reference plugin. Studio monitors are not always gonna be available to you when you're on tour (Atleast not for me ) ...So trusting your ears are definitely gonna help you in the long run ! 👍

Tysm u're iconic I love ur channel

Very useful 17 minutes! Thanks a lot I have just recently invested in a decent set of open backs having used closed (Beyerdynamic DT 250) for a few years. I totally get what you are saying about the added depth and 'life' of that the open backs give to a well mixed/ mastered song. (In fact they have helped me to listen more critically and to enjoy more music on another level) Now when I am mixing, I switch between them. (Living / working in China so speakers are , sadly, a cumbersome option) Thanks for all your tips, info and reassurance Good luck with the channel Iain

I appreciate these reviews. They have helped me out greatly in choosing solutions to my audio needs. Thank you for all your hard work and effort you put into these videos to help the community. Cheers.

By the way, I'm going to buy headphones in the next few days. This video has helped relieve my stress. Thank you very much Michael. You answered all my questions about headphones

I trust my headphones more than my monitors for mixing. Not that my studio monitors are bad (I think my A7Xs sound amazing) or because mixing on headphones is 'better', but my room acoustics are too problematic to rely on them and there's not much I can do about it, unfortunately. So I listen to my monitors for the more physical experience and to give me a perspective of how my mixes would sound in a room. But I mostly use my headphones to do the heavy lifting. And many people are listening through headphones anyway, so it's important to get this right too I suppose. That trick you mentioned of using the headphones as kind of little speakers on the table or something to judge balance is interesting. I should try that! What I often do for a similar purpose is routing my monitoring through a plugin that turns everything mono and rolls off the bass and highs quite dramatically, but the trick you mentioned sounds like a really useful hack for that too. You can never have enough different perspectives :) Anyway, thanks for the video!

The best part about subscribing to your channel is I really understand what you are saying and it helps me implement it in my music. :)

I really needed all this information and I greately appreciate it. Thanks!

Damn so young and yet you are going so hard with all this info. Bless u for kindly sharing such quality videos bro. Keep them coming 🔥

My best advice, is if you have speakers or monitors, don’t just go to them when you mix right off the bat. Pretend like you don’t have them, and mix the beat from headphones. Once you have it sounding how you want it, then go to speakers/monitors and make tweaks from there. This will narrow the sound down, and make it as accurate of a mix as you want!

thank you so much for the great explanations..

Dude, this was insanely informative. Thanks so much for this.

Those Beyerdynamic are awesome! Just to add my grain of salt. There is the mix between open and closed: semi-open. I have the DT880 Pro which falls in the middle of the DT770 and DT990 that you have, and I LOVE THEM. Great video! I liked the gimmick trick, will try that soon.

sweaty headphone Australia checking in... definitely need a break after a while

I absolutely needed this right now. Great timing anyway!

Some good advice. So helpful in broadening knowledge on other aspects of producing music.

s/o from sweaty-headphone South Africa

As a music composer & audio engineer, I understand where you're coming from. This video was well structured, informal and technical. Me personally though I mix, master and compose my music with my earphones (Currently Skull Candy), because I'm very private and I don't have the space to work with studio monitors. I've had many people who were musical artists, band members, singers, engineers, beatmakers, producers listen to my music and they never had any real complaints with the sound of my music. They can possibly point out few minor flaws if they have great ears, but overall it's all good. I would however not recommend doing this because while it maybe good for me, it may not be good for someone else. Some people would rather record and mix/master with studio monitors only. I say whatever really works for you and keep going at it to improve yourself. There's always room for improvement

Love your videos. Always informative and enjoyable!!

Just watched the most educational video of this week. Thank you, Michael ❤

You forgot to mention that besides impedance, sensitivity also plays a big part about how loud a headphone is on a specific device.

I use Beyerdynamic Dt 990s, absolutely love them! and i use Sennheiser HD 280 pros as my closed back. but they are actually a really nice combo for mixing. the 990s are crystal clear and let me hear every little detail, the 280s really help me hear the transients and exaggerate the frequencies that dont stand out in the 990s

Such a calm and relaxed channel - great explanation and very informative. And not a single sound or background music. Cause it's not needed :) Keep it up.

Thanks so much Michael for the always clear and honest info you share with us. It is very nice to have found someone like you, I don't think I exaggerate by saying that, for me, people like you value a lot you tube channel.

I’ve mixed in headphones for years bc my apartment walls are thin!

Your English is so good i don't need subtittles

Really great information. As someone who has produced for a while but never dove much into properly mixing/mastering, I feel like I have a good basis to dive further in!

SO much good info in this video, love hearing things you know about headphones that you would only know from using them. great video

I highly recommend my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm. The sound is much better than from a 32 Ohm Headphone and it gets loud enough when just plugged into my Smartphone.

Three things happened while watching this video, >I discovered mixing headphones are such a thing >I got to know you're from Scotland >You gave a shout-out to my country 3:39.. 😊😊😉😉

You, out of all these so called pros, make the most sense. Thank you for your knowledge.

Answered everything someone would need to know thank you!!!

Wish i have four ears so that I can wear my both closed and open back headphones together.. damn.😬

wait you can wash the pads of those 770's? that is most important piece of advice I have gotten of this haha

Thank you for sharing your perspective in this video! 👍

your lectures are amazing, thanks!

About the Ohm thing: My 250 Ohm 990's work just as fine with my iPhone 6, as with my UR22MK2, so I think it's not that important.

What is the name or brand headphone you using on this video?

I like watching your videos, they're really helpful. I've seen some videos from other producers that are just so annoying to watch (usually because of their video editing style) that I have to turn them off long before I get to the end. Many thanks for sharing this great content.

Your channel is full of such amazing info! Thank you!!!

Does someone have experience with 250 Ohm headphones and the focurite Interface solo ?

Would you use noise canceling bose headphones for mixing /mastering?

Halfway through the video and I can agree with everyone else, your posture, tone and selection of words are very smooth and intelligent. It’s very easy for me to understand everything your saying and your points. And your voice is just relaxing bro! It helps me focus on the video and not get distracted by other things around me. And on a side note.. I could leave your video on to help me sleep! But because the sound of your voice and tone. Anyway, amazing video bro; definitely getting a sub.

This is a very helpful video. Much appreciation 🙏

What did you mean with "getting everything in phase"?

can you please make a tutorial about fl srudio stock plug in. please teach me how to tweak thing in a plug in. please do harmor first please.

Thank you for this video... you have no idea how I needed this.

Amazing how elaboratly one can describe the tonal difference of headphone types.

It’s very rare that my mix sound good after ONLY using headphones

Guys avoid using headphones for long periods,it gave me tinitus in two years,dont be ignorant like me,mix on low volumes,you will get better results to

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation, i was just about to buy a pair of headphones. Very useful information! I will probably buy the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro.

You are my online teacher now. I really appriciate your vibe and knowledge. I will make you proud by watch all your videos and educate myself. I started today. Thank you for being a super nice human being and your will to educate people who really needs and will get somehow. Much loves from Turkey. King regards

You're like 14 years old and have the wisdom of a 114 year old engineer

Precious informations in this video. Thank you.

Very helpful. Thanks a lot for this Video

thank you!! i love your videos!!

love your channel man just knowledge all the time! hope ya keep growing

Great vid, especially good stuff about the optional software.

Thanks for the detailed explanations.

Such informative videos and such a great channel, you present so well and really enjoy your videos. Top marks!

this is my main class, thank you so much for guiding me

Great value video as usual bro

Thanks Michael, you are the best mixing/mastering teacher on YT! I've decided to consistently improve the quality of my mixing (of my own music) and for that your videos are just the best resource.

Great tips on the SOFTWARE apps to calibrate (flatten) frequencies. Thank you!

Such an informative video. Thank you!

Great channel! Not sure if anyone has already mentioned this, but here's an additional thought: What speaker or headphone to use for mixing depends on who you are mixing for. In my day for example you would have one mix for vinyl and home HiFi, and another dedicated 'radio mix' for public broadcasting for all those stuck in traffic jam listening on their mono car radios. Therefore, you would often listen back on those systems. The TV sound engineer I knew listened back on several TVs at least 50% of the time. So to translate this into today's listening environment, look at your clients and what they are predominantly listening on. My teenage daughter listens to her pop-stuff on iPods, my metal head friends would only listen on oversized high end LOUD speakers, etc. Not saying mix on iPods, but I find that there is generally too little aim identification when it comes to mixing - and recording. There is no right or wrong technique, only one that suits the situation. Your client will expect a certain sound, and that needs to be discussed, then the appropriate monitoring technique chosen. If you are mixing for yourself, mix for whatever you are mainly listening on and make it sound the way you want it to sound and not how others might expect it to sound. I use some old AKG open headphones with a flat response, some boring sounding Bose noise cancelling headphones and a stereo system (that I can adjust like a consumer) to get the basic mix, then I switch to whatever medium required. Walking around the room whilst listening on speakers also works for me, so does listening withOUT intent. However, there is one application that requires monitoring speakers: When mixing together with the client. Just a different perspective folks! Have a lovely day!

Whoah I was one of the ones asking that question! I feel personally addressed!

2 years ago still video helped me become on of the top earning mixers in my country. Appreciate you bruv