#SONARWORKS VS WAVES NX DRIVERS#
#SONARWORKS VS WAVES NX FREE#

#SONARWORKS VS WAVES NX DRIVERS#

Having uncomfortable pads and speaker drivers close to the ears can lead to headache city. After long periods of wear, the pads will start to feel uncomfortable on just about any pair of headphones. No matter where you turn, they are going to follow your ears. Do they start to feel somewhat painful around your ears after long periods? How long you can listen before feeling ear fatigue? With headphones, the speakers are sitting on your ears. You’ll also need to consider how long you can wear that pair before they start to feel uncomfortable. This isn’t perfect, but it is quite possible to work that way. After all, if you know the mids generally sound scooped on your headphones, you’ll make eq moves with that deficiency in mind instead of just trusting exactly what you hear. How does the bass respond on them in a bass heavy mix? Is the top end sharp and brittle? Do the mids appear scooped? These are things you’ll need to know going forward when making critical decisions. That means listening to a lot of material through them, and paying attention. Once you’ve chosen your headphones, you need to learn how they sound. They’re designed to sound good for consumers, not to sound flat for audio professionals. But for mixing or any sort of critical listening, I would avoid hyped headphones like the plague (unless you can calibrate them to correct them.) When making the actual eq and balance moves they will give you a false impression of what’s going on.

You could also check your mixes out through your favorite Skull Candy set while going on a jog to see how it stacks up in a real world setting. The hyped low end will make the beat feel bigger, and that may help them get more into the performance when tracking. For example, giving a pair of Beats By Dre to a rapper isn’t a bad idea. There are times when a pair of headphones that are hyped may be applicable in a studio setting. That said, typically the more they cost the flatter they naturally will respond.

#SONARWORKS VS WAVES NX FREE#

If you find a pair that is comfortable, isn’t hyped, and costs less than $50, feel free to try them.

For mixing, I’d try to stay in that price range or above, but I only advise that because I’ve not had experience with options below that price. You can find a decent pair of AKG’s for about $70, as well as comparable sets from Samson and Audio Technica. There’s a lot of headphone options on the market, and the prices have become quite reasonable. They were designed to be reasonably flat, although it’s difficult to get a pair that are actually flat in response without shelling out some cash. Studio headphones were designed to be worn for extended periods. But if I’m thinking critically, the last thing I want is any sort of hype in my headphones. If it’s a quick edit, or something where I’m making a rough balance for reference, then it matters less. I personally wouldn’t mix on something that wasn’t intended for studio use in some capacity unless I could calibrate it effectively as described below. They are comfortable, and sound excellent. I didn’t choose them because they’re superior, I chose them because I had them. My cans of choice are AKG K 240 MK II Stereo Studio Headphones.

So let’s talk about mixing with headphones. They can use them anywhere, the acoustics of their room are never a hindrance, and the headphones can be calibrated to be more accurate. In fact, with modern systems in place people are opting to mix largely on their headphones. But times change, and this “rule” about mixing with headphones is no longer a limitation. Midrange can also be a challenge for many headphones, as there can be weird fluctuations across some vital frequency ranges that affect guitars and vocals. You had to contend with a skewed stereo perception, a skewed depth perception with reverbs, and a skewed frequency spectrum due to the natural low end rolloff of headphones. Mixing with headphones can be a challenge, and for a long time was generally accepted as something that should only be done if no other option were available.

Sonarworks vs waves nx