Do a lot of you use this method? I used to soley keep one headphone on one ear (playing the cued track) and the open ear to the live track. But I have a Numark DXM06 Mixer that allows you to hear both in the headphones so the other day I gave it a go and watched my mixing improve greatly. So is this a method to stay away from? I didn't do it in the beginning because I felt like I was cheating in a way. But I dunno, if it helps I guess why not take advantage of the feature I have on my mixer.

Thoughts?

i use only that method. im useless at one ear headphones, one ear speakers. but i have no monitors and crappy speakers...

i've heard you should stay away from this as if you go to a gig and their mixer doesnt have this feature, youre pretty much screwed.

but i doubt i'll ever do gigs

Best bet is to learn both...

And then use the one ear on and one ear off method until you perfect it. Once you do, you're mixing will improve again.

Remember:
1. Not all mixers in clubs have split-cue, or even the ability to listen to more than one channel at a time. (Rane 2016's, Urei 1620's, Phazons, etc.)

2. In a really loud environment it's very hard to differentiate two tracks in the phones (at least I found it hard).

3. One ear on/one ear off lets you hear the floor and what you are doing, which is always a good thing.

But if the booth doesn't have monitors, then you have to be able to mix in your headphones. Just be flexible!

quote:

Originally posted by simms327 i use only that method. im useless at one ear headphones, one ear speakers. but i have no monitors and crappy speakers... i've heard you should stay away from this as if you go to a gig and their mixer doesnt have this feature, youre pretty much screwed. but i doubt i'll ever do gigs

i find it easier just using 1 ear with headphones and 1 to the speaker.

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I learned to mix, beatmatching solely in my headphones, but if you plan on ever playing out you have to master the one ear on, one ear off method.

for a year and a half I beatmatched in my headphones only, my first gig comes up and low and behold, the club had the old Rane rotary that only lets you cue one channel at a time.

Last edited by Zack Roth on Apr-25-2006 at 17:47

The only times I ever mix solely in the headphones is if I'm working on a demo or some other set I'm going to put out, OR in a rough case scenario playing out where you've got no Monitors and terrible sound in the booth (A common occurance in Wisconsin, I assure you).

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1. cue channel a (channel b = master)
2. blend cue a with master channel
3. mix with headphones on, listen to the master channel. this way you can beatmatch more accurately because there's always a huge problem with reverb on the floor so what you here coming from the PA isnt what is really playing...
...nevermind

I dont really think about it too much... so long as i can hear my cue'd track I will be happy as a seal with a ball...

quote:

Originally posted by simms327 i use only that method. im useless at one ear headphones, one ear speakers. but i have no monitors and crappy speakers... i've heard you should stay away from this as if you go to a gig and their mixer doesnt have this feature, youre pretty much screwed. but i doubt i'll ever do gigs

Pretty much the same thing with me. I can't really even turn my music that loud because it will disrupt my family.

quote:

Originally posted by s3nate Pretty much the same thing with me. I can't really even turn my music that loud because it will disrupt my family.

that too. sometime i dont even turn the speakers on, and use only the headphones, so i dont piss of my neighbours.

99% of the time i'm mixing in my headphones only. every once in a while, if i happen to be doing nothing at home in the afternoon on my day off i will bump w/the monitors. this only happens a couple times a month.

also, monitor placement (to a lesser extent, fidelity) matters a lot.

try to have the monitors around ear level. even a medium sized bookshelf stereo system will work. i remember how it was always
a nightmare for me to mix using my old rack system. i always had to bend over/crouch to align my head w/the speaker to get a good beatmatch. or i would have to really turn it up, then really crank up my headphones = ringy ears after a few minutes.

after a while, you just get used to it. and your ears will start zero'ing in on errors just like they do on headphones. just have a concentrate extra hard on what you're doing in the begining.

Personally I need monitors. Barring that I find mixing off the delay with no monitors to be easier than going inside the headphones. Oddly enough I learned to beatmatch initially inside the headphones.

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