In a hurry?

Here are the top three things to remember when mixing on headphones:

1. Use a high-quality headphone amp or audio interface
2. Learn the sound of your headphones
3. Calibrate your headphones

Can you mix on headphones?

Yes, you can mix on headphones, and many do! Thanks to major advancements in headphone technology, headphone mixing now delivers the clarity and reliability needed for professional results. Producers like Andy Scheps prove that mixing on headphones isn’t just a compromise; it’s a legitimate choice.

Headphone mixing offers big advantages: it’s cost-effective, portable, and ideal for home studios and environments where using studio monitors isn’t possible. While headphones do sound different from speakers, the key is to learn how your headphones translate in the real world.

With practice, time, and familiarity, mixing on headphones can absolutely deliver pro-quality results, especially when used alongside tools like correction software or reference tracks.

Know your gear, trust your ears, and your headphone mixes will hold up on any system.

Pros and cons of mixing on headphones

Mixing using headphones vs. monitors

When it comes to audio mixing, headphones and studio monitors offer very different listening experiences. Understanding these differences can help you decide when to use each, and how to get the best from both.

Headphones provide consistency and precision. Because the drivers sit close to your ears, you can hear your mix without interference from room reflections. This makes them ideal for identifying clicks, pops, or unwanted noise. They’re also far more affordable and portable, allowing you to mix in any location – perfect if you’re working on the go or don’t have access to a treated studio.

But headphones aren’t perfect. Their stereo imaging can be unnatural – centre elements can feel too close, and hard-panned elements may sound isolated. Many open-back headphone models also suffer from less accurate bass response, meaning you need to keep a close eye when mixing bass guitars and drums.

As the drivers sit close to your ears, headphones can also introduce ear fatigue quickly on extended mixing sessions, potentially leading to poor decisions.

Monitors, on the other hand, deliver a more natural soundstage. They let you perceive depth, spatial placement, and bass more naturally, making it easier to judge how your mix will sound in a real-world environment. Monitors also cause less ear fatigue, especially over longer sessions.

But studio monitors are only as good as the room they’re in. Without proper acoustic treatment, room reflections can colour the sound and mask important details. Monitors are also less portable, more expensive, and not ideal for environments where you can’t make noise.

In short, headphones offer consistency and detail, while monitors give you realism and spatial accuracy.

Tips for mixing on headphones

1. Buy high-quality headphones

If you’re mixing on headphones, the first and most crucial step is investing in a high-quality pair designed for studio use. Just like with studio monitors, your headphones are your reference point, so accuracy and reliability matter.

Consumer headphones often boost bass and treble to sound more exciting, but this colouration makes them unreliable for critical mixing decisions.

Studio headphones aim for a balanced, neutral response, giving you a more honest representation of your audio. While no headphone is truly flat, models made for professional use come far closer than standard listening options.

You want something that won’t exaggerate or mask key frequencies, particularly in the mids and lows. We recommend the Rode NTH-100 and ADAM Audio’s H200 – these are professional-level headphones that will get the job done nicely.

Starting with poor-quality headphones only makes mixing exclusively on headphones more difficult. Spend wisely early on, and you’ll likely never need to upgrade again. It’s a foundational investment that will pay off every time you hit play on a new mix.

2. Use a headphone amp or audio interface

To get the most from your studio headphones, you need to power them properly. Plugging headphones directly into your laptop or computer just won’t cut it. Powering your headphones through your computer’s built-in headphone jack can seriously limit their performance. These outputs often lack the power and clarity needed to drive studio headphones properly, which can cause distortion, a weak low end, and loss of detail.

Instead, invest in a high-quality headphone amplifier or audio interface. These devices deliver clean, consistent power, ensuring your headphones perform at their best. They help maintain detail across the frequency spectrum and reduce unwanted noise or distortion. You’ll hear tighter bass, clearer highs, and more accurate stereo imaging – everything you need for critical mix decisions.

If you’re also recording, choose an interface with a strong built-in headphone amp. This keeps your setup streamlined and avoids the need for separate gear.

You don’t need to break the bank or buy boutique hi-fi gear. What matters most is matching the amp’s output to your headphones’ impedance, so they’re driven efficiently. The right amp can significantly enhance the dynamics, stereo imaging, and frequency response of your headphones.

Some premium headphone amps offer extra features like crossfeed controls, which simulate speaker-like stereo imaging. If you’re serious about headphone mixing, these fine-tuning options are worth considering. Either way, a good headphone amp or interface is essential for reliable and professional results.

3. Use open-back and closed-back headphones

No single pair of headphones will give you the full picture. That’s why it’s a smart move to mix using both open-back and closed-back headphones – each offers unique insights that can help you build a more balanced and reliable mix.

Open-back headphones are the go-to for many mixing engineers. They deliver a more natural, speaker-like soundstage and a neutral midrange, which makes it easier to judge panning and stereo depth. However, they offer minimal isolation and tend to lack punch in the sub-bass range, so you may miss some of the low-end energy in your mix.

Closed-back headphones, on the other hand, offer better isolation and often boost the low frequencies. This can be great for checking bass-heavy elements or working in noisy environments. But they’re not as accurate overall and can cause ear fatigue in longer sessions due to reduced airflow and comfort.

Switching between both types gives you a more complete view of your mix. Just as you’d check your track on different speaker setups, it’s good practice to listen through multiple headphone types, ranging from high-end studio-designed models to cheap earbuds, to make sure your mix translates well across all systems.

4. Learn the sound of your headphones

Familiarity is everything when mixing on headphones. Even the best studio headphones colour the sound to some degree, which makes it vital that you understand exactly how your pair behaves. The better you know their quirks, the better your mixes will translate to other systems.

Start by creating a reference playlist of well-mixed tracks you know inside out. These should be songs you’ve heard countless times across various systems, such as car stereos, monitors, and phone speakers. Then listen to them through your headphones with intention.

Ask yourself: what sounds different? Are the highs sharper? Is the bass louder or tighter? This kind of active listening helps you calibrate your ears to your gear.

Over time, you’ll build a mental map of how your headphones reproduce specific sounds. This insight is incredibly useful when mixing, as it allows you to make more informed decisions and compensate for any sonic biases your headphones might have.

The more time you spend analysing music on your headphones, the more intuitive and accurate your mixes will become. It’s not about having perfect gear, it’s about knowing how it behaves and learning to work with it effectively.

5. Calibrate your headphones

Not all headphones are created equal. Each model comes with its own frequency response quirks: boosted bass, recessed mids, or hyped highs. While you can learn to work around these quirks, calibration software can help you skip the guesswork entirely and mix with more confidence.

Without calibration, your mix decisions can easily be skewed. A pair of headphones with an exaggerated low-end might trick you into pulling back your bass too much. Or if your highs sound dull, you may end up over-brightening a mix that already has plenty of top-end.

Headphone calibration tools, like Sonarworks SoundID Reference, are designed to fix this. They apply a corrective EQ curve tailored to your specific headphone model, flattening its response and giving you a more neutral, reliable sound.

This creates a truer reference point, bringing the sound of your headphones closer to what you’d expect from a well-tuned, acoustically treated monitor setup.

Calibrating your headphones isn’t essential, but it’s a smart move if you want to improve the accuracy of your mixes. It’s especially helpful when mixing in headphones exclusively, ensuring that your tracks sound balanced not just in your ears, but everywhere else too.

6. Use speaker emulation software

One of the biggest challenges when mixing on headphones is the lack of room interaction. Unlike monitors, headphones bypass room acoustics entirely. This might sound ideal, but it can leave your mixes feeling unnatural or overly separated. That’s where speaker emulation software comes in.

Tools like Sonarworks SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring Add-on or Raising Jake Cans2Cones simulate the experience of listening to speakers in a real acoustic environment, directly through your headphones. These platforms create virtual rooms, adding subtle spatial cues and crossfeed, blending the left and right channels slightly to mimic how sound behaves in physical space. The result? A more natural, immersive soundstage that helps you make better mix decisions.

Some software goes even further, letting you audition your mix on different simulated systems. You can instantly check how your track might sound on a club PA, car stereo, or Bluetooth speaker, without ever leaving your desk. This helps bridge the gap between headphone mixing and real-world playback.

While speaker emulation isn’t essential, it can improve your ability to judge space, depth, and mix translation.

7. Be careful with stereo image

Stereo imaging on headphones is deceptive. Because sound is delivered directly to each ear without any natural room reflections or speaker bleed, instruments can feel overly separated. Centre-panned sounds may sit uncomfortably “inside” your head, while hard-panned elements can feel detached from the rest of the mix.

This hyper-wide presentation makes it tempting to spread instruments across the stereo field to create space. But what sounds wide and clean on headphones may feel unbalanced or disjointed on speakers. Hard panning often doesn’t translate well, especially in environments like cars or mono playback systems.

To keep your stereo image natural and focused, avoid extreme panning. Keep critical elements like vocals, kick, bass, and snares in the centre, where they provide a stable core to your mix. Instruments like guitars or pads can be spread wider, but do so with care.

You can also use crossfeed simulation plugins to soften the headphone stereo effect.

8. Take breaks and avoid ear fatigue

Mixing on headphones can wear out your ears faster than you think. With the drivers sitting just millimetres from your eardrums, prolonged exposure to high volumes can lead to quick fatigue, poor decision-making, and even long-term hearing damage.

While ear fatigue can happen with speakers too, it’s much more intense with headphones due to the close proximity and lack of natural air movement. Loud listening might feel more immersive, but it often tricks your brain into thinking the mix sounds better than it really does. This “louder is better” illusion can lead to unbalanced mixes that don’t translate well.

The solution? Keep your volume in check. Mixing at lower levels helps you hear your mix more objectively and avoids the false perception that louder is better. It also reduces the risk of long-term hearing damage.

Make sure you’re taking regular breaks, especially during longer sessions. Step away from your mix every 30 – 40 minutes, even just for a few minutes, to let your ears reset. If you start to notice your mix decisions feeling uncertain, it’s a sign to pause.

Your ears are your most valuable asset. Protect them, and they’ll serve you well for years to come.

9. Use references

When you’re mixing on headphones, reference tracks are your secret weapon. They give you something solid to measure your mix against, especially useful when you’re working on unfamiliar gear or trying to stay objective after hours of tweaking.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking your track sounds ready to go, only to realise later that the bass is too heavy or the vocal is buried in the mix. That’s where references come in. Pick a few well-mixed tracks you love in a similar style or genre, and reference and compare them while you mix.

As you mix, flip between your track and the reference at a similar volume. Listen for balance; are your highs too sharp? Is your low-end holding up? Are your vocals sitting where they should? It’s not about copying the reference, just using it to keep your mix grounded.

You don’t need any fancy plugins, just drop a couple of your favourites into your session and A/B as you go. It’s a simple trick, but it keeps you on track and helps your mix hold its own when it leaves your headphones.

10. Check your mix across multiple systems

Even the best headphones in the world can’t tell you everything. That’s why it’s essential to check your mix on a range of playback systems before calling it finished. People will hear your music through all sorts of gear, be it Bluetooth speakers, car stereos, laptops, or even phone speakers, so your mix needs to hold up across the board.

Once you have a mix you’re happy with on headphones, test it in as many real-world environments as possible. Switch between your phone, your laptop, your car stereo, and any other setup you have access to. Each system will reveal different details; some may highlight too much bass, others might bury your vocals.

11. Don’t mix in solo

It’s tempting to solo a track and tweak it until it sounds perfect, but that’s rarely how music is heard. In the real world, listeners experience your mix as a complete picture, not a collection of isolated parts. That’s why it’s important to make most of your mix decisions in context.

Soloing can be useful for spotting clicks, EQ clashes, or specific problem areas, but it shouldn’t be your main tool for shaping the sound.

A vocal might sound crisp and detailed on its own, but once you bring the drums, bass, and guitars back in, that same vocal could feel too sharp or buried. What works in solo often doesn’t work in the mix.

Instead, adjust levels, EQ, and effects while the full mix is playing. This helps you make decisions that serve the overall sound, rather than perfecting individual parts at the expense of the whole. If you do use solo, keep it brief – just long enough to identify the issue, then flip back to the full mix.

FAQs

Is it okay to mix on headphones?

Mixing on headphones is okay when using high-quality, open-back headphones that provide a flat frequency response. They isolate intricate details in your mix and are a practical option in untreated studios. Many professional engineers, including Andy Scheps, rely on them for precision and convenience.

Can I use normal headphones for mixing?

Mixing with normal headphones is not recommended as they colour the frequency response with enhanced bass and treble, leading to inaccurate mixing. Studio-grade open-back headphones are designed for transparency, giving a more neutral and realistic soundstage for maximum accuracy.

What volume should I mix at with headphones?

Mixing at moderate volumes with headphones is crucial to avoid ear fatigue and hearing damage. Listening too loudly can distort your perception and lead to poor mix choices. Aim for a comfortable listening level and take regular breaks to maintain accuracy during long mixing sessions.

Final thoughts

With the right approach, mixing on headphones can be just as effective as mixing on speakers. From choosing the right headphones and calibration tools to managing stereo width, ear fatigue and reference tracks, these top tips will help you create mixes that translate across any system, whether it’s a phone speaker, car stereo, or club PA.