Mixing on Headphones: A Serious Guide for Bedroom Producers

TL;DR

Mixing on headphones is absolutely viable in 2024 with the right tools: open-back headphones (Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro or Sennheiser HD 600), room simulation software (Sonarworks, Waves Nx, or dearVR Monitor), and regular reference checks on multiple playback systems.

Why Headphone Mixing Has a Bad Reputation (And Why It's Outdated)

Traditional mixing wisdom says headphones are for checking details, not for mixing entire tracks. The reasoning is sound: headphones present an artificially wide stereo image, lack the room interaction that speakers provide, and can cause frequency balance misjudgements because the sound bypasses room acoustics entirely.

But this advice was written for an era when the alternative was a well-treated studio with calibrated monitors. For the average bedroom producer in 2024, the choice isn't between headphones and a perfect monitoring environment — it's between headphones and untreated room reflections bouncing off walls, furniture, and windows.

An untreated room actively lies to you about what your mix sounds like. Bass frequencies build up in corners, creating phantom booms. Reflections cause comb filtering that makes mid-range decisions unreliable. In many cases, a good pair of headphones gives you a more accurate representation of your mix than monitors in a bad room.

Choosing the Right Headphones

Open-back headphones are essential for mixing. Closed-back models (like the ubiquitous Audio-Technica ATH-M50x) are great for tracking and casual listening, but their emphasized bass and intimate presentation makes them unreliable for mix decisions.

The Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (£120) is our top recommendation for budget-conscious producers. Flat, detailed, comfortable for long sessions, and revealing enough to expose problems in your mix. They're the industry standard for headphone mixing at this price point.

The Sennheiser HD 600 (£250) is the step up. Legendarily neutral, with a midrange that's almost clinical in its accuracy. If you can stretch the budget, they'll serve you for years — decades, potentially, given Sennheiser's replacement parts availability.

AKG K712 Pro (£200) offers the widest soundstage of any headphone in this range, which helps with stereo imaging decisions. The trade-off is slightly less bass accuracy than the competition.

Room Simulation Software: The Game Changer

The single biggest improvement to headphone mixing in recent years has been room simulation software. These tools use head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) to simulate the experience of listening to speakers in a room, complete with crossfeed (sound from one side reaching the opposite ear) and room reflections.

Sonarworks SoundID Reference (from £80) is the most comprehensive option. It includes both headphone calibration (correcting your specific headphones' frequency response) and studio simulation. The headphone calibration alone transforms the experience — it removes the colouration that every headphone introduces.

Waves Nx (£30) is the budget option. It provides convincing crossfeed and head-tracking (using your webcam or phone to track head movements), which dramatically reduces listener fatigue and improves spatial decisions.

dearVR Monitor (free version available) offers room simulation with customisable virtual speaker positions and room types. It's less polished than Sonarworks but the free tier makes it accessible to everyone.

Essential Headphone Mixing Rules

Even with room simulation, headphone mixing requires adjusted techniques. Here are the rules that'll keep your mixes translatable.

Mix at low volumes. Headphones deliver sound directly into your ears with zero loss, so you need much less volume than speakers. Mixing at moderate levels reduces fatigue and gives you more accurate low-end perception.

Take frequent breaks. Headphone listening fatigues your ears faster than speakers. The 20-20-20 rule works: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break, focus your eyes on something 20 feet away. Your ears will thank you.

Reference religiously. Keep a folder of reference tracks that you know sound good on every system. A/B your mix against these references regularly. If your bass feels right against the reference, it's probably right.

Check on multiple systems. Headphone mixes should be checked on at least your phone speaker, a bluetooth speaker, and car audio before being considered finished. The more playback systems you check, the more confident you can be that your mix translates.

Pan conservatively. Headphones exaggerate panning — a hard-panned element that sounds appropriate on headphones might be invisible on a phone speaker playing in mono. Keep important elements closer to centre and save extreme panning for effects and ear candy.