Monitoring the Mix: Speakers and Headphones

Nothing beats the experience of listening to an immersive mix on a properly tuned 7.1.4, 9.1.4 or even 13.1.6 monitor system, but statistics show that more than 90 percent of consumers will be listening through headphones, soundbars or two-channel playback systems. For the mix engineer, headphones have become much more than a tool to “check” a mix or keep an ear on the binaural version, they’ve become an integral part of the production process, from the initial mix on through the approvals. And with recent technology advances from Sony, Sennheiser, Apple and others, both mobile production and studio-based workflows are taking advantage and edging ever closer to providing an optimum consumer playback experience.