I’m having an interesting problem where I pan any instrument in cubase, it sounds like a very incremental difference: that’s fine by me if that’s how it sounds across different devices, but it doesn’t. When I listen to my music on my phone with my wireless earbuds, things I panned to the left or right are extremely panned so, you can’t not notice it. It sounds much better, but sometimes I realize I panned things a bit too much one way or the other now that it’s noticeable. Is there a setting or something I’m missing on cubase that makes the panning more noticeable? Is it the difference between wired headset that I’m using for cubase and bluetooth earbuds, or the difference from computer to phone?
Hi @gregorybyzwoods ,
all devices come with a different stereo image & sound stage depending on your headphone model. The stereo image is related to the precision, depth, and spatial accuracy with which sounds are placed across the left-right soundscape. Cheap devices tend to muddy things up. Moreover, things like impedance or the quality of the amp supplying the device play an important role.
Usually, the stereo image is bigger or more exaggerated on headphones and ear buds compared to a mix that you monitor on speakers (it doesn’t matter in your case, I know).
Also, if you are listening to an mp3 on your phone while comparing it to a 24bit/48kHz mix in Cubase you will notice a difference, too.
To sum up: There is no secret setting in Cubase you are missing out on. Always check your mixes on multiple devices and see how they translate. Get used to a main system (be it headphones or monitors) and get to know its strengths and weaknessess with regard to translation. That’s the way to do it
Ah I see, that makes sense: I do have a pretty good pair of headphones, but they’re more listening instead of studio headphones: I’ll have to check out my other options sometime to improve my experience a little bit better. Thanks anyway!
If I were you and I would mix on headphones alone I would buy one decent pair of headphones within my budget. I’d check if my audiointerface can handle that model impedence wise or else I would also buy a reasonable priced headphone amp.
Afterwards, I would throw my mixes into every possible device (different speakers, car, etc) and see how it tranlates. Comparing a mix to reference tracks helps a lot, too.
The biggest difference is that headphones for regular listening are designed to flatter a broad range of music. So their response curves aren’t flat. Where headphones designed for critical audio listening are designed to play the audio as accurately as possible so you can hear and fix any problems.
Headphones are never flat, no matter what model in use. Frequency response changes with different ears already.
It is a personal thing with headphones.
@gregorybyzwoods if you feel comfortable with your listening headphones give them a try on the production side. You are used to them already.
Absolutly! Some like to apply a Harman curve, others don’t. Some like AKG and hate Sennheiser and the other way round. Others use planar headphones only.
However, as @raino pointed out, you want to pick a model that provides as much details as possible for mixing and mastering tasks. Otherwise you will not be able to make informed decisions because you won’t hear enough crucial details.
Starting at 300-500 € and above, the line between Studio und Hifi headphones becomes blurry. At the end of the day, it all boils down to personal preferences. Moreover, each headphones comes with a set of strengths and weaknesses. If I were new to the game I would compare a couple of reasonable priced headphones that have been around in professional studios for a while now and pick the one that I like best.
You will learn along the way and probably buy another pair at some point.
Good news. Nowadays, you can get decent headphones for much less compared to 2010ish. Same applies for studio monitors.
