Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Comments
Thank you for your reply, that’s a good point, so far I’ve got one set of headphones, two sets of different size monitors, and earbuds.
Apple regular earbuds and Audio Technica ATH M50X BT
The main problem with headphones is that you can miss issues with your stereo field. There are a bunch of programs that are supposed to fix this, but I don't know any of them are hugely successful.
Yes you should always check your mix on speakers/monitors as well. I usually find that reverb sounds markedly different on speakers compared to headphones, and the overall mix also always sounds less dense and full on speakers.
Recently got my first set of IEM's - a pair of bargain bucket priced (£10) KZ ZSN's, really just out of interest after having read some decent reviews. Compared to all of the buds & pods ( which for some reason never stay in my ears for long ) I've tried, I was taken aback that someone managed to engineer some relatively decent bass out of something so diminutive. Obviously nowhere near the quality of a good set of over ears but impressive nevertheless. I had to switch the tips about for best fit & fiddle a bit to get the optimum angle for best sound, also noticeably improved after a bit of burn in time & remarkably comfortable to wear. Clearly not top of the range but maybe worth a punt if you're thinking of trying out IEM's, small expenditure for a decent extra set.
At this point, I’m just wondering about powering 300ohm headphones with my Focusrite Clarett 2 Pre USB-C. The online information from Focusrite claims they can power up to 600ohms, but my question is can it do it good enough?
Yes it should be fine, I've powered 300ohm headphones from a Scarlett 2i4 with no issues.
Love my Beyer Dynamic headphones. Have both the DT770 & DT990 Pro's with the 990s just edging it in both sound and comfort.
The Sony MDR-V6 are pretty good, but have high sibilance which gets my Misophonia raging.
Thank you very much for your reply, I didn’t figure that I spent all that money for nothing.
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it!
The Beyerdynamic DT250 are also worth looking at. Same price range as DT770 and smaller profile.
The only downside is the extremely long coiled and fixed cable.
Thank you for your reply, that’s exactly what came with my AT ATH-M50x’s.
Not for mixing but just some super cheap and great headphones. Superlux HD-681 Evo ultimate buid and sound comparable to headphone in the $500 range and cost only $30 Just take a look at the reviews and see how bizarre good they are. Only problem they really are huge.
btw there's really some great headphones and earbuds made in China for prices that will shock all Western consumers.
Thank you, I’ll check them out.
Takstar Pro 80 & Samson SR950's are also worth a look for cheaper options that audibly outshine their price tags
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/samson-sr950.16125/reviews
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/takstar-pro-80.14845/reviews
Thank you very much for your recommendations, I was not aware of either of those, but will check out some reviews.
I tried the Samson SR950 and found the highs to high
Trackstar never tried that brand, but looks interesting and curious to try. Although price is 2x as much as the Superlux. For that price you can also find 2nd Beyer Dynamics DT770 with some luck ofcourse
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Hey! there's no such thing as a used pair of headphones. We prefer the term 'pre-burnt-in'
Whatever is hyped in your monitor environment will be deficient in a flat listening environment. Midrange unevenness is more critical than almost anything else. Vocals, guitars, stings, pianos, synths, snare drums, all can sound very different with even minor dB fluctuations in repro.
I concur, I pay far more attention to eq’ing and mixing before I go any further on a project. My ears have improved over time, so I’m learning to eq at the sources first, such as tracks inside my Maschine MK3. It’s far easier to mix it right inside of Maschine, before I import it into a project.
Although it will take me a very long time to save up, I’m seriously considering waiting until I can afford the Sennheiser HD 800S’s. They’ve been my dream headphones forever, and I believe it just may be worth the extra time and money. I’m using the Focusrite Clarett 2 Pre USB-C audio interface, it’s it’s said to be able to drive up to 600ohm headphones, but my main concern is “ can it drive a pair of 300ohm headphones well”?
Mixing on headphones isn't easy. I wouldn't do it without using software like CanOpener Studio + Sonarworks, which means I'd never do it "for real" on my iOS device without having a PC intermediary. That's me, though.
I bought the DT 880 Pros 250 Ohm cans to replace my ATH M50s (running off my Focusrite 6i6v2, which has just enough juice to power them without needing to spend a bunch more money on a dedicated headphone amp) - knowing I'd be using the software to help tame the significant high frequency bump and reduced/masked low frequencies. They're very bright and a little lacking in bass without correction. WITH correction they sound freaking amazing. I wanted semi-open to help with opening the soundstage over fully closed, plus they're lighter.
I'd probably look at Sennheiser first if I wasn't using correction.
I wouldn't worry about the Clarett powering the headphones up to 300ohms.
Thank you very much for the reply, and software recommendations, I appreciate it!
You get speakers or headphones that color things as little as possible and get to know the sonic profile of well-regarded mixes and use them as a reference until you have reliable chops.
@espiegel123, well said, but you cannot determine how someone listens... so is it necessarily a kind of average? When I recently had cataract surgery the doc implanted a lens that would see well enough near and far... as opposed to a lens that was either great at one but useless for the other. Is that a good analogy?
Probably has been said already, but the Senn HD6xx or HD58x (very similar)
I’m interested in these Shure SRH1840 open backs, but over $600 CAD is a lot to swallow for some headphones.
A few things:
being good at engineering and mixing takes time and patience to learn (a lot of hours). that is why decent engineers get paid well. Spend time on a good studio with a good engineer and you really realize that it is as hard to learn to do well as playing an instrument
I am not sure what you mean by "you cannot determine how one listens".
the reason for training your ears on some references that are generally accepted as gold standards is that it gives you something to aim at that has been well-tested and works for a broad spectrum of listeners.
When mixing for a broad spectrum of listening environments, it will probably mean that it doesn't sound as good on your favorite setup as if you had optimized for it but it will sound good on a wider variety of setups.
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@espiegel123, I just meant you can’t know what someone will be listening on. You seem to be avoiding saying you go for an average.... but that sounds like what you are describing. Am I missing something?