Drums sound good on monitors but not on headphones ?

[billybuxton]

Hi
Iv just started making a tune and i thought id just check what it sounds like on my headphones and it sounds shit
Im rolling on KRK R8s and Sennhieser hd25s but my room is proper small so the headphones are probably more accurate

Is it a waste of time making tunes in such a shit sounding room ?
Thanks

[ChadDub]

I think it's because you can hear a lot more low end on your RP8s than you can on your headphones. I'm in the same situation, although my headphones suck (Sony V-150).

It's probably best to just swap back and forth because you can hear really REALLY small things on headphones that you can't hear on anything else.

[komanderkin]

not unusual at all. an important aspect of mixing is making a tune sound good on various systems. many professional studios have multiple sets of monitors set up, some of which are simple generic speakers.

what helps to get more confident while mixing in your own room is using a set of reference mixes, other peoples tunes that you rate. by comparing your mix to these as you work, you'll now where you're standing even if you don't have to worlds greatest mixing room.

[DoWork]

Komanderkin is all over it. Reference mixes. Its a must until you're like a genius or something. It doesn't even take long, just pop over into a released track that is similar to yours, and pop back to yours, do it a few times, and you'll see instantly what you're doing right, if anything .

[billybuxton]

Thanks guys

[MadSci]

you can even take this one step further and use a frequency analyzer to look at the differences of your track/drumloop and the reference. i do that sometimes because my room and speaker placement really colors the sound and will make me think a track is a banger in the room, but then it flops in other places. i try to get my frequencies to peak around the same levels as tracks i've heard in my room, played out, and at a friends house. that way i know i like the way it sounds everywhere.

[VirtualMark]

I think it's because you can hear a lot more low end on your RP8s than you can on your headphones. I'm in the same situation, although my headphones suck (Sony V-150).

It's probably best to just swap back and forth because you can hear really REALLY small things on headphones that you can't hear on anything else.

+1

i do this too, as quite often my headphones show details that i can't hear on my monitors. i also reference other commercial tunes, and i play my tunes on other systems to see what they sound like there.

[Ldizzy]

reference tracks. ur way to go.