COURSE OUTLINE

Class 1: Mixing With Headphones

Headphones offer many advantages over speakers but also come with inherent issues that must be understood to be an effective tool for mixing. This class starts with the basics.

1. Headphone History & My Experience With Headphones
2. Types of Headphones
3. Impedance and Sensitivity
4. Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF)
5. Assessing Your Headphones

Class 2: Headphone Software

This class wades through the available headphone enhancement software options and how to integrate them into your mixing workflow.

1. Headphone EQ Calibration Software
2. Basic Binaural Compensation Software
3. Mix Room Simulation Software
4. Monitor Simulation Software
5. Strategies for Integrating Headphone Software
6. Bonus Content Reviews: Re-Head, CanOpener, Waves NX, Abbey Road Studio 3, Ocean Way Nashville, CLA NX, Immerseby Embody, dSONIQ Realphones, dearVR Monitor

Class 3: Listening Exercises for Headphones

It's not enough to just listen to commercial productions on your headphones, you must become consciously aware of imaging, depth and separation characteristics. Regardless of your headphone model, understanding them with the most intimate detail is essential to making good mixing decisions.

1. The Sound Field Inversion Principle of Headphones
2. The Headphone Monitoring Playlist
3. Frequency Response Characteristics
4. Compression Characteristics
5. Depth and Space Characteristics
6. Integrating Headphone Software

Class 4: The Primary Sound Field (Levels and Panning)

This class will begin the mixing process by teaching you how to translate level and pan decisions into headphones.

1. Headphone Tuning Exercise 1: Sound Field Perception
2. Levels and the Front-Back Sound Field
3. Panning and Width Adjustments
4. Integrating Monitoring Software
5. Balancing Adjustments Between Headphones and Speakers

Class 5: Frequency Balancing for Headphones (Equalization)

Frequency balancing is perhaps the most difficult technique to master in headphones. The proximity of the drivers to our ear drums creates a false sense of density particularly in the lower frequency spectrum. This class will focus on those issues and how it affects the perception of the entire frequency spectrum.

1. Headphone Tuning Exercise 2: Frequency Balance and Height Perception
2. The Bottom Up Approach to Equalization in Headphones
3. Low and Low Mid Frequency Equalization Techniques
4. Midrange Equalization Techniques for Localization
5. Balancing the High Frequency Spectrum

Class 6: Density and Imaging Quality (Compression)

Density and imaging characteristics in headphones translate differently than they do through speakers. This class will focus on those differences and how to make your mix translate to both worlds.

1. Headphone Tuning Exercise 3: Density and Imaging Perception
2. Primary Sound Field Placement with Compression
3. Stabilizing Compression Techniques
4. Parallel Compression Techniques
5. Saturation Techniques for Density and Imaging

Class 7: Creating Space in Headphones (ER, Reverb and Effects)

Where speakers set a sense of space that is mostly in front of you, headphones set the listener in the center of the experience of space. Understanding the Sound Field Inversion Principle is critical to creating space with early reflections, reverb and effects.

1. Space and the Sound Field Inversion Principle
2. Headphone Tuning Exercise 4: The Perception of Space
3. Early Reflections in Headphones (Creating Space)
4. Reverb in Headphones (Filling the Space)
5. Delay Effects in Headphones
6. Immersive Enhancements for Headphones

Class 8: Headphone - Speaker Compatibility Adjustments

This class will focus on the adjustments and techniques necessary to make your headphone mix translate effectively to speakers. If you are not working with physical monitors, the integration of control room emulating software is critical to making adjustments.

1. Headphone Tuning Exercise 5: Control Room Software Monitoring
2. Selecting Your Control Room and Speaker Setup
3. Translating Level and Pan Settings
4. Translating Equalization Settings
5. Translating Compression Settings
6. Translating ER, Reverb and Effect Settings
7. Checking Against Alternate Monitor Setups

Class 9: The Automation Process in Headphones

Automation is the process of shaping the flow of the production from top to end. The objectives are the same for speakers or headphones but bridging the translation between the two mediums is critical for compatibility.

1. Headphone Tuning Exercise 6: Automation in Headphones
2. Automation for Foundational Tracks
3. Automation for Sectional Tracks
4. Automation for Transitional Tracks
5. Automation for Lead Instruments
6. Automation for Effects

Class 10: Finishing the Mix with Headphones

The final 'glue' for any mix resides in the processing of mix stems and the mix buss. Integrating Headphone and Control Room Monitoring into the process is necessary to finish the process. This class will focus on that integration and what adjustments are necessary to bridge the gap.

1. Mix Stem and Mix Buss Processing Defined
2. Harmonic Processing
3. Compression
4. Equalization
5. Using Maximizers
6. Final Compatibility Checks
7. Headphone Mixing Course Wrapup