Editing Post-Production Sound with Headphones

BobbyMurcerFan

BobbyMurcerFan

Well-known member
I know this is considered a major faux pas. I've read Jay Rose's books on audio recording and post-production and other authoritative writers who say "Don't use headphones for editing."

But they ALL also say don't edit in an untreated room. And that's my dilemma: I can't make major room modifications where I'm living. I rent a room from a family; so the room I live in, is the room I sleep in, and is the room I will be editing and doing post sound in.

So what's the use of spending $1k on a pair of near-field monitors if I can't treat the room? (I know JBL's LSR4300 Series claims to solve room acoustics, but every review say they fall short of this lofty goal.) To truly make a room acoustically acceptable for post-production is expensive and requires expert help.

Which leads me back to the idea of editing using headphones. Not ideal, but is it really any worse than editing with studio monitors in an acoustically messy room?

In my situation, using headphones for editing seems like an alterative worth exploring.

Any suggestions?
 
What are you do going to do?
Documentary? Feature? Shorts? (Music vids :cool:)?
Anyways, I always double check (actually tripple...) mixes on both headphones and nearfields (and a third time on a standart TV set...) and I´d rather trust my headphones to be honest...
One thing being probably problematic are low frequencies, I can´t imagen LOTR battle scenes being mixed on headphones:)
If you have some money to spend, look into the Ultrasone Pro Line, they get some good reviews from various places...
 
Headphones, while tiring are not particularly bad for editing, many dialog editors prefer them. Head phones are BAD for mixing. Better headphones won't help much with the mixing because it's the difference between having the speakers a 1/2 inch from your ear and having them a few feet or more. There are boxes like "teatrephone" from Lake that simulate an acoustic space in headphones. They were designed for premixing and work a lot better than straight headphones but I haven't tested how well it translates.
 
I should have said editing AND MIXING. My bad.

The project is an on-location, talking-head interview documentary w/ video and sound recorded to the camera in HDV.

There is the possibility of a 24bit double recorder, but I'm not yet convinced it's worth the added trouble and expense. Still, it may be added.

Thanks guys!
 
It actually isn't that hard to create some DIY temporary treatment for rooms you can't permenantly alter. Stategically placed Owen Cordings 703 baffles can majorly improve your work space. You won't have a $200,000 studio but a room with a bit of basic treatment will be 100% better then headphones.

There are on-lines guides for this if google around.

Good luck
 
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