You can mix on headphones, and many professionals do, as long as you know your headphones well and check the mix on other systems before you call it done. Fab Dupont uses AirPods Pro 2 with noise cancellation off as a portable reality check and always listens again the morning after. Andrew Scheps mixes a lot on headphones because, in his words, "they sound the same everywhere."
Key takeaways
- Know one pair deeply. Familiarity matters more than price.
- Check translation on purpose: speakers, headphones, earbuds, car, phone.
- AirPods Pro 2 with noise cancellation off are Fab Dupont's go-to portable check.
- Listen the next morning. Fab never delivers a mix the same day.
- Room-simulation plugins are a personal choice. Fab and Scheps don't use them, but Scheps says they have gotten really good.
- Learn two songs everywhere so every system you meet has a reference.
Can you mix on headphones?
Yes. Headphones take your room out of the equation, which is a big advantage in an untreated space, and a pair you know well goes everywhere with you. Andrew Scheps, award-winning mixer and Campus mentor (Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, Red Hot Chili Peppers), has been mixing a lot on headphones for years:
"One of the things I love about headphones is they sound the same everywhere." — Andrew Scheps
He still checks on speakers, in a room he treated himself: "it used to be a bedroom. And I have carpets hanging on the wall." The lesson isn't to pick headphones or speakers. It's to know what each one tells you.
Headphones do present stereo width, panning and low end differently from speakers, so decisions about reverb depth, wide elements and sub-bass deserve a second opinion on another system.
Can you check a mix on AirPods?
Yes, and Fab Dupont, award-winning producer, engineer and Campus mentor (David Crosby, André 3000, Bad Bunny), recommends it. His trick is simple: "Turn the noise cancellation off." With noise cancellation off, he calls AirPods Pro 2 the best portable monitoring system you can have to check your stuff on in real life.
Earbuds are worth checking on for a practical reason: they're how a lot of people actually hear music. If the vocal disappears or the low end vanishes on AirPods, many of your listeners will hear exactly that.
- Noise cancellation off, so you hear the earbuds, not their processing.
- Fixed, moderate volume. Fab keeps his under half volume.
- Same check every time, so you learn how a good mix sounds on them.
How do you check that a mix translates?
Play it on several systems you know, compare it with a reference you know on those same systems, and note what changes. A good routine looks like this:
- Main monitoring: your speakers or main headphones, at your usual level.
- A second, different system: headphones if you mix on speakers, speakers if you mix on headphones.
- Earbuds, noise cancellation off.
- A real-world system: car, laptop, phone speaker.
- The same reference track on each, so you judge the difference, not the system.
Fab describes a friend mixing in a well-treated room at his studio who, every three hours, takes his AirPods Pro 2 and listens to the mix while walking around the block, then comes back and tweaks. "Perspective is super key," Fab says.
What each system tells you
| System | Good for checking | Be careful with |
|---|---|---|
| Studio monitors | Overall balance, depth, low end in a room | Room problems in untreated spaces |
| Headphones | Detail, edits, noise, consistency anywhere | Stereo width and reverb amount |
| Earbuds (noise cancellation off) | Vocal level, real-world balance | Very low bass |
| Car or phone speaker | Whether the main elements survive | Fine tonal decisions |
Why should you listen to a mix the next morning?
Because after hours on a mix you hear what you worked on, not what's there. Fab never delivers a mix the same day:
"I deliver a mix the morning after." — Fab Dupont
He listens on his AirPods over his first coffee, without "all the accumulated [...] prejudice of having spent the whole day on it." The result is fast: "within eight seconds, I'm like, everything that I missed the day before hits me and that's perspective."
If a deadline doesn't allow a night's sleep, a real break, a walk or another task, then a fresh listen on a different system gets you part of the way.
Should you use headphone room-simulation or correction plugins?
It's a personal choice. Room-simulation plugins try to make headphones sound like speakers in a room. Correction curves flatten a headphone's frequency response.
- Room simulation: Fab can't work with it; he's very sensitive to phase and finds the effect tiring. He recommends listening to plain headphones and correcting them with EQ if needed, and sees simulation as mainly relevant for Atmos. Scheps doesn't use it either, but says "it's only in the last sort of five years [...] that all those listening environment plugins have gotten really good," and that they let you "be anywhere and feel like you're in a room in front of some speakers."
- Correction EQ: Fab uses small curves, for example removing about three quarters of a dB around 60 Hz on his AirPods. His rules: "Make sure it's a good quality EQ. Make sure that you don't go insane on the curve."
Whatever you choose, keep it the same every session so your ears learn it.
How do you learn what a good mix sounds like on every system?
Build personal references. Fab's advice:
"Pick two songs of two different styles that you love, and that you'll be able to listen to everywhere." — Fab Dupont
Put them on your phone and play them in your car, on other people's headphones, in friends' studios, in a club if you can. Over time you learn how those songs behave everywhere, and you can tune your ears to any system in seconds. More on this in how to use reference tracks for mixing.
Practice exercise: a 15-minute translation check
- Choose your two reference songs and one mix of your own.
- Play a reference, then your mix, on your main system at your usual level.
- Repeat on earbuds with noise cancellation off, then on a phone or car speaker.
- On each system, write one line: what's louder, quieter, brighter or duller than on the reference.
- Fix only the issues that appear on two or more systems, then check again the next morning.
Frequently asked questions about mixing on headphones
Are headphones or speakers better for mixing?
Neither is better in every case. Speakers in a treated room show depth and low end in a space; headphones remove the room and sound the same everywhere. Many engineers use both and check translation on several systems.
Which AirPods does Fab Dupont use to check mixes?
AirPods Pro 2, with noise cancellation turned off.
Can I mix only on headphones?
You can, if you know them very well and check on other systems. Pay extra attention to stereo width, reverb amount and low end, which headphones present differently from speakers.
How loud should I listen on headphones?
At a fixed, moderate level. Fab keeps his AirPods under half volume and watches the phone's hearing indicator. See what volume should you mix at.
Fab Dupont and Andrew Scheps answer these monitoring questions in their info sessions, both free on Campus Replays. To build the listening skills behind them, How To Listen with Fab Dupont is an on-demand course with exercises, answer keys, a teaching assistant, lifetime access and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
