I recently heard a conversation between Andrew Scheps and Fab Dupont about mixing in headphones.

Andrew uses the industry standard (sub-$100) Sony MDR-7506. He says he’s been using them for the last couple decades and the sound has stayed consistent. When they wear out, they are easy to replace.

Fab Dupont travels with high end headphones plus a little Bose speaker that provides an alternative perspective on the road. From research it looks like it’s a Bose Soundlink Mini ii.

I tracked down some other interviews with Andrew Scheps, and the benefits make sense. If you work in changing environments because of travel, even if you’re working in studios, you don’t know how to gauge the frequency response of the speakers and rooms that you might be in. This is true, even if they are great room and speakers.

On top of that, mix engineers are sometimes in situations where it would benefit them to be able to work during downtime on the road, from home, or in another non-studio context. This is where knowing a set of headphones is a huge advantage. As long as you’re in a space that is relatively free of loud background noise, you’ll be able to get the exact same reference sound in your headphones as you would in the studio using those same headphones.

Makes sense to me.