Best open-ear headphones for overdubbing (NOT for mixing)

[mhschmieder]

Aha, your final line is the "cue" (no pun intended).

I had always assumed CueMix was another place to change the recording levels. I didn't realise it is independent of that. That's probably all I need to be doing then. Much simpler (and more flexible) than setting up a special headphone mix in Digital Performer!

Your setup is the same as mine otherwise; except I no longer use the 828 front panel inputs as I've noticed a 400% improvement in signal quality when I go from the U5 to the True Precision 8 mic/line amp and then into the back panel of the 828 instead.

[mhschmieder]

That did the trick. Not as good of course as open ear headphones, but for my own use I prefer this approach as it's closer to what happens when I'm in a professional studio as a bassist and someone else is doing the recording.

I may still need open-back headphones for clients who aren't comfortable even with good monitoring as their main or sole source of hearing what they're doing (especially vocalists), but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, as my main priority right now is completing a collection of basic yet high quality effects and mastering plug-ins.

I definitely found the 896 more intuitive and more analog-like, but now that I see that CueMix is really separate from Digital Performer's audio settings, I realise that it is compensating for the lack of knobs and direct control on the 828 mk II's front panel (yes, you can do it via menus, but who wants to bother with all of that?). I am able to get an adequate balance and adequate monitoring volume levels with the CueMix sliders, while maintaining an ideal recording level and preserving existing mix settings within Digital Performer. That's all I really wanted.

[Peckerwood]

I agree 100% about micing the amp. I allways record bass guitar direct on one track and with a mic on the amp on a different track. You can allways end up using one or the other in the final mix but I allways end up using both.