George Brock-Nannestad wrote
S. S. Stevens
described this as early as 1948. ...
This explains a lot of things, such as perceived distortion and Dave's
observation.
I was fortunate enough to learn this in a Music Psychology course I took
at Michigan State University during the mid '60s. Some of my friends and I
used to tune vocals using the headphone mix.
My recent discovery is how much headphones also screw up dynamics
especially if the performers are listening to themselves and or the
backing tracks through a compressor. Playing and singing to an acoustic
rather than an electronic balance makes a huge difference.
It has unfortunately become very common to only hire an experienced
recording engineer for the final mix. This is a practice that's selling
lots of studio time and lots of recording gear as people try to figure out
what's wrong with their recordings but it's also killing the quality of
the music.
--
Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com