The first video in season 3 clearly instructs on how, when & why to use headphones.

He also touches on the importance of matching headphones to the device they are being attached to.

Another important consideration is closed vs open back vs semi-open headphone designs.

 

This is a very informative video for everybody trying to master music. I watched it just the other day. iZotope also has great PDF articles about various things regarding music. Check their website, and their Youtube channel. Lots of great videos.

The only thing to keep in mind is that you can absolutely do all of that without having to use any of the iZotope plugins. I'm not saying their plugins are bad. On the contrary, I think they're great. Just... the market is saturated with loads of great plugins.

 

Super quick Q: does 1/8 vs 1/4 inch (male) jack really tells anything about the (quality of) headphones?

I don't final-mix/master my music. But I use "popular" brands among engineers.. and they manly have 1/8" with 1/4" adapters

Edit: listened again, and he said "interface connectors". That makes more sense, still a bit confusing..

 

Have to agree about their software. Not my first choice for sure. Their info regarding audio & production is priceless.

 

As he stated in the video, 1/8" denotes lower power output devices connecting low impedance headphones which, in the majority of cases will not allow for quality listening during mixing & mastering. The better solution is to use good to high quality DAC rather than the 1/8" headphone output from your computer or device.

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2021