Is it possible to mix down at lower volumes?

[Dingleberries]

ATM I'm living in an apartment with relatively thin walls, and therefore need to keep things turned down. Is it possible to do a quality mix down without being very loud? I'll be recording and monitoring through headphones, but I know mixing through headphones is generally a bad idea. Until I move, can I get away with mixing at relatively low volumes? I'm using Mackie MR824-8" monitors, which doesn't help the noise level issues, but I chose these for decent bass representation. any input would be greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance.

 

[rickenbacker198]

I find that your bass and treble levels as well as overall rhythm track balances are hard to set mixing quietly.
To my ears things don’t start to even out until around 80dB.

For getting individual tracks & vocals to sound great it doesn’t seem to matter.

It is really hard to set levels from headphones alone.
Especially when your starting out.
In your situation I’d recommend getting something like Waves NX ( there are other similar systems)
This roughly simulates what you hear in your headphones to be like monitors in a room.

Something that many pros still do is check levels in the car.
This is extremely useful.
After I’m done working on a mix to the point I think it sounds decent I put a mp3 mix down up
On google drive. Then I can listen in the truck on the way to work the next morning.
I make notes , then next time I’m in the studio I listen again to see if I agree with the notes I wrote.

Usually its back and forth this way for a few days until I’m happy overall.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dingleberries]

I find that your bass and treble levels as well as overall rhythm track balances are hard to set mixing quietly.
To my ears things don’t start to even out until around 80dB.

For getting individual tracks & vocals to sound great it doesn’t seem to matter.

It is really hard to set levels from headphones alone.
Especially when your starting out.
In your situation I’d recommend getting something like Waves NX ( there are other similar systems)
This roughly simulates what you hear in your headphones to be like monitors in a room.

Something that many pros still do is check levels in the car.
This is extremely useful.
After I’m done working on a mix to the point I think it sounds decent I put a mp3 mix down up
On google drive. Then I can listen in the truck on the way to work the next morning.
I make notes , then next time I’m in the studio I listen again to see if I agree with the notes I wrote.

Usually its back and forth this way for a few days until I’m happy overall.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the feedback, I've never heard of the Waves NX, I'll check it out.

 

[Dingleberries]

Here's a picture of my setup so far:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/my7k38z9x1znd8u/029.MOV?dl=0

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Short answer: No

There are simulators... but still not ideal.

The playback in your car works... if you have decent speakers/amps/wiring... and your car doesn't rattle like a box of tacks from the bass. Also check playback on your home stereo... if you have a decent setup, as that is what the end consumer will most likely be using.

 

[Dingleberries]

Short answer: No

There are simulators... but still not ideal.

The playback in your car works... if you have decent speakers/amps/wiring... and your car doesn't rattle like a box of tacks from the bass. Also check playback on your home stereo... if you have a decent setup, as that is what the end consumer will most likely be using.

Thank you for the honest feedback, that's pretty much what I expected. At most, I'm just hoping to be able to do a little better than using headphones alone.