And I will definitely be purchasing a license when my demo period has expired. I wasn't even completely aware I had this problem until I was prompted to check out Sonar Works, so thank you. Applying the SonarWorks made such a distinct improvement, made my cans sound SO much better, 10x smoother and I can trust they are WAY more flat and therefore more trustworthy for making eq/tonal balance decisions while mixing. I was unnecessarily scooping tons of 6-10k out of my cymbals and pretty much everything due to mixing on my cans. ALSO, and I kid you not, in my original mixes (after looking at them in retrospect with a frequency analyzer) there was literally a notch at about 8k, which just so happens to be the frequency where there's a HUGE boost in the perceived response on my DT 880s. On those mixes, it took a TON of checking and referencing on different systems to get the low end in my kick right, I always had it too loud at first, now I know it is because my cans lack proper low end response. It also improved the low end response, both MAJOR problems mixing on my cans that manifested itself in an incredibly frustrating mix experience I had a number of months ago mixing my band's album. After doing some research and discovering that all headphones have incredibly uneven perceived frequency responses due to our ear canals resonating and boosting especially high end frequencies (among other things), and then applying the sonarworks correction eq, I can definitely HEAR the huge peak in my cans.
Luckily my cans (beyerdynamic dt 880) were on the list of headphones that they provide an average eq curve for, so I was able to download the free trial and test it out. It was actually comment about how good SonarWorks sounded that led me to give it a second look. I have to thank real quick, I hadn't heard of Sonar Works before, and I admit I was skeptical when I first checked it out. A bit of CanOpener on hard-panned sounds could help improve the listening experience for consumers who use headphones. I have to say I always take slight issue with people saying that you should always monitor on speakers, because not all people will listen to the final product on speakers, so I don't think it pays to neglect the effect that this has on the headphone soundstage.
I feel like putting a bit of CanOpener on hard-panned sources in a mix (and including it in mixdown) can help lift the sound away from the listener's ears a little bit, and with the subtlety of the software meaning it hopefully wont "mess up" the experience of listening with speakers too much. Like I'm being whispered into each ear, attacking me from both sides. In your opinion, do you think it makes any sense to use CanOpener as an effect for mixing, rather than for monitoring? My issue with a lot of music is that the hard-panned sounds in LCR mixes sound really unnatural and when listening on headphones, and since my (and probably a lot of people's) primary listening is done on headphones, I always feel disappointed with LCR music.