i'm starting to think i damaged my mixing phones. i need to recharge my mp3 player, but that's going to be the crux of testing today.

the playback from the computer seems to sound better through the other phones, which is a serious departure from previous testing.

if i can determine that this is true, i'm not sure where i go from there.

my mixing phones are very old sennheisers with very good specs. my walking phones are a newer sennheiser model with a noise-reduction filter. they're fine for sitting on the bus, but i can't use them to mix because of that filter. that just doesn't make any sense. yet, if it turns out that the old sennheisers sound poorly through the mp3 player then the reality is that i'm dealing with some serious degradation that is an absolute hard block.

i'll have to buy new phones before i can do any further mixes. which will mean that i'll have to put aside the next few months for reading, as i save up.

i'm not there yet, but it's pretty clear. and i suppose it's the obvious answer, in hindsight, as i tested everything else with little effect.

the only glimmer of hope is that there was so much variation in the output; that it did sound right from time to time.

i'll know in a few hours.

i can at least state with certainty that the mixes sound pristine through the new phones, out of the mp3 player, so the mixes are good and i'm not hearing things. if they don't sound pristine through the old phones, that's the obvious problem.

i've been trying to figure out now, for three months, why i can't get the mixes to sound right....

once i figure this out, i'll be back on track. but, if the phones are broken, it's going to be a while.