Hi again,

I'm afraid I mixed up the terms too. I should have said the mixing process can tweak the tone. What do I mean by tone? I noticed this mostly in the fiddle and vocals, and much less on plucked instruments (banjo, mando). I too prefer a natural sounding instrumentation and vocal, but I am not sure what the technical definition of tone is. I use it to indicate the right balance between lower and higher frequencies so that the instrument or voice sounds rich,not too sharp, not too bassy, and natural. We had a very hard time getting our studio to make the fiddle sound "right" even though we brought in cds with the tonal quality that we wanted. It is harder for me to judge on my own vocal because I am singing and everything sounds different in your head.

As for the advice on headphones. I still suggest using them to help you understand the cd mix. I agree with other posters that it is also good to listen to the the cd through a median level stereo, but what the heck that actually is, is questionable. The headphones allow you to hear a clearer sound, so that you can evaluate things like the tone of the instruments, clarity, and the balance between the instruments and in space, without the interference of the ambient sounds in the room, and without the pressure of listening carefully on studio time.

At any rate, there are probably a hundred oppinions on these subjects. Overall - I suggest that you don't make concessions to make the computer sound system sound its best, if it means that the good system sounds un balanced.

Claire