Monitoring Low

For various reasons I've been trying to bring my monitoring volume down recently. I've actually really started enjoying it - but it takes a lot of getting used to. As always, A/Bing helps: I'm planning on sticking with it for a while.

I know that this is better for me which is the most important thing, but I'm wondering if it has affected my mixing in the past. Highs always seem accentuated at higher volume, so it may have led to the slight dullness my older mixes possessed. Everything on Module, for example, does sound a bit flat to me now, but high frequency content is so divisive.

Take trance for example - there is such a huge divide in the masters of someone like Orjan Nilson and the more recent Ferry stuff in terms of highs. Orjan's Last Pluck remix is full of screaming hi-hats, whereas something like Radio Crash sounds completely dull in comparison.

Compare:


Ferry Corsten - Radio Crash


Marcus Schossow - The Last Pluck (Orjan Nilsen Remix)

I'm still not entirely sure which side of this debate I'm on. Obviously there's the old "hard limiting" debate going on here, but I'm wary of too many highs in my stuff at the moment. I think I will be working on warming things up, but I do think it's telling that so many of the top labels are blasting their stuff so hard. Maybe harsher sounding stuff will always be more popular, and it'll only be the musos who are continually advocating trimming 8.5k?

Anyway, to return to the point, quieter monitoring will hopefully lead to a bit more refinement in my mixes. Anyone out there got an opinion on monitoring volume?