Which Is Better for Mixing: Studio Monitors or Headphones?

If you’re a musician or want to be one, you’ll need good audio
equipment. The quality of your music will be strongly influenced
by your choice of studio monitors or high-quality headphones.
Which is, however, preferable for trying to mix?
When comparing to headphones, studio monitors are often excellent for
mixing. Because of the crossfeed, they sound flat and usually have
excellent stereo imaging. Headphones, on the other hand, are useful for
hearing finer details and removing sound glitches. They’re also less
expensive, lightweight, and quiet.
It’s important to obtain both studio monitors and headphones because
they’re so distinct. Amateur musicians, on either hand, are frequently
compelled to choose between the two. This essay will compare and
contrast the advantages and disadvantages of each solutions to help you figure which is best for you.

Studio Monitors: An Overview

Studio Monitors are a set of moderate speakers that are meant to produce smooth, authentic sound .They can create
a sound profile that is accurate and lifelike. Getting them to sound fantastic,
on the other hand, can be difficult and expensive.

Studio Monitors Benefits

You may have observed the pros still have two high-resolution monitors on each side of their desk . Are you Curious as to Why? Let’s take a look at some of the explanations why Musicians adore
their studio monitors.

The sound of studio monitors is more open and natural.

Before contacting your ears, sound waves from studio monitors must travel through the air.Even though only one monitor is producing sound, we may hear this with both ears. Crossfeed is the term for this process. Because our brains are trained to hearing and organizing sound in this manner, studio monitors can readily generate a natural sound. When panning different instruments and vocalists, crossfeed is crucial. It’s vastly easier
to pan a guitar on the monitors, and it’ll sound better than when you do it on
headphones.

Studio monitors provide better stereo imaging than desktop monitors .

When you’re standing on a real sound stage at a music hall or opera house, you’ll hear stereo imagery. It’s essentially what gives your sound a true three-dimensional effect. When compared to headphones, studio monitors provide a more realistic, wider stereo image. This makes mixing and mastering your song a lot easier.

The Frequency Response Curve of Studio Monitors Is Flat

The flat sound of monitors is one of the key reasons why professionals prefer them to headphones. Studio monitors are substantially larger in size, making it simpler to get a clear quality out of them. To generate sound, they use a huge speaker cone. The absence of coloring in the sound is shown by a flat frequency response curve. This is preferable because it results in a true 1:1 sound.

It enables you to make a mix which always sounds fantastic, whatever of the system or headphones you’re listening to it via.

Professional Acoustic Treatment is Required for Studio Monitors

The biggest disadvantage of studio monitors is that they can’t be used anywhere. Aside from the fact that studio monitors aren’t as portable as headphones, you’ll need an acoustically treated studio to use them.As you can technically use monitors in an untreated room, you will not get the sound quality you paid for.
This is due to the fact that sound reflects off light sources such as windows and walls. Furthermore, angles absorb all of your bass. This might radically destabilize the equilibrium of your composition.
You’ll add way too much bass if you don’t use bass traps. Because of all the noises and vibrations, you won’t be able to hear anything when you play the song back in your car.

For a flat sound, studio monitors must be loud.

When you get to 85 dB and above, different sound frequencies start to seem flat. When mixing, most pros turn up the volume to this level at least.
For comparison, sound at 85 decibels is about the same as being in traffic jams or
mowing your yard. This is about when sounds are so high that they can permanently harm your hearing. Perhaps this is why, at this volume level, we observe a flat frequency contour.
You’ll get continual formal complaints from your family and neighbors, in addition to hearing damage. So, while mixing at volumes below 85 dB is doable, it’s far from ideal.
So you have to ask yourself a crucial question: what good are pricey studio monitors if you can’t utilize exactly the way they’re designed to be used?

Monitors for the studio are not cheap.

Studio monitors aren’t even close to being comparable to headphones in terms of cost.
Yamaha, Kali, and Neumann professional studio monitors start at roughly $200-300 per monitor. A nice pair of shoes can set you back well over $1,000.
For the large majority of musicians, getting studio monitors at the start of their careers is impossible.

Headphones Overview

We’ve all used headphones at a certain point in our lives. Getting a set of studio
headphones for mixing, on the other hand, is a another story. To avoid
misunderstanding, I’ll only be discussing mid- to high-end headphones with a flat normal mode curve and built for professional use.

Benefits of Headphones.

Studio headphones offer various advantages that no studio monitors can match. So, want to see what you may anticipate from a good pair of headphones.

Headphones Are Portable.

Studio monitors sound wonderful, but transporting them is nearly difficult. Although if you could pack them into your car or tour bus, they’d sound terrible in a non-acoustically managed hotel room.
When compared to headphones, which can simply be thrown into a backpack, the
former is the better option. On the bus or an airplane, you can also wear headphones around your neck and listen to music. If you’re a DJ who also wants to be a producer, you’ll love being able to utilize the headphones with your laptop to keep mixing and finalizing recordings. Of course, once you’re back in the studio, you may need to tweak the finer aspects.
However, you can perform 80-90 percent of the track with just your headphones and a laptop.

Headphones Are Less Expensive.

If you’re lucky or buy used, studio monitors will put you back at least $500-600. Of course, anybody can get killer headphones for the same price as studio monitors. However, purchasing anything so pricey is not essential.
For mixing and mastering new music, most professionals swear by surprisingly
affordable headphones. In reality, headphones spending less than $200 are frequently acceptable.

On headphones, you can hear more detail.

Finally, you’ve finished mixing on studio monitors. Eventually, you may relax, put on your headphones, and listen to the music. However, instead of a powerful bass and crystal-clear sounds, you get a distorted jumble.This is due to the fact that headphones allow you to hear far more detail. In this regard, even the lowest pair of studio headphones will outperform studio monitors.Headphones help you to listen any flaws that you may have missed at first. Following tools, pops, distortion, clipping, cracks, and other effects can be used to address layering concerns.This is why you should keep a pair of headphones in your studio at all times.

Headphones are always enjoyable to listen to.

It’s simple to turn a tiny space into a complete studio if you have a large property. However, this is quite expensive, and non-professional producers may not always be able to afford it. Headphones are much more convenient. They don’t require an acoustically treated
room with bass traps and sound panels. Even better, they’ll sound the same whether you’re in a studio, on a flight, in your family room, or wherever else.

Headphones' Drawbacks

Headphones, than most studio monitors, haven’t any crossfeed. Your left ear hears only the headphone output, whereas your right ear hears only the right channel.
All headphones have this stereo effect, making it hard to alter mix panning, reverb, depth, and other effects that rely on a wide stereo image. You won’t be able to determine where a sound is coming from if your headphones don’t have good stereo imaging.

It Takes Some Time To Get Used To Headphones.

Because headphones have such a big impact on how overall mix sounds, trying to get to know your headphones is crucial.
Let’s pretend your headphones wouldn’t have enough bass. To get a beefier sound,
you’ll have to keep adding it. When you listen to the song over your speakers, you won’t be able to distinguish the voices from the bass.This doesn’t imply you can’t utilize the headphones, and once you’ve gotten used to how they sound, you’ll be able to fine-tune your mix more effectively. It does, however, mean that you’ll must to put in a lot of time to get to know them.

Wearing headphones for long periods of time is inconvenient.

Even some of the most comfy over-ear studio headphones ultimately become stressful, In the summer, it’s even worse. Wearing headphones causes your ears to sweat due to the clamping impact. It can even become uncomfortable in some situations, specifically if you wear glasses, and your ears will be highly weary by the time you’re done mixing for the day.If you’re the type who doesn’t mind wearing headphones all day, every day, that’s fantastic. Nobody compares to the comfort of good old studio monitors for me.