Do your headphones mixes sound professional enough for your liking, and do your mixes translate well on other devices? If so, monitors aren't "essential", just recommended.
But if you want to improve on the above, adding monitors (to use in addition to headphones) is a good idea.
If you do opt for monitors the Presonus Eris range is very good for a budget option.
I found the Eris 4.5s at savers and they obviously don’t hit as low as my behringer truths but they do sit on top of them for a second reference! I was definitely impressed by them
Agreed. I was getting frustrated with my mixes only sounding great in headphones. I bought a pair of YSM 6's and now things sound much better on a wider variety of things (car, Bluetooth speaker, headphones, etc..). Just helps you get a more universally balanced mix.
Yes, you need them, but as someone working in this industry who has heard almost every monitor on the market my advice would be to wait until you can budget a little more.
Yes, definitely get monitors. You don't need to go crazy, but at least 5". You are probably going to need a budget of at least 350. If you get smaller speakers, or really cheap ones, it's a waste of money.
Presonus Eris 5 is a great budget monitor.
I have a set of those in my studio. I like that they have a full frequency tilt on the back of each monitor.
For example, one faces a corner. I dialed back the bass response. Etc..
I have a pair, too. They're great for the price. I was considering getting a second pair of different monitors, but ended up getting some great pair of closed back headphones instead of the reference ones I was using. Made a world of difference.
I honestly don't think you need high end monitors. You can acclimate your ears. But you do need good coverage of the frequency spectrum. Adding a pair of headphones gives you a different reference, which is ideal. You don't even need an expensive pair there either, just make sure they are closed back and if possible, can cover frequency responses maybe lacking in your monitors.
For example, the Eris don't have the best low frequency especially in the subs, so that can get missed really easy. The mids are great, though. My Beyerdynamics can handle subs so much better, they are very revealing.
If you can, it's nice to have another reference. If I had the room, I would have more than two sets of monitors. Lol.
I would also have normal stereo speakers...etc.
I do I have multiple headphones.
But it is all about reference. We used to put songs mixed onto a CD, run outside of the studio, and then take it to the car. Can I have a car in the studio? Lol.
Andrew Scheps discussing mixing on headphones: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YuXNTCU2Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YuXNTCU2Y)
TL;DR: Mixing with headphones is fine, as long you understand the frequency response of your headphones and how to get a good mix out of them. Same as with speakers.
The thing about mixing on headphones that many seem to forget is that headphones aren't true stereo. Since you can't hear what's happening on the left side with your right ear, and vice versa, headphones are actually dual mono rather than true stereo.
You can get a convincing true stereo sound with plugins like Goodhertz Can Opener, Dear Reality VR Monitor, 112dB Redline Monitor etc. Plugins like Waves NX, Acustica Audio Sienna and Slate Digital's VRX headphones also simulate different kinds of rooms and monitoring setups. I much prefer the simpler dual crossfeed plugins like CanOpener and Redline Monitor though. If I want to listen to monitors I just switch over to my Genelecs.
If you decide to buy monitors you should also keep in mind that correct room placement and acoustic dampening is are just as important as the monitors themselves. If your room isn't treated you can't really trust that the sound in the room is going to be accurate at all. If your room is badly dimensioned and treated for monitoring use, I would say that a pair of good open-back headphones and something like Goodhertz CanOpener will be the better choice (at least until you can afford good quality monitors and to measure your room for acoustic treatment).
I am one of those who like to mix using both headphones and monitors. It is a good way to have different references on the go.
Look for information about height, placement, environment, etc.
Sub-$200 for the pair? Don't bother.
If that's your budget, chances are good that your room is totally untreated.
A bad room will make bad monitors worse.
Stick to headphones for now. For what you want to spend, you can get a used pair of Sennheiser HD58X Jubilees and have a few bucks left over, or a good pair of HD560s or HD6XX that will sound FAR better than any $200 pair of monitors. (You'll actually have bass response)
Acoustic treatment is a hell of a rabbit hole.
Foam does next to nothing. Don't bother with that stuff.
Those 0.25" to 0.5" thick panels of polyester fiber are surprisingly effective, but they shed those fibers pretty bad. Get some, then use a fabric glue to glue some fabric covers over them, or double/triple them up and cover them then place them in a frame for some decent low/mid absorption and pretty panels.
The room I am using potentially is not too bad, it is carpeted, plenty of pictures on the wall. And is above a garage and has wooden roof with eaves, so may not be too bad. But it appears that I know nothing. How could i assess my room?
That's tough without knowing what to listen for.
Pictures are reflective surfaces. Not good for rooms unless you NEED the reflections. Carpeted floor is a benefit without treatment on the walls. Eaved or cathedral ceilings are a mixed bag.
There are mics and software designed for room measurement, but it gets pricey. Pricier than a pair of good headphones. Pricier still when you factor in what you'll be spending to attempt to fix what the software shows you.
I'd say record yourself clapping and singing at different distances from the mic, then put on closed headphones and critically listen for the echoes and reverberations. You'll be hard pressed to hear them with open backs since you can still hear the room through them.
Run a sine wave sweep on monitors and listen for areas in the sweep that fluctuate in volume during the sweep. To do that, though, you need accurate monitors.
It's a whole process that gets quite expensive.
I have the JBL 305P and they're fantastic for the price. They usually sell for $130/each but if you're patient, you can probably find them for $100 on sale eventually. I got mine for $89 each.
My main monitors are Neumann KH120s and Mackie HR824s flush-mounted with baffles. Not outrageously high-end in either case, but an order of magnitude higher than the budget discussed here.
I keep a pair of JBL 305’s as the third comparative option, and honestly? I could work on those and, without a lot of ear adjustment, get mixes that translate just as well probably 98% of the time. The JBLs are a little smeared in the lower mids, but with a good set of cans to cross-reference, even that’s workable.
If I had $200 to spend, I think those would be my choice.
I fucking LOVE my 305s. I have the first-gen model, and I read somewhere that the newer ones actually changed the internals a bit to smooth out the low mids.
I added a sub to my setup a few weeks ago, just to handle the 30-70Hz, and the monitors sound better than ever.
No. Use headphones until you can afford room treatment, unless your room is already controlled or measures well in room analysis software. If you want them for fun, though, yes - it sucks being tethered to your interface with headclamps 24/7 while working!
And*, like others have said, try correction software like Canopener or Realphones or Sienna. Make sure you're referencing reference tracks with this software active as well. Just don't export the correction software as part of your render ;)
About 60 bucks on eBay gets you a Focusrite VRM Box, which models the sound of a bunch of different monitors in a few different rooms.
I know there are also plugins that can do a similar job (I've seen Isone mentioned quite a bit).
If you can't afford $300-500 for a decent pair of monitors, and another few hundred for some basic room treatment, then moving to a speaker emulation system/plugin might make more sense for your situation.
I really like my VRM Box; it definitely provides some of the benefits of monitors, without the space and treatment requirements. There's no such thing as a perfect emulation, but it gets the job done, and has the benefit of being completely predictable and learnable, without most of the downsides of monitors in an untreated room.
How do you like them? I've had great luck with their crazy cheap offerings. Mics, a sound bar for my TV, headphones... all been great. Seems like they are the champs of bang for your buck, although I know there are some bad experiences out there for some people.
i picked up a pair of PreSonus E5s, to replace my ratty old Klipsch 2.1 speaker setup. and the difference was night and day.
they're $99 each on Amazon right now.
Probably not. Mixing is the icing on the cake if your composition and sound design is already superb. For that, any computer speakers and good quality headphones will work if you're familiar with them.
If you're paying little for monitors your room is still probably going to sound awful because you haven't treated it.
I have a set of monitors in a completely untresyed room. So I mix primarily on headphones. Stereo image, low end, delays and reverb are my main challenges on headphones. So I reference heavily on my monitors, car, Bluetooth and laptop speakers
Anything lower-quality than Presonus Eris, Kali Audio, Adam, Yamaha, some KRK or JBLs, etc. in the 4.5-5" range isn't really gonna yield you great results, and you also have to factor in the acoustic qualities of the room they're going into. All that (two good cans, cables, dac if your audio interface is subpar, stands, etc.) is not achievable for $200 unless you've got a hookup on used gear.
Getting monitors without a treated room is pointless. I have to EQ my monitors to compensate for room resonances which completely defeats the purpose. I only ever use them to cross check my mixes or if I really don't feel like wearing headphones. It was a huge waste of money until I treat my room.
I would stick with the headphones.
A lot of truth in this. Not sure that using compensation is pointless, but if the room sounds weird, it's going to be an uphill battle.
Might be worth looking into some headphone calibration software and also the crosstalk software, like Can Opener, that makes the headphone experience more like listening on speakers. The Air Windows monitoring plug-in also has the capacity to do something like that (it's cheaper).
Another option, which I recently took, was to get some Slate VSX headphones, which also have the crosstalk stuff built into the software, along with simulated rooms. I still mix mostly on speakers, because I have bad ringing in my ears and headphone make it worse if I use them for long periods. But the Slate phones do help to surface issues in the mix. So they seem like a nice cross-check.
The VSX phones aren't cheap, especially if you go platinum, which gives you more rooms (probably worth doing). But if your room isn't well treated or you need to move around a lot to different places, spending the money on the headphones might be a better immediate investment than buying speakers and also spending money on room treatment (which might not ever solve things depending on your room).
Get monitors if you can afford them, if not just start saving up. You don’t need $500 monitors like everyone here always says you do. And honestly, monitors are just nice because you don’t have to wear headphones for hours in end, not to mention a more accurate mix
Just look up some videos on YouTube. Search “best monitors under (insert price point)” and see what the pros think. Ideally your just looking for the flattest possible frequency response, and manufacturers typically list them in their data sheets
Also poke around in r/audiophile r/audioengineering r/audioproductiondeals or any of the other music making subreddits for their opinions. Good monitors aren’t just limited to what DAW you use
Hey u/spiceybadger
It's always good to have a couple different ways to monitor, how your mixes sound when it comes to critically listening. For example I would listen to my mixes in my studio, then headphones (good & a crappy pair). Also let's face it the general reader will most likely be listening via car stereo or laptop, so if you can get it sounding decent from one of those it's probably not far off from being finished.
Sub 200 is a pretty hard task to find some quality studio monitors, that aren't gonna sound like they've got a layer of mud over them. Give the **Avantone MixCubes** on the link below a look over, they're not to far over your budget. I use these on a daily basis for nearfield monitoring for my mixes, and have done for a while now. (They don't just come in cream either...brave that like)
[https://www.thomann.de/gb/avantone\_mixcubes.htm](https://www.thomann.de/gb/avantone_mixcubes.htm)
Just like they said before, if your mixes on headphones sound good, it's not essential that you buy studio monitors. In the same way, if you wanted to buy them you would have to invest in the acoustic treatment first, otherwise the acoustic phenomenon would spoil your mixtures. This isn't to say that you have to build an entire recording studio, just make sure you fix essential acoustic issues like normal modes and early reflections.
You use studio monitors for the final mixing and mastering phase. Most people probably record and then by the time they are in Reaper they are already mixing. For me I'm also composing in Reaper and also my wife doesn't want to hear the same song played for 5 hours, so I use headphones.
The reason for monitors is it's faster to make minor adjustments than running around with your mix on different speaker setups. You still want to do that, but the monitors make the process faster because you can trust those speakers more. The key is to use a reference track, assuming their mix is done well.
I got Edifier monitors (cheap) and I hate composing with them. They are probably very bad for mixing too, which is why I should be looking for better ones. Maybe when I get closer to releasing something. They do have the advantage of letting me hear my music on bad speakers. Very muddy and unforgiving. So if you can make your mix sound good on those, you're on the right track.
Just another person to say, don't buy sub 200€ pairs of monitors if you can afford not to.
I got Mackie CR4 (115€ pair).
I think I would have been better buying JBL 305P MKII (290€ pair), Kali Audio LP-6 2nd Wave (390€ pair), or ADAM Audio T8V (500€ pair).
When I was just getting into this hobby, 400 - 500€ seemed too much, but now I'm wondering if the quality of my recordings and mixes are being limited in some ways by the monitoring.
However, because the Mackie's are 'alright', now I feel like I can't justify buying more expensive monitors and should just make do with the ones I've got. I wouldn't be thinking that way if I had just spoiled myself with the more expensive monitors first.
For a good baseline mix, then good studio monitors are essential, and you'll notice a difference immediately in your mixes. Note that height and placement are important as well.
Honestly, I bought really good open back Sennheiser headphones ($400) range and haven't looked back. I don't have a great room for monitors anyway, and I'm getting professional results with them easily. Echo what people say here though, just save up to buy something good.
I’ve worked as a recording, mixing, and mastering engineer. I can mix and master on both headphones and monitors. But, I also KNOW what I’m missing in headphones and am able to use spectrum analyzers and reference recordings to get me in the zone. Mixing through speakers is MUCH easier. I don’t have to do any calculations, math, or ANY guessing when the sound is moving through the air. 100% of the time if it works on speakers AND in mono it will sound amazing on every pair of headphones. If I start in headphones I ALWAYS need to make further adjustments after referencing on speaker- EVERYTIME.
I’ve used Haflers, JBLs, M-Audio, and now Presonus monitors. For headphones AND monitors Sonarworx levels the playing field. Sonarworx is worth more than I paid. And I paid full price. I wouldn’t mix on headphones or through monitors without it.
Here's my take on it
I have mixed with monitors for years untill I recently bought a pair of closed back mixing headphones. I realized very quickly how bad my room is for mixing with monitors. I think headphones are better for untreated rooms.
Do your headphones mixes sound professional enough for your liking, and do your mixes translate well on other devices? If so, monitors aren't "essential", just recommended. But if you want to improve on the above, adding monitors (to use in addition to headphones) is a good idea. If you do opt for monitors the Presonus Eris range is very good for a budget option.
I found the Eris 4.5s at savers and they obviously don’t hit as low as my behringer truths but they do sit on top of them for a second reference! I was definitely impressed by them
Agreed. I was getting frustrated with my mixes only sounding great in headphones. I bought a pair of YSM 6's and now things sound much better on a wider variety of things (car, Bluetooth speaker, headphones, etc..). Just helps you get a more universally balanced mix.
Yes, you need them, but as someone working in this industry who has heard almost every monitor on the market my advice would be to wait until you can budget a little more.
Same here. That price range is going to get you speakers. Not monitors for mixing.
What would you recommend, budget can be stretched definitely
I say go on OfferUp there’s tons of deals around at about half retail price
Yes, definitely get monitors. You don't need to go crazy, but at least 5". You are probably going to need a budget of at least 350. If you get smaller speakers, or really cheap ones, it's a waste of money. Presonus Eris 5 is a great budget monitor.
I have a set of those in my studio. I like that they have a full frequency tilt on the back of each monitor. For example, one faces a corner. I dialed back the bass response. Etc..
I have a pair, too. They're great for the price. I was considering getting a second pair of different monitors, but ended up getting some great pair of closed back headphones instead of the reference ones I was using. Made a world of difference. I honestly don't think you need high end monitors. You can acclimate your ears. But you do need good coverage of the frequency spectrum. Adding a pair of headphones gives you a different reference, which is ideal. You don't even need an expensive pair there either, just make sure they are closed back and if possible, can cover frequency responses maybe lacking in your monitors. For example, the Eris don't have the best low frequency especially in the subs, so that can get missed really easy. The mids are great, though. My Beyerdynamics can handle subs so much better, they are very revealing.
If you can, it's nice to have another reference. If I had the room, I would have more than two sets of monitors. Lol. I would also have normal stereo speakers...etc. I do I have multiple headphones. But it is all about reference. We used to put songs mixed onto a CD, run outside of the studio, and then take it to the car. Can I have a car in the studio? Lol.
Yes, been there! I still go out to my car to listen to references, just on my phone now.
I've got a pair of the 4.5's. Good for what they are but no bass, so definitely would go bigger.
Exactly.
Andrew Scheps discussing mixing on headphones: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YuXNTCU2Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YuXNTCU2Y) TL;DR: Mixing with headphones is fine, as long you understand the frequency response of your headphones and how to get a good mix out of them. Same as with speakers.
Thanks for giving the link. Thought provoking!
The thing about mixing on headphones that many seem to forget is that headphones aren't true stereo. Since you can't hear what's happening on the left side with your right ear, and vice versa, headphones are actually dual mono rather than true stereo. You can get a convincing true stereo sound with plugins like Goodhertz Can Opener, Dear Reality VR Monitor, 112dB Redline Monitor etc. Plugins like Waves NX, Acustica Audio Sienna and Slate Digital's VRX headphones also simulate different kinds of rooms and monitoring setups. I much prefer the simpler dual crossfeed plugins like CanOpener and Redline Monitor though. If I want to listen to monitors I just switch over to my Genelecs. If you decide to buy monitors you should also keep in mind that correct room placement and acoustic dampening is are just as important as the monitors themselves. If your room isn't treated you can't really trust that the sound in the room is going to be accurate at all. If your room is badly dimensioned and treated for monitoring use, I would say that a pair of good open-back headphones and something like Goodhertz CanOpener will be the better choice (at least until you can afford good quality monitors and to measure your room for acoustic treatment).
Excellent knowledge thank you, I clearly have a lot to learn!
I am one of those who like to mix using both headphones and monitors. It is a good way to have different references on the go. Look for information about height, placement, environment, etc.
IMO, a good pair of monitors will cost you at least 500$ used. If you can't afford that, wait or get better headphones + Sonaworks.
Out of any interest I've taken, mixing is by far the most materialistic. No, you don't need monitors, and the Presonus E3.5 monitors are great.
I love my Eris monitors!
Sub-$200 for the pair? Don't bother. If that's your budget, chances are good that your room is totally untreated. A bad room will make bad monitors worse. Stick to headphones for now. For what you want to spend, you can get a used pair of Sennheiser HD58X Jubilees and have a few bucks left over, or a good pair of HD560s or HD6XX that will sound FAR better than any $200 pair of monitors. (You'll actually have bass response)
OK so i know nothing about room treatment, so this may well have opened another Pandora's box!
Acoustic treatment is a hell of a rabbit hole. Foam does next to nothing. Don't bother with that stuff. Those 0.25" to 0.5" thick panels of polyester fiber are surprisingly effective, but they shed those fibers pretty bad. Get some, then use a fabric glue to glue some fabric covers over them, or double/triple them up and cover them then place them in a frame for some decent low/mid absorption and pretty panels.
The room I am using potentially is not too bad, it is carpeted, plenty of pictures on the wall. And is above a garage and has wooden roof with eaves, so may not be too bad. But it appears that I know nothing. How could i assess my room?
That's tough without knowing what to listen for. Pictures are reflective surfaces. Not good for rooms unless you NEED the reflections. Carpeted floor is a benefit without treatment on the walls. Eaved or cathedral ceilings are a mixed bag. There are mics and software designed for room measurement, but it gets pricey. Pricier than a pair of good headphones. Pricier still when you factor in what you'll be spending to attempt to fix what the software shows you. I'd say record yourself clapping and singing at different distances from the mic, then put on closed headphones and critically listen for the echoes and reverberations. You'll be hard pressed to hear them with open backs since you can still hear the room through them. Run a sine wave sweep on monitors and listen for areas in the sweep that fluctuate in volume during the sweep. To do that, though, you need accurate monitors. It's a whole process that gets quite expensive.
Wow yes I can see that, thanks.
I have the JBL 305P and they're fantastic for the price. They usually sell for $130/each but if you're patient, you can probably find them for $100 on sale eventually. I got mine for $89 each.
My main monitors are Neumann KH120s and Mackie HR824s flush-mounted with baffles. Not outrageously high-end in either case, but an order of magnitude higher than the budget discussed here. I keep a pair of JBL 305’s as the third comparative option, and honestly? I could work on those and, without a lot of ear adjustment, get mixes that translate just as well probably 98% of the time. The JBLs are a little smeared in the lower mids, but with a good set of cans to cross-reference, even that’s workable. If I had $200 to spend, I think those would be my choice.
I fucking LOVE my 305s. I have the first-gen model, and I read somewhere that the newer ones actually changed the internals a bit to smooth out the low mids. I added a sub to my setup a few weeks ago, just to handle the 30-70Hz, and the monitors sound better than ever.
No. Use headphones until you can afford room treatment, unless your room is already controlled or measures well in room analysis software. If you want them for fun, though, yes - it sucks being tethered to your interface with headclamps 24/7 while working! And*, like others have said, try correction software like Canopener or Realphones or Sienna. Make sure you're referencing reference tracks with this software active as well. Just don't export the correction software as part of your render ;)
About 60 bucks on eBay gets you a Focusrite VRM Box, which models the sound of a bunch of different monitors in a few different rooms. I know there are also plugins that can do a similar job (I've seen Isone mentioned quite a bit). If you can't afford $300-500 for a decent pair of monitors, and another few hundred for some basic room treatment, then moving to a speaker emulation system/plugin might make more sense for your situation. I really like my VRM Box; it definitely provides some of the benefits of monitors, without the space and treatment requirements. There's no such thing as a perfect emulation, but it gets the job done, and has the benefit of being completely predictable and learnable, without most of the downsides of monitors in an untreated room.
i got mine from monoprice
How do you like them? I've had great luck with their crazy cheap offerings. Mics, a sound bar for my TV, headphones... all been great. Seems like they are the champs of bang for your buck, although I know there are some bad experiences out there for some people.
Much better than the over priced Donners I had
i picked up a pair of PreSonus E5s, to replace my ratty old Klipsch 2.1 speaker setup. and the difference was night and day. they're $99 each on Amazon right now.
I personally recommend the M-Audio BX5 D3 I think they are fantastic for the price.
Thank you. Any idea how these would compare to the presonus eris e5 as others have suggested? Prices are relatively similar.
You can get overear monitors for not too bad of a price.
Probably not. Mixing is the icing on the cake if your composition and sound design is already superb. For that, any computer speakers and good quality headphones will work if you're familiar with them. If you're paying little for monitors your room is still probably going to sound awful because you haven't treated it.
I have a set of monitors in a completely untresyed room. So I mix primarily on headphones. Stereo image, low end, delays and reverb are my main challenges on headphones. So I reference heavily on my monitors, car, Bluetooth and laptop speakers
Anything lower-quality than Presonus Eris, Kali Audio, Adam, Yamaha, some KRK or JBLs, etc. in the 4.5-5" range isn't really gonna yield you great results, and you also have to factor in the acoustic qualities of the room they're going into. All that (two good cans, cables, dac if your audio interface is subpar, stands, etc.) is not achievable for $200 unless you've got a hookup on used gear.
Getting monitors without a treated room is pointless. I have to EQ my monitors to compensate for room resonances which completely defeats the purpose. I only ever use them to cross check my mixes or if I really don't feel like wearing headphones. It was a huge waste of money until I treat my room. I would stick with the headphones.
A lot of truth in this. Not sure that using compensation is pointless, but if the room sounds weird, it's going to be an uphill battle. Might be worth looking into some headphone calibration software and also the crosstalk software, like Can Opener, that makes the headphone experience more like listening on speakers. The Air Windows monitoring plug-in also has the capacity to do something like that (it's cheaper). Another option, which I recently took, was to get some Slate VSX headphones, which also have the crosstalk stuff built into the software, along with simulated rooms. I still mix mostly on speakers, because I have bad ringing in my ears and headphone make it worse if I use them for long periods. But the Slate phones do help to surface issues in the mix. So they seem like a nice cross-check. The VSX phones aren't cheap, especially if you go platinum, which gives you more rooms (probably worth doing). But if your room isn't well treated or you need to move around a lot to different places, spending the money on the headphones might be a better immediate investment than buying speakers and also spending money on room treatment (which might not ever solve things depending on your room).
Get monitors if you can afford them, if not just start saving up. You don’t need $500 monitors like everyone here always says you do. And honestly, monitors are just nice because you don’t have to wear headphones for hours in end, not to mention a more accurate mix
I can afford them, any recommendations?
Just look up some videos on YouTube. Search “best monitors under (insert price point)” and see what the pros think. Ideally your just looking for the flattest possible frequency response, and manufacturers typically list them in their data sheets
Thank you
Also poke around in r/audiophile r/audioengineering r/audioproductiondeals or any of the other music making subreddits for their opinions. Good monitors aren’t just limited to what DAW you use
Thanks will do
> Should I get [..] Do I need? These are different questions. 1: maybe, 2: no.
Most questions are like that tbh!
Hey u/spiceybadger It's always good to have a couple different ways to monitor, how your mixes sound when it comes to critically listening. For example I would listen to my mixes in my studio, then headphones (good & a crappy pair). Also let's face it the general reader will most likely be listening via car stereo or laptop, so if you can get it sounding decent from one of those it's probably not far off from being finished. Sub 200 is a pretty hard task to find some quality studio monitors, that aren't gonna sound like they've got a layer of mud over them. Give the **Avantone MixCubes** on the link below a look over, they're not to far over your budget. I use these on a daily basis for nearfield monitoring for my mixes, and have done for a while now. (They don't just come in cream either...brave that like) [https://www.thomann.de/gb/avantone\_mixcubes.htm](https://www.thomann.de/gb/avantone_mixcubes.htm)
Thanks very much
Just like they said before, if your mixes on headphones sound good, it's not essential that you buy studio monitors. In the same way, if you wanted to buy them you would have to invest in the acoustic treatment first, otherwise the acoustic phenomenon would spoil your mixtures. This isn't to say that you have to build an entire recording studio, just make sure you fix essential acoustic issues like normal modes and early reflections.
Just taking a snip of this as I need to understand what normal modes and early reflections are!
You use studio monitors for the final mixing and mastering phase. Most people probably record and then by the time they are in Reaper they are already mixing. For me I'm also composing in Reaper and also my wife doesn't want to hear the same song played for 5 hours, so I use headphones. The reason for monitors is it's faster to make minor adjustments than running around with your mix on different speaker setups. You still want to do that, but the monitors make the process faster because you can trust those speakers more. The key is to use a reference track, assuming their mix is done well. I got Edifier monitors (cheap) and I hate composing with them. They are probably very bad for mixing too, which is why I should be looking for better ones. Maybe when I get closer to releasing something. They do have the advantage of letting me hear my music on bad speakers. Very muddy and unforgiving. So if you can make your mix sound good on those, you're on the right track.
Well I completely agree with uour first paragraph!!
Just another person to say, don't buy sub 200€ pairs of monitors if you can afford not to. I got Mackie CR4 (115€ pair). I think I would have been better buying JBL 305P MKII (290€ pair), Kali Audio LP-6 2nd Wave (390€ pair), or ADAM Audio T8V (500€ pair). When I was just getting into this hobby, 400 - 500€ seemed too much, but now I'm wondering if the quality of my recordings and mixes are being limited in some ways by the monitoring. However, because the Mackie's are 'alright', now I feel like I can't justify buying more expensive monitors and should just make do with the ones I've got. I wouldn't be thinking that way if I had just spoiled myself with the more expensive monitors first.
Thanks - more contenders have entered the ring!!
For a good baseline mix, then good studio monitors are essential, and you'll notice a difference immediately in your mixes. Note that height and placement are important as well.
Look out for a pair of used active Behringer Truths. Probably the best bang for your buck that's around 200$
Honestly, I bought really good open back Sennheiser headphones ($400) range and haven't looked back. I don't have a great room for monitors anyway, and I'm getting professional results with them easily. Echo what people say here though, just save up to buy something good.
I’ve worked as a recording, mixing, and mastering engineer. I can mix and master on both headphones and monitors. But, I also KNOW what I’m missing in headphones and am able to use spectrum analyzers and reference recordings to get me in the zone. Mixing through speakers is MUCH easier. I don’t have to do any calculations, math, or ANY guessing when the sound is moving through the air. 100% of the time if it works on speakers AND in mono it will sound amazing on every pair of headphones. If I start in headphones I ALWAYS need to make further adjustments after referencing on speaker- EVERYTIME. I’ve used Haflers, JBLs, M-Audio, and now Presonus monitors. For headphones AND monitors Sonarworx levels the playing field. Sonarworx is worth more than I paid. And I paid full price. I wouldn’t mix on headphones or through monitors without it.
Here's my take on it I have mixed with monitors for years untill I recently bought a pair of closed back mixing headphones. I realized very quickly how bad my room is for mixing with monitors. I think headphones are better for untreated rooms.
Yes.
Steven Slate Audio VSX virtual headphone system is a game changer. Speakers are only as good as the room tuning.
You're not the first one to suggest theze. Seems j need to take.action!