Monitors or headphones?

[JohnRiddle]

just wanted to ask a lil question here, why is monitors better for mixing etc? I mean with headphones you can clearly hear ALL THE SOUNDS, for example... you cant hear EVERY SINGLE sound through your speakers but if you put some ear phones in your ear you'll hear alot more, isnt it right?

a good pair of headphones are ok, for mixing...details and preping the tracks for mastering... but when it comes to mastering, headphones are out of the question...maybe for refference...but thats pretty much it.

though a very important thing while mixing/mastering on monitors is the room... if the room isnt properly isolated and treated acoustically you can have the most expensive monitors in the Univers you wont do a better job than a guy with a decent set of monitors in a well balanced room.

the difference between the two

-besides the fact that monitors...at least good monitors... are made to have a sound as flat as possible so you hear the sounds as they are, with no coloration...so you get the full spectrum of your sounds and their position...as they where when they were recorded...unlike the hi-fi systems and headphones that are boosted and equed...

-headphones create a separation between the left side and right side..so they trick your ears...while with monitors you can hear the left speaker with your right ear and viceversa and you get the ambiance of the track as it really is...

at the end of the day having a decent set of monitors and a decent set of headphones does the job ...while listening to the product in different environments on different systems (car, ipod, laptop speakers...etc) when it comes to mixing/mastering there`s nothing set in stone... experiment see what works for you...

[reddy1985]

AKG 271 mkii the perfect headphones for mix! i recommend!

They sure are a nice set of cans.

[UnkNowNGenius]

Thanks for explaning John =), I wanna make a home studio in my bedroom but I really DONT know how to isolate or treat my room acoustically, if someone can explain or share a link on tutorial and explainations on why I have to do it, and why, please post here or PM.

[DJ_E10]

Obviously you are going to get what you pay for when it comes to monitors, but for the price Samson 5a's aren't a bad option. They're really more of a bookshelf speaker but they are powered, can catch frequencies down to about 50hz, and the output is relatively flat. While they are by no means professional, they helped out my mixes tremendously, especially after learning how they translate to other systems. For about $150 they're great for just starting out and learning the basics, although I do plan on upgrading when funds allow.

[Scairkrow]

Check out Rodes Microphone channel on YT and they have a series call "studio rescue" it give you insight on building your home studio and everything you need from monitors, foam, the dynamic of the room, mics and so on and if you watch all the episode (not a lot) you'll start to see a great pattern and learn simple techniques.

I cant post links yet but go to youtube - search for "studio rescue: episode 1"

hope it give some you people a little insight on home studios.

[UnkNowNGenius]

^
watched it, helped a lil bit. Dont know where to get acoustic treatments tho

[JohnRiddle]

you can find acoustic treatment in a store you find studio equipment... Thomann Cyberstore is "da boss" in europe))

though treatment is important, if you have the posibilities you should first isolate the room maybe build a floating room, depending on the budget.

and as for help on how to set up the treatment...im not sure that anyone is entitled to say acurately what are the needs for your particular room. you`d have to do mesurments...and well im guessing in your case "trial and error"...see how it sounds in different positions...test with mirrors.. give it a search on google im sure you can find alot on the subject if not even here on FP there must be some "in depth" discusion about acoustic treatment. its alot to cover on the matter...so....try doing research for yourself first and gather as much info as you can, and then if you still arent clear about something just ask.

[Scairkrow]

here in chicago we have a lot of car shops that sell them at a nice price but i dont know about the main stream stores

[UnkNowNGenius]

^
Okay, how do I isolate a room? Any vid tutorial like the other one with acoustic treatment?

[van-c]

Studio monitor are the way to go for mixing. with headphones, you will never get true stereo imaging ie: with headphone, the left ear and right ear are completely isolated so u don't get that sense of space. I ve seen some dsp software which try to simulate studio monitor within a headphone to give u that sense of space but they don't work. They use convolution which is a kind of reverb to try to solve the problem so you will hear tha reverb thru your headphones.
So save up and try to get a decent pair. In the mean time you could use your consumer hifi and some normal speakers. The most important buy are studio monitors .So make sure u get it right. On budget you have the Yamaha hs50, krk rp5,rubicon. Go to the shop and listen to them before u decide.