Wich is better for monitoring your recordings?

D

dranfu

New member
Simple questions for those of you who know.

Is it better to monitor your recordings with Headphones( covering the entire ear with foam padding) or is it better to use your home speakers(with no loudness maximizer and all equalliaers set to the middle) I know it's better to have near field studio monitors, but as of now i cant afford them. Wich option will give me abetter picture of how it will sound on most stereo systems.

:monkey:
 
ok, I just read a thread(that ryhmes) that says that headphone's are hyped up and dont give an accurate reponse. what is the best way to monitor your recordings with home speakers than. should the equalizer(6 band) be set to the middle for each one, any advice?
 
looks like you answered your own question....

monitors are best- speakers are ok- either way you'll want to listen to some reference recordings (commercial CDs you like) to get a feel for them- headphones are fine for working on a song (the composing side of things) but you wouldn't want to work on the mix with them- odds are you'll end up with very bassy mixes when played through speakers...
 
Thanx for the reply. I noticed when I turned the equalizer on my home speakers to the middle on each one.(6 band equalizer) the mix did sound very bassy and muddy. My question is: When doing the mix and equalizing- Is it good for me to set the equalizers the way I do( in the middle for each band) or is there another way wich I should set them. I want to be able to get the best possible sound for my recordings so Im wondering how should I set the equalizer so that I get the best possible sound.
 
Monitors generally strive to be flat- to as accurately as possible play exactly what goes into them- in fact, when I listen to commercial CDs on my monitors, they tend to sound a bit harsh, since home stereo speakers tend to color the sound quite a bit. I'd bypass the monitor altogher-

If you want to take the 'poor man's' approach, no matter what your setup, listen to a CD you find to be particularily well mixed that is a similar style to what you produce, and try to get the same type of mix out of your system with your music. If your home stereo speakers are bassy, the CD will sound bassy.... and you will want to mix accordingly, otherwise you will lose the bass on a different system... I think you get my drift?
 
What to mix with

Don't forget that testing in as many environments as possible is important in the mixing process. Sending to boom boxes, car stereos, headphones, monitors (of course) and home stereo speakers is a good idea also.
 
as said before: listen to other mixes in the same style on the same speakers and try to mix against those,

BUT ALSO: go to Radio Shack or whereever and buy the cheapest, crappiest speakers you can find (we used to use the radio shack wood-grained small little cubes in the studio.) Even if you have monitors, very small junky speakers are great to mix against BECAUSE they dont have any frequency response. This gives you a good idea how it will sound on portable stereos and just bad stereos in general.

EQUALLY IMPORTANT: listen to your mix at a very low level. You will hear all kinds of things sticking out of your mix (or not sticking out of your mix).
 
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