[Dream] Recommend Me Some Monitors

[spork]

There are a few of caveats that need to accompany the choice of using
headphones only. You can never get the full dynamic range of decent
monitors in a pair of headphones, and so it will be very hard to get
your tunes to sound 'right' on the largest possible number of systems,
which is basically what monitoring is all about. Unless you know this
game - and your headphones - *extremely* well, so that you
instinctively know how your sounds will sound on other systems, I
would definitely recommend both a good pair of headphones *and* a good
pair of monitors. It's very hard to e.g. know if your bass levels are
good enough if you only use headphones for reference.

Other cons of using headphones only is that it's very easy to hurt
your ears when experimenting with sounds. I always do the experimental
parts on monitors. One more thing is the fact that headphones are
'binaural' - or whatever the correct term is - rather than true
stereo, meaning that you only hear the sound from the left channel in
your left ear, and vice versa. With monitors, you can hear both
channels through both ears, and this is important when determining how
your stuff sounds in physical spaces, especially with regards to phase
cancellations and such.

My setup is this: Behringer Truth B2031A active monitors, Behringer
HPS3000 headphones, a 2.1 Creative computer speaker set and my old
Pioneer hi-fi speakers. I use a little box with a knob on to A/B(&C/D)
switch between these speakers, but the latter two sets are only for
quick tests, and to make sure there's nothing funky going on in the
sub range. My monitors definitely do their job for me, and they cost
£289 / $499.99. (Hehe - that's less than $500, innit? =)

/spork

On 1/9/07, Phrank Harris <malenkylizards at gmail.com> wrote:
> I agree that it's extreme.  I have a feeling there's something in any
> musician communities, a desire to have the biggest, shiniest and most
> expensive equipment, like the cash you put into your music habit is
> indicative of your dedication.  Or maybe that's just a po' man's jealousy
> talkin'.  :)
>
> Are there any disadvantages, as far as how clearly you're hearing the sound,
> in the right pair of headphones?  If you decide to go with phones instead of
> monitors, can you make less money go just as far?
>
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