{"id":10148,"date":"2020-02-08T03:15:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T03:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/audioordeal.co.uk\/?p=10148"},"modified":"2020-02-09T03:14:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T03:14:44","slug":"on-a-budget-headphones-or-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/audioordeal.co.uk\/on-a-budget-headphones-or-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"On a budget: Headphones or speakers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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WHEN producing music, one of the most essential tools is a good system to reference your tracks on. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without an accurate way to monitor how your track sounds, you will be mixing to a reference that is not reflective of how the music should actually be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the main reason why studios are very expensively sound-treated. If the speakers or room has too much bass, the mixing engineer will turn down the lows in the studio, resulting in a track that has less bass than is ideal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Likewise, if a reference monitor doesn’t reflect the highs very well, the mixing engineer will turn them up \u2013 resulting in an overly shrill-sounding mix elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, as you will see from the analysis below, the best route to go is to have both headphones and speakers, but let’s say you are just getting into the game, what do you buy first?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide will weigh up the pros and cons of the budget choice between good headphones and good monitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros for buying good headphones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

THE main advantage of headphones (from a budget standpoint) is their versatility. If you are a producer with limited cash, then headphones will offer many advantages to speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, I am going to assume you don’t live in a mansion with no neighbours to worry about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s important to note that consumer headphones and “fashion” headphones such as Beats by Dr Dre are often designed to boost bass and certain frequencies. While they can sound great, they can ruin your impression of the mix. It is important to get dedicated studio headphones so you can be accurate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Headphones allow you to mix whenever you like and at any volume without disturbing people next door or in your house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also offer the portability advantage so you can work on tracks anywhere \u2013 provided you have a laptop \u2013 and the “mixing environment” will be the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike speakers, they don’t have the restraints of the surrounding room’s acoustics and so you are free to mix in any sized room without worrying about resonances and echoes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headphones are also generally cheaper than speakers with much less hassle to set up. Speakers require the correct placement as well as room treatment to get the best out of them (by best I mean most accurate frequency response).<\/p>\n\n\n\n