In the market place today, everyone seems to be pushing hard for wireless headphones. Everyone thinks that they are the best and have better sound quality than regular headphones. While most people will agree that wireless headphones do a great job of providing sound, what most people don’t realize is how useful they can actually be. There is a lot of other stuff that wireless headphones can provide, such as letting you listen to music in small rooms where regular headphones would fall apart.
One thing that people don’t realize about studio monitors is that they can help you improve your mixing skills. Some people believe that headphones allow them to hear the music in their ears better and therefore make the mix sounds better. This isn’t always true and in fact, it isn’t necessary at all. While the sound can be affected, it’s the quality of sound that makes a song great or really bad.
Did you know that some people can’t hear the music they are listening to because the headphones aren’t designed for their ears? It’s true! That’s why you need two headphones in the studio. Having two headphones allows you to hear exactly what the engineer is trying to say in the music. Two headphones in studio monitors also allow you to listen to yourself in the same room, because everyone’s head is slightly different and there is going to be variation in sound.
Some people think that headphones give a more “in your face” sound quality. This is actually created by the angle you are listening from. If you are listening from far away, the headphones will pick-up sounds and transmit them into your brain. It is thought that the closer you are to the engineer, the stronger the sound. This theory has been disputed by many engineers because if you were closer, you would pick-up the sound in your mind much more easily and heard exactly what he was saying.
Are studio monitors necessary? In some cases, yes. If you are an engineer who prefers the clean audio of speakers over the muddy sound created by over-zealous studio headphones, then by all means, use headphones.
But in general, speakers will capture the best sound. For most of us, we like the sound of music played directly from speakers without any processing. The only time headphones may become useful is when you are monitoring yourself or another source with poor sound quality. Then, maybe it is worthwhile to consider headphones.
