You can only mix what you can hear, which makes your headphones, monitors and room some of the most important parts of any studio. This hub collects our guides to monitoring: choosing studio headphones and monitors, whether you can mix on headphones, subwoofers, room acoustics, and setting safe, accurate listening levels.
It’s for home studio owners and producers deciding what to buy, or trying to understand why mixes that sound great at home fall apart in the car. Start with How To Choose Your Headphones and Best Studio Headphones, or the budget monitor roundup if you’re buying speakers. Then read the headphone mixing guides to learn how to get mixes that translate, and finish with the room acoustics and monitoring levels articles to get the most out of the setup you already have.
Start here: the best Headphones & Monitors guides
- How To Choose Your Headphones
How to choose headphones by use, frequency response, impedance and comfort. - Best Studio Headphones
Closed-back vs open-back, plus industry-standard studio headphones compared. - Best Studio Headphones For Mixing And Music Production
What to look for in mixing headphones, with top picks for production. - Audio Technica M50x Headphones: Are They Good for Mixing?
Whether the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x is accurate enough to mix on. - Best Studio Monitors Under 500
Five studio monitors under $500 compared, plus features to consider. - Should Studio Monitors have a Subwoofer?
Pros and cons of adding a subwoofer, and how room size and budget affect the choice. - Can You Mix On Headphones
Yes, with caveats: headphone choice and mixing techniques that translate. - Is Mixing In Headphones Worth It
The advantages, drawbacks and common mistakes of mixing on headphones. - Mixing with Headphones Tips for Accurate Monitoring and Translation
Calibrating headphones and using reference tracks for mixes that translate. - Tips For Mixing And Mastering With Headphones
Choosing, setting up and mixing and mastering on headphones without ear fatigue. - The Essential Guide To Monitoring And Room Acoustics When Mastering In A Home Studio
Monitor setup and room treatment for mastering in a home studio. - The Perfect Monitoring Levels For Your Home Studio
Speaker placement and safe listening levels for accurate monitoring.
Want to hear your mix on a pro monitoring chain? Book a Solar Heavy master, or browse all tutorials.
All Headphones & Monitors articles - Page 2
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