So I bought some KRK 6 monitors because I’m tried of building tracks in my headphones. And I was also under the impression that I will get a more accurate sound. When I play tracks in my headphones(XONE 53) everything sounds so much better. Specifically the bass. Playing tracks through monitors give some tracks an entirely different groove to song!
Essentially I wanted to buy monitors that will give me an accurate representation across most sound mediums ie. car, club, headphones, radio etc. Did I buy the right monitors? Im also aware of sound acoustics. I built a fiberglass sound absorber as instructed in your videos but it didnt do too much.
Well from what I understand (and this could be flawed since I only use headphones (not to mention I use beats, so my word is even less valuable lol)) monitors are indeed a good way to monitor your sound in an enviroment similair to the playback systems listeners are going to use.
Thats going to be why it sounds worse, headphones are more pure (depending on the headphones your getting ofcourse) since they dont suffer from reverb and colouration caused by your room acoustics and set up/positioning of everything. They are directly going to the ear and thats it, nothing is being bounced around the room and nothing is jumping around.
For that reason I believe some people (at least friends do) use Monitors to get the sound desirable to make sure the track sounds good on most mediums but use headphones for mixing as it will more clearly and precisely show the flaws of your track. Unless you have a master set-up costing you tens of thousands, in which case chances are you dont need headphones, but even then its worth checking.
Oh and your still going to want to test your track on other mediums anyway, monitors can only emulate so much.
Basically what I am saying is your going to have to figure out a way to use both, keep the headphones around your neck and every few minutes when you feel youve done something worth checking, check it on your headphones. Use what you hear on both mediums till you get it sounding good on both… Once thats done it should sound good on most playback systems.
Just remember to add dithering as well, no ones going to download Wav files its too big (unless your handing your track over to DJ’s).
EDIT: just another note, if youve purchased the wrong headphones/monitors for the job then its not going to work, I have no monitors and I have never heard the Xone so I cant tell you if youve purchased the wrong ones. However, I have heard many good comments about the KRK’s… If you think the room is causing problems you could even check out the KRK ERGO (ITS EXPENSIVE THOUGH) and if you want to hear more enviroments with the headphones you could check out the VRM Box (Cant remember the brand though)…
I hear ya on using both headphones and monitors. I was just worried about tracks sounded entirely different if they ever got played at a club or venue. How could you ever tell unless you had access to a club??
Im having trouble understanding if they sound perfect on my headphones but on monitor its sound like crapp…which is right?? If I go by the monitors and change my tracks to sound more like my headphones wont the headphone then proceed to sound different?!
[quote]djsrone (17/01/2012)[hr]Im having trouble understanding if they sound perfect on my headphones but on monitor its sound like crapp…which is right?? If I go by the monitors and change my tracks to sound more like my headphones wont the headphone then proceed to sound different?![/quote]
the headphones are right cause there are no accustic issues in headphones. and the monitors are right because you may be listening to your track in a room that has some or alot of accustic issues. (just saying this for the topic… it really could be a millon reasons why it doesn’t sound right)
what he is saying is to mix with both(headphones and monitors) WHILE your producing. reference back and fourth. Phil actually mentions this in another forum. He said if he can get the mix to sound good on both than he’s got it.
going through the same thing myself on my playback systems. i’m defo looking into room treatment and stuff like that. not sold on Ergo quite yet but looks pretty cool. I have the VRM box by Focusrite and it’s really good when just using headphones but adds a little coluring when played back on monitors imo 
Heres the thread:
http://forums.sonicacademy.com/Topic82729-8-1.aspx
Though from re-reading it I think your going to have to figure out where your headphones shine and your monitors shine, use the two together to get the overall sound you want.
And yeah, Focusrite was the brand! Been wanting to get it myself for a while, need new cans first though. Student finance just came in so I should be getting my hands on them soon!
i know where youre coming from with this. ive spent hours writing in my M50s, only to wake up the next morning and hear the most unbalanced puny pile of ****te in the genelecs and also i have done the same in reverse. my room is a pathetic excuse for a studio, and i have learned to compensate for some of its flaws, but still have crappy sounding mixes when playing on car stereo or my Denon N7 in the living room. I am writing a psy trance track at the moment. it sounds awesome on the Genelecs in my studio, but on the Denon (and Dali Zensors) it sounded really flabby and bass heavy. so i cross monitored the track and mixed it in both the genelcs and the cans, and this translated far better! its a good technique. Also worth noting that monitoring at high volumes for a long period is not a good idea, as its bad for your ears, and can make a rubbish mix sound more appealing!
damn this kinda sucks to read. Makes me want to return the monitors and work off my cans. My cans sound similar to most other speakers ie car, cheap earbids, home speakers, etc. The difference is quite different. It doesnt seem worth it unless you have an acoustically soundproof room.
Thanks for you input.
Not really. Your monitors can also help you out better for the stereo field and you really should use both. I mean the headphones can pick up little clips and distorts and lets you go over your track with a magnifying glass so to speak. Your monitors i feel can give you a better feel, you can hear your track kick.
Like people have said, try and get your mix sounding good on as many different formats as you can. You dont however need to get rid of your monitors just becos you dont have a sound proofed room.
Monitors, even with a perfectly treated room, will not automatically make you better at mixing but they will make it easier to become good.
It takes time using your monitors to learn how they will translate to other systems, but if you put the work in you will eventually get much better results than you will with Hi-Fi speakers and headphones.
the argument for monitors vs headphones is an interesting one. my recommendation is to use both for the following reasons
- In general, getting the best pair of monitors available is a far more expensive exercise then getting the best pair of producers headphones. What i mean by this is that if you invest in a pair of these you will be getting the best sound and frequency range money can buy at a price that is much cheaper than the best monitors.
- BUT of course you still need monitors to have a closer feel to that genuine bottom end (8 inch cone highly recommended to get the best bass representation!!)
- Great headphones give you finer access to the most minute details unless you have the best monitors available.
- I generally use the headphones above when in the mixing process and i find they translate extremely well not just to my monitors but also to other listening environments such as car and earbuds.
- Good headphones allow you to ignore some of the “bad-room” effects but of course, they don’t give you an entirely accurate perspective of delay and reverb’s because the stereo image is very close to your head.
-on the flip side, headphones are great when it comes to making certainly EQ tweaks to create depth in your mix.
- In a typical session i will continuously swap between the two and by the end of it, i have something that works well.
Hope its useful!
Also you get used to your monitors, like after extensive use you will know how a mix should sound coming out of your monitors and how that will transpose onto different systems.
They Key here is reference tracks and a lot of listening, trial and error, rinse and repeat etc…