When you are looking for the best option for monitoring, it is normal that you wonder which one is the best: headphones or speakers.
The first thing that you need to understand about the headphones vs speakers option is that you will find supporters on both sides. While some prefer headphones, others prefer speakers for monitoring.
So, to ensure that you are able to make a wise decision, we decided to write this post and show you the differences between the two.
Headphones
First of all, it is important to notice that we are only considering professional over the ear headphones for this headphones or speakers comparison.
When you are looking for professional headphones, you should be looking not only for a high price tag as well as for excellent sonic capabilities. However, you shouldn’t expect to get any features such as noise cancelling or Bluetooth even though they should come with replaceable cables and earpads.
One of the most important advantages of headphones is the fact that you can use them at any time of the day without bothering anyone.
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When you are looking for professional headphones that you can use at the studio, many mastering engineers test their headphones first. They do a quality control check that is able to detect any pops, clicks, and other incongruities. Besides, when you are not working in a pro room, you can also benefit from headphones. In case the room has some acoustic issues, you should have to deal with these problems when you’re wearing headphones.
However, headphones may not be the best option for you. The truth is that if you keep changing your pro headphones, you will not be able to get the consistency you need to work. In addition, it is also important to notice that headphones play directly into each ear. So, this means that you will lose the beneficial crossfeed effects. As a result, equalization, delays, and reverbs may not sound so well when you try listening to using loudspeakers.
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Speakers
So, what about speakers?
The truth is that speakers don’t only communicate the sound of music but also the physical feeling of the music.
One of the things that we need to say about speakers is for a lot of people is easier to achieve the right musical balances when they’re using speakers than when they’re using headphones. The reality is that the sound may feel completely different when you hear it in different places when you are using pro headphones. And this is due to the fact that when you are using speakers instead, you will immediately feel the music on all objects surrounding you.
Just like headphones, speakers also have their negative points.
In our opinion, one of the worse aspects of speakers is the fact that they’re not practical at all. After all, they are loud and you actually need to drive them somewhere near the 80 dB SPL. This is to ensure that you get an accurate representation of balanced frequencies.
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In addition, the frequency response of your speakers are also affected by a wide range of factors including the degree of room treatments, the placement of your furniture and speakers, the construction materials, and even the shape of the room.
When you are looking at the price of speakers and compare it with the price of pro headphones, you’ll also see that not everyone has such a high budget to spend. Speakers can be extremely expensive.
Headphones Vs Speakers – Conclusion
As you can see, both headphones and speakers have their own advantages and disadvantages. The truth is that the best thing you can and should do is to use both.
