When you are faced with the question of choosing headphones for the studio, there are a number of criteria to help you make the right decision! When choosing, it is important to know the following:
- how to choose headphones for your home recording studio;
- what types of headphones exist;
- what design features they have.
Criteria for choosing headphones for the studio
All studio-type headphones are made for the same thing – for creating and monitoring music. But there is one caveat. The fact is that each model is unique in its own way and has a number of its advantages and disadvantages. In addition, headphones for personal monitoring of a musician and headphones for a sound engineer differ in the requirements that apply to them.
For example, what are the requirements for a drummer’s headphones? The first is that the headphones are powerful enough. After all, they need to “shout down” the loudest instrument – drums. The second is good sound insulation. This is necessary in order to give the musician maximum control over the sound fed into them, but without external interference.
It is clear that it is impossible to completely exclude the sound of drums from getting through the headphones. But models with good sound insulation will be preferable in this case. Well, and the fact that products from different manufacturers have their own “branded” sound, which is liked by some people and not liked by others, also must not be forgotten.
Unfortunately, the best music headphone, ideal for all tasks, has not yet been invented. Therefore, when choosing them, always focus on the goals that you are pursuing.
If you are looking to purchase headphones for voice recording or guitar, focus on the correct reproduction of the mid-range to the detriment of the deep “low”. Plus, you’ll need headphones that have smaller speakers, which means less weight. This allows you to move comfortably in them in the studio and not shoot for a long time. At the same time, the scalp is not so tired from wearing them. This is important when you have to work on recording an instrument for a long time, being in the studio for several hours.
If you need a model for mixing and mastering tracks, the emphasis should be on the full-size version with the most flat and wide frequency response. This can be clearly seen from the frequency response graph, which is in the instructions. You must hear the entire spectrum of the phonogram, this affects the frequency balance of the entire piece.
Purpose of operations
When creating music, you will need a tool for detailed control over the changes made to the musical material. This is a pair of professional headphones for monitoring and song mastering online or offline. They are necessary so that you can hear all the details of your piece of music in the most detail.
Often, musicians use the same headphones for many tasks, disregarding the basic unspoken rules. Because of this, music tracks often have a number of mistakes and shortcomings that prevent us from enjoying the music to the fullest. Therefore, it will be correct to use different types of headphones for different activities.
Types of headphones
There are three main types of studio headphones:
- open;
- closed;
- half-open.
Open models are those in which the sound partially escapes through the openings in the cabinet or into the openings between the ear and the ear cushion.
These headphones are best suited for mixing and mastering tracks. They will help you build the right balance of instruments, process them correctly, pan and mix them.
Closed headphones are those that completely cover the ear and fit snugly against the head. There are no holes in the body of such models, so the sound is reproduced in an enclosed space. Closed-back headphones are used in studios to monitor sound while recording voices and musical instruments.
Half-open headphones are a compromise between the two types. In them, sound engineers are trying to combine the advantages of open and closed headphones. This type of device is often compact in size. Their ear pads do not completely cover the ears. They are lightweight and compact. This makes them popular with DJs, semi-professional sound engineers and for radio work.
The need for noise isolation
For listening to music, noise has predictable consequences. External noise imperceptibly masks some notes, nuances in the sound, and if the surrounding noise is loud enough, it will drown out even the furious playing of the drum kit. In addition, many more sounds will sound quieter than they should or expect.
Open-back headphones have almost no noise isolation. Therefore, they are only suitable for listening in quiet environments. Closed-back headphones do a much better job of blocking out the entire audible spectrum.
Summarizing the above, we can draw the following conclusions:
- there is no device equally well suited for any work with headphone music;
- open headphones are more suitable for long-term work in a quiet environment;
- closed headphones provide better sound insulation.
