STUDIO MONITORS

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You’ve spent hours working on a track in your bedroom or home studio, and after meticulously tweaking the mix, you’re pretty happy with how it sounds. But then you listen to it somewhere else – in your mate’s studio, in the car, on your phone, or even over a club PA system – and the mix sounds nothing like it did in your own room. The balance sounds all wrong: the bottom end is boomy, the treble is harsh, and the vocals and lead instruments are way too quiet – or loud – in relation to the other parts. Sound familiar? If so, then your monitoring setup may need a rethink!

So what differentiates a professional monitor speaker? Why do we need them? Wouldn’t a regular hi-fi speaker do the job? Well, no. ‘Hi-fi’ speakers enhance the music played through them. They aim to impress you with exaggerated bass, overhyped midrange and pushed treble – great for the average listener, but not so great when you want a clear representation of your mix.

In contrast, studio monitors are designed to reveal a true picture of the audio coming out of your speakers, warts ’n’ all. This uncompromising picture of your mix balance means you can make critical mixing moves, with the confidence that what you’re hearing will translate to all other playback systems. In this respect, monitors tend to be less pleasant-sounding, and in some cases more fatiguing, than hi-fi speakers, where the tonal balance is designed to enhance music for your average music listener.

In this feature, we’re going to demystify monitoring, helping to offer a setup for every studio, every budget and every situation.