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That said, headphones can be a great aid. For one, their sound
is not influenced by the room they're in, so you can get a
consistent (if not absolutely accurate) aural picture of your
music. During mixing, they're great for positioning individual
musical elements in the stereo field, and their direct response
can help you more easily identify when mix components are
working against each other.
When you're setting the levels of elements placed at extreme positions in
the stereo field, it's a good idea to use your speakers—headphones can be
very misleading when you're attempting to do this.
During the editing process, headphones can make it easier
to hear subtle sounds that you might not hear as well in your
studio monitors. They're also helpful when using the MTK,
allowing subtle changes in the processor's settings to be more
easily heard.
Like all artistic judgements, there are no hard-and-fast rules that are
"right" 100% of the time. If you can achieve the results you desire by
mixing and mastering using only headphones, by all means do so!
Speaker Placement and Room Acoustics
Most of us home-recordists set up shop wherever it's
convenient, and that's often in a spare bedroom, basement, or
garage. Unfortunately, these aren't always the most optimum
environments for critical listening.
Countless books and magazine articles have been written
on the subject of optimizing your listening environment. We
won't attempt to provide any detailed solutions here, but we
can offer a few basic things to be aware of.
Speaker Placement
How and where you set up your speakers has a great impact
on their performance. Here's a few tips for optimum results:
•
When setting up your speakers the first time, listen to
them in a variety of locations in the room (using a CD you
know well as a reference) to determine where they sound
the best.
•
If possible, place your monitors so that they're at equal
distances from the room's side walls. This will improve their
stereo imaging.
•
Avoid placing a speaker directly against a wall or in a corner,
as this increases the amount of bass that it produces. Most
near-field monitors perform most accurately when placed
away from any walls.
Many of today's active monitor designs (including Roland's DS-series)
feature bass trim controls to offset this bass increase if it's necessary to
place them against a wall or in a corner.
•
Angle the speakers inward, toward the listening position.
•
At the listening position, your speakers and your head
should form an equilateral triangle.
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