Common Home Music Studio Question: Do You Really Need Headphones To Record? 2022

From time to time, we reach out to some of our friends who work in the music business to get their take on some of the most often asked issues in the industry. It’s an excellent method to find out what the boys and girls who are “in the trenches” think about their jobs. It’s also a fantastic method for you to learn more about the art of music recording and music production while having fun. During the following several weeks, we’ll be releasing some of their replies, and I’m certain you’ll find them to be really useful.

Here is the first of many questions we asked Mike White of Music-Production-Guide.com, so without further ado, here is the second. Mike has been kind enough to make contributions to our cause in the past. Thank you, Mike! Check back often over the next several weeks as Mike will be contributing more to the site.

Do I Really Need Headphones In My Home Studio?

‘Yes, you do need a nice set of headphones for your home recording studio, and there are three compelling reasons for this.

The first is for the purpose of recording. Any acoustic instrument recording, such as vocals, acoustic guitar or other acoustic instruments, will need the use of headphones in order to hear what you’re playing when recording and overdubbing. Because the audio from the speakers may colour the sound coming into the microphone and, if cranked up too high, may even induce feedback, using your speakers to monitor your recordings is a terrible idea. When recording any kind of audio that includes acoustic noises, it is very necessary to use a set of headphones.

Second, headphones may be used as an alternate monitoring source, and there are several advantages to doing so. Headphones, in addition to listening to your monitors, provide an additional reference check, which is very useful during the mixdown process. The acoustics of your room are eliminated by the use of headphones, so if your monitoring room is sounding hollow or not quite right, the headphones will erase the acoustics of the room since they will not really be getting into the recording. Furthermore, since so many people nowadays listen to their music via headphones, it’s a really useful reference for you to have while composing your own music.

The third reason is that it allows you to work without interfering with the activities of other people who are nearby. Working late at home in your studio, nearby flats, or anything similar while not disturbing the family is an example of how headphones may be useful. “Using headphones enables you to work whenever you want and without disturbing others around you,” says the author.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Make sure you listen to the audio lectures in Mike’s Audio Basics Series. There’s a plethora of practical knowledge to be found there. And, best of all, it is completely free!