Is it worth spending on better monitors?

Only after doing something about the room. In an untreated room, what reaches your ears is determined more by the space than by the speakers, so expensive monitors in a bad spot still lie to you — now in more detail. For the same money, acoustic treatment and placement return considerably more.

Can I mix on headphones alone?

Yes, and plenty of people do with good results. They have the advantage of bypassing the room entirely and the disadvantage of exaggerating stereo separation and detail, which leads to mixes with too much reverb and panning that's too timid. If they're your main system, always check on a speaker even a bad one.

What volume should I mix at?

Moderate, around the level of normal conversation. At high volume the ear perceives more low and high frequency — that's how our sensitivity works — so everything sounds better than it is and you tend to balance badly. Listening loud is for spot checks and for enjoying yourself, not for deciding.

What do I treat first in the room?

Early reflections and corners. Absorption panels at the points on the wall where sound bounces toward your listening position, and bass traps in the corners, where low frequencies accumulate. That plus correct placement gains more than changing monitors.

Does software room correction work?

It helps with frequency response, especially when measured with a microphone at your position. What it can't fix is time: the room's reflections and reverberation are still there and are a good part of the problem. It's a complement to treatment, not a substitute.

Mixing10 min read

Monitoring: speakers, headphones and the room that lies to you

Why your mixes don't travel, what an ordinary room's acoustics do to them, how to set up, and the volume at which decisions should be made.

You don't mix with your speakers: you mix with your room

When a mix sounds good at home and bad in the car, the reflex is to blame the speakers. The culprit is nearly always the room. What reaches your ears isn't only what leaves the monitor: it's that signal plus dozens of reflections off walls, ceiling, floor and desk, arriving late and either adding or cancelling depending on frequency.

The result is a response full of peaks and dips that in an ordinary room can reach 15 or 20 dB of variation in the low end. If there's a dip at 80 Hz at your position, you hear little low end there, you compensate by boosting it, and everywhere else the mix booms. You didn't listen wrong: you were badly informed.

Placement: the part that's free

Equilateral triangle: the distance between the two monitors should equal the distance from each to your head.
Tweeters at ear height. If the monitor sits low, tilt it; if it's high, lower it. It's one of the biggest factors in how you perceive treble.
Lateral symmetry: both monitors the same distance from their side walls. An asymmetry shifts the entire stereo image.
At least 20-30 cm from the rear wall, further if you can. Pushing them against the wall artificially reinforces the low end.
Set up along the length of the room, facing the short wall, and not exactly at its centre: that's where cancellation is worst.

These five points cost nothing and are by far the most profitable improvement available to anyone mixing at home. Before considering any purchase, they're worth an afternoon.

The volume at which you decide

The ear's sensitivity isn't the same at all volumes: at low levels we perceive less low and high frequency, and at high levels we perceive them exaggerated. It's why everything sounds better when you turn it up, and also why mixes made loud tend to come up short on low end and sheen when heard at normal levels.

The habit that works is deciding the balance at moderate volume — conversation level — and using high volume only for short checks of impact and low end. Listening very quietly is useful too: at a nearly inaudible level only the most important elements survive, and if the mix still makes sense there, the balance is right.

Learning your system

No system is neutral, and it doesn't need to be: what's needed is for you to know how it lies. Engineers who work in modest rooms and get good mixes don't have better gear, they have references. They listen to records they know intimately on their own system, memorise how those sound there, and use the comparison as calibration.

Cross-checking completes the calibration: laptop, phone, cheap earbuds and car. Each shows a different part of the same problem, and agreement across several is more reliable than any isolated measurement. To check your impression against data, the mix analyser compares your frequency balance against genre references. And if you suspect the problem is judgement rather than gear, the mix skills test tends to point at it fast.

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth spending on better monitors?: Only after doing something about the room. In an untreated room, what reaches your ears is determined more by the space than by the speakers, so expensive monitors in a bad spot still lie to you — now in more detail. For the same money, acoustic treatment and placement return considerably more.
Can I mix on headphones alone?: Yes, and plenty of people do with good results. They have the advantage of bypassing the room entirely and the disadvantage of exaggerating stereo separation and detail, which leads to mixes with too much reverb and panning that's too timid. If they're your main system, always check on a speaker even a bad one.
What volume should I mix at?: Moderate, around the level of normal conversation. At high volume the ear perceives more low and high frequency — that's how our sensitivity works — so everything sounds better than it is and you tend to balance badly. Listening loud is for spot checks and for enjoying yourself, not for deciding.
What do I treat first in the room?: Early reflections and corners. Absorption panels at the points on the wall where sound bounces toward your listening position, and bass traps in the corners, where low frequencies accumulate. That plus correct placement gains more than changing monitors.
Does software room correction work?: It helps with frequency response, especially when measured with a microphone at your position. What it can't fix is time: the room's reflections and reverberation are still there and are a good part of the problem. It's a complement to treatment, not a substitute.