You can have the perfect recording, but if you can’t hear how it will translate to other systems, because you got crappy monitor speakers, you are not going to get a great mix.

So a quality pair of studio monitors is a must. But don’t get caught up in those huge monitor speakers with 12 – 15 inch bass. Sure they sound great in the store, because they have sound proofed the room, but at home without sound proofing it’s going to mess up your sound. The bass will bounce off your walls and ceilings, even with curtains and carpets installed. You need proper bass traps and measuring the room, adjusting with Eq to be able to handle deep frequencies well.

So unless you are prepared to do that, I suggest going with a small pair of good quality studio speakers. 90% of the time spend on mixing you will be focusing on the mid frequencies anyway. When you occasionally need to check the low frequency of the mix, use a good pair of headphones instead. Headphones can playback the low frequencies without problems.

But remember, don’t mix your entire mix using headphones only. They don’t translate well compared to when playing on speakers. The stereo perspective and depth is different on headphones, so you might end up with a mix that sounds great on headphones but dull on most monitor speakers. A combination of both is the best solution by far.

Happy mixing.

Johnny Jam

I suggest using a tube microphone to capture the broad frequency contained in a vocal performance. Or if your budget is small a condeser mic like the AT2020 can do the trick. You can find great microphones at awesome prices here.

The most important thing is to make sure the room you are recording in is not too live, meaning the refelxtions from the walls and celing are not affecting the sound too much. Hanging up some heavy curtains on the walls and put a carpet on the floor will usually do the trick.

To avoid pops when recording, use a pop filter in front of the mike. You can even get some that will connect to your mike stand for cheap. Check out the great selection here.

Good luck with you recording session.

Johnny Jam