Both let you hear your music accurately, and most producers end up with both. The question is which to buy first.
Choose headphones first if
- Your room is small, square or has hard, bare walls. Untreated rooms add bass build-ups and echoes that monitors can't fix.
- You often work at night or share walls with neighbours.
- Your budget is tight. A good pair of studio headphones usually costs less than a decent pair of monitors.
- You record vocals or instruments with a microphone. Closed-back headphones stop the click track leaking into the mic.
Choose monitors first if
- You have a room you can set up properly, with the speakers away from walls and forming a triangle with your listening position.
- You spend long hours mixing. Speakers are less tiring over a long session.
- You want a better sense of stereo width and how a mix will feel in a room.
Open-back or closed-back?
Closed-back headphones isolate sound in both directions, so they are the right choice for recording. Open-back headphones leak sound but usually present a more natural, spacious picture, which many people prefer for mixing.
What matters in monitors
Bigger woofers reproduce more bass, but in a small untreated room an 8-inch speaker can make bass problems worse. For most bedrooms, 5-inch monitors are a sensible starting size. Place them at ear height, away from the wall behind, and use isolation pads or stands.
About this guide
This guide explains widely used production practice and contains no statistics or product claims that need an outside source. See our editorial standards.
