ABSTRACT
Monitors are available in nearfield and midfield designs. Midfields are intended primarily for professional studio installations and positioned approximately three to four meters away from the engineer’s listening position. When purchasing monitors, perhaps the most critical consideration is whether the monitors are active or passive. Passive monitors require the use of an external amplifier. Like monitors, headphones come in different designs and price ranges. Typically, closed back headphones are the preferred choice for musicians or talent in the vocal booth as they have little to no sound leakage. While headphones eliminate problems with room modes and standing waves from a monitoring environment, they suffer from a different assortment of issues. The speakers in headphones are only small, and although some models can replicate bass with a fair degree of accuracy, they do not exhibit the power experienced from a larger monitor.
