I need your opinions... Headphones vs. Monitors (AT M50's vs. KRK 5's)

[Virgil.]

Hi all, I would appreciate your opinions.

I have a really small budget, and I've heard some good things about the AT M50 headphones for mixing... however, I know mixing on Monitors is ideal. The only Monitors I could afford that seem somewhat decent are the KRK 5's. If any of you had a choice of the two for mixing, which would you choose? Right now I'm mixing on a piece of shit $20 Sony headphones which really doesn't cut it. I know some of you may say "you can't compare headphones to monitors", but on this small of budget I feel you can. Do you think I will be able to get better mixes from the AT headphones or the KRK monitors. I've heard the low frequency response on the KRK's isn't that great. I won't have a subwoofer to hook up to them either.

Thanks, in advance, for your guidance.

 

[Ermz]

This one is down to personal preference, I think.

Many people prefer mixing on monitors, even if the circumstances are less than ideal. For instance, without adequate treatment you're not going to get much from the monitors. They aren't really great monitors to start with, so you'll be kicking off with a leg down. The headphones are fairly decent and have an extended frequency response, but... they're headphones. You tend to get a warped sense of where things lie and it takes a lot of experience and accounting for to get it right. I could never do it, no matter how hard I tried, so I mix solely on monitors... I don't even double check on cans.

Good luck.

 

[Virgil.]

Thanks Ermz. You do make a good point. I wouldn't have them setup in ideal conditions, by any means.

I really want a pair of good cans to mix on, and I think I could get used to them since that's all I would have -- so it would force me to get used to them!
But then again, headphones really fatigue my ears after a while even just listening to music. I never have volume too high, it's just wearing them and the constant assault on my ears.... there's no breathing room and open air for the sound. But I've always wondered if it was just my cheap headphones that was the real issue.

I'm wondering if I should save up for the KRK 6" instead of the 5"'s. They are a little bit more, but it looks like (from reading reviews) that the bass responsiveness is a lot better.

Ideally, I would want both so I could reference my mixes on headphones, but I can't. The most I could afford is $400 total. Any other suggestions? Maybe I should get the KRK 5"'s AND the M50? I really don't know if I want to buy both, but idk... i'm indecisive and it's pissing me off.

 

[laszlozsolt82]

I say buy the audiotechnica ATH-M50 for the beginning, they are very good headphones designed specialy for mixing, if you got an untreated small room, maybe family near you it`s a better starting choice and cheaper alternative ;a good headphone that will last, and you can buy a pair of monitors in the future, though a good headphone will be always handy.
Nowadays i spend lot of time with headphones,i can achieve good results with them.
Recently discovered a free old plugin that helps mixing with cans.

http://refinedaudiometrics.com/products-hdphx.shtml

 

[Virgil.]

@laszlozsolt82 - Thanks man! That's what I was sort of thinking. Thanks for the plugin tip... I will give this plugin a try w/ my current headphones to see what it sounds like. If it splits it enough, then this is definitely another reason to upgrade the cans.

Yeah, basically my recording setup is in my loft... so it's untreated and just open to the downstairs family room.

 

[Virgil.]

Thanks Fear. I'm probably going to end-up going the Headphone route for now and use the leftover funds to get me a cheap bass --all I've been doing is pitch-shifting my guitars using ReaPitch in Reaper. I will definitely save up for some monitors though.

Thanks everyone for your input.