Five Things Every Studio Needs

So you've set up your system, and you've got a good pair of monitors. Why would you need headphones?

Isolation During Tracking
When recording multitrack style, it's generally in the best interest of isolation from other noises that you monitor on headphones while recording the individual part. That also allows you to use a click track — something we'll cover more in depth later on — without it bleeding onto tape. A good pair of headphones can be relatively inexpensive, or you can spend several hundred dollars. The standard of most commercial recording studios is well within the financial reach of any home recordist: the Sony MDR-7506, which retails for around $100. These headphones are the standard on which most studio reference headphones are judged. But here's a tip, search for the MDR-V6, a professional version of the consumer-sold 7506; with no sonic difference and only slight aesthetic differences, you'll save sometimes as much as $50 off the MDR-7506 price. Of course, any headphones you have or prefer will work.