What are Studio Headphones Used For?

In this post we will be answering the question, “what are studio headphones used for?”

One of the most essential items of every studio are studio headphones.

If you are just getting into music, you may have glanced at them and thought, “oh they are just headphones”.

Maybe you are curious about them and want to know what is the use for them. They are actually a powerful and essential piece of audio equipment that is a must have for every studio.

So… what are studio headphones used for?

Studio headphones are used for referencing, making music and for leisure listening.

what are studio headphones used for?

Referencing

We use studio headphones for referencing when we want to see how a mix or master sounds in headphones.

Most studio headphones have a great frequency response. Because of this, things sound very deep as well as crisp. The overall balance is present and its just something that only exists in studio headphones.

In the process of mixing a record, many engineers run into the problem of their mix sounding good on their studio monitors but it sounds bad everywhere else – in this case, it sounds bad in a persons headphones/earphones.

Engineers resolve this issue by constantly checking their mix in the studio headphones.

They make adjustments, tweak on the studio monitors and reference the change on the studio headphones.

If they notice that things sound way off, they will adjust the sound from the studio headphones perspective and then listen on the larger studio monitors.

Once a good balance is achieved on both the studio headphones and studio monitors, then the engineer can move on to the next sound until the mix is done.

This is a perfect example on how studio headphones can be used for referencing. The next use case is “making music”.

Making Music

Studio headphones are also used when making music.

If you are not in a place where you can play your music out loud such as a library, work environment, or if its way past quiet hours, studio headphones would be essential.

It may also be more enjoyable for you to make music with your studio headphones because you are able to hear a lot more as you are making the music.

If you are messing around with a nice virtual instrument (VST) and you are trying out some synths and other sounds, you may hear some really nice effects on the sound such as chorusing, flanging, panning and other nice effects. This can cause one to be even more creative as they are making music.

Even down to certain genres like hip hop, trap or EDM, you may want things to sound like they are hitting a little bit harder without disturbing your neighbors in your home studio – studio headphones will do the trick here. WARNING: please protect your ears and don’t play music too loud for a long period of time as this can cause permanent damage to your hearing!

 

RELATED: How to Make your Home Studio Sound Professional

Leisure Listening

Leisure listening is another use case for studio headphones. Like we learned in the referencing section above, studio headphones have a better frequency response then your average headphones. Because of this, things sound deep and clear and this is something that most people enjoy.

With studio headphones, you get to listen to an accurate representation and reproduction of how instruments and other sound effects would sound.

If the song that you are listening to was properly mixed and mastered then you would be in for a treat!

Audiophiles at work utilize studio headphones because they allow you to be immersed in the music due to its sonic quality. This would make work go by way faster as you are enjoying all the music you can listen to.

So… What are Studio Headphones Used For?

As we can see, studio headphones can be used in a lot of different ways. We learned that we can use studio headphones for referencing, making music and leisure listening. What do you use your studio headphones for? Let us know.