Headphones vs Monitors - and do I need new monitors...

[RichM]

Hi All,

Long time quiet and happy home AFII user ... quick question for those who have experimented with multiple speaker options more than me.

I've only started using headphones on my AFII recently due to home working / recording - and I now have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50X. I am from tube amps and headphones just felt wrong for so long. However I'm now really struggling going back to using my monitor speakers as many of my best presets just don't sound right. For example a 'typical' 57+121 mic set up sounds exactly how I'd expect through headphones but sounds gutless and fizzy through my speakers.

So without this turning into a brand bashing I wanted views on whether this was just the way it is, in terms of both fidelity and 'directness' of sound using reasonable headphones, or whether I'd get there with monitors if I got something better.

My monitors are currently the KRK Rokit RP6G3 which, whilst much maligned, sound fine for most uses. However the treble doesn't sound right with AFII presets and hence was considering something like an Adam A7X with ribbon tweeters. Has anyone got any experience of this switch? Or am I going to always find this difference due to the volume, directness and lack of acoustic complications afforded by headphones. I'm sure poor acoustics in my home office/studio is not helping but I don't really have the option to treat it.

So just wanted some views from people who may have been here before me and can relate to my situation. Currently I am finding that I need different presets for headphones - and I'm finding that tones that just sound amazing through my Audio Technicas are flat and lacking in punch through the KRKs - it feels to me like the mid treble is just not crisp enough but my ears are getting older so not sure.

Thanks for any ideas, experiences or ideas you can give

Richard.

 

[Rick]

I don’t have either of your monitoring options, so I hope I’m not out in left field here. I’ve used my Sony MDR7506 headphones for years, a holdover from what was used in a studio I recorded in years back. They’re ok, but I’m not really volume limited in my space, so I hook the Axe FX through my board, then on to a set of Presonus Scepter S8s. The sound is very good, and the patches translate well when I go to the CLR or RCF speakers I use to gig with. The sound is quite similar to the Genelec 8050b, at a fraction of the cost.

Presonus also makes the Eris series, and the 6” version sounds very nice with the Axe FX. The price is very reasonable. With the S8 or E6 you can add a Presonus sub if you’re into music with a lot of low content.

Im sure there are several other good options, but I don’t have personal experience with them so I’ll leave that to those who do!

 

[RichM]

Thanks Rick ... I'm gravitating to a view that my perceptions are falling into the well trodden 'amp in the room' debate. Through headphones the end-to-end studio effect of the amp->cab->mic->fx works better for me and when playing through monitors I suspect I'm missing the amp in the room feel which maybe pushes me more to a CLR type solution. I've stood in front of my KRKs and when I've adjusted the hf and lf (both down as the KRK has a bit of a hyped hifi tone) it sounds identical to my headphones but possibly the off-sweet-spot changes and/or the FX makes it feel artificial to me. I am much happier with a very dry mix when using speakers which is maybe a giveaway.

For now I feel that changing the KRKs for other monitors will probably be a waste and I either need a CLR type guitar cab or just create patches differently for the two use cases.

Rich.