Music Glossary

Studio Monitor

Speakers designed for an accurate, uncoloured sound to mix music on.

Studio monitors are speakers built specifically for producing and mixing music, designed to reproduce sound as accurately and neutrally as possible rather than to flatter it. Ordinary consumer speakers and headphones often boost the bass and treble to sound pleasing, but that colouring hides problems and leads to mixes that fall apart elsewhere. Monitors aim for a flat, honest response so you hear exactly what is in your recording and can make reliable decisions that translate well to other systems. Used in a reasonably treated room and at a sensible distance, a decent pair of monitors — along with reference headphones — is one of the most important tools for learning to mix.

432
Written & reviewed by
The Club432 musician collective

432 Academy is the learning arm of Club432 — a performing-arts collective of working musicians, producers, DJs and engineers. Our guides are written for beginners and reviewed by people who play, record and perform for a living, so the advice is what we'd tell a friend picking up the instrument, not specs copied off a box.

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