Wayne Parham wrote on Thu, 28 May 2026 16:29

It totally depends on the room and what you're lookin' for.

The room has a major impact on sound - there's no doubt about that.

So if you want to hear the source and not the room, you'll need to do some work.

But if you know your room - especially if you're on a budget - and if its flaws aren't glaring, you can probably do a budget setup and be fine.

Glaring flaws are things like all hard surfaces like concrete or tile, especially in a small space.  That's hard to work with 'cause it will over-emphasize certain sounds and make you want to mix 'em to "correct."  Playback in another environment - the sound is way off.

One thing that always helps - mount the speakers flush with the front wall and make your listening spot far away from the rear and side walls.  If you can't sit far from walls, cover them with acoustic wedges, largest you can get.  If you can't mount the speakers flush to the wall, pull 'em away from the front wall and/or use flanking subs.

That's right. I'm thankful for the nice advice.  I believe the hard walls in my bedroom must have been the reason songs sound better in headphones while I am inside but sound differently when I play them in the car.

I guess I will have to rearrange the monitors in my room away from the wall first and see how it goes. I will also work on getting some affordable acoustic panels for the reflection points.

I will test it on my next mix and let you know how it is going.