I’m an audio student, what do I need to buy?

This is another of my regularly asked questions by students of mine. Usually this is from students who have just commenced thier studies, thus are enthusiastic and excited to start a new phase of their learning, or even thier lives. They want to know how they can start off thier new journey in the best possible way. This is some of the most fun I can have as a teacher as you have a group of students who are keen, determined, switched on, if even a little bit shy.

So the question I get, usually by someone after thier very first class is “what audio gear should I buy?”. They often ask about computers, DAWs, mics, plugins, speakers and almost any other piece of gear. The right answer, or at least the answer I give?

HEADPHONES

A good pair of quality studio headphones that you like the sound of and make sure that you try before you buy. That’s my answer and I’d say more than three-quarters of students really don’t like that as an answer.  It took me a while to understand why. What I’ve discovered is that the students have come to learn from me because they want to be in the business of creativity. Which is fantastic and that is exactly what I’ll teach them.

They don’t like my answer of headphones because they want tools that will allow them to create. Headphones aren’t typically looked at as the tool that they will create with. What they are asking when they say “what piece of gear should I buy?” is what is the best tool I need to have to be able to create. And my answer to that question is still headphones.

It’s not because headphones are the most important tool, it’s because they work with the most important tool. Your ears. Having a playback system that you are familiar with will help you train your critical ear. This one of the most important tools you can have when you are working with sound. It will allow you to analyse and understand what you are listening to and how to make it better.  When you are first wanting to learn about sound you should be listening and thinking about sound more than you are doing (and you should be doing a lot). But it all starts with listening and you need a great tool that will help you do that. Headphones.

Now, if you want to talk headphones, then let’s do that here.

But, after you get headphones, go; computer, DAW, interface, speakers, mics, desk/surface, outboard. Which is a relatively logical order as you usually need the thing before to get the next thing. But at any point, you’ve still go your own personal monitoring system that you are tuning and improving. If you are a student at a school (like my students) then the institution should have all the other tools you need to produce with (I would hope). But get your own headphones, because trust me, there is nothing worse than “communal” headphones.