3 Ways to Get Pro Sound in Your Home Studio

It may be hard to believe in a world where practically every musician has a home studio that there was a time when gatekeepers—professional audio engineers working in commercial recording facilities—held dominion over the sounds artists put on their tracks. When working in pro studios in those days, I routinely had my hand slapped away if I dared reach for a fader or EQ knob. Furthermore, if I summoned up the nerve to ask questions about signal processors, microphone placement or mixing strategies, I was usually met with a withering stare and the suggestion that I focus on playing my guitar part.

But the gatekeepers weren’t 100-percent wrong.

They were protecting a relatively universal concept of pristine, full-bandwidth audio, as demanded by the era’s radio, television and record-making technicians, as well as the consumers who treasured the results of their diligence—whether they dropped recordings by the Beatles, Miles Davis and/or a Mozart symphony on their home entertainment systems. Today, a popular song isn’t necessarily “required” to exhibit a particular sonic signature. Productions can be wildly successful whether they showcase robust bass, lively mids, expansive highs or anything in between.

What this means for a home studio musician is that you are now the sole gatekeeper of whatever aural wonderland you wish to achieve. But it will be incredibly challenging to create the sounds you want if your studio environment is lying to your ears about what they think they’re hearing. For example, you may think you’re hearing too much bass, and adjust accordingly, but when you reference your track on another system, you realize the low-end glut was an illusion, and your tweaks severely weakened the bass content.

While it can be frustrating to homegrown creators, big pro studios still have a significant advantage in producing exceptional audio, as their tracking and mixing rooms are often judiciously treated to ensure accurate monitoring of the frequency spectrum.

So how do we match the pro advantage to deliver to achieve consistently spectacular sounds at home?

Happily, you don’t need to hire an expensive studio-design company to renovate your recording space. You simply need to identify and address the sonic gremlins in your environment—standing waves, boomy bass, excessive reflections, flutter echoes and so on—and render them as harmless as possible. Here are three tips to help you do just that ...

Table of Contents

Room Treatment for Beginners
   IK Multimedia ARC Studio Digital Room Acoustics Correction Processor
   IsoAcoustics ISO-200 Studio Monitor Stands
   Sterling Audio VMS Vocal Microphone Shield
   Studio Trends Studio Desk
   Ultimate Acoustics Acoustic Bass Traps
   Ultimate Acoustics Studio Bundle II
Minimize Room Effects With Nearfield Monitors
   ADAM Audio D3V Active Studio Monitors
   Harbinger VARI SM508 Studio Monitor
   PreSonus Eris Studio 5 Studio Monitor (2nd Gen)
   Yamaha HS8 Powered Studio Monitor
Isolate Audio With Closed-Back Headphones
   AKG K371 Closed-Back Studio Headphones
   Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Closed-Back Studio Headphones
   Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO-80 Closed-Back Studio Headphones
   Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Closed-Back Studio Headphones
   Sony MDR-7506 Professional Closed-Back Studio Headphones
Final Reflections
People Also Ask ...

Room Treatment for Beginners

Celebrated pro recording studios produce stunning and accurate audio, because they are designed to enhance the sounds of vocals, drums, guitars, pianos, strings, horns and mixdowns. While your home studio environment will likely never approach the grandeur of sonic palaces such as Abbey Road (London), Westlake (Los Angeles), Electric Lady (New York) and Blackbird (Nashville), savvy deployment of acoustic treatment can significantly improve what you hear while recording and mixing.

Pro Tip: You’re not trying to lather your space with sound-absorptive materials to terminate all reverberation. Your room shouldn’t sound as silent as a spacewalk in the cosmos. Instead, you want to control the energy of certain frequencies—usually bass is the big bad wolf in small spaces—so your room produces a neutral and balanced sound.

Pictured: Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitor Mounted on IsoAcoustics ISO-200 Studio Monitor Stand

IK Multimedia ARC Studio Digital Room Acoustics Correction Processor

Why It’s Cool: Acoustic room correction for the masses.

Things to Consider:

• Quick, easy setup
• Works with your current monitor speakers
• Free Mac/PC app emulates more than 20 playback systems

Shop Now: IK Multimedia ARC Studio Digital Room Acoustics Correction Processor

One of the major factors preventing a typical home studio from delivering accurate sound is, unlike most big-time commercial facilities, your recording space hasn’t been tested for acoustic anomalies that can be diminished (or terminated) with appropriate room treatment. The IK Multimedia ARC Studio Digital Room Acoustics Correction Processor tackles this acoustic challenge at your listening source by analyzing how your monitor speakers react to the room and correcting their response to allow for any problematic issues. No need to call a studio designer and carpenter to renovate physical walls, corners, ceilings and so on. A massively useful feature is ARC’s monitor-emulation function that transforms your single set of speakers into a collection of iconic studio monitors, hi-fi transducers and more. You never have to leave your seat to reference mixes on a number of different playback systems.

IsoAcoustics ISO-200 Studio Monitor Stands

Why They’re Cool: They offer a simple and noninvasive way to improve critical listening.  

Things to Consider:

• Prevents transfer of acoustic energy to desktops, racks and other nearby surfaces
• Offers 14 height and tilt adjustments
• Works with most small and large monitor systems

Shop Now: IsoAcoustics ISO-200 Studio Monitor Stand Pair

Treating your studio isn’t always about room analysis and proper application of absorptive material. Sometimes, a simple tweak to your listening position can improve mixes. The IsoAcoustics ISO-200 are “just” monitor stands, but they decouple your speakers from surfaces that can add frequency coloration, as well as let you position the monitors to optimize your listening position. The ISO-200 stands are designed to help your monitors deliver tighter bass frequencies, improved stereo imaging and a more expansive listening sweet spot.

Pro Tip: Position the ISO-200 stands to form an equilateral triangle between your head and the two speakers. This arrangement delivers the time-honored, audio engineer-recommended sweet spot for critical listening. You can further enhance imaging and accuracy by ensuring the tweeters of your monitors are placed right at the level of your ears or just a tad above them.

Sterling Audio VMS Vocal Microphone Shield

Why It’s Cool: Call it a guardian against any impish reflections seeking to compromise your vocal tracks.

Things to Consider:

• Adjustable mount works with most mic stands and shockmounts
• Perforations on the VMS backshield (behind the foam) prevent low-end energy from reflecting back into the microphone
• Can be used to isolate mics positioned in front of acoustic guitars, amps, percussion instruments and more

Shop Now: Sterling Audio VMS Vocal Microphone Shield

If your recording space is beaming annoying flutter echoes or strange slapbacks at your vocal mic, you can fight meddlesome reflections with the Sterling Audio VMS (Vocal Microphone Shield). Simply position the VMS behind your mic of choice using the adjustable mounting bracket (foam side toward the mic, of course), and any vocal track-trashing echoes will be radically diminished or terminated entirely.

Studio Trends Studio Desk

Why It’s Cool: Makes your home studio space more professional, tidy and ergonomic. (Unless you’re partial to commandeering your kitchen and/or dining room tables every time you start a project.)

Things to Consider:

• Monitor shelf accommodates optimum placement for listening
• Two 4-space racks facilitate neat and efficient positioning of hardware devices
• Casters let you move the desk from room-to-room as necessary

Shop Now: Studio Trends STLD46 46" Studio Desk with Dual 4U Racks

We are aware a studio desk is more furniture than room treatment, but having a dedicated space designed for audio endeavors can offer workflow and critical listening improvements over kluging areas usually meant for eating, sleeping, watching TV and so on. The Studio Desk offers a generous 46"-wide work area and dual 4-space racks, so you shouldn’t need to clutter things up with cables, accessories, notebooks, action figures and other stuff. There’s even a cable port to help you “disappear” messy wires.

Ultimate Acoustics Acoustic Bass Traps

Why They’re Cool: These bass bodyguards manage the booming low end that’s often a problem in small home studio spaces.

Things to Consider:

• Designed to absorb low frequencies below 250Hz
• Beveled edges fit right into the corners of your room
• Delivers 48 square feet of coverage per unit

Shop Now: Ultimate Acoustics UA-BTB Acoustic Bass Trap 2-Pack

Low-frequency build up is the bête noire of cramped home studio spaces, because augmented bass can really mess with accurate evaluations of a recording’s sonic spectrum. The Ultimate Acoustics Acoustic Bass Trap provides two 12"x12"x24" high-density fiberglass panels with beveled edges to combat rampant bass and deliver a more balanced frequency response for recording and mixing. Installation is easy with the system’s included adhesive strips, which also allow you to audition placement of the traps until you find the optimum spot before mounting them permanently with screws.

Ultimate Acoustics Studio Bundle II

Why It’s Cool: Gives home recording musicians the power to improve sound quality in their studios.

Things to Consider:

• 24-piece system provides 24 square feet of coverage
• Includes 12 wedge and 12 beveled panels
• Each panel measures 12"x12"x2"

Shop Now: Ultimate Acoustics Studio Bundle II 24-Pack

After dealing with booming bass in your space, go after other unwanted reflections with the Ultimate Acoustics Studio Bundle II. The 24-piece system comes with 2" thick panels (12 wedge style and 12 beveled) that absorb frequencies from 125Hz up to 4kHz—which should be more than enough attenuation to tame reverberation overload, flutter echoes and other acoustic gremlins in most home studios.

Minimize Room Effects With Nearfield Monitors

Room treatment isn’t always an option for improving home studio sound. Perhaps your creative space is situated in a bedroom that needs to stay a bedroom, or other factors make it impractical to “foam up” your walls. But you can still minimize the effects of poor room acoustics on your listening position by parking yourself in front of a pair of nearfield monitors. The concept is simple. Compact nearfields are designed to sit approximately two- to three-feet away from the listener, effectively emphasizing the direct sound from the speakers to your ears and reducing acoustic reflections from reaching them.

Browse some of the most popular studio monitors in our guide to The Best Studio Monitors of 2025.

Pictured: Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitor Room Control and High Trim Switches

ADAM Audio D3V Active Studio Monitors

Why They’re Cool: Small and mighty powered monitors with extended frequency range (up to 45Hz–23.2kHz).

Things to Consider:

• Active 3.5" aluminum woofers powered by 80W amps
• Dual 1.5" ribbon tweeters with 40W power amps
• Room optimization controls

Shop Now: ADAM Audio D3V 3" Active Studio Monitors

The compact ADAM Audio D3V Active Studio Monitor pair can fit atop just about any workspace, and the detachable 15-degree angled stands help ensure the speakers are positioned at your optimum listening position. The D3Vs include USB-C inputs, so you can plug right into your computer without the need for an external interface, dealing with software or tweaking gain levels. A significant bonus for home studio musicians is that the ADAM Audio D3V system offers three room-optimization switches for tailoring speaker response to your workspace. Position adjusts the low end if the D3Vs are placed near walls or corners that can produce boomy bass. Desk tweaks midrange frequencies for various desk sizes and listening positions. Room fine-tunes treble to accommodate live environments (windows and hard surfaces) or dead areas (rugs, sofas and other absorptive materials).

Harbinger VARI SM508 Studio Monitor

Why It’s Cool: Bluetooth input lets you swiftly and effortlessly reference your mixes to smash hits or other audio examples on your favorite streaming service.

Things to Consider:

• Essential controls placed on front panel for easy access—no more pausing workflow to reach behind the speaker enclosure
• Three voicings for comparing audio response on “different” monitor systems
• 100 watts of active power (70 watts for woofer and 30 watts for tweeter)

Shop Now: Harbinger VARI SM508 8" Studio Monitor

If your workspace can handle the footprint of a pro-sized—yet still relatively compact—nearfield the Harbinger VARI SM508 Studio Monitor offers an 8" low-frequency driver and a 1" tweeter. But wait—the VARI SM508 is actually three monitor systems in one. Harbinger’s Perfect Mix DSP provides home studio musicians with a trio of voicings in order to optimize playback references. Although you should reference your mixes on as many systems as you can to ensure your audio spectrum translates well to a number of different playback systems, the built-in voicings of the VARI SM508 can save you from immediately running out to your car or into another room to test a mix. Choose REF mode to hear the flat, accurate sound of the VARI SM508. Then, audition how your mix might sound on a good home stereo system with NORM, which slightly hypes low, midrange and treble frequencies. Finally, test your audio spectrum for playback on earbuds, laptops and mobile devices with SMALL.

Pro Tip: Need to conserve space on a crowded desktop, or work area is simply too small to accommodate the enclosure of an 8" low-frequency driver? Pivot to the more compact Harbinger VARI SM505 5" Studio Monitor.

Learn more about the development of the Harbinger VARI Studio monitors in our exclusive interview with Patrick O'Connor Guitar Center Product Manager for Private Brands.

PreSonus Eris Studio 5 Studio Monitor (2nd Gen)

Why It’s Cool: PreSonus EBM (Elliptical Boundary Modeled) waveguide delivers wide horizontal dispersion for a broader listening sweet spot.

Things to Consider:

• 5.25" woven-composite low-frequency driver (45W Class AB power)
• 1" silk-dome high-frequency transducer (35W Class AB power)
• Built-in acoustic tuning controls

Shop Now: PreSonus Eris Studio 5 Studio Monitor (2nd Gen)

The upgraded PreSonus Eris Studio 5 Studio Monitor (2nd Gen) is small enough to fit on most table tops while still delivering a wide 48Hz to 20kHz frequency response and expanded dispersion to ensure your ears don’t drift out of the listening sweet spot whenever you reach for a piece of gear or jot down some mix notes. The Eris Studio 5 also includes an Acoustic Tuning system that can be used to tailor speaker response to imperfect room acoustics. Adjust the high-Mid, Low Cutoff, High and Acoustic Space controls to achieve more accurate monitoring—even of the speakers are positioned near corners (potential bass glut) or hard surfaces (possible boosts to mid and high-end frequencies).

Yamaha HS8 Powered Studio Monitor

Why It’s Cool: Looking like the iconic, white-coned Yamaha NS-10M speakers seen in just about every pro studio for years, the HS8 ups the game with bi-amped drivers and a room control feature for tailoring sound to your listening environment.

Things to Consider:

• 8" cone woofer (75W of power)
• 1" dome tweeter (45W of power)
• Frequency response is 38Hz to 30kHz

Shop Now: Yamaha HS8 8" Powered Studio Monitor

The Yamaha HS8 offers the 8" low-frequency drivers, 1" tweeter configuration and ported enclosure of many pro studio monitor speakers, so if you have the desktop real estate available, what you may hear when you work in commercial recording studios may seamlessly translate to what you hear at home. However, the ROOM CONTROL feature can also let you refine the HS8’s frequency response to deliver accurate audio in your room alone.

Isolate Audio With Closed-Back Headphones

Perhaps your creative space is composed of many different rooms, because your DAW is on a laptop, and you “move the studio” as necessary. Being portable is awesome, because you can work late at night, and if someone in your house needs to sleep, you simply decamp to the garage or a guest bedroom. For example, I’ve been bumped around the abode when my wife has her work-from-home days, and she and her coworkers would rather not hear me compose, practice and sing background vocals or guitar lines 38 times. The downside, however, is that unless your room treatments are mirrored in every room in the house or rehearsal studio, mobility can mean different monitoring challenges every time you set up in a new spot.

The solution—and it’s fortunately a simple one—is to decouple your ears from the different aural environments and basically use “direct injection” (of sorts) to hear your mixes without any interference from the surrounding location. In other words, you plop on a pair of closed-back headphones to obliterate acoustic distractions and focus precisely on the sound at hand.

Pro Tip: Because headphones isolate sound, you can perceive an exaggerated sense of panning positions and stereo width, as opposed to listening to monitor speakers that blend audio within the acoustic environment of your room. Personally, I love extreme stereo panning, because I remain captivated by the outlandish “experiments” of early stereo albums. Hard left and hard right pan positions still produce expansive stereo whether you monitor with closed-back headphones or monitors. That said, this is one of the reasons why you should reference your mixes on a number of different playback systems, as you need to ensure the sound you were going for in your studio delivers much the same production values listeners will hear at home, in their cars and when grooving to mobile devices.

If you're interested in grabbing a new set of headphones for your home studio, be sure to check out our guide to the Best Studio Headphones for Recording, Mixing and Mastering.

AKG K371 Closed-Back Studio Headphones

Why They’re Cool: A NAMM TEC Award winner that are comfy to wear during long mix sessions.

Things to Consider:

• Closed-back, oval over-ear design
• Foldable for easy storage and transport
• Includes detachable cable for pro and consumer gear

Shop Now: AKG K371 Closed-Back Studio Headphones

The AKG K371 Closed-Back Headphones offer excellent isolation from outside sounds, and output an amazing wide-frequency spectrum of 5Hz up to 40kHz. That’s more than the human ear can discern, of course, but the expansive sonic spectrum can help you detect excess sub bass, zero in on high-end harmonics that are perhaps too bright and assess headroom to identify any potential signal-path distortion.

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Closed-Back Studio Headphones

Why They’re Cool: Bass response great for mixing dance-oriented music, cinematic scores and aggressive music with wide dynamic ranges.

Things to Consider:

• Large aperture, 45mm drivers with copper-clad, aluminum-wire voice coils
• Ear cups swivel 90 degrees for singers who like to record with “one ear off”
• Collapsible for easy storage and transport

Shop Now: Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Closed-Back Studio Headphones

The circumaural design of the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x cradles the ears for comfort and maximum isolation. These cans are excellent for long mix sessions—both in diminishing ear fatigue and headband/ear discomfort—and, because of the 90-degree ear cup swivel, they can also be used by live DJs who need isolated and open-environment monitoring options. You also get three detachable cables (1.2m–3m coiled, 3m straight and 1.2m straight) to accommodate various gear.

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO-80 Closed-Back Studio Headphones

Why They’re Cool: Diffused-field design delivers sound to your ears from all directions equally, making these a good option if you do a ton of extreme stereo panning.

Things to Consider:

• Comfy, soft velour ear pads
• Extended bass response
• Single-sided cable

Shop Now: Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO-80 Closed-Back Studio Headphones

The Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO-80 Closed-Back Studio Headphones offer approximately 18dB of ambient noise isolation, so you can listen confidently to your mix without distractions. The very wide frequency response of 5Hz to 35kHz gives you the chance to discern low- and high-end anomalies, even if human ears can’t explicitly hear the sub bass and stratospheric treble the DT 770 PRO-80s deliver. These are comfortable headphones to wear—even if a mix obsession keeps you working for hours on end.

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Closed-Back Studio Headphones

Why They’re Cool: Extremely formidable noise isolation for virtually undisturbed monitoring.

Things to Consider:

• Up to 32dB of ambient noise isolation
• Collapsible design
• Included 1/4" to 1/8" adapter for use with pro and consumer devices

Shop Now: Sennheiser HD 280 PRo Closed-Back Headphones

With 32dB of isolation, the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Closed-Back Studio Headphones pretty much ensure you won’t be bothered by revving Harley-Davidsons, rampaging dump trucks, barking dogs or any other environmental disturbances while you’re mixing. The comfort level of the HD 280 Pro matches its bullish defense of audio distractions, as the adjustable, padded headband and swiveling replaceable ear cups guarantee you won’t get tired of wearing these headphones throughout all-night mixes. Frequency response is 8Hz to 25kHz, which sets the stage for every sound, harmonic, and low- and high-end gremlins to be identified and dealt with.

Sony MDR-7506 Professional Closed-Back Studio Headphones

Why They’re Cool: Built for comfort with padded headband and swiveling, padded ear cups.

Things to Consider:

• 40mm driver
• Folding design
• Includes soft case

Shop Now: Sony MDR-7506 Professional Closed-Back Headphones

The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Closed-Back Studio Headphones offer a circumaural, closed-back design for isolating your ears from disruptive environmental sounds. Premium 40mm drivers produce a 10Hz to 20kHz frequency range. The MDR-7506 features gold-plated connectors (helpful for diminishing corrosion and signal loss), a UniMatch plug that supports 1/4" and 1/8" jacks, as well as a coiled cable that won’t get tangled as easily as straight cables.

Final Reflections

Transforming your personal creative space into a more professional zone of aural accuracy doesn’t need to be grueling or expensive. You certainly don’t need to knock down walls, float your room or hand over your checkbook to a high-end studio design firm. In fact, any one of the suggestions we’ve offered in this article can improve your ability to evaluate the sonic quality of recordings and mixes. That said, the science of room acoustics can be an enormously deep subject, so if you need a bit of counsel, please seek out our Gear Advisers—either online or at your local Guitar Center—for friendly and helpful guidance.

We also encourage you to dig into the vast resources of our Riffs Blog. Some of our current mixing and recording articles include: The Definitive EQ Cheat Sheet for Mixing, What Is the Difference Between Mixing and Mastering?, How to Mix Drums, How to EQ Electric Guitar in a Mix, How to EQ Acoustic Guitar for Stunning Mixes, 3 Savvy EQ Moves to Clean Up Muddy Mixes and more.

Pictured: Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitor Mounted on IsoAcoustics ISO-200 Studio Monitor Stand

People Also Ask ...

What is nearfield monitoring?

Basically, this means placing studio monitors just a couple of feet from the listener to diminish the effects of room acoustics.

What are flutter echoes?

A series of quick reverberations that bounce between usually parallel hard surfaces to produce a fluttering or ringing sound. They are not conducive to critical listening.

What is the effect of boomy bass in a home studio?

Well, it’s yet another little jinx that makes critical listening a challenge. If you hear too much bass energy in your studio space, you’ll likely make audio decisions based on hearing the boosted low end—a situation that probably isn’t reflected in the actual tracks you’re mixing, and that may tempt you to thin out the mix too much.

Why does a home studio need acoustic treatment?

If you want to accurately evaluate the sound of your recordings and ensure (as much as possible) that the audio translates to other playback systems, your listening environment will need to be relatively neutral. Acoustic treatment combats unwanted room effects that can make it difficult to really hear what is going on in your recordings and mixes. These less-than-ideal acoustic effects can include too much reverberation, flutter echoes, standing waves, surplus bass and chaotic reflections.