Studio Monitor Placement: How to Set Up Your Speakers at Home

You finally have studio monitors, but your mix still sounds completely different in the car or on your phone than it does at home. Chances are it's not your speakers, it's where they are. Moving them a few inches, changing the angle or fixing a desk that's in the wrong spot matters more than most people think. Here's how to place studio monitors in a normal room, step by step, without rebuilding anything.

Why monitor placement matters so much

What you hear is never just your speaker. It's your speaker plus your room. Sound bounces off the walls, ceiling, floor and desk and reaches your ears a split second later. Because of that, some low notes get louder and others get weaker, depending on where you sit and where your speakers are.

The result: you hear too much low end and turn your 808 down, or you hear too little and push it too loud. It sounds great at home and wrong everywhere else. Good placement won't fix everything, but it's the cheapest upgrade you can make.

First: active or passive?

Most home studios use active monitors. The amplifier is built in. You connect them straight to the outputs of your audio interface, usually with XLR or TRS cables. Passive monitors need a separate amplifier. That's more hassle and rarely needed for a starter setup.

Don't have an audio interface yet? Read what an audio interface is and whether you need one first.

How to place studio monitors in 7 steps

The guidelines below come from Genelec, one of the best known studio monitor makers. They work for any brand.

1. Pick the right end of the room. Genelec suggests splitting your room into three zones and using the front zone for music production. Choose the end without doors or built-in furniture sticking out. A rectangular room works better than a square one.
2. Set everything up symmetrically. Find the center of that wall and put your desk there. Both monitors should be the same distance from their side wall and from the wall behind them. If one speaker sits right next to a cabinet and the other is in open space, they'll sound different even though they're identical.
3. Make an equilateral triangle. The distance between the two monitors equals the distance from each monitor to your head. That puts the speakers 60 degrees apart, seen from where you sit.
4. Angle them toward you. Aim each monitor at your listening position, so both turn inward by about 30 degrees. A quick check: when you're in the right spot, you can barely see the sides of the speakers.
5. Get the tweeters to ear height. The sound should be aimed straight at your ears. Genelec gives 1.2 to 1.4 meters (roughly 4 to 4.6 feet) from the floor for the speaker's acoustic axis. Too low? Put them on stands or solid risers. Tilting is fine, but according to Genelec no more than 15 degrees. Also avoid placing them at exactly half your room's height.
6. Watch the distance to the wall. Without a subwoofer, Genelec recommends keeping the front of your monitors less than 60 cm (about 2 feet) from the wall behind them. That helps prevent certain low notes from dropping out at your listening spot. Does your monitor have a bass port on the back? Check the manual for how much space it needs.
7. Don't sit against the wall or dead center. Genelec recommends keeping your listening spot at least a meter (about 3 feet) from the walls and not sitting in the exact center of the room. That's often where the low end problems are worst. Hear a hole in the bass where you sit? Move your chair and desk a little forward or back and listen again.

Your desk, your screen and other hard surfaces

Anything hard and smooth between your speakers and your ears reflects sound back: your desktop, your monitor screen, a glass cabinet. Genelec advises avoiding positions where side walls, ceiling or floor bounce sound straight to your listening spot, and treating the main reflection points.

In practice, it helps to:

• put your monitors on stands or risers instead of flat on the desk;
• keep your screen from sitting directly between you and the speakers;
• treat the side walls next to your listening spot if they're bare and close.

Want to know what panels do and don't do? Read acoustic panels for your home studio: do they work and where to hang them?

Too much or too little bass? Don't grab the knob yet

The closer a speaker sits to a wall or a corner, the more low end you hear. That's why a lot of active monitors have switches on the back to adjust the lows or highs for where they're placed. Genelec treats that as the step after placement: first the right spot, then the settings. Check your monitors' manual for the setting that matches a spot near a wall or on a desk.

Hearing a dip in the low end instead? It's tempting to turn the bass up. According to Genelec, that doesn't work: a dip caused by the room won't fill up with more level. Move your listening spot or your monitors a little and listen again.

Small or awkward room? Sit closer

Not everyone has a nice rectangular room. Working in a small bedroom with a sloped ceiling? Genelec has a simple tip: sit closer to your monitors. The shorter the distance, the more direct sound from your speakers you hear and the less the room gets involved. Keep the triangle, though: if you move closer, move the speakers closer together too.

Very small spaces, like a walk-in closet, are bad for bass according to Genelec. In a room like that you're often better off mixing on good headphones and using your speakers as a second check. Here's how: how to mix on headphones so your mix translates to speakers.

Monitors or headphones?

Both, but for different jobs. When you record vocals, use closed-back headphones so the beat doesn't bleed into your mic. For mixing, your monitors are your main reference, Genelec says the same. Headphones are a great extra check after that, for details like breaths, clicks and the tail of your reverb.

Check if your setup works

Everything in place? Test it right away with music you know well.

1. Play a reference track. Put on a song that's close to what you make. Does the vocal sit dead center, as if there's a third speaker between the two? Then your triangle is right. Here's how to compare fairly: how to use a reference track when mixing.
2. Move a little and listen to the low end. Lean your head forward and back a bit. Does the bass change a lot? You might be sitting in a bad spot in the room.
3. Check in mono. Switch your mix to mono and listen whether the vocal and the 808 hold up. Here's how: how to check your mix in mono.
4. Do the car test. Mix still sounds very different in the car? Read why your mix sounds different in the car.

Keep in mind: your speakers don't tell you how loud your master is. Something that sounds loud at home can simply get turned down on Spotify. So measure it with the free master checker, which shows the LUFS and true peak of your file right in your browser.

Common mistakes

• Speakers flat on the desk, pointing at your chest. You don't hear the tweeters straight on, and the desk reflects along.
• One speaker in a corner, the other in the open. The corner speaker sounds fuller and your stereo image shifts.
• Speakers too far apart or too close together. Stick to the equilateral triangle.
• Sitting in the exact center of the room. That's often where the low end is least reliable.
• Fixing the room with EQ on your master. Then your mix only works in your room.

FAQ

How far apart should studio monitors be?

As far apart as the distance from each speaker to your head. That makes an equilateral triangle, with the speakers 60 degrees apart from where you sit.

Can studio monitors go against the wall?

Close to the wall is fine. Without a subwoofer, Genelec actually recommends keeping the front of your speakers less than 60 cm (about 2 feet) from the wall behind them. If your speaker has a rear bass port, leave the space your manual asks for. Avoid corners, where the low end gets too strong.

Should the tweeters be at ear height?

Yes. The sound should be aimed straight at your ears. If your speakers sit lower, put them on stands or tilt them a little, but according to Genelec no more than 15 degrees.

Do I need acoustic panels?

They help, especially at the points where sound from the side walls bounces to your ears. But start with placement: it costs nothing and often makes the biggest difference.

Can I just mix on headphones?

Yes, a lot of people do. Just check your mix on several systems too, like your phone, earbuds and the car.

Mix still not sounding the way you want, even with a good setup? You can also have your track mixed and mastered by NameOnTheBeat. Or check out the free music tools for producers and rappers first.

Sources: Genelec, studio monitor placement, Genelec, beginner's guide to building a home studio and Genelec support on room acoustics.