That’s funny; I’m always debating my brother, talking about how earbuds sound much better than even high-end monitors, largely because of the surrounding environment (or lack thereof, when earbuds are in).
When I make music I have to do the opposite; take my earbuds out and listen to the music over my car stereo or via my MacBook Pro speakers, to make sure it doesn’t sound good only through earbuds.
Hah, I have nice studio monitors since forever, but I also make music with Earbuds.
I like them, but I've found that they make a bit too conscious about the sound, so I have to be extra careful. The isolation emphasizes noise and frequencies that the monitors don't, and that will be masked in the full mix. It used to lead me to a rabbit hole of noise-gating and EQs.
Interesting; I could totally see myself going down the same rabbit hole, or the opposite, thinking that a certain faint sound will be great, but when I play it in my car later it's completely unnoticeable.
> thinking that a certain faint sound will be great, but when I play it in my car later it's completely unnoticeable.
That's true! This happens all the time with super expensive recordings too, and I love it. IMO discovering new sounds in the music you're used to only adds to the experience.
