For daily practicing and recording at home, closed-back headphones are the more practical choice in most cases — not because they sound better, but because of how most apartments are set up.
What headphones are better at
- No disturbing roommates/neighbors, regardless of time of day.
- When recording with a microphone, closed-back headphones prevent the playback signal from bleeding back into the microphone.
- Work equally well everywhere, regardless of room acoustics.
When studio monitors make sense
Speakers represent bass and stereo width more realistically and tire your ears less than headphones during longer mixing sessions. That pays off especially when you’re actually mixing — and requires a reasonably acoustically neutral room, which apartments rarely offer.
Closed-back vs. open-back
Open-back headphones often sound more natural, but let sound leak both out and in — not suitable for recording with a microphone. For Woodshed Buddy (practicing, playing along, occasionally recording), closed-back headphones are therefore the more uncomplicated basic setup.