i think the whole 'u need studio monitors to mix ur music' rhetoric is one of the most head-ass unfair pieces of advice for independent musicians

buy some even *decent* headphones - AKG K240s will do you just fine - cross check your work on regular consumer audio devices, and learn to use your eyes to mix.

monitors? crazy expensive. but that's not even the big issue, it's the fact that every time i hear 'u need monitors man' its from somebody who lives on their own or has a dedicated studio space and it's like

hello? most musicians probably live in a shared house.

monitors and room treatment are maybe the lowest of the low priority and they're for people that live on their own or with extremely patient housemates and have serious expendable income. you're 1000x better off buying tools that help you express what you're trying to express.

remember, around 2008-2011 i was producing everything on a netbook using its onboard audio w/ $20 monoprice headphones while moving between canada and the US like 3-6 months at a time with no constant or "real" speakers

people still loved that shit because it expressed what it expressed, not because it was crazy high fidelity. even now, fidelity is so low on my list of priorities with my own work to the point where i actively avoid mastering completely lol. just make music

really tho pick up some akg k240s they're like $45usd, are as good as any other sub-$200 pair of headphones, and the huge-ass sound stage is perfect for lots of stereo imaging, coming awfully close to sitting in front of speakers

actually i'll go as far as saying that if you're gonna drop 3 digits on any piece of basic audio hardware, it's gotta be the mic. audio technica AT2020 or bust, it's sub-$150 and kills.

and if you need an interface on the cheap? behringer's usb mixers. this one's $80usd. perfect starting point.

actually, i've never tried my k240s as a mic. i used to use the monoprice headphones *as my microphone* (it's how i recorded figurehead lol) but haven't tried these, i should

100% usable in a pinch (especially with noise reduciton), better than some usb mics at the same $40-50 price point >_>