MikeNet / Soundcheck
Listen on headphones. Compare fairly.
Speaker playback mixes your room back into the judgment. Headphones keep the comparison about the recording, not the desk.
1. Why speakers cheat the test.
When you play a take through open speakers, the room and any nearby noise become part of what you hear. A quieter recording can seem worse simply because the speakers are soft, and a louder take can seem clearer because it overpowers the room. Headphones reduce that mix so you hear more of what the microphone actually captured.
MikeNet does not provide live monitoring while you record. That avoids feedback loops through speakers. Playback starts only after you press play. Stop playback before starting another take.
2. Match listening volume before judging.
Set a comfortable headphone volume once. Do not turn the knob between take A and take B unless volume is the variable you are studying. Louder almost always sounds “better” for a few seconds, even when consonants are worse or the background is higher.
Use the same pair of headphones for both takes. Switching from earbuds to studio phones mid-test changes the judgment more than most gain tweaks.
Record take A with your usual setup. Record take B after one change. Put headphones on, set volume once, play A, then Flip A ↔ B at the same playhead. Keep a short note of which take you prefer and why (clearer words, less hiss, fewer pops).
3. Separate “clearer” from “louder.”
If B is simply louder with the same room-to-speech separation, you may only have raised gain. Prefer the take where words are easier to follow at the same listening volume. Play the room-tone segment alone if background sound is the complaint; play the speech segment alone if intelligibility is the complaint.
Crest factor and peak readings can flag a take that sounds punchy because it is peaky, not because it is clearer. Listen first; use the meters as a second check. Definitions live in the measurement guide.
4. When speakers are required.
If you must use speakers, keep the volume low, face them away from the microphone, and stop playback before the next capture. Otherwise the next recording can pick up the previous take. Prefer headphones whenever you are deciding which setup to keep.
Compare two takes with headphones
MikeNet’s own A/B workflow and listening guidance. Manufacturer recording practice on monitoring and placement: Shure, Microphone Techniques for Recording. This page does not claim headphone models or calibrated listening levels.