AES Europe 2026

Loudspeaker monitoring is the reference when audio
professionals evaluate content. Headphones are also
important quality-checking tools; and many consumers enjoy
music using “close-fitting listening devices”, as all
different flavours of headphones are known in recent
standards writing.

We discuss the two reproduction methods from perceptual,
recording and mastering perspectives; especially
differences in timbre, imaging and auditory envelopment
when listening to stereo. Applications of headphones in
recording, when setting up and trimming stereo or 3D
microphone arrays, are also practically detailed.

In the last part of the workshop, attendees are invited to
personally compare the two domains on the qualities and
applications discussed; with guided listening to audio
examples between a pair of precision nearfield monitors,
Genelec 8351B, and a pair of excellent headphones, Audeze
CRBN2.