Do i need speakers or headphones to listen to playback?

[rudyniche]

Why can i not hear what i played back??? do i need to buy 100$ speakers or something to plug into my mbox? is there a way i can just listen through my mac computer speakers?? help ASAP?

[mhelm01]

Welcome to the DUC. Yes, you will need to use the mbox outs for play back as it essentially takes place of your sound card. Spend some money on the monitors or headphones. You'll be glad you did.

[fenderrocker]

Meanwhile, you can use some headphones. You won't get a very accurate sound since most headphones on the market accentuate certain frequency ranges.

Definitely get some nice monitors if you find yourself doing a lot of mixing. If Pro Tools is more of a hobby, then maybe continue using headphones, but you will probably find that your mixes don't sound very balanced on other speaker systems.

[ronwasserman]

Remember headphones will also screw your hearing up in a short period of time. The long term effects are very dangerous.

Most people only use phones for tracking or sometimes checking a mix. The stereo field is skewed and so it won't translate to other systems properly.

M-audio makes some cheap yet reasonable "Active Monitors." (Meaning the amp is built into the speakers as opposed to "Passive Monitors" where you have to run an external amp.)

Hope this helps.