If you can get to a store and check out various monitors, that will be a great help.
It also would be great if they have a setup to play what you want. So bring a CD/USB Stick of a good recording and a crappy (i.e. sibilant vocals, bass light, bass heavy) and compare
to make sure you can HEAR the problems and that a good mix sounds GOOD.
It's often surprising what ppl say is great vs others you haven't heard of when you compare monitors first hand.
But the problem is, you are comparing them like you're listening as a audiophile! So it's hard to choose even by ear w/o audio guides to play and compare.
Short of that, reviews are marginally helpful where you look for a highly rated set (i.e.. 4.5 out of 5 stars) but read the 1, 2, 3 star reviews to see what the complaints are.
This usually informs you of what a set is lacking and if you can live with the CONS or not.
But even that way, unheard, it's always a stab in the dark. Buying cold, make sure you buy from a place with a return policy just in case!
There are a ga-zillion monitors each touting how great they are, and getting more and more expensive, which is largely meaningless even for real studios.
NS10s back in the 70's weren't the expensive ones, right? So paying more won't give you the returns you think unless you are buying Audiophile speakers.
In the end, you mix, go to your car, it sounds like shit, so you go back and remix until it sounds good in your car, on your iPhone and in your kitchen WiFi player.
Over time, you get better at "hearing" your monitors and knowing where you over/under compensate. Takes time, sometimes a year or two depending if you only mix songs once every month or two.
PPL say "get crappy monitors and make it sound good" or "get neutral ones that don't hype frequencies" but if your room is untreated even the best monitors are gonna be heard with frequency distortions. Because of this, many amateurs are using Headphones to mix 80-100%, which CAN be done. Just often the biggest problem is Panning and Bass response.
But you're gonna use your car as feedback and mess up on $10,000 monitors as likely as Headphones if you're not a pro anyways.
Also, a good point of mixing is to mix in MONO first for general balance. So if you haver more than 1 set of monitors as mentioned above, you now gotta buy a monitor router that can serve up Set A, B and a Woofer in C if need be (I recommend a Woofer if you do any bass heavy music) and hopefully it has a MONO option, but most DAWs do, but buttons are more fun.
I say, maybe a mixture of both Headphones & Monitors. If you got a $2k budget tops, get a great pair of Headphones (HD650 or HD800, for quiet mixing for everyone else) and a decent set of monitors for $500-900. I would personally get monitors that budget in a Woofer. The Woofer will really help with bass response AND sound better playing the Kemper FRFR or just a lot of modern music. Also, get a dB gauge if you don't have one, so you can know what levels are too high for headphones and monitors and the Kemper!
1. dB Gauge $40-80
2. Headphones $500-1200
3. Woofer $450
4. Pair of Monitors $500-900
5. Mixing tutorials $40-150
Diversify and spend money on learning to mix better. That's where the real problems are, not the equipment. Best of luck!
