Output: Speakers and Headphones

As you play back and mix your audio, you can listen to it with speakers and headphones. You can connect as many speakers as you need, or, you can purchase six-channel surround sound headphones (although they aren't quite the best way to properly listen to a 5.1 mix in surround sound).

If you are serious about your audio work in Premiere Pro, I recommend using both speakers and headphones, because of the amount of low and high frequency noise that can go undetected with most speakers, especially small computer speakers. Having big snug headphones wrapped around your ears completely immerses you in the world of sound, and when you work with sound it should be all consuming. A good pair of headphones that reduces or blocks out external noises is worth a few extra dollars. As for speakers, dollar amount still equals quality and that goes double for surround sound systems. Expensive speakers are likely to have a better dynamic ability to accurately play a higher range of frequencies.

To hear anything through either, however, you need to make sure all your levels are set up properly.

Mixing and Monitoring

As you remember, you can set the overall system volume level that is routed to the speakers on your system. It is always a good idea to keep this volume on the higher side and to reduce the volume on the individual speakers if it is too loud.

Although Premiere Pro's mixer accurately displays the exact dB level of your audio while it plays, if the sound output volume of your system is too low, you may not be able to distinguish distorted or garbled audio. If the volume is not loud enough, you also won't be able to hear the clicks, pops, and other noises that need to be removed.

Keep in mind that adjustments to the volume sliders in the Audio Mixer affect the mixdown. Adjustments to the sound out, headphone out, or speaker volume from the audio card will affect the loudness at which you hear the audio from Premiere Pro.