Headphones

[mfa]

What is an easy and affordable way for me to quickly get better sound?
My producer is sending me rough mixes of my songs. I am listening to them on crappy desktop computer speakers plugged into a Chromebook (3.5mm jack). I am quite certain that I am not hearing everything that is going on.
I do not own nice headphones (neither 3.5mm nor 1/4 jack), nor do I have any type of interface.

 

[gecko zzed]

It depends on what 'affordable' means for you.

The easiest is just to get a better set of headphones. You can spend a huge amount on them, in which case you could consider other options, but you can get quite reasonable ones at cheap prices. Look for online reviews of some of the cheaper ones.

Other options include getting an audio interface and some monitors. This would be worth considering if you are going to pursue music more seriously. An audio interface takes the place of the on-board sound on your computer, and plugging monitor speakers into it will give you much better than little computer speakers. Again, do a search for audio interfaces and studio monitors.

 

[CoolCat]

the world of ears, earbuds and headphones.
if you have a smart phone and pandora or some media app and some good earbuds you can get a good idea what your recordings sound like to the mass public.

where else? car streaming audio , at home, in a large club venue system....

I usually accept my car as "what it is" a stock system.
My HR setup for best pleasure and best sound listening.
EarBuds in the Chromebook or Smart Phone players...never the best but..isnt that the main market to be mixing for?