Well you don’t have to use them but it’s much better if you do.
In every recording it’s the little things that either add up to a great result or magnify a problem that is repeated many times during the whole recording process.
Basically it’s the sympathetic frequencies that will start resonating with our monitor speakers that will cause the most problem.
When a frequency starts to resonate it is not obvious (especially when the microphones are off) so you may not even realise that your room is building one up. When it’s something around 100HZ – 300HZ you will probably think it’s in the mix and turn it down on the eq strip, of course we can see the problem with that, so this is where the isolation of the monitors from any direct contact with the room is very important.
Quality monitor stands as opposed to cheap ones will serve for much more than just propping up a set of speakers.
You will find that they are very carefully designed at all the contact points with the floor and speaker with isolating technology. Most of them have a hollow centre filled with sand or other non conductive fillers giving the best result for isolation.
The stands pictured above are the Ultimate Support MS90/36B and serve as a good reference for you when shopping for a great pair of stands.