Slate VSX

[Max Arwood]

I have the waves CLA room , Ocean way and the rest. I have never got much out of these. Is the Slate better/different. I think I ready there was some binaural stuff in this setup. Anyone use these? Is it just more plug-in sales hype???

Thanks 

[Mark Morgon-Shaw]

I've never used the Waves products but I've owned a pair of Slate VSX headphones for almost 2yrs now.

I do find them useful but I don't use them as a full replacement for working on my monitors. My room is acoustically treated/measured and then further honed with Arc Studio so it's a decent enviroment to mix in and know the mixes will translate pretty well once they leave my studio which is imperitive when writing tracks that will end up TV/Radio ultimately.

Where VSX works well for me is the following :

1 - A reliable simulated mix enviroment to work with at night when other family members are sleeping

2 - A fast way of double checking mixes without needing to resort to taking it elsewhere like the car  

3 - A way of shutting off oustide world out when working on a track that benefits from being able to crank it up in a more vibey sounding space 

I find it does the job well for all of these but I do agree they have been overhyped somewhat. I guess everyone's circumstances are different and mixing on my actual speakers is much more preferable but there are things I can't hear on them that I can pick up on VSX especially in the really low end as I don't have a sub but some of the emulations do.  

Everyone's workflow is different so whether you need a product like this depends on your needs. Personally I write about 100 tracks each year so I need to be able to get things done quickly for deadlines etc.  I don't have the luxury of time to take my mixes other places and listen to them, or stop working because the kids are in bed so it's great for that. 

I don't find the 'illusion' massively convincing but it is better than just using normal headphones and mixes I make with them sound the way I thought they would when I play them on real speakers which isn't the case with standard cans. 

The one thing in them that does sound real is the Avantone Mixcube in Steven Slate's Studio and I think it's because it's a mono speaker so the illusion of it coming from a real speaker is much stronger. I have a real Mixcube and the emulation is virtually indistinguishable, so that's a really useful tool if you don't own one already as they cost around £250 to buy. 

I know some other guys that do work for sync music libraries and publishers too that swear by VSX but they're not working in properly treated rooms either and some of them have mobile rigs and are working in different locations as well and obviously it's a boon to be able to 'take the studio with you'. So I think they get more use out them than I do my set. 

 Thje other good thing is they keep updating the software, so we have a systemwide app now that wasn't in it when I bought them originally and they've improved the room models by developing new techniques to measure them. There is a V5 of the software in beta testing which I hear will include a hearing test type setup so they are much better tailored to each persons ears as well as newer improved modelling that they figured out when they added some new rooms recently.

As ever YMMV and choose wisely.

Mark   

[Glenn Stanton]

generally i start mixing on my regular ATH-M50 headphones using the a custom sound reference curve. then for checking - my speakers, car, and VSX. i'm not a fan of mixing via VSX but for cross-checking it's good to switch through quite a few variations of near-field, mid-field and some full monitoring setup and assess things like LF and mid-LF. like any monitoring, you need to "learn" your system(s) so you can assess correctly. using high quality professional mixes as references is important - cavaet being they are often mastered which can skew your perception - so match levels is a good idea. 

Edited September 16 by Glenn Stanton

[Max Arwood]

Thank Mark and Glenn. 
I do mix a lot at night after everyone else has gone to sleep. I have been using Arc 3 and sound reference. I tend to screw up my mixes doing this. That is why I was looking into VSX. The waves things were fun at first, but in all actuality, never improved my mixes. I guess a need to go finish measuring my room again for some Glenn fine tuning.