Redline Monitor - how does it work?

[Compyfox]

Or get Refined Audiometrics HDPHX - which is free and does exactly the same, just without tweaking knobs and limited to Windows only. But it does the trick with the HAAS effect, etc.

Actually... working on headphones is a thing if you're songwriting, but for mixing, I can only advice you to dith the headphones and use monitor speakers. Especially if you use a headphone branch that has not a flat response.


Not dissing you guys (112dB), I just don't see the need for a plugin like that anymore.

[djex]

No problem, I more than encourage critical replies.

The reason why Redline Monitor is a useful addition to the existing plugin arsenal lies exactly with the Haas effect--more to the point, the fact that unlike most or all similar plugins it doesn't exploit it. (For those not in the know, essentially they add a delayed version of the left channel to the right channel, and vice versa.)

The problem with it is that it doesn't sound natural--simply because that's not at all what happens when you "hear" something from a distance--and more importantly that it introduces a delayed version into the audio path, which causes all kinds of frequency artifacts. There's any number of discussions on comparable plugins on other forums, and the consensus is invariably that existing plugins mess up the audio (most of all the frequency content) too much to be useful for any serious work.

And that is where Redline Monitor shines: even though it achieves (IMHO) better results than other plugins the frequency response is entirely flat within +/- 0.1dB--check the frequency graphs in the manual.

I welcome you to perform A/B comparisons with other plugins. You'll find that not only does Redline Monitor sounds much more convincing, it leaves the audio perfectly intact. Without which such a plugin degrades from an invaluable tool but just an interesting effect.

YMMV,

-- dj!

[K-Slash]

Hi dj!,

Juts a question, not about Redline Monitor, but about the Redline Equalizer.

Does it adds harmonic content like analogue processors while boosting frequencies or does it work like all the "classic" software equalizers ?

Thanks .

[Compyfox]

Like I said, I only use headphones for songwriting now, not mixing since I think that working on headphones gives a totally wrong misinterpretation of the audio spectrum (and working too long on that end, makes your ears tired, too).

I used HDPHX for a while, it adds more lowend indeed and moves the earmuffs virutally "away" from your head, but on 1:1 comparision with ARC running on speakers, and HDPHX on the Headphone, I was massively dissapointed by the response.

For those who're stuck on a certain volume while working, it might be the solution indeed. But to me, I rather stick to speakers and also take a room into consideration. Best of both worlds.

On the other hand, an emulator of crappy earplugs would be great - so we can see how a mix will sound on iPod plugs or MP3 sticks on general. But this is not something I'd shell out money for, especially since every user of mp3 sticks has a different listening experience (more bass, less bass, more mids, etc).

[djex]

Juts a question, not about Redline Monitor, but about the Redline Equalizer.

Does it adds harmonic content like analogue processors while boosting frequencies or does it work like all the "classic" software equalizers ?

The current beta version (which of course you don't have access too ) doesn't but there is a good chance such a feature will be added before the release.

Thanks,

-- dj!

[Eddie(Soulseekers)]

the reason for me to use this plugin is that i dont have the luxury of using my monitors when i work which is at night when my family is sleeping

[K-Slash]

Juts a question, not about Redline Monitor, but about the Redline Equalizer.

Does it adds harmonic content like analogue processors while boosting frequencies or does it work like all the "classic" software equalizers ?

The current beta version (which of course you don't have access too ) doesn't but there is a good chance such a feature will be added before the release.

Thanks,

-- dj!

Yeah, that's GREAT .

If it's included on the v1.0, I will for sure drop my money, if it sounds good .

By the way what will be the price range ?

[djex]

Like I said, I only use headphones for songwriting now, not mixing since I think that working on headphones gives a totally wrong misinterpretation of the audio spectrum (and working too long on that end, makes your ears tired, too).

A quality pair of headphones shd have near-perfect frequency response, and in combination with Redline Monitor that's still be true. The ear fatigue is a common phenomenon with headphones and is caused by the extreme separation between what the left and right ear hears. So that too will be gone with our plugin.

For those who're stuck on a certain volume while working, it might be the solution indeed. But to me, I rather stick to speakers and also take a room into consideration. Best of both worlds.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. I'd personally choose a decent room with good speakers over even the best headphones any day of the week, but some of us don't have that luxury--and that's the audience we're targeting with this plugin. Redline Monitor is not intended as a replacement for a good speaker setup but as a viable alternative for when (for whatever reason) you can't use speakers.

-- dj!

[aallvor]

I'd personally choose a decent room with good speakers over even the best headphones any day of the week, but some of us don't have that luxury--and that's the audience we're targeting with this plugin. Redline Monitor is not intended as a replacement for a good speaker setup but as a viable alternative for when (for whatever reason) you can't use speakers.

-- dj!

I'm in that target audience, and will be for some considerable time, so this is right up my alley. Plug looks good

[K-Slash]

I'd personally choose a decent room with good speakers over even the best headphones any day of the week, but some of us don't have that luxury--and that's the audience we're targeting with this plugin. Redline Monitor is not intended as a replacement for a good speaker setup but as a viable alternative for when (for whatever reason) you can't use speakers.

-- dj!

I'm in that target audience, and will be for some considerable time, so this is right up my alley. Plug looks good

I'll be in this audience too for a long time .

[buscemi]

Nice demo terms and it does seem to fit the bill for me when I'm using my laptop or whatever other reasons I find I can't be using proper monitoring. Will have to give it a whirl, had no idea this product existed until this thread.

[fceramic]

If you don't have a pro studio this plugin is very useful, basically because a lot of the time there's too much noise around to hear details from the monitors.

[Mushy Mushy]

I quite like the idea behind this plugin - will give the demo a shot tonight.
It may be a godsend for me.

I never get any studio work done lately.
By the time I get home from work everybody's in bed, so I put the headphones on.
I do a little bit of studio work , then ear fatigue sets in and I give up.
So i'm quite looking forward to this plugin.

Just a question on how it works though.
I have multiple outs from my sequencer/soundcard.
This obviously means i'll need to insert an instance of the plugin in every master out.
But once I do this will it still be effective??? ie, one instance wont know what the other's doing, so i'd imagine it could be correcting something not needing correcting and visa versa...

[djex]

That's an interesting question--I understand you're running multiple outputs into a hardware mixer? It should still be OK as long as you don't insert multiple instances (directly or indirectly) after one another on the same signal path, but just a single instance on each individual output.

In other words, a separate instance on each stereo out shd do the trick. Just make sure to pan the stereo channels hard left and right, otherwise I'm not sure what will happen.

Take care,

-- dj!

[Mushy Mushy]

I understand you're running multiple outputs into a hardware mixer? -- dj!

Correct.

I'll let you know how it goes