Anyone tried this one yet?

I do a bit of headphone mixing when I can't disturb my housemates. So does this plugin actually help?

http://112db.com/redline/monitor/?demo

I can't help you with the mentioned plugin but you might want to try this freebie:
http://refinedaudiometrics.com/products-hdphx.shtml

Also I see the plugin you mentioned can be fully tested for 2 months.

I was on the beta team for it. Here's how dj! of 112db explained it to us. I don't think I could say it any better:

Essentially HPS is a listening tool. It strives to replace the extreme stereo image that you get on headphones by smt that is close to the stereo image obtained by decent monitor speakers. Anybody who has ever tried to do a mix on headphones will be familiar with the shortcomings of headphones: the stereo image is unclear to the point of being non existent, there is no discernible phantom center, and the instrument balances are way off unless everything is panned dead center.

HPS performs a combination of filtering, frequency-dependent delaying, M/S encoding, and early reflections to create a headphone soundstage in a way that should allow you to localize sound sources. Furthermore it adjusts the relative levels of panned sources to something close to speakers, and moves the soundstage from inside your head (with headphones) to the front. All this is pretty subtle, but like I said it's a listening tool and by no means an effect processor.

The Soundstage control determines the position of the virtual speakers in degrees. At the minimum setting of 15 degs the speakers are very close together and the resulting stereo image will be very narrow. Adjusting the control will move the speakers apart until at 90 degs they are located at approximately +/- 45 degs from the listener's perspective.

You will notice that with HPS enabled you should be able to discern a phantom center in the stereo image--sounds panned near the stereo center will appear to come from a position straight ahead and no longer from somewhere inside your head. Compared to speakers this phantom center will probably be somewhat dominant compared to the sounds panned more towards the L/R sides, which can be remedied through the Phantom Center control. The default setting of -1.6dB works for me, but essentially this is a "season to taste" control. A/B comparisons with a decent set of speakers should prove useful in adjusting this.

Finally, the Distance control adds some subtle early reflections that move the stereo image slightly farther away--again it's a subtle effect, closing your eyes while listening often helps. This one is entirely to taste. I personally prefer the default setting but YMMV.

Thanks for the heads up shamann! Just two small corrections about things that have changed since I wrote that:

1) obviously it no longers listens to the HPS codename

2) the entire functionality of the Distance control has been thrown overboard and reworked from the bottom up. I found that adding early reflections did create a sense of distance but also caused too many aural side effects to be really useful. The perceived effect is still similar in that it appears to move the soundstage slightly back, but the new version additionally reinforces the sense of stereo positioning.

It achieves this by incorporating measurements taken from a dummy head with in-ear microphones, tweaked and twisted and bent to have minimal effect on the frequency response while still providing the same directional clues. In combination with the processing that was already in HPS the overall effect is much more pronounced, and while it does have a slight effect on the frequency response I find that in fact it brings the sound of headphones and nearfield monitors closer together.

But don't take my word for it: try the 60-day demo and listen for yourself!

-- dj!

I did install the demo but can't find a demo license file?

Edit: Got it from the email!
Last edited by Alien Leg on Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

it's out already?

We just released it yesterday but the news hasn't hit the headlines yet.

Not sure how the thread starter figured it out so fast BTW.

-- dj!

How about this? http://www.ohl.to/about-audio/audio-softwares/crossfeed-and- eq/

I tried it and like it, but the distance simulation is a little bit too subtle for me. I have my Genelec monitors 1m away and the 2m simulation sounds more like 1/2 m than 2m. I would like to be able to set the soundstage more in front of me, like the monitors do.
Many other simulations like this do alter the sound way too drastically, so its really impressive how the sound stays natural. If the distance scenario could be improved it would be almost perfect.

Thanks for the feedback & glad you like it!

As for having more extreme settings for the distance simulation, that is no problem--I purposely limited the range to smt that works for me. But if it turns out users want more extreme settings I'd be more than happy to provide them.

-- dj!

"Redline Reverb"!! You sneaky devils! I turn my back for a second...

I had kind of given up on the EQ and HPS betas; got distracted by Xmas and porting to Mac. I'm downloading this now, I'll give it a go.

I hope the EQ is on the way soon!

Sorry: and where do we get the current license file for Redline Monitor?

Hehe... you snooze, you lose!

I'll check (and update) the beta licenses at the forum--assuming that's what you're referring to. Or just visit

http://112dB.com/redline/monitor?demo

and request a 60-day demo license. That's probably the quickest way.

Take care,

-- dj!

Ah: we just email you guys? Will do, thanks!

so this plug does what SPL Phonitor does http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfhul7jyXwg if so, awesome!!! cause SPL is charging like $1500