Steven Slate VSX Headphone

[legendCNCD]

2 hours in and I'm FREAKING SOLD. I .. its unbelievably good vs. any of others I've tried and THE BASS. Jesus I almost got frightened when listening to The Orb - God's Mirrorball at the heavy bassdrum area, and changed from Archon Mid to NRG Far-fields. Oh man.

Also I think I'm not so bad in mixing, listening to the relesed stuff

[legendCNCD]

This morning the journey continues with setting up the APO, I can now have everything through the VSX plugin.

I've never been more happy about buying something for my audio production.
Now waiting for the updates for NS-10+Sub, Howies room and the new modes like Phone and Auratone cubes.

Most usable for me: Archon Mid (the king!), NRG Near/mid and SUV. Headphones are kinda strange but are Apple Airpods so shrill? I've discarded mine because I have Sony XM3's (that would be nice to have, or XM4).

SUV reminds of Volvo sound a lot, what we use to check the bass and how the stereofield effects sound.

Listening (and learning) continues...

[bmanic]

Awesome to hear you are enjoying the VSX experience! It took me about a week to fully grok the system and what it can do for your own mixes but now I'm of course 100% sold on the concept. It's so competent of a monitoring system that this is the first time in my life I don't feel like I absolutely have to leave for the studio to finish mixes or sound design fine tuning.

[legendCNCD]

Awesome to hear you are enjoying the VSX experience! It took me about a week to fully grok the system and what it can do for your own mixes but now I'm of course 100% sold on the concept. It's so competent of a monitoring system that this is the first time in my life I don't feel like I absolutely have to leave for the studio to finish mixes or sound design fine tuning.

Yep they've been on my head since - well I did sleep a bit but - most of the time since they arrived. I even played two different games through them and heard new things from them. Awesome.

I dont think I'd mix with these yet, but lets see when the weekend comes. Oh another thing, these are very comfortable to wear, more than AKG's, which is a very positive surprise.

[Jet Set]

My recent experience copied from over at GS - pure hobbyist here, so if it helps anyone, good, but it ain't gospel. I make tracks purely on headphones and my previous experience is Abbey Rd/Sonarworks and AKG702s only (no monitor set up for the last year)

I deliberately waited to get VSX to try and finish the current electro dub mix I am working on - for a couple of reasons which I think highlighted to me WHY I needed it in the first place.

On my usual Headphones I couldn’t figure out if my reverbs and delays were overpowering my Mix or were they undercooked and not atmospheric enough.

Also / couldn’t quite figure out the correct level of punch on the drums and overall master bus settings...

The GREAT thing for me today about the VSX was the variety - by using Archon mids, then switching through NRG nears, and then onto the cars / if something didn’t sound right I felt like I could KNOW that is was a real issue rather than wondering if my monitoring setup was just showing me a frequency spike or not having enough clarity to let me pinpoint effects etc.

If I could do the round-robin Archon/NRG/Tesla and be happy - I then committed to the moves and trusted it was right.

And EVEN THEN moving on to ‘master’ in Howies room I immediately heard things I hadn’t before.

But - And I think this is due to it being a relatively far-field set-up - they were issues which felt ‘whole track’ level rather than ‘mix element’ - I wouldn't want to mix in Howies, it’s not ‘close’ enough in soundscape.

But to sit back, close the eyes and listen to the track / helped me make some broad eq moves and maybe tweak the master compression etc - and was a pleasant experience.

For example / I dropped 2db at 70hz on my, post-master compressor, EQ. A move that previously by the ‘mastering’ stage I would have been intimidated about making...because if it needed that why didn’t I do it at the mix? But / it felt right in the room and I like the result...VSX seemed to make me a lot more confident.

The mix in the end came out that i was really happy with it - and the main benefit was that it took me about half the time it usually does, as I felt so much more comfortable just committing to changes.

And - after finishing all of that, I cranked the volume, stuck it on the NRG Farfield’s, played some beats and it felt like the whole room was bumping with me...the perceived bass from these things is bananas - especially if you crank the volume!

I couldn't be happier with VSX so far - well, maybe with some added depth parameter as I do love the feeling of space...and more of that would be cool....and maybe with the upcoming mono auratone setting to help in mixing...

I am going to settle in now and get on with finishing some tracks with it - 'learn' the rooms so to speak. But they are already translating really well to outside the box.

[_leras]

Sorry, but I think hype is strong in those one. A lot of what is being described can already be done with an eq curve/sonarworks and one of the waves products abbey road studio or Nx, both about $30.

The one thing that this slate thing has is that they only need to calibrate this one model of headphones, and perhaps the beryllium allows for a more consistent eq correction curve. Catering for one headphone model would simplify things considerably, but it's pretty expensive. I would say it it sounds brave/sensible if they have pushed for a non hyped top end to the headphone EQ response, and that should make it easier to correct. One thing with sonarworks is they definitely recommend having individual pairs of headphones calibrated to provide a matched EQ curve.

I've had really great results this year with beyerdynamic 1990 and first sonarworks and more recently an oratory eq correction using the excellent Curve EQ, followed by waves abbey road studios. So I firmly believe this can be done and get great translation.

The one comment that has really grabbed me here is, "once you adjust to the phasey sound you can work well". That sounds pretty ropey... And the "if the world can have these phones as a standard", cmon you've gotta be sucked into the marketing hype to push that this new set of, apparently hard to drive headphones, either deserves to be a standard or is probably better than many quality phones around that price point.

I believe this can already done very well and fairly cheaply with a good e.g. oratory correction curve and waves abbey road studios. So I'm sure this slate thing can also do it, but at some cost and apparently with some phasing issue you have to work past. I honestly think that sounds like a step backwards from what I'm already doing.

[Jet Set]

Well - that was my starting position...

And i have no particular need or desire to boost a product - I don't use Slate Digital for anything else - no subscriptions etc.

'A lot of what is being described can already be done with an eq curve/sonarworks and one of the waves products abbey road studio or Nx, both about $30.'

I was using Sonarworks and Abbey Road with AKG 702.

And I've got no need to blow 400 bucks on something would offer me no more benefit than them...

Enjoyed using Abbey Rd/Sonarworks, wouldn't have wanted to be without them, and have released several tracks over the last year using them....the mixes didn't always translate accurately as i wanted to other systems - bass levels, fx and transients being the usual issues.

This is MUCH better, and, only working in headphones as I do, I am positively looking forward to my mixing sessions now...I don't hear any phasing issues - or if i am hearing them then they're the same kind of phasing issues I hear in my own car! The SUV in particular is interesting - the bass is deep and appears to come from 'below' at floor level which can be a trip. The highs - hi hats and high synth fx etc in particular do have a 'reflected' quality - but I find that to be very much like being in a car...mileage may vary i guess.

(oh - and the phones aren't hard to drive, at least compared to AKGs with Abbey Road)

[_leras]

Here's the oratory list of headphone EQ curves
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/com ... q_presets/

I switched to using a curve from here and Crave EQ, which allows enough eq points to accurately match the EQ curve above.
https://cravedsp.com/crave-eq

Crave EQ gave a lot cleaner sound than Sonarworks for the basic headphone correction.

And then Waves Abbey Road does the room thing really nicely with 3 sets of 'speakers' which can be helpful in highlighting different mix issues. It really does add a very decent room ambience. I was very impressed for the cost (maybe $30 on sale)
https://www.waves.com/plugins/abbey-roa ... o-3-plugin

The above can be used with pretty much any headphones. It's worked really well for a project this year where I had to mix on headphones, and I wouldn't see a reason to even try this thing. *I'm lucky to have some beyerdynamic dt1990 - but I'm sure the above would work well with any decent headphone.

I'm sure slate can do a job for that one pair of headphones, but it's $$$ for something that already can be done much more cost effectively and used with any headphones.

[legendCNCD]

Some can be done with those, but not the things that make it like the different speakers in different spaces and their responses in transients AND the main thing of how amazing physical bass these headphones have.

I also tested sonarworks etc. but wasnt really happy with them at all to be honest in the end, and there isnt single headphone I've used which have thiskind of bass response as VSX's have.

If you are happy with how your chain sounds and know it, theres nothing wrong with that either. This just removes a lot of traveling to different spaces for me and its a massive plus to know the mixes translate good.

[_leras]

I dont think I'd mix with these yet, but lets see when the weekend comes. Oh another thing, these are very comfortable to wear, more than AKG's, which is a very positive surprise.

My recent experience copied from over at GS - pure hobbyist here, so if it helps anyone, good, but it ain't gospel. I make tracks purely on headphones and my previous experience is Abbey Rd/Sonarworks and AKG702s only (no monitor set up for the last year)

If you are both coming from AKG, then I think there are lots of options that would have be a step up for mixing. I don't think they are the flattest and the concensus when I've looked into this in depth before was they were not the best for mixing accurately...

Pretty sure all these would be better already than AKG
sennheiser hd600/800
focal spirit pro
beyerdynamic dt 1990

** caveat blah blah ** I understand that headphones are a minefield at the best of times, and that even peoples ear shape can affect what they hear.

[_leras]

Some can be done with those, but not the things that make it like the different speakers in different spaces and their responses in transients AND the main thing of how amazing physical bass these headphones have.

I also tested sonarworks etc. but wasnt really happy with them at all to be honest in the end, and there isnt single headphone I've used which have thiskind of bass response as VSX's have.

If you are happy with how your chain sounds and know it, theres nothing wrong with that either. This just removes a lot of traveling to different spaces for me and its a massive plus to know the mixes translate good.

As above, I actually switched to using Crave EQ and a correction curve which was a nice step up in fidelity. Waves abbey road does the speakers in a space really nicely (though I switch between having this on and off).

I actually can't see that Slate can sound any better, the sound is immaculate from the beyerdynamic dt 1990s with a correction curve. Beyerdynamic are also a proven quality headphone manufacturer - and the quality of construction is the best I've seen in headphones.

The bass thing sounds interesting - but I've had no shortage of bass and the translation has been really great.

I'm glad it works well for you, esp given the cost - my point is it's really not something new, and I'm not sure I'd be easily convinced that it would be the better then other options. I'd say this is good marketing, and some convenience due to an all in one headphone/correction package - but still hyping something not new as new.

*the fact they have one headphone to calibrate too would certainly help them get a good outcome

[Jet Set]

Agreed that in essence its nothing new...

But then neither is a Minimoog soft synth, and I still much prefer my Legacy to the Arturia version - digital EQ ITB is nothing new, but I prefer Crave to my Logic in-built.

I had my eye on new headphones to try with Abbey Road before going with the VSX - and had borrowed a friends 650s to try out - currently glad I didn't go that route, but may well pick up a pair for other uses.

I actually rushed home from work yesterday just so I could have some quiet time listening to some new reference tracks with the VSX - that's not a feeling I've had for a while, and it inspired me to plan a new drum and bass track - just so that I can give the full bass range a workout on the farfield NRGs...and anything that inspires me to make more music is worth its weight in gold for me.

[lfm]

...and anything that inspires me to make more music is worth its weight in gold for me.

That is always true for any new gear you urge for exploring. And doing that getting new ideas for songs - when talking instruments this is the case. Instruments are always tools making music, I think.

But if monitoring situation is poor normally, then VSX could improve doing more mixing - and get this is worth a lot.

I listened to a handful of demos now to try and hear if they provide bleed between speakers - and I don't really hear that.

But it could be that reviewers jump between rooms every 5s or so, seemingly with no plan. I wonder if that is how they mix as well, came to mind.

Main reason getting VSX or similar solution would be to remove monitors completely or minimize time mixing with monitors. And stereo field is what I felt is changing dramatically when moving from phones.

One guy stated that he like this and that room - and I wonder
- what do you mean "liked"?

- Isn't it about translating well?

I heard people mixing on NS10's that mean it does not sound that good, but when you get it as good as it gets - it translates well.

Anyway this guy, channel Fiasco or something, returned his after a week and making a video over that too. It did not improve anything over his Focal 6 BE. He did a mix in monitors and did not feel anything needed change using VSX after that. He meant he thought it would make even more things obvious and revealing and take mixes to new level.

But he had rather well treated room space for mixing too, so this VSX is probably not targeting this kind of studio.

Either way will look at demos and hear if any show how speaker bleed is working, I could not hear that so far. Seems like regular phones to me, and would not replace mixing in monitors.

So anything doing just left speaker stuff to hear if in right ear as well, as bleed and reflections in the room at hand - that could make me interested get VSX.

I also had to adjust reverb level a bit when on monitors - since some things are heard so clearly on phones.

[andymcbain]

While there's a bunch of older ideas here (Focusrite's old VRM box / software springs to mind and of course Sonarworks) the way Slate have packaged the whole lot together makes it a unique product - at least to my knowledge.

I'm certainly reserving judgement until I've heard a pair for myself. The chap I know who beta tested the VSX has Audeze LCD-X to supplement his monitoring setup and was still impressed - particularly by the bass response and how easy it was to identify mix issues when switching between the various room models.

[Jet Set]

I would say -

A bit like my first experience with Abbey Road....

When I put them on and tried my first few reference tracks - I was underwhelmed.

The sense of space I heard was slightly less than Abbey Road...or so it seemed.

BUT - after an hour or two...something seemed to click in my brain and it all came into focus.

I would compare it to - you know those 'magic eye' posters you used to get? (showing my age here) - where you unfocus your eyes and stare into them to see the shape appear...it was a bit like that - except for my ears...relaxed and something seemed to come into auditory focus...and I haven't looked back.

So - a quick pop them on/take them off demo might not do it.

I would say that running them with just a little bit more volume adds a lot to the sound image...nothing drastic, but running them 'quiet' doesn't really show them off.