Bargain Center: discussion, gossip, etc.

[dermage]

I'm using Sienna with my Beyerdynamic Dt 1990, which are brighter than the VSX ones.
What do you mean by end result. I have not mixed a track entirely on one system alone. I'm beginning in the studio and cycle through the systems at home. as said Sienna results in brighter image, which needs to be checked against reference tracks of course (using metric ab).
The controls in Guru are very interesting and I still need to learn them more. There are some people on GS arguing about Sienna being not so detailed or too good sounding, but I guess they haven't explored the perfection and depth controls fully. How would they, it's released since 2 weeks and includes a lot of rooms and different presets. I'd say about 3x the content of VSX for about the same price if you subtract the headphones from Slates package. (I'd say they're $250 from build quality and comfort against the Beyerdynamic)
Also keep in mind that Sienna may be perceived differently, since not everyone tests on the same headphones.
acustica already said they're listening and will improve the interface in the coming time. Eg the magic q is currently missing from the guru mode, which flattens the headphone curve even more.

Thanks again! If Sienna requires so much extra tweaking to work well, I will listen to your original advice about VSX being enough for most people and go with that.

Yeah, VSX is an easy solution for most users, and delivers! Having it since October, it improved my mixes a lot (since not having a perfect tuned studio).

It's just the "never satisfied guy" inside me who wants "more rooms" / "more perspectives". Also as said in an earlier post, I love going into different rooms.

Usually I test my tracks on a PA system, Car, Living Room, mobile phone. If I can reduce the usage of the PA system alone I can save some time, since it requires wiring and setting up each time I need it. So for me the additional perspectives are very valuable if I can just check them at home already.

Sienna also has an "easy" solution with less controls, which is similar to VSX.
Only when you open up their "Guru" software you can tweak a lot of variables (which I love). Imho it's aimed at those "never satisified guys" as I am, to be able to tweak until it feels right.

If you or anyone else here has the time, I advise to demo it. You can't demo VSX of course. But also Realphones is a good solution which I'm still using. Less CPU than Sienna and its Systemwide solution is best-in-class (especially compared against Sonarworks).

[Insanelysane]

Just going to chime in on the whole headphone correction and room simulation - you could buy these for educational purposes for sure, but really at the end of the day you only 'need' to get to know your headphones and cross reference a few scenarios you trust will bring out the blindspots with your current headphones. After that, I personally found myself just going back and forth between rooms comparing minutiae and really wasting time after all is said and done. I mean, you dont need all these rooms to optimise your mixes, they can help but they all can confuse too as they will all sound different and bring out different balances.

In my opinion you really dont need to spend on both Sienna and VSX, thats a lot of money. Sienna releasing rooms for additional payments in 3 volumes wasn't cool either. From what Ive read there is no consensus on 'best' out of the lot either with reviews varying wildly. So that should say something too.

[dermage]

From what Ive read there is no consensus on 'best' out of the lot either with reviews varying wildly.

Funny, that's exactly the point why I love this. I *want* to hear the tracks in different rooms with their problems. With their different response. I want to hear how it sounds from different perspectives. It's not only translation but also *feeling* -> does it work there?

Also I think the Sienna system as modular add-ons is a good idea. You can easily only buy Vol A (It's enough to get good results already) or VolC additonally if you want to check on different speakers, what you need.

Actually, as said, I'd advise to get Realphones if you just want a room simulation with your current headphones, the included tools are great for that. If you want to go further, Sienna, which will be still cheaper than VSX.

[solidsteak]

Personally, I went with Sienna Vol A & C. The recent update brought more speakers to the Spitfire room, which to my ears is the best room in the collection. Vol C is just there to check different speakers to ensure everything is in check with the mix. While there are rooms I like in Vol B, Vol A is more than enough for you to do your mixes.

[mgw38]

Just going to chime in on the whole headphone correction and room simulation - you could buy these for educational purposes for sure, but really at the end of the day you only 'need' to get to know your headphones and cross reference a few scenarios you trust will bring out the blindspots with your current headphones. After that, I personally found myself just going back and forth between rooms comparing minutiae and really wasting time after all is said and done. I mean, you dont need all these rooms to optimise your mixes, they can help but they all can confuse too as they will all sound different and bring out different balances.

The best way to use such software is to choose one room and then to stick with it. Otherwise you get just lost in constantly going back and forth.

I have to admit that I am torn a bit. On one hand I do get that you would want the monitoring solution sound as flat as possible. On the other hand flatness is not the only thing. Detail and separation are probably even more important. I found that I get the best result if I choose reasonably neutral sounding headphones that are as close to audiophile as I can afford and then just train my ears a bit to understand their sound signature.

[Insanelysane]

Just going to chime in on the whole headphone correction and room simulation - you could buy these for educational purposes for sure, but really at the end of the day you only 'need' to get to know your headphones and cross reference a few scenarios you trust will bring out the blindspots with your current headphones. After that, I personally found myself just going back and forth between rooms comparing minutiae and really wasting time after all is said and done. I mean, you dont need all these rooms to optimise your mixes, they can help but they all can confuse too as they will all sound different and bring out different balances.

The best way to use such software is to choose one room and then to stick with it. Otherwise you get just lost in constantly going back and forth.

I have to admit that I am torn a bit. On one hand I do get that you would want the monitoring solution sound as flat as possible. On the other hand flatness is not the only thing. Detail and separation are probably even more important. I found that I get the best result if I choose reasonably neutral sounding headphones that are as close to audiophile as I can afford and then just train my ears a bit to understand their sound signature.

Well thats it, you have to train your ears to know your sound and know how to compensate on other systems. With the rooms through headphones the point I found mostly was to hear all that low end that was missing from my headphone mix (Sennheiser HD650).

I used Sonarworks Headphone correction and then used Realphones alongside it. I realised I enjoyed the changes (fun, somewhat insightful) it made but didn't find them essential - at all! in fact, I made a big decision to sell both Realphones and Sonarworks due to pragmatic reasons as I was experiencing more complication and driver conflict through certain standalone instruments and conflicts with media players etc. I decided in order to have the smoothest and 'least hassles system' I'd be best off with only my ASIO driver from my RME and no third party extra drivers competing. Haven't looked back since. I do have the Waves Ocean Way Nashville NX that I can instantiate for the room simulation reference and that has been helpful, again especially in the low end. BTW there is a workaround to rename the Waves Headtracker executable file that loads and bloats when you load up Nashville NX, that was good to know as I didn't care for the headtracker so why have it bloat my system. When it comes to music making and mixing, we definitely can have too many tools that end up slowing us down.

The more you own the more it owns you, that Tyler Durden line is louder than ever these days.

[Uncle E]

what makes it better is the marriage of hardware (headphones) and software. The headphones are made specifically for this product and the combination with the emulations produce a deep bass thats unreal. This is what makes the rooms great for differing listening environments. I can hear details that I've not been able to get previously without loud in room monitoring and my rooms in the last few years have been crappy. As far as VSX iterations all headphones sold to date are version 1 and new headphones wont change apart from specific head band parts willl be differently sourced as some broke on people.VSX 1.0 software is what is out now and a new update with more rooms will be coming out very soon according to Steven Slate. Headphones are sold out so a second run is coming. Since they will accept return from dissatisfied customers I'd recommend VSX over anything I've heard of to try out. This is a game changer. With the other software I was using AKG 240's

Thanks! That's great to know! I ordered VSX.

[mgw38]

Well thats it, you have to train your ears to know your sound and know how to compensate on other systems. With the rooms through headphones the point I found mostly was to hear all that low end that was missing from my headphone mix (Sennheiser HD650).

For monitoring the low end I started to use Blue Mix-Fi headphones in addition to the Beyerdynamic DT1990 I usually work with. The Blue have an elevated but very clean low end and can produce frequencies lower than the ones my (admittedly very mediocre subwoofer) can produce.

[Uncle E]

I used Sonarworks Headphone correction and then used Realphones alongside it. I realised I enjoyed the changes (fun, somewhat insightful) it made but didn't find them essential - at all!

Sonarworks made a calibration of my original version Beats headphones for me and it's really essential with them. Without Sonarworks, they have an awful midrange spike that makes them painful to listen to for long periods of time.

[ElevateAudio]

Unc, got an email today saying that Wavearts Saturator 2 was on sale for 39.99
But when I add it my cart it's $79.99??

[Uncle E]

Unc, got an email today saying that Wavearts Saturator 2 was on sale for 39.99
But when I add it my cart it's $79.99??

Sorry, I think there's a little image that says "Starts Tomorrow". It actually will start in 8 hours.

[Ou_Tis]

Anyone know if the Producertech 2 free months is only for new members? Email implies it's not, but website implies it is?

[fairlyclose]

Just going to chime in on the whole headphone correction and room simulation - you could buy these for educational purposes for sure, but really at the end of the day you only 'need' to get to know your headphones and cross reference a few scenarios you trust will bring out the blindspots with your current headphones. After that, I personally found myself just going back and forth between rooms comparing minutiae and really wasting time after all is said and done. I mean, you dont need all these rooms to optimise your mixes, they can help but they all can confuse too as they will all sound different and bring out different balances.

In my opinion you really dont need to spend on both Sienna and VSX, thats a lot of money. Sienna releasing rooms for additional payments in 3 volumes wasn't cool either. From what Ive read there is no consensus on 'best' out of the lot either with reviews varying wildly. So that should say something too.

For most people on soundcloud/spotify etc, these utilities offer more rooms and headphones than they will get listens. Complete waste of time.

[J4R1O]

What is a minimum order value for Plugin Alliance's $75 voucher?

[martinjuenke]

What is a minimum order value for Plugin Alliance's $75 voucher?

99$ (excl. VAT)