SoundGym Cafe

Alisa Qi
Sep 07

hey, has anybody tried Steven Slate VSX headphones? I'm moving countries and don't know what space I'm gonna be in, so I'm thinking about headphones. But even using canopener (without it I'm completely lost) with my hd 650/ath m60x I get very poor results in space-related games (pangirl/stereohead). I'm seeing videos on yt about VSX where audioengineers rave about how these are great. So my questions are:
* is anyone here using them?
* can you confirm that space-related games (and space representation in general) are comparable with real studio monitors?
* is platinum edition any good or essential is pretty much all you need?

5 props

Lukas Motsch
Sep 07

I don't own Slate VSX headphones, but I am using Sonarworks SoundID Reference Software in combination with the Audeze LCD X headphones. The virtual monitoring feature (which costs an additional 50$ on top of soundid reference) seems to help with spacing a bit. Similar to Slate VSX, the virtual monitoring in SoundID Reference simulates virtual rooms, so it does more than canopener (afaik, never used canopener).
So you might want to check out the trial for free and see if that helps with your existing headphones?

In general, it's still definitely a lot harder for me to place stuff in the stereo field compared to monitors.

1 props

Alisa Qi
Sep 07

Lukas thanks! noted Sonarworks as something to try
I also found vst named DearVR Mix, which is apparently from Sennheiser and since I have 650 I'll give it a try and will write about my experience vs Canopener vs a pair of monitors (small Genelecs 8020d in my case)

0 props

Alisa Qi
Sep 07

hmmm, dearVR sounds def better than canopener, more open and less, um, stuffy. but the accuracy is better by a margin of error I feel. dearVR also has ridiculous amount of latency, forgot to turn it off on beatrace and noticed a huge difference (didn't understand what's happening until after). so my choice in the end is between better sounding and less latency, and honestly I dunno, I'll try dearVR more and then decide, but seems like canopener is winning rn.

1 props

Gunnar Maaß
Sep 07

You might be interested in this course https://www.mixingwithmike.com/headphone-mixing-course
One of his courses was initially curated on this site but was taken down due to copyright some years ago. I think its great and I come back to it from time to time.

3 props

Darren Boling
Sep 07

I use and love Slate VSX. I've been thru Sonarworks w/ canopener, Realphones, and Audeze Reveal prior to VSX. To my ears VSX is easily the most trustworthy with translation, even when doing the panning and spacial games here. My mastering mentor's room is of a similar design to Zuma far, including the ATC 110 monitors, and we went back and forth tuning them the same (I had to bump up the depth knob a touch to get the same result). It's really amazing what they've accomplished.

3 props

Colin Aiken
Sep 08

I tried them and wasn't very impressed. That is not to say they're not good, I just feel more comfortable with ATH M70x. I use the Slate headphones for workouts now and find them trustworthy but I don't use the emulations. @Darren Boling I really like what you did.

2 props

Darren Boling
Sep 08

@Colin Aiken brings up a good point of how personal monitoring can be. You'll probably just have to take the leap and try them out (or find a friend's to test) to see if they work for you. I will say one thing I think gets missed in the Gearspace and Facebook VSX threads is the importance of finding 1 or 2 models you know and trust and only staying with them, avoiding the temptation to jump through all the various models while making critical decisions.

2 props

Alisa Qi
Sep 08

thank you all for tips and opinions!
think I'm gonna stick either to canopener or explore other software options for now. as a last resort my genelecs are really small (if I don't include the sub) I might be able to just take them with me on a plane and use for spatial awareness and headphones for the rest

0 props

Ned RING
Sep 08

I have the VSX basic, and bought one add-on, the Mastering Room - very effective so far - I track with my old Sennheiser 280 Pros, Volume and pan on Kali LP 6s, and mix with VSX

1 props

Ned RING
Sep 08

Also. Waves has the NSX Room emulations - pretty darn good, but no emulation for a car or mastering room

1 props

Ned RING
Sep 08

However, if it/s space-relation you're concerned about, I've never had as good a result with phones as with speakers.

1 props

Judah Collins
Sep 09

I have Slate VSX and it's very good and useful, and I would recommend it. But I do the lion's share of critical headphone listening with Sonarworks individually calibrated HD650s. You might try the demo of sonarworks Sound ID and use the generic HD650 setting and see if it's better for you. If it works good, you can send your phones in for individual calibration, and then it's a very accurate flat response..

1 props

Sergio Gabaldon
Sep 10

I'm a happy user of VSX. I remember at first it didn't sound beautiful or appealing to my ears but it does a very good job if you're looking for translation for your mixes.

3 props

Darryl Wood
Sep 11

I have VSX and Sonarworks with HD650's that are NOT individually callibrated. I love the HD 650s for wearability and overall sound but I find that my mixes and masters translate better when I do the final checks through VSX. Maybe the individual callibration makes all the difference.

1 props

Alisa Qi
Sep 13

genelec is also jumping on this bandwagon with 9320A/8550A controller/headphones combo, but the price is genelec-level crazy at 2300$
but they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves: head measuring via an app to realistically model it, upper torso and ears, head tracking etc etc
maybe some day

0 props

T. Tinari
Sep 13

I've also been struggling with similar issues with space-related games with M50x headphones, so I'm appreciating a lot of the comments in this thread

1 props

Space Description