Mixing on headphones: Sonarwoks + Waves

[Kategra]

I already have Focursite VRM BOX wich is good, but being more of a hardware dongle, I'm thinking it won't last forever.
Now that Reason will support VST I'm thinking of getting Nx Virtual Mix Rroom and Refrence 3 Headphone Plugin from Sonarwoks to put on the master bus.
Might go all out on Sonarwoks and buy the full Monitors + calibration MIC+ Headphone pack!

Does anyone here uses Sonarowkrs/ Wave NX Virtual Room in R9.5 beta? I'm on 8.3 and want to upgrade in june.

http://www.waves.com/plugins/nx#introdu ... l-mix-room (it's 50% of now because of the Waves sale)
https://store.sonarworks.com/collection ... one-plugin

[Carly(Poohbear)]

I already have Focursite VRM BOX wich is good, but being more of a hardware dongle, I'm thinking it won't last forever.
Now that Reason will support VST I'm thinking of getting Nx Virtual Mix Rroom and Refrence 3 Headphone Plugin from Sonarwoks to put on the master bus.
Might go all out on Sonarwoks and buy the full Monitors + calibration MIC+ Headphone pack!

Does anyone here uses Sonarowkrs/ Wave NX Virtual Room in R9.5 beta? I'm on 8.3 and want to upgrade in june.

http://www.waves.com/plugins/nx#introdu ... l-mix-room (it's 50% of now because of the Waves sale)
https://store.sonarworks.com/collection ... one-plugin

This is not quite the answer you are looking for, I have tried Reference 3, liked it thought it was a little pricey, was offered it at 50% off but at that time I was not into VST, (had to install pedelboard at that time to test it as I don't have anything on my system to use VST's, apart from the 9.5 beta now) but I did take a response curve of it and loaded it into the RV7000, not brilliant but not crap either, gives a goodish reference.

Did demo the Waves NX, again I did not think it was that great I wanted to buy it.

I did purchase this virtual sound card http://www.newaudiotechnology.com/en/pr ... ound-card/ and use it as another listen source, it ain't bad (brought it via http://everyplugin.com/spatial-sound-ca ... duct-tabs2 as it was cheaper to do so).

[The_G]

Sonarworks is okay. You need to turn it off before bouncing, though.

I think it's better to save the money and spend it on a pair of cans or earphones with a really flat response. What headphones are you using?

[Kategra]

Sonarworks is okay. You need to turn it off before bouncing, though.

I think it's better to save the money and spend it on a pair of cans or earphones with a really flat response. What headphones are you using?

ATH M50 (old ones, not the X) & AKG K701(same freq response as K702).
Before VST support I thought of having a dedicated PC with it's own 6 in 6 out audio interface, so it would process the outputs from my studio monitor controller, that way each studio monitor pair and the headphones (AKGs) would have been calibrated all the time and it would not impact the CPU on the main computer.

Now that Reason will support VSTs.. I don't think I can justify the extra expense and the extra latency for a separate audio interface + computer just to have all the monitors calibrated same time and easy monitoring switching. But I might still do it because all audio from PC would get calibrated on the fly

Also pondering to order ATH M50X with custom calibration file from Sonarworks... decisions of a tough hobby ))

[The_G]

Sonarworks is okay. You need to turn it off before bouncing, though.

I think it's better to save the money and spend it on a pair of cans or earphones with a really flat response. What headphones are you using?

ATH M50 (old ones, not the X) & AKG K701(same freq response as K702).
Before VST support I thought of having a dedicated PC with it's own 6 in 6 out audio interface, so it would process the outputs from my studio monitor controller, that way each studio monitor pair and the headphones (AKGs) would have been calibrated all the time and it would not impact the CPU on the main computer.

Now that Reason will support VSTs.. I don't think I can justify the extra expense and the extra latency for a separate audio interface + computer just to have all the monitors calibrated same time and easy monitoring switching. But I might still do it because all audio from PC would get calibrated on the fly

Also pondering to order ATH M50X with custom calibration file from Sonarworks... decisions of a tough hobby ))

Yeah, with the 701s I don't think you really need Sonarworks, as the response is really flat. The M50s overstate the low-mids, though. The M50x do as well. 701s are way better for mixing. (I have both.)

[Ostermilk]

Another alternative on the Headphone front.

http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-morphit/

and on the mixing environment front.

http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-isone/

I'm not much of a fan of these kinds of solutions tbh because if they really were all that you could just by yourself a pair of Sennheiser 201's a pair of el-cheapo computer speakers and emulate any cans and studio environment you wanted.

It can't be that simple, can it?

[Kategra]

Another alternative on the Headphone front.

http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-morphit/

and on the mixing environment front.

http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-isone/

I'm not much of a fan of these kinds of solutions tbh because if they really were all that you could just by yourself a pair of Sennheiser 201's a pair of el-cheapo computer speakers and emulate any cans and studio environment you wanted.

It can't be that simple, can it?

I think that everything helps to some degree. I understood that Sonarworks can correct Freq response and phase of the headphones if there is enough headroom to do so, but of course, it can't correct distortion and it adds latency like the VRM BOX.

If ideal conditions in the practical world would have a perfect score of 100, we could postulate with a high degree of error that:

• Sennheiser 201 would have a base score of 20 + VRM BOX (score 25) + Sonarworks(score 10) = 55% close of ideal mixing audio;
  ATH M50x, maybe it has a base score of 35 + VRM BOX (25) + Sonarworks(10) = 70% close of ideal mixing audio;
  A great, but not excellent treated mixing room (40), great mid tier monitors (40) + Sonarworks (10) = 90% close to ideal mixing audio
  Now take an excellent treated mixing room (50), top high end monitors (50) = 100% ideal mixing audio

[Kategra]

This is not quite the answer you are looking for, I have tried Reference 3, liked it thought it was a little pricey, was offered it at 50% off but at that time I was not into VST, (had to install pedelboard at that time to test it as I don't have anything on my system to use VST's, apart from the 9.5 beta now) but I did take a response curve of it and loaded it into the RV7000, not brilliant but not crap either, gives a goodish reference.

Did demo the Waves NX, again I did not think it was that great I wanted to buy it.

I did purchase this virtual sound card http://www.newaudiotechnology.com/en/pr ... ound-card/ and use it as another listen source, it ain't bad (brought it via http://everyplugin.com/spatial-sound-ca ... duct-tabs2 as it was cheaper to do so).

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[Carly(Poohbear)]

This is not quite the answer you are looking for, I have tried Reference 3, liked it thought it was a little pricey, was offered it at 50% off but at that time I was not into VST, (had to install pedelboard at that time to test it as I don't have anything on my system to use VST's, apart from the 9.5 beta now) but I did take a response curve of it and loaded it into the RV7000, not brilliant but not crap either, gives a goodish reference.

Did demo the Waves NX, again I did not think it was that great I wanted to buy it.

I did purchase this virtual sound card http://www.newaudiotechnology.com/en/pr ... ound-card/ and use it as another listen source, it ain't bad (brought it via http://everyplugin.com/spatial-sound-ca ... duct-tabs2 as it was cheaper to do so).

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Just read your other replies, Note the response curve I created was for my AKG K702 so you are more than welcome to a copy of it...

Also Note that spatial-sound-card does have a demo that you can download, it just does not come with all the studio models and has a sound watermark so the demo never runs out, I don't mix per say with it but useful for referencing (bit like your VRM box)..

[Kategra]

Thanks, I also have an impulse response for K702, but R7000 is not that great, I feel that it has limited resolution and can't follow accurately the EQ.
I'll sink money into R9.5 update + the Sonarworks.

[Carly(Poohbear)]

Thanks, I also have an impulse response for K702, but R7000 is not that great, I feel that it has limited resolution and can't follow accurately the EQ.
I'll sink money into R9.5 update + the Sonarworks.

Sounds good, I may wait for it go on sale, out of interest when you demo'ed the sonarworks did they send you through a discount code?
As I have demo'ed it twice under different emails and in both cases they sent through a discount code, could be worth demo'ing it again just to get a discount, hmmm, it's a lot more tempting now with Reason 9.5...

I also have noticed that the Waves NX is now on sale at $39..

[Kategra]

Thanks, I also have an impulse response for K702, but R7000 is not that great, I feel that it has limited resolution and can't follow accurately the EQ.
I'll sink money into R9.5 update + the Sonarworks.

Sounds good, I may wait for it go on sale, out of interest when you demo'ed the sonarworks did they send you through a discount code?
As I have demo'ed it twice under different emails and in both cases they sent through a discount code, could be worth demo'ing it again just to get a discount, hmmm, it's a lot more tempting now with Reason 9.5...

I also have noticed that the Waves NX is now on sale at $39..

Yes, they did send me the discount! But I was not ready to buy. I guess I'll Sonarworks trial again. Regarding the NX, I think I'll stick to the VRM BOX for room / speaker simulations for now.

[Gulale]

Mixing in headphone is a freaking nightmare and a bad move. I have AKG 702 and I have never used it to mix a song. Not a single day. To check, yes I use it around the final mix. It is better to invest your cash on a 5" studio monitor if your room is small. Or go for bigger depending on your room size. I don't have huge knowledge about this waves product but I always think that they are gimmickish stuff. Nothing tells a mix better than Studio monitors. Even these days those cheaper ones are decent like Presonus Eris 5 and others.