Slate vsx

[sw rec]

Pardon me if this is the wrong place to ask this, but Slate’s plug-in IS an AAX, after all. Steven Slate is doing a MASSIVE push for his VSX headphone system, and I’d really like some honest opinions from people who have used them. Good/bad? Pros vs Cons?
Thanks in advance!

[massivekerry]

Yes it works in AAX. I really like it for checking across multiple "rooms", but I wouldn't work exclusively on them (at my studio) because the actual hardware details feel kind of cheap, and my scalp got really sensitive to "pleather" ear cups over lockdown. That said, they have been handy for travel, and for quick checks (under 30 minutes) of dense midrange arrangements or if the low end is hiding out of control below 60Hz. I'd only buy the full package because that's where a lot of the good/diverse profiles are.

I don't know what your setup is, but I have a post-mix bus output to one of my Carbon Headphone outs that I use just for VSX, so I'm not feeding my "To Bounce" mix through it.

[sw rec]

“I don't know what your setup is, but I have a post-mix bus output to one of my Carbon Headphone outs that I use just for VSX, so I'm not feeding my "To Bounce" mix through it.”

Mac Studio M1 Max, PT Ultimate 2024.6, Apollo 8 TB interface, and a Soundcraft GB8-32 console, so not lacking for routing options. I’d be curious to see your routing for your particular setup. Thanks for the quick response!
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[massivekerry]

Originally Posted by sw rec

“I don't know what your setup is, but I have a post-mix bus output to one of my Carbon Headphone outs that I use just for VSX, so I'm not feeding my "To Bounce" mix through it.”

Mac Studio M1 Max, PT Ultimate 2024.6, Apollo 8 TB interface, and a Soundcraft GB8-32 console, so not lacking for routing options. I’d be curious to see your routing for your particular setup. Thanks for the quick response!
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Sure thing! My default setup is pretty simple for what it is. Working on music, all tracks are routed to the MUSIC Aux, with all of the "Mixbus Processing" Inserts. That Aux has a Master Fader assigned to it, so I can boost or cut the level going into that Insert Chain. From there, The MUSIC Aux is routed to 4 outputs - 2 physical outs going to my monitor controller and 2 to headphone outputs on the Carbon. For the physical output, one is the output I use as the Bounce source when I Bounce mixes. The other physical out has the Sound ID Reference plugin with room-tuning on it. That's what I listen to most of the time. My "Headphones" output is for when I want to work quietly or am tracking in the room. That also has Sound ID Reference inserted to nudge the headphones close to their "ideal" profile. The 2nd Headphone output is for the VSX, and has the VSX plugin Inserted at the end. So I can effectively listen to 3 monitor source (plus the different speakers attached to my monitor controller) all "post-mix". Each of those outputs does have a selection of brick wall limiters on the Inserts, and the parameters for those Inserts are together in a Mix Group, so that any changes I make to one instance is mirrored across the other monitor sources.

[Carl Lie]

I use them sometimes when I'm close to a final mix. I run through all the rooms and make note of anything that seems to jump out. So 15 mins on them and then back to my monitors. Really what they are doing is re-framing my ears for when I get back to my monitors. I only have one set of monitors.

I've had a pair break and they sent me new ones quickly for no charge.

I wouldn't want to mix on them but I did do that many years ago when I first got them and I got good results. I prefer to use them as I do now (every now and then) as a second set of monitors. Truth is the folks who mix in those rooms know how their monitors translate and I do not.

Hope this helps.

C

[Eric Lambert]

It started out as a sort of gimmick, because the sound wasn't up to snuff (my opinion, yes, but many others said this as well) and then they did some major tweaking and released an update (it was V3 perhaps?) and at that point it turned into a feasible option for quiet mixing when that's your only option. I have a friend who's a mastering engineer and he has the same ATC SCM110 monitors as the Zuma Studio profile and he said that with a very small amount of tweaking he's able to get the VSX experience to closely match what he's hearing in his room. I thought that was quiet a compliment, especially for headphones.

The quality of the phones themselves didn't impress me either, and the unprocessed sound was uninspiring so I didn't have high hopes for the product, but I think it has come a long way. If headphones were my only option for getting work done I'd probably use them.

[fossile]

the VSX, like the Waves NX series, are a great way to quickly cycle through a bunch of "rooms" and "speakers" to see if anything needs tweaking, and then it's back to my main monitoring. i would not mix on them unless i had no other option. of course i will still do the single mono physical speaker, as well as car test, USB speaker, ear buds etc as a final checks.

[cwsand]

I like them though they do take a little getting used to. I use them mainly with my macbook when traveling, which isn't often. I definitely use them to check mixes across the rooms as others have said.

[sw rec]

Welp, bought them on Sweetwater. I’ll weigh back in when I’ve had a chance to get used to them. Thanks for all your input.

[AlexLakis]

Let us know what you think! VSX integrated pretty well here, it removed the necessity to burn a CD and check it out in the car and boombox. I use it alongside a pair of HD600s, which are more "sensational" than the VSX cans, which are a little flatter and un-hyped.