IS MIXING ON HEADPHONES POSSIBLE WITH THIS?! || dSONIQ - Realphones

INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
00:28 - Why I never talk about headphones
01:25 - Looking at the website
04:01 - Testing
09:12 - Conclusion
13:38 - Outro

[steveopenshaw]

I would guess that most of the folks watching your videos have a bedroom, a 5 year old pc, the free version of a DAW, a 2in2out audio interface and a partner or flat mate that will complain when all they can hear is the same music, over and over again. Mixing on speakers is just not an option there, so it would have been nice to get an open-minded in-depth review of this plugin. Instead, you had your opinion about mixing on headphones, and then jumped on the first thing you could that “proved” your bias about it.

You said yourself that with any audio monitoring system that you use, you need to get used to the way reference mixes sound which can take weeks. This is true with both headphones and a set of high-end monitors in a treated room, so why condemn this after trying out only half of the features in 5 minutes?

[robertnatiello]

I was thinking that the benefit from the plugin is that once you get it right - you can use it anywhere anytime which is not possible with a room which stays in one place - (at least the acoustics ). It is a need developed from the need that is present where folks are always being displaced physically - apartments - moving around trying to afford rent etc.

[joeMW]

I have a good monitoring setup and I've had this plugin for over a year. I find it extremely useful for checking my mixes - particularly the car stereo environment. I've done mixes from scratch on Realphones and it's translated surprisingly well. Like you said, it's all about knowing what things should sound like coming from the playback medium you're monitoring on.

[demp]

I think what you have to do to benefit from such a plugin is that you "calibrate" it with a reference song and from there you could use such a plugin and actually benefit from it

[pablodelpozo]

Using a reference track that you know by heart to create the settings might do part of the trick, but for sure even with new speakers there's a learning curve until you know how they sound like and interact with the room. But using a reference track I think is key, even if you go to a high end studio, you need a reference track because there's not a perfect room, rooms might a have a particular thing going on and you need to get used to the sound of that particular room.

[nasat]

For people looking for the soundtrack used in this video.. It's called Sandstorm by an artist called Darude

[DjALX]

just tested a mix using my Sennheiser HD600 headphones. (I do not use them for mixing). The only thing you need in the plugin is Speaker Response to 100%. Everything else should be default. If you use the correction slider then the plugin will EQ the signal to compensate for the speaker curve (correct me if im wrong). So just use Speaker Responso to 100%. Is the only way you can hear a difference between the NS10, Genelec and the other speakers (are they ATC?). I own Yamana NS10 monitors and the simulation of the NS10 response felt similar in the plugin. Just my two pennies...

[austinsummersofficial]

Before I even watch the video I'm going to say the ONLY thing that truly deletes the need for a studio is the Slate VSX. I just mixed a track for a huge opportunity I had with sony and a big South African artist on my laptop in my lounge with vsx, and went to my studio the next day and realized that its one of the best mixes I've ever done. I didn't need to change a single thing. Played it in my car and realized that I almost forgot it wasn't a song on the radio yet. It just had that.. sound. Over the next few days, I continued to mix with vsx out of the studio and got zero recalls or revision requests. Finished up 4 clients and it all JUST WORKS. Everywhere. Car, phone, headphones. Anything.

[delvenhamric]

The concept is good, it moves the sound from right between your ears to an open room. But you are listening to a new speaker/room, so you need to treat it as such. Spend some time listening to music you are intimate with, tweak all of those adjustments until the hairs stand up on your arm and you are there! Like any other new monitoring system, it takes time to learn it. Most of us couldn’t afford good monitors and the room to put them in. Whatever works, just keep mixing!

[BobbyCrane]

I had a conversation with a BIG TIME mix engineer…he does the likes of Chris Staples, Justin Timberlake…etc. he always just mixes wherever he’s set up….and from his laptop speakers out loud or AirPods…. He doesn’t care for treated rooms, or testing it in multiple spots. He knows if he nails it there…it’ll work everywhere else 😂 I was mind blown watching him mix and seeing how SIMPLE his process is.

[elliotr]

This software you need to customize first, and also don't use "Deep Bass", use "Default Room Speakers" and then configure the software to sound right to your ears listening to what you normally listen to, and *then* do mixing/referencing with it. It's been insanely helpful in my mixing to get rid of the boxy/collapsed stereo sound. I have to do a lot of mixing in headphones because of noise issues where I am/I also have a terrible room with no treatment. I still use monitors sometimes, but I actually reference on Realphones, and the mixes that come through Realphones are way better to my/others' ears on more setups.

[gotyor]

I just download this and it did a great job of matching my monitoring setup. I have hs5 with the sub. I started with there ns10 mixing setting and after messing with all the controls I have an amazing close headphone emulation to my studio. Played with a mix and it came out as expected. Going to try it out for a few more weeks to make sure it works. But loving it!

[SaturnVoyager]

Why didn’t you use your awesome HD650? It works better on closed headphones? I love your reviews

[officialsimonharris]

all you need is the headphones calibrated FLAT and Sonarworks does this and keeps it simple, you pick your headphone profile which has been calibrated flat and use the software to check your final mix or master after doing the mix/master on speakers first. This one looks like too many settings because each one takes you away from that flat reference point.

[ytnsanw]

I mix almost entirely on stock Apple buds - because IT'S WHAT I'M USED TO. I regard them as the latter-day NS10's of headphones. They sound pretty awful, but they really force you to get the mid-range (especially high-mids) right. I then check the bass and high end in my car, or on better headphones.

[NebulousWeb]

I bought this plugin recently for 54€ in sale after a few days of the trial. I bought it on the strength of the following reasons: the standalone version breathes new life into my music library on my neutral and boring studio headphones; the VST makes practicing guitar with headphones a lot more enjoyable; the VST makes my vocal tracking less pitchy and more expressive (a lot of people find it more difficult to sing perfectly with 'phones on), and makes me more confident because like hearing my voice more.

Regarding improving my mixes, I still have testing to do and will need to do a few more projects. But basically, I can put-on and remove my headphones while my monitors are also on, to A/B the sound, and I can get them to sound remarkably similar. So that must be a help in itself - I can now mix late into the evening, almost as though I'm using my monitors. I can then create a setting that is very similar but allows me to hear more of the low end that my monitors can't reproduce well, all while taking advantage of the extra detail that headphones provide throughout the spectrum. People with great monitors and room will not need this, but many home recordists may find it useful.

What I'm probably NOT going to use it for much, is the feature highlighted the most - checking mixes in virtual environments. Personally, I don't think that's very helpful to me. I feel like I'm just switching though the Jazz, Rock, Classical presets of a car stereo or something - it feels too arbitrary. So I will continue checking my mixes on my usual devices/places, but hopefully I won't need to check them as much if my mix stability and translation improves.

Note I also trialled Can Opener Studio at the same time. It is mostly just a very subtle crosstalk effect. I much preferred dSoniq's effects, but I'm use settings that are way more subtle than the factory presets.

EDIT: There is a problem they refuse to acknowledge. The VST is fine, but the standalone version cuts out for half a second every few minutes. The devs blame a conflict with whatever audio driver you're using, instead of admitting that it's their software that's the problem. The bug is still in the latest update.

[catsven]

I tested it for a couple of weeks.. a monster !
Never experienced such environment with any other similar plugin .. just accurate and outstanding ! It simulate for instance some monitors .. I got the Yamaha HS7 and the plugin simulation of those monitors is insane .. so I can say that I trust it for further use .. the frequency control is just surgical.. never controlled the low end frequencies like I did with this plugin .. and I can’t say that for any other similar plug-in .. my mixes translate well for the first time ..

[alexei-dostvinogradov]

After listening your favorite songs with this plugin, you just dont want to hear it without the plugin. Never. When I use it I truly hear good monitors in the room. Its amazing. I use it with DT 1770pro headphones

[public_hell]

This plugin helped me pretty much during the lockdown (I had no access to my studio with monitors). You definitely should get used to it and it can win sonarworks, canopener, waves, 112dB Redline monitor, toneboosters etc.

[igelkotte]

The problem with plugins like this is that you want to get USED to you headphones/speakers. So you kind of have to use it when you listen to music as well, always, for weeks without changing the settings. Like you would if you had speakers. I mix 90% with headphones but that is because I have almost never used speakers to mix. I'm so used to it. But if I had a good room + speakers I would mix much more on speakers