Are The VSX Headphones REALLY A Game Changer? (Review / My Favorite Rooms) | Make Pop Music

In this video, Austin does a full rundown, review, and tutorial on the Steven Slate Audio VSX headphone system! Austin has been using Steven Slate Audio VSX since the Founder's Edition first came out, and he has some THOUGHTS on these headphones. Watch to see Austin's experience with VSX, his favorite features, rooms, and uses, and more!
Thank you to Steven Slate Audio for sponsoring this video! All views, opinions, and experiences are 100% my own.
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My Gear:
DAW: Cubase 11 Pro
Desk: AZ Studio Workstations
Main Microphone: Lewitt LCT1040
Monitors: Focal Shape 65s with Focal Sub6
Interface: UAD Apollo Twin USB
MIDI Keyboard: M-Audio Code 61
Keyboards: Roland Juno DS88, Roland Juno 106, Arturia PolyBrute
Guitars: Fender American Professional Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Taylor 214 CE Plus
Preamps: Heritage Audio HA81A & Audient ASP800
Microphones: Advanced Audio 251, Slate ML-1, Shure SM7B, JZ BH-1, JZ V67, Lauten Audio LA-320, Lauten Audio LA-220, Lauten Audio LA-120, AKG P170, Sterling ST59
Camera: Panasonic G7
Lens: Rokinon 12mm f2
Camera Lights: Neewer LED Light Panels
Timestamps:
Intro 0:00
What Is VSX 1:03
My Experience with VSX 1:27
Sponsor 1:47
The Physical Headphones 2:16
Exploring The VSX Software 3:55
Routing VSX In Cubase 4:17
Versions of VSX 5:13
The Software Layout 6:33
Ear Profiling 6:40
Fave 5 Environment Shortcut 6:55
Customizing Your Experience 7:20
Room EQ 8:10
Bypassing VSX 8:35
Room / Environment Selection 9:10
Showing Speaker Modes 9:58
My Favorite VSX Rooms 12:12
Zuma Studios 12:26
Archon Studios 13:13
Steven's Mix Room 14:05
Mike Dean's Studio 15:01
Boombox 15:46
Fave 5 Cheat Code 16:20
Why I Recommend VSX 17:17
Freedom From A Studio 17:58
No One Talks About This 18:40
Outro 20:01

[@jansleyreal]

This is by far the best video I've seen on VSX, I love that you gave practical tips on why to use different rooms and speaker types. Thank you!

[@MakePopMusic]

Thank you! I can’t believe more tutorials and reviews don’t talk about their favorite rooms!

[@tomasshannon6537]

Awesome video, thanks for making this one!

[@tabodee]

Awesome review! I love the Slate philosophy. I have the mic, and I reach for it over mics that cost 3 times as much. I will order these headphones asap 👍 Sounds like it will be a huge improvement to my workflow. Also, I think you were spot on with your ideas about collaboration. If the folks you are working with hear the same source, it takes the guesswork out of it! Great job!

[@JrumBeats]

Good looking out Austin, gonna grab these for sure!

[@ThomasPenninger]

Hi Austin, another great video, thanks a lot! Could you perhaps at some point do a video about how to create or find(?) the kind of sounds Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler used in the Brent EPs throughout the songs? Like for instance in Emily this sort of flute like intro synth sound, I don't have the slightest idea on how to re-create that. So in short, maybe a video on how to create sort of ambient foley sounds would be really awesome! I think this would help a lot of people aiming for this sort of style! Thank you so much! Miranda as well!

[@brendanpatrickmusic]

Haha I always start your videos off with a small tugging fear that this might finally be the video with a bad take or some sort of hack explanation... but you ALWAYS know what you're talking about and I respect the level of education you have on so many different production/mixing topics. Love the in-depth explanations as always. Might check these out.

[@alainpatry]

Really happy you made this video as I just got the VSX for Christmas. This, along with the VMS, makes a nice virtual IN -to- OUT pipeline! One thing I'd like to see improved in VMS is the option to enable a little highlight of the speakers that are being heard when we click the corresponding field button.

[@MakePopMusic]

That’s a cool idea actually!

[@punkemogeekrock]

Sick dude! Love mine! So fun! :)

[@vewilli]

Great video that makes my purchase decision easier. Do you recommend using it throughout all the mixing process or is it enough to use it at the end of a mix on the master bus? Thanx for this video! 💪🏻👏🏻👍🏻🙏🏻

[@tholos6630]

Got 'em for Christmas. Make sure you listen to a bunch of reference mixes to learn the spaces. That's helped me a bunch with these.

[@QBellowMusic]

Just got mine today, gotta spend some time listening to some ref tracks to get used to them :)

[@MartinDellaNina]

Great video @makepopmusic they sound great for mixing, my question is, when producing or recording, do they have any latency at all? I'm guessing since it goes over software, it must add some latency that could affect when playing or recording. Thank you

[@MakePopMusic]

Good question! I’ve never had any latency with these at all!

[@keystonedfelixify]

hi. i just wanted to say thx to MPM for all the great contents and stuff. 감사합니다.

[@billymack4258]

Great info! I just purchased the VSX Essentials not knowing I would only have 2 studio mixing rooms. Can you demo the others rooms? Thanks.

[@aaronc9121]

Hey! Sorry for the off topic question but I was watching your video on getting good vocal takes. You did mention a lot about room treatment, how do you feel about foam eyeballs on mics like the kaotica eyeball?

[@OiseauRavage]

Great review! Quick silly question: I always use a reference track in my projects, I guess it has to go through the VSX plugin too to be able to compare correctly, right?

[@JiihaaS]

That's right. Your ears adjust to the simulated acoustics, so you need to put the reference in there as well.

[@tekrahmuzik2119]

Great review i guess i will get the Zuma and the Archon...

[@drewschempf944]

Just ordered mine. Man I hope this helps my mixes

[@mixoh]

can we get an update?

[@yan1232]

Thanks for another great video Austin! Do you usually keep the VSX room's volume knob right in the center? (My bad if you mentioned it in the vid already)

[@MakePopMusic]

I do! That works for me personally 😁

[@yan1232]

Awesome!! I shall do that from now on then haha, thanks for the reply broski!

[@modern.day.meditations]

Does anyone know how does this system compare to the Waves NX Studios? I am using that on a pair of AKG K-712 Pro and I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade to the VSX Headphones.

[@novylux]

two very useful things in my studio: VSX and Logitech MX Master

[@leonardojobst6784]

I use Vsx since come out! I never touch my monitors again for mixing... best tool in the last 20 years

[@oinkooink]

You're a bot aren't you?

[@zedus4042]

shut up boy@@oinkooink

[@romerowyatt346]

thank you

[@Willigrow]

I got these recently and I do really like the whole system... but did you find that most, if not all of the rooms, have a bit of harshness in the upper mids (around 3kHz) compared to when you bypass to HD linear? I used ear profile 2 and pulled the LH on the EQ almost all the way down to get a bit flatter sound.

[@MakePopMusic]

Monitors in general normally have a high mid boost around there so it makes sense to me.

[@Willigrow]

@@MakePopMusic Yeah, thanks, I think I just need to use them more and get used to the sound. My mixes are translating very well when mixed with these so that's good

[@soorb77]

What about calibration of hardware?

[@AceofSpadesproducer]

Do you plug your Vsxs' straight into your laptop/pc or you use a dac or audio interface? if so what would you recommend?

[@MakePopMusic]

I plug it into my headphone out on my interface, but I've used it direct out of Macbook headphone jacks! I definitely recommend using a good headphone amp / interface headphone jack if possible though!

[@AceofSpadesproducer]

@@MakePopMusic Thank you for your swift reply

[@vadimmartynyuk]

I've been using VSX since they came out. ( currently on the 4th pair because they kept breaking ) , they're good, but i still check mixes in the real car and on real NS10Ms and real earpods to make sure my mixes translate. the airpods in VSX dont sound anything like earpods

[@MakePopMusic]

Can’t fault always triple checking on other systems!

[@DjKayD]

I might pick up a pair for travelling. I wonder how they compare to other top monitoring headphones with the eqing software. Shame they are in generic black design and not bluetoothed.

[@MakePopMusic]

I haven’t tried other matching headphones but I love these. Also, stoked their note Bluetooth. Bluetooth can have a significant audio quality drop, which isn’t ideal for mixing.

[@jahdread]

Do these headphones only work when your in the DAW or do they also work as regular headphones for listening to safari browser or itunes etc?

[@MakePopMusic]

Yeah, you need the plugin open so you'd need to be in your DAW

[@Barncore]

You can use them as regular headphones listening through itunes/safari/etc but you just wont get the room emulations that way

[@erezgat8114]

somebody knows if it's possible to connect the VSX to a smartphone with bluetooth?

[@jakethegamer64]

Should I do my whole mix on them?

[@djblunt01]

I recently purchased the Slate VSX headphones. This video is a great help for learning how to set the software in Cubase. However, I would like to know why are you automating the software on a separate bus?! What does that accomplish?!

[@soorb77]

Listen to what he says agin. He’s using the control room so he’s not messing up his reference track.

[@davidsolvincent9511]

To be honest I really enjoy this video

[@MakePopMusic]

to be honest, thank you!

[@davidsolvincent9511]

@@MakePopMusic woah… honestly you’re welcome!

[@OSdahl]

Is this the best solution if you are mixing on a laptop and dnt have treated room. And you mix on headphones?

[@MakePopMusic]

In my opinion, absolutely!

[@WBB1981]

Really stupid question, but am I right in thinking that if I don’t have any insert effects on my master bus, I dont have to worry about having vsx on the master bus?

[@MakePopMusic]

I would always have it as the last thing on your final bus

[@javascript6948]

Bro i love your content and i respect your opinion because i think your a great writer and producer . But you have to stop saying “to be honest” you must have said that 40 times during this video . Just an observation

[@darrenmorris8685]

Every human has filler words when they communicate. What’s yours? Lol “uhm” “I mean” “well”

[@MakePopMusic]

To be honest, my bad

[@mystikcid]

@@MakePopMusic to be honest, 🐐 comment

[@JrumBeats]

@@MakePopMusic LMFAO!!!

[@JoelWilliamHarrison]

To be fair… I just assumed Austin was lying if a comment was not prefaced with “To Be Honest”… now I’m confused.

[@jaybeatcancer9654]

What do u say about ath m50x?

[@MakePopMusic]

I actively dislike those headphones tbh

[@MaximusWhyman]

I use these headphones and they are ok. I’m looking to upgrade with either VSX or something else.

[@officialhardnox]

Hey Austin! Quick question, i just got a pair of Slate VSX headphones and the audio levels coming out of my M Audio Air Hub 192 are just very low (VSX plugin is on the master track as instructed). However when i plug the VSX straight into my laptop directly (Macbook pro 2021 m1 max) i get WAY more gain than my M Audio Air Hub. I take it this is an issue with the Air Hub and not ableton correct?

[@mitiamatvey]

I love my vsx. It improve my mixes .

[@MakePopMusic]

Hell yeah!

[@tymorg5666]

Home studio essentials: A microphone, and VSX

[@josephosoma564]

Why don't you use reaper?

[@josephosoma564]

What did I win ?

[@cubexBeats]

I’ve got the feeling you’d been quiet honest this video 😂

[@davidsolvincent9511]

Honestly I think he nailed it

[@skythemusic]

To be honest I think you’re right.

[@17sides]

VSX saved me tons of money and time.

[@silverwings1843]

There is obviously proprietary headphone correction in the software. No magic !!! Just a very good well tuned system!!

[@ramspencer5492]

Seems to me like cutting soundstage out of the equation is going to mess with mixing... Open back planars would be able to give you that plus faster tighter lowend transient detail... While i don't doubt that the package as is will help translate a mix .....i can't help but think you'd be getting a lot more subtle but very helpful detail and information with a higher quality set of cans. I don't doubt this is a great option at this price point.

[@coldskoolbeatz]

What I don’t understand is, if you have a treated room why would you even want to try anything else? Most don’t know how expensive and time consuming it is to get your room to translate. So, why?

[@MakePopMusic]

Sometimes I work late at night, sometimes I travel, sometimes I like to reference my mixes. And most people don't have $28,000 worth of speakers, quality conversion, and treatment

[@coldskoolbeatz]

@@MakePopMusic I wasn't asking about most people. I was asking about the people who do have, as you say, $28,000 worth of speakers, quality conversion, and treatment. But I guess it makes sense if you travel a lot.

[@RipRecords]

Am I the only one who thinks there's too much (unnatural) flange in the modeling mix? I know they say you gotta get used to it, but I'm not really digging it so far. It sounds more like a flange than room ambiance. And not in a good way.

[@MakePopMusic]

Have you updated the software? V1 felt like that a little bit with the updated rooms it all feels muchhh better.

[@RipRecords]

I just bought and installed this so I'm guessing it should be the latest version they offer for DL on their server...

[@MakePopMusic]

@@RipRecords Also try adjusting the depth and ear models. That can effect it pretty dramatically.

[@RipRecords]

@@MakePopMusic Those were the first things I tried adjusting

[@harryholstein9701]

Looks like Joe normal not quite exotic 🤣🤣🤣🤣😅🤣😂😂

[@skythemusic]

But are you going to be honest?

[@MakePopMusic]

Fair 😂

[@SvenFx-22]

You obviously didn’t master this videos audio with the headphones because it is flat and tinny. Was actually annoying to listen to

[@queenpurple8433]

Or you just have hearing damage

[@JacobHeldt]

IN SHORT: no !

[@jonhdoe2218]

It's a real joke. The quality is not bad, but far away from professional studio headphones. Also, they have a disgusting sound without the software. A middle class monitors has better reference, that this hyped product.

[@Harrysound]

I just can’t trust sponsored videos

[@MakePopMusic]

Go check the posts on our Instagram or FB group from the past couple years then where I say the same thing (wayyy before the sponsorship offer) 😁

[@Harrysound]

@@MakePopMusic ok respect 🫡 …I don’t have Facebook or insta fortunately.

[@symphonicclown]

This guy is affiliated with them.. take what he says with a grain of salt

[@MakePopMusic]

I recommended these for years before ever working with them. I bought the first version the day they came out.