STEVEN SLATE VSX Headphone Modeling System - Full Review

Jimmy does a dive into the headphone modeling world of Steven Slate and shares his experience with this new technology!

[@CamariMusic]

Thank you for your honest review. If someone does not have a well-treated room or even if you wanted another tool for reference, the VSX are the solution. The fact is the Slate VSX use different technology than regular headphones. The way they have created bass response is amazing. My mixes have impressed my clients! They work!

[@donnythompson408]

I’m one of those guys who, like yourself, came up in the 80’s analog era, recording and mixing through LFC’s to tape, and with the exception of using headphones only as an occasional reference, I’ve always mixed primarily through nearfield and midfield monitors, in well-treated rooms. And, I still prefer to work that way; though these days, it’s in my home studio, where I have a treated room, and several pairs of good mid-level monitors. I bought VSX a few months ago, not because my mixes weren’t translating well, but because these days, I find myself working - and being the most productive - in the early morning hours; but with my wife still in bed across the hall from my room, mixing through speakers isn’t feasible. I have found the Slate VSX system to be very useful for this, and being able to check translation through/in a variety of different virtual playback scenarios (that also results in mixes translating well), is really helpful. But, unlike a lot of other VSX users who have said that VSX has “fooled” them into thinking that they are listening through actual speakers in an actual room, I have not (at least not yet) felt any sense of that real immersion; at no point have I perceived what I’m hearing to be the same as listening through actual monitors in a well-treated room…and I’m not saying that these virtual scenarios sound “bad” to me, either…I’m just saying that, regardless of Slate’s binaurally modeled environments and their related speaker arrays, I still always feel as though I’m listening through headphones. To be fair, I’m not really bothered by this, as I’m not interested in monitoring through a system that has a hyped “wow factor”, either, which in my own past experience and to my ears, is when things sound artificial and inaccurate. I can’t speak to what other VSX users are experiencing, nor do I doubt that some do experience an auditory sense of immersion with VSX that makes them feel as though they are listening through actual speakers in a real control room (or car, or club, etc), because everyone hears things in different ways; so I do believe those who say that VSX sounds this way to them. I don’t know why I’m not experiencing this sense of realism with VSX; perhaps it’s simply because I’ve spent so many years now mixing through actual monitors (?) …and, I think it’s possible that those listeners who are experiencing that real sense of immersion with VSX, are hearing this way because they’ve been mixing primarily through headphones for so long, and that in comparison, VSX sounds far more real to them compared to typical headphones, with their isolated nature, nearly non-existent cross talk, and no room ambience…I could see how someone who has mixing this way for a long time would feel as though VSX sounds a lot more real to them. None of my comments above are making me feel any sense of buyer’s remorse, though; I still feel that the Slate VSX system is quite a valuable tool for me, as I find that being able to check mix translation across various playback scenarios has been quite helpful, and my mixes are translating quite consistently when I do check them through actual various audio systems. It’s with this in mind that I don’t feel as though the VSX system really is all that pricey. To the contrary, I think it’s actually worth far more than what it costs. I’m not bothered that I’m not being fooled into thinking that I’m listening through actual speakers…as long as mixes are translating well, and consistently through various audio systems outside of my own, I’m totally fine with it. IMHO, of course. 🙏

[@JimmyPBrownII]

Couldn’t agree more! Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments, and I hope other take time to read them as well! In anything with music and mixing there isn’t any right or wrong! As much as the VSX is a great tool, I would rather listen to NS10’s at an extremely low volume then to simply rely on the VSX! But as with all tools, they are useful in some applications! But to fool myself I’m in front of a pair of Adams or Genelec or even computer speakers, uh, No! LOL

[@stevecurd3400]

Super review -- thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts Jimmy! Keep on mixin'

[@dothackmatt]

This was great and please keep gear reviews coming!

[@bradzillarocks]

Thanks for the practical review, Jimmy! Been considering investing in this and haven't seen much in the way of negative reviews so probably gotta save some pennies and dimes. BTW congrats on 30 years since "Weapons of Our Warfare", still an outstanding album.

[@corzinestudio5947]

Great review! May look into getting these at some point. I wasn't super impressed with the Waves version although I probably need more time to get accustomed to it through my headphones. You should do more gear/plugin reviews.

[@LesVegasMusic]

Good one Jimmy!

[@dennisgraff6571]

Good video ! Made me subscribe to your channel !

[@JimmyPBrownII]

Thanks for joining... Please leave comments and suggestions for more review videos...

[@PoolsideMitch]

Thanks for the feedback (so to speak). Given what seems to be a very positive review, please clarify what you meant when at 25:55 you implied that they didn't "hit it out of the park", and how you would propose they update the system in order to pave the way for you to say that they did indeed "hit it out of the park".

[@JimmyPBrownII]

Hi Mitch... With regards to reading other reviews, some stated that “Slate hit it out of the park with these!” I actually have grown to like the VSX headphones and use them frequently. Even for tracking. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say they are a game changer. They are certainly an amazing option for the musician “on the go” and do provide cool aspects in the modeling process. But as I pay attention, it almost isn’t as much as modeling as a type of eq’g being applied to mimic the monitor it’s “modeling” . Maybe that’s just me... As a guitar player, I use modelers for guitar work in recordings. But even though modern technology has come so far, and it’s insanely good, there is nothing like plugging into a good old tube amp and feeling it as you play! I guess the same goes with these. They’re excellent to add into your studio collection and a useful tool. But there’s nothing like feeling and hearing it in the room with you... All that to say this. These things deserve the glowing reviews as they have met a need. But in the end, they can’t replace the real thing... Hope that makes sense...

[@PoolsideMitch]

@@JimmyPBrownII Hey, Jimmy! Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I just received the VSX headphones today, and must say that after a few hours of using them primarily in the Archon and NRG rooms to test my favorite reference material (Donald Fagen's The Nightfly if interested), I can absolutely not only feel the difference between the different room models, but have in a very short period of time become comfortable with the 3-D aspect of the experience (ESPECIALLY when closing my eyes while listening; I've got decades of experience working in great studios, and closing my eyes allows me to confirm the clarity and 3-D positioning of every element in the mix). While I would agree that it's a bit of an apples-and-oranges comparison when including physical speakers in the mix (so to speak), my home studio isn't able to achieve the type of dimensions and acoustical treatment that would provide me the opportunity to hear the speakers contained in the VSX virtual rooms with anything coming close to the accuracy I believe these provide. So I guess I'm saying that while there's no direct replacement for an acoustically tuned room and high-end monitors (Moving Air is Moving Air, after all), the VSX system should give me enough of a leg up that my lack of physically tuned studio and thousands of dollars in monitors won't prevent me from achieving mixes with which I'll be happy being played on just about any system just about anywhere. For me, that's worth exponentially more than $475, and I hope that my initial excitement won't be replaced by buyer's remorse (or even continued longing for a high-end room and monitors; as of this moment, such a longing has been replaced by genuine excitement). I'll check back if I learn anything new or different after using them for a while. Thanks again!

[@JimmyPBrownII]

You won’t regret the purchase. That I would like to say with hopeful confidence. They service a need, and do it amazingly well! I’m glad you got em. Now start cranking out those mixes... That’s why we buy gear!!! Cheers

[@leonardojobst6784]

nice review 🖒

[@timlaws2452]

For me at least headphone mixing can be a crap shoot. My mixes were always too hot or too bland, then again, not too many heard it but me.....lol

[@gooshie3]

NS10s Flat? .....Ok.

[@JimmyPBrownII]

Hi David. Well, all is subjective. If you wanted to get into the actual specs, we know that the NS10M were really heavy in the midrange freqs. But for a very long time they were regarded as the (near) flattest freq response in a near field for many years. Their harshness in highs were shrill, but their use for many years cannot be overstated. And I am not the only person who referred to them as a flat response. My mistake for not being a bit more thorough in that regard. I appreciate you watching the review and thanks so much for your comment.

[@gooshie3]

@@JimmyPBrownII 🙂 cheers for the response. Well said