Slate Digital VSX - Gimmik or Effective 

I absolutely LOVE my VSX system. I'm about as skeptical as it gets when it comes to marketing, but I was blown away at how much it has helped my mixing. I will say, you'll get a lot more out of the expansion rooms than with just the base rooms. The Slate room is great, but I love the NRG room for my tastes.

Thanks for the advice and honesty about these.

Thank you for your honest and comprehensive review!

Excellent review of the VSX System. Thank you for taking the time on this.

You just helped me make the purchasing decision. I'm that person in an untreated room with a $300 set of JBL monitors, and my car mix test always makes me want to sell all the gear and quit. These are currently $300 on MF, I'm going for it. Thanks!

I’ve been waiting to hear an unbiased review of these-thanks for this!

I absolutely love mine!!

I've been hoping you would review these. I've seen a lot of videos but I was more worried they were sales pitches vs a true review as I know you would provide. Thanks, you've helped me make an informed decision!

I was skeptical but this is the best review I’ve seen on this product. You covered all bases.

Barry, you are the first cat that I can trust with a review. I just ordered them. Thanks for your work!

Thanks God! I been waiting for you to review these! Can’t wait to watch his video.

Great honest review Barry. I have found them very useful but i also augment it with my 3 pairs of monitors, but I would recommend them for those like me in a bedroom studio

I really appreciate the honest review! Particularly the fact that you used them for 3 months before commenting. Very well done!

I've been using VSX since it first came out with the Founders Edition. Helps out great in critical listening for me. I still use monitors for a final listen but I can do about 90% with VSX. My favorite audio purchase in a long time.

I find that these always get me a balanced-sounding mix or master. So many of the most respected forum posters on places like Gearspace and RealGearOnline say the same thing Barry is saying here or are even more enthusiastic. The Archon mid-fields have some big fans. The mid-fields in Steven’s room sound the most like a listener’s playback system to me. Meaning that if I make it sound good there that it will sound good on what most people listen on. But if you check your work across multiple rooms and find that it never really sounds off, that’s a good indication that you’ve got things right.

Glad you like it! I'm trying to avoid more digital solutions. Just upgraded to Audeze mm-500's for headphone mixing. I'm happy!

Super Video!

They’re effective. Maybe not as dramatically effective as they’re marketed to be, but they’re cool. I just got them a week ago. Home recording studio in my poorly treated basement, Event 20/20 monitors. VSX definitely get me in the ballpark way faster than my monitors. They’re not like mixing in headphones. There were times when I had to double check that I didn’t have my monitors turned up because I thought I was hearing them in addition to the headphones I was wearing. Plus, it’s great clicking on different speakers or spaces to hear how your mix sounds.

great content nice work

After trying the popular headphone systems and being nothing but disappointed, I avoided these as more snake oil for a long time. Finally caved and bought them a few months ago, not long after upgrading my Focals in our treated studio. Long story short - I wound up remixing our last album (soon to be released as 'Remasters') and have never been happier. I can now edit and even achieve final mixes at home before finishing up at the studio. Awesome.

We've been playing around with the VSM ML2 for drums and I have loved loved loved the slate stuff. It makes it very easy to slot things into place or make changes after if I wanna try out "another mic". Not perfect but I wouldn't ask that of a ~150 dollar mic. I am liking the look of the VSX too and am currently saving to get the ML1. Slates been impressing lately.

I love my VSX headphones..!!! I don't even use any other headphones in my system anymore just so I can keep my ears constantly tuned to them. And now with the 4.0 update and Systemwide setup...!! its even better.

Thanks for the unbiased view. Steve is absolutely a master marketer, and slate has some duds (VRS8 being the glaring example). Glad to hear this one holds up. The busted housing market has me looking to downsize and that may be a townhouse or condo. I'm going to give these a try and see if they will fit my needs there.

As a veteran Engineer, I was EXTREMELY skeptical of the VSX system. Even though I am a fan of many of the Slate products, I was sure this was a gimmick. So, I waited. But after reading dozens, and dozens, of absolutely rave reviews, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the system. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works. I have 2 recording setups in my small studio. One rig, where the area around the listening position is treated and tuned, and second rig, where doing so would be extremely difficult, and simply doesn't make sense. Although I have the VSX system installed in both rigs, it is definitely most beneficial, and the most used, in Rig #2. I also highly recommend the VSX system. Particularly in situations where treatment, and tuning is illogical, or virtually unattainable.

I just purchased these off of your recommendation. I'll add my thought after they arrive and I've had a few weeks to mix. Much love, Barry

Hi Barry ... Greetings from across the Pond .and thanks for a well informed review ... These have been on my radar for a while or rather the room emulating software that goes with them and I say that’s because I already own a decent set of headphones, a set of Sennheiser HD 650’s along with my studio monitors which are a pair of Adam Audio A77X’s ... My own view is that Slate Audio should make the software available as a stand-alone purchase for those of us who own a set of headphones that we feel comfortable with and whose sound we trust ! ... Just saying ... All the best ... Siobhan

I like this guy. Second video i've seen. Very transparent

Great review, and your final comment is what drives the nail home. If you don’t have the budget for the treatment of the room and monitors, this is a perfect solution. In addition, ad you state, you can’t get there with $500 monitors. So the price point is perfect

Yes! The 1/8" mini plug blows. i get caught on it and pull it out constantly, just when moving around. it's very annoying. Otherwise, so far i love the VSX. Mixes have been translating very well and at this time in my life, when i used to have a great mix room but no longer have any of that gear or the location, these have made my current minimalist music production setup totally workable.

These headphones are the answer to my prayers. I owned a great set of Genelec 8330 with the Genelec subs which has room calibration capabilities via GLM software, but I'm in an apartment where disturbing my neighbors is no no.. After doing the first mix on these headphones I was convinced that they work.

About time. I got this on my Thomann wishlist for months and cannot make up my mind. Let's see what I learn today. *opens chips packet* Cheers!

Thanks Barry - I think the crucial issue, that you made very well, is related to how much do you spend on monitors and then treating the room to support them. I have been using a mix of headphones and monitors in an untreated room, apart from a huge bass collector called a couch for many years, its a home studio and no treatment. So at my stage in life, similar to you I think, headphones allow me to focus on the sound, without surround sound, sometimes called life's noise, I am able to listen an isolate issues better that way. One additional point, how often, if at all do you have your ears tested, as weget older I wonder how much "drop off" we have without knowing it? Thanks again, I am subscribed so I shall start viewing your other videos ! David

Thanks for sharing. I think I‘ll make this my next purchase for when I need to edit & mix stereo shows outside my KM120A space. Curious to try out the Adam A77X speakers the next time I‘m at the store.

Thank You!

I always expected it to be a bit gimmicky but it’s a cracking reference tool. Saves me an absolute load of arsing around bouncing mixes and running all over Britain trying to listen on different systems.

VSX works for me! 👍🏾

I’m hearing the Mike Dean’s room is really good, a lot of people’s favorite.

Hi, I thought I'd throw this in here, because I do my own recording of originals, and because of the whole money thing, I do my own mixing for my stuff...I put together an album that has a song span of over 20 years, and everything on it was using the original recordings of those songs, and all of those tracks are recordings from their respective time. So many of those multitracks are long gone, and I was left with only 2 track mixes of many of them. The intent of it was to not to just use the recordings as rough drafts of the songs, and just redo them all from scratch, because I personally, even though some of them I considered crappy quality recordings, I didn't want to loose the moment that they were originally conceived. So I did some enhancing stuff, like playing bass parts over the top of the original two track, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well...so anyway, I said all that to say this: I work for a car rental company, and drive a bunch of cars everyday I work to transfer cars to where they need them to go, so for a while, I would play that album in different cars, and I will say that no car model sounds the same...if it is the same car model, with the same audio set up in it, it will sound the same, but if you drive, say, a Honda Pilot and play your tracks in it for reference, then move into a BMW sedan of some kind, it is going to sound different...so I think the goal is, that even though it sounds a bit different from one car model to the next, does it still sound good, regardless of what car you're in...thus the term "translate"...does your mix translate well from one environment to the next. Hey, thanks for the video, and hope you and yours are doing great!

These look like the best option for me, as I have an untreated room and neighbours. Not sure it's easy to send them back if you don't like them though. Some reviews say they won't accept returns if the software has been activated. But you can't test them without activating the software.

I am impressed that you used the VSX system for more than just a few mixes, like I’ve read from other reviewers. Once again Barry, you did it right! It takes some time to get used to the VSX, and using the system for a couple of days is just not a fair amount of time. I am a founding user of the VSX headphone mixing system. I was skeptical yet hopeful that this would help me with my mixing, as I was having a very hard time getting my mixes to translate to the outside world. I have a treated room, some fairly decent Focal Solo 6 monitors carefully measured and placed in the control room, AND I made use of the Sonarworks calibration system. But after using the VSX headphones and software, there’s no comparison! I might as well not have any monitors at all, except for when I am composing music. The sound treatment and monitors were a waste of money when it comes time for mixing because of the VSX system. I mostly use the Archon mids for ALL mixing phases and mastering, and if you didn’t use those speakers Barry you’re really missing out! My system simply can not compete with the $20K ATC monitors in the Archon control room! Take my advice, if you can’t afford these ATC’s in a professionally designed control room, then don’t waste your money on room treatment or less expensive monitors. Just get the VSX and your bank account and mixes will thank me. No more running back and forth to the car or other speaker systems!

These things are just as important to me as my interface, guitar and mics. Huge increase in quality of my mixes.

Just bought mine

Thank you

I thought it was snake oil in the beginning. But after a few months of using it I don’t think I can ever go back to normal headphones… it has helped so much in mixing my god

Love our VSX's. Great for folks with less than desirable acoustic mixspaces!

Very Good review Barry 👍 If you have time, please review the Sonarworks SoundID Reference for a comparison. I'm interested in which one you would prefer

I've had great results with my VSX headphones.

I’ve had mine for a year. At first I was like meh. But not they’ve completely relaxed my hd 650s. I wish that slate would have added an option for vsx to run as an audio device so I could reference things on the fly without hitting bypass on my plugins bypass button. They do feel cheap but they’re quality in the sound department

Love VSX. I found a list to use when mixing. I didn't create this list. This will get you better mixes faster without having to jump from room to room without a purpose. Mike Dean Ns 10’s + Steven Near - Judge vocal against kick & snare 770 80 ohm - well tell you if the vocal is too harsh or too boxy revealed right away. SUV - To make sure Low-end is louder/Impactful than the vocal. If not the vocal is too loud Boombox + Steve near - general balancing Archon All + Steven Mids - General mixing

I highly recommend you try the other rooms

There are a few things to consider when deciding whether or not to use Slate Digital VSX. First, it is important to understand that the plugin is not a magic bullet. It will not make your mixes sound perfect, but it can help you to get closer to the sound you are looking for. Second, it is important to note that the plugin can be a bit of a resource hog. If you are working on a low-powered computer, you may experience some performance issues. Overall, Slate Digital VSX is a powerful tool that can be used to improve the sound of your mixes. However, it is important to use it in conjunction with your own ears and judgment. If you are looking for a way to get closer to the sound you are looking for, then Slate Digital VSX is a great option.

Yessir!

They will be even better after the new software update coming in a week or so.

4.0 is such an update

Hey Barry! Great review! I was wondering, which room/headphone emulation did you settle on?

I recently bought the vsx and the extra platinum bundle. I like it a lot but does anyone else think they kind of lack detail. I used fhe dt 1990 pros beforehand. They are great.

Barry, one more question and comment. Recently I had someone tell me that VSX can’t do frequencies below 50hz correctly based on a VSX mix he received to fix. I’ve been trying to qualify this statement. I wasn’t given any context as to what the original mixer had VSX plugged into, what rooms they used, or anything else. I’ve been a fan of headphones for decades and spent a lot of time on head-fi and reading Nwavguy. I know there are all kinds of problems introduced by headphone sources and amps. VSX never claimed to fix those. Impedance mismatches being a big offender that can mess up how you hear, take away clarity. Through my Aurora N with a 0 impedance, I can hear down to 15 hz even when subtracting a db in Pro-Q3. When adding over two db, 13 hz was audible. I’ve used VSX with an Apollo Twin, ID14, and 404HD. The Aurora N is just massively better than all of them. I think it’s better than headphone rigs I’ve heard costing ten grand. And I’m using a K701. It’d be good to really get to the bottom of if VSX or any headphone has a major flaw when monitoring low frequencies or anything else. All I can say is that my work translates pretty well to cheap speakers and phones even when playing back a 320 mp3 converted to some lower birate on a streaming service. And this is with the Fusion as my only outboard. Expensive monitors and treatment are out of the question since we need to sell the house one of these days, so, I plan to make the most of VSX and get around any shortcomings that are found.

Try the Sienna Rooms by acustica with other monitors, and let us know what you think

I have to say, the marketing and reviews after 4.0 have really started to work on me… Barry - have you tried the upgrade? Improvement? I have good room treatment and a Trinnov - is this superflous? It would be really cool to be able to check back and forth, just trying to get some honest feedback on it.

I've been a subscriber for a while now so I'll point out certain things 1. It's Steven Slate Audio VSX, not Slate Digital...Different companies 2. The price range includes the software 3. I'm happy that they translated for you. I've used them for years, and with every software upgrade, my mixes have improved. If a person is accustomed to mixing in headphones, start with HD Linear 2 and then branch off. I think that they put the ability to mix properly in the hands of the masses who have poorly treated rooms and uncalibrated speaker positions. I use them every week to mix songs for streaming on RU-vid and for post-production on movies. I only put on my monitors if clients are coming to the studio, but I DO NOT make any critical decisions without using the Steven Slate Audio VSX

Danke!

I've been using Sonar Works SoundID Reference on my monitors and headphones for a couple of years now. I have 2 sets of individually calibrated headphones a set of Sennheiser HD 650 and a set of Beyer Dynamic DT 770 Pro. I track with the latter as they are closed back. After an adjustment period I've had good portability of mixes. I do live capture audio and video for concerts and track my own projects ITB. I now live in a condo so my monitor usage is restricted. I have yet to see a comparison of the Slate and Sonar Works systems and I would be interested. I've worked in broadcast and studio engineering since the '70's.

Did you use any of the headphone or room emulations when redoing your older mixes?

im curious as to how the plugin sounds with other headphones. obviously they calibrated the software to work with the freq response of the VSX headphones but im assuming the magic comes from some kind of IR in the plugin. Also I have a pretty fat head, do these feel like a vice after an hour or are they relatively light on the mechanical compression? thanks so much

Thanks for the review Barry. Quick question, Did you use any of the virtual rooms in those 12 + mixes you did or you preferred the highend emulated headphones. or you used them flat no emulations whatsoever?

I had the VSX for some months and I couldn't mix in them. IMO using a normal pair of headphones with eq correction software is much more accurate than the VSX.

how would you compare the base sound to beyerdynamics dt 770 m?

Hey Barry, will you do a video on the Kaotica Eyeball?

Is it me or can you use any headphone set or lets just go out on a limb here and say it works pretty ok as a speaker modeler if that's that right term via the stand alone app option

I had Naumann headphones but the ear cup part broke off even with light use they are so fragile. I had to return them so I might get the Steven Slate VSX

VSX or any other headphone like the Senheiser HD 650 with Sonarworks and a room app such as Reaphones etc ?

How did you set this up? As a system wide app or as a plugin? How about the latency it introduces, is it noticeable/high? Thanks 😊

I’ve heard the quality of these cans are crap and they break a lot but the software and sound are amazing, is there any truly to this?

Barry, does it make a difference if the final version we generally will hear our music thru Airpods or youtube/ Ipad speakers?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the purpose of the car test to preview your mix in an environment that you are familiar with and frequently use to listen to music? It seems like a generic emulation wouldn't have the same effect or yield similar results, right?

I have a problem with them, I have a perfect environment at the studio where I work supported by a trinnov. and when I use a VSX at home I have an impression that some of room have some phase issues or have too much bass. so I've found them quite difficult to mix. I don't know if my ears are too sensitive or what...

I have this and still went back to my hd 650’s and monitors for mixing. That’s where my confidence is at. One more thing I might add the HD 650 modeling. Sounds nothing like my HD 650s sorry.. their version locks tons of mid range.

I have mixed feelings about Slate VSX. The bass in the emulations seems to be totally overpowering (in the reference tracks, not mine). It may sounds cool and exciting, but I can't believe that studio monitors have such an overly bassy sound in recording studios. In addition, the speaker balance within a given simulation seems strange, because when switching from small near-field speakers that can sound as if they somehow had sub-bass, we suddenly get even more bass. Totally weird thing. In the meantime, out of curiosity, I checked Realphones 2.0, which I was skeptical about, especially after spending a lot of money on VSX, but I must say that after listening to their emulations, it sounds much more realistic. I recommend checking it out. After a long time of comparing Slate VSX vs Realphones vs my KRK 5, I'm considering returning the VSX.

What type of 500 series ssl style bus comp is that?

Hmmm.. im still skeptical. Isnt this simply eq correction of the headphones first followed by usile an IR response curve of a specific room? Just like with amp cabinet modeling etc?

I’ve had mine for about 2 weeks. They are probably going back. I just don’t get the hype.

How did the bass translate

Heard lots of them break

Guess Superball commercials are a thing of the past ... Clever marketing ... Nuff said ...

Well, the main thing I wanted to know was WHY are these headphones different from other ones? You didn't address that. What's inside the ear pieces of these headphones that actually makes them different from your typical mixing headphones on the market? Do they need a headphone amplifier? What Ohm are they? There is no information here !

My opinion on these is that the headphones won't guarantee a good mix. Let's imagine you didn't have the knowledge you used to remix. Will a person that is barely getting into the game get the same result? Will their mixes ultimately change for the better because of these headphones? I don't think so. When I had no clue how to setup mixes or even place a mic properly everything I tried always resulted in "ugly mixes". I used to mix on various systems (monitors/headphones) and check across different rooms/cars. Nothing seemed to work. Until I sought out a mentor and he got me going. The biggest lesson I learned from him after I was taught how to setup my routing to mix and mic placement was to get use to your room and monitors even if it's not perfect. You will eventually acclimate to your environment and learn how to mix in it. I say get yourself any good set of headphones if you can't use monitors and get to know them. The rest is gimmick. There is better build quality out there than these and no smoke and mirrors to navigate through. We all have different scenarios and views. This is mine. I love your channel and all the great content. I always look forward to your videos. Not many straight shooters like you around. Thank you for your work Barry!

Mini xlr?

Wow, you also have to pay for different rooms?! Sheeesh.

I use these while I’m on the road…. Mixing while on a tour bus. Pretty ridiculous, lol.

Am Jealous.

They need an iLok dongle, so unfortunately no matter how great they sound, its a hard pass for me. I don't like having to waste a USB port on my computer for a buttplug. No thanks.

After reaching out to SD a few years ago to see if their plugs would work with my DAW (Studio One) I got the reply that they only support “professional” DAW programs. After that snub I swore NEVER to Slate. Missing my money probably won’t hurt them, but very poor & snooty customer service will. I was in retail for over 30 years and understood that every dollar counted!

oh well, 99% of users listen to music from Spotify and Apple Music with the earbuds that come with their phones and in general the music they listen to is pure garbage. It won't matter to them what monitors you used or if you recorded it in the best studio in the world, as long as the song is played on the radio and they tell them it's the best in the world they will consume it. The point is that if you listen to for example the song 'Despacito' which has billions of views on youtube, it is literally garbage sound if you listen to it in a good studio. The point is not so much how good you make your songs sound but how much people like them. Make a song that is pure garbage with a poopy sound but people like it and you've succeeded! just sayin'...

Barry, please get to the point! 😂 I love your perspectives, but when you are making a video about whether or not you like a set of headphones, you don’t need a 3 1/2 min lead in, a thorough description of what they are, what different rooms there are, your Ford Explorer, yada-yada-yada…. It makes me want to skip to the last 30 seconds of your video and skip all the fluff.

Best review on the WWW

Wayyy too expensive. Like 300 bucks more