Headphones / Software Review
A Complete Monitoring System for Headphone Mixing
Mixing and mastering music in headphones, does it work? Several developers have been looking into this problem, and many have come up with their own solution. Steven Slate Audio has presented their version with both its own hardware and software. Can the VSX Immersion One perhaps be the ultimate solution? Let’s have a look … and listen.
German manufacturer Sennheiser had a collaboration with software developers Dear Reality when launching its HD 400 PRO, and their DearVR MIX was undeniably a promising concept. Austrian company Leawitt has come up with its own version of software that is intended to simulate a range of different acoustic environments, and several softwares that does something similar have been presented by Waves, IK Multimedia and others.
Steven Slate Audio and VSX
Slate Digital was founded in 2008 by Steven Slate and Fabrice Gabriel, and the basic idea back then was to create really good digital tools for music producers, sound engineers and other music creators at all levels. You have to admit that they succeeded in this. We’ve seen a range of software that emulates various analog effects processors, a series of microphones that emulate a range of classic studio microphones, plus both audio samples and video courses.
In 2022, Slate Digital was sold to the company Audiotonix, which had previously bought the companies Allen & Heath, Calrec, DiGiCo, Solid State Logic and Sound Devices. However, Steven Slate kept what is now called Steven Slate Audio and this is also where a number of new products have been developed. Among these, in addition to the VSX headphones (the closed model and the new, open Immersion One), we also find RAVEN, which is a combination of software and hardware in the form of multitouch screens in 27 or 43 inch sizes. With these and the supported DAW programs (all the major ones), you can create a virtual mixing console that truly emulates “the real thing”. In addition, the two drum software SSD5.5 and Trigger 2 are also under the Steven Slate Audio umbrella.
VSX Immersion One
And there we find today’s test subject, the VSX Immersion One with its accompanying software, Platinum Edition. This package allows you to install the VSX plug-in in all our usual plug-in formats, i.e. AAX, AU, and VST3. The software is now at version 6.0.8 so it has had time to be refined.
Despite the name, Immersion One is not primarily intended to be able to reproduce “Immersive Audio” (surrounding sound) like Dolby Atmos, for example. This is different story altogether. The idea is that you should be able to listen to your mix on headphones via a system that should be able to recreate a variety of different acoustic environments. This is mainly about different mixing and mastering rooms, but we also find completely different environments where you emulate the interior of different cars, a couple of different clubs, a Boombox, and so on.
Slate Audio offers the VSX software in two different variations, Essential and Platinum Edition. If you are interested in the closed VSX headphones, you can choose which version you think you need. In the Essential Edition, you get eight different sound environments. The Platinum version, on the other hand, contains 25 different environments. You can also buy new environments if you want to start with the Essential Edition and expand over time.
However, when it comes to our test headphones, Immersion One, it comes with the large Platinum Edition from the start, and we’re also promised that new “spaces” will be free.
The Headphones
Steven Slate Audio has been smart enough not to try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. They have enlisted the help of a company that already has a knack for building headphones. The manufacturer is Sendy Audio, a company that has won many awards for its headphones.
After the success of the first generation VSX headphones – which were of the closed-back type – Steven Slate Audio wanted to present a pair of really good open-back headphones. In open-back headphones it is often easier to get a good frequency respons with a clean and at the same time full bass. Something that becomes very obvious when listening to Immersion One.
The manufacturer also took the opportunity to change the driver unit. Instead of the beryllium-plated dynamic drivers in the VSX model, the Immersion One has opted for Planar Magnetics drivers, a system that has long been popular among hi-fi connoisseurs, where, for example, Magneplanar speakers have been around since the 70s.
However, Steven Slate emphasizes that although Sendy Audio has several headphones with similar systems in its catalog, Slate Audio have chosen to develop the Planar Magnetics system used in the Immersion One themselves. The membrane in this system is ultra-thin; it measures just one micron (1 thousandth of a millimeter). This, in combination with the Planar Magnetics technology, means that you can get both really fast transient responses – with clean and airy treble – and a full bass with the same system. The Immersion One also shows a warm and full midrange, which means that the end result is a headphone that sounds very natural and authentic, both in itself (without software) and above all when it comes to emulating different listening rooms.
Otherwise, the headphones feel incredibly solid with the robust aluminum headband, which is easily adjustable, and the spacious ear cups that are made of maple with an incredibly stylish finish. The ear cushions are excellently padded and made of some kind of artificial leather, which makes them incredibly comfortable to wear even during longer mixing sessions. This is despite the fact that the headphones weigh a hefty 470 g. The cord that comes with them has two plugs at the headphone end, so you can easily replace it if necessary. These plugs are clearly marked with L and R (no strange color coding like we’ve seen with competitors) and the same applies to the inside of the ear cushions, where large L and R clearly show how to put the headphones on. Extremely user-friendly, according to this grateful reviewer. The only thing you can complain about is that the adapter from large to small phone plugs lacks a screw thread. It can be easy to lose. A minor disappointment, really.
But if we were to try to briefly describe how Immersion One sounds, the word musical would work perfectly. But then there’s the VSX software. That’s when the music begins…
Different rooms and emulations
The VSX software can be installed in the usual formats, for both Mac and PC, but there is also a standalone version: VSX Systemwide, which can be used to familiarize yourself with both the headphones and the different rooms, by easily listening to reference music that you like, and in this way getting a clearer picture of how the different rooms of the VSX system sound.
As we have already mentioned, the software offers a variety of studios, more precisely nine different ones, many of them represented with three different sets of montors: near-field, mid-field and far-field speakers; the latter often really heavy systems. There is also a mastering room, four different car interiors, two clubs, an audiophile room, an iPhone, a boombox and seven different pairs of headphones.
Among the latter we find the SA-650, which emulates a pair of Sennheiser HD 650, the SA-M50, where the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x is the model and the SA-LCD which in turn offers two really high-quality headphones from Audeze, the LCD-2 and LCD-4, the latter a headphone with a price tag of around 4.000 US dollars.
We are a little extra grateful for the different car stereo modelings. It can often be quite difficult to easily check how a mix sounds in the car.
Once you have installed the VSX software, you can decide what type of ear canal you have. There are three different size variants. You can also adjust the frequency curve to your liking and then choose how much of this correction should be added when listening.
The software has a number of other practical functions. In the top right corner, there is a button to browse through the different rooms (Browse Rooms). Many of the rooms then have several sets of monitors, Near-Field, Mid-Field and Far-Field, which are selected with buttons at the bottom of the interface.
You can also save up to ten different favorites, which then end up on the quick selection buttons at the bottom left. There is also a bypass button that should be used instead of the global one found in most plugs. The VSX system lowers the listening volume quite significantly to guard against certain rooms being too loud in the bass, and otherwise causing hearing problems. Hence the special bypass button. There is also a knob to compensate for any level differences in bypass mode, plus a volume knob for the general output signal. In addition to this, there is a knob to adjust the depth of the VSX effect. Under the gear wheel in the top right corner we find various system settings. The most important one there is “Auto Bypass on Export” which should be clicked in. This will save you the trouble of perhaps forgetting to turn off the VSX effect when you export your mix. Highly recommended!
Conclusion
With VSX Immersion One, Steven Slate Audio presents a complete system for listening in headphones. For those who need to mix (or master) in headphones, it is of course an enormous help to be able to form a good idea of how the mix will sound in different listening contexts. Here, the VSX system offers a lot of different, and certainly very representative listening environments. I am sure that it will be an audio tool that results in many much more useful final mixes for producers, sound engineers and music creators.
I have tried many similar software, which is supposed to be able to emulate different listening environments. Some have initially felt quite convincing, but after a while the initial enthusiasm has often faded away. Very few have also felt as complete as Steven Slate’s VSX. Here you get a pair of really good-sounding headphones, paired with software that works in most listening contexts.
In a regular headphone listening system, you often feel like the music is playing inside your head. With VSX, you can really feel the speakers in front of you. Very illusory! This is three-dimensional sound for real!
The Steven Slate Audio Immersion One comes with a hand-wound cable and a really nice storage case. It will be a real pain to pack it up and send it back to the distributor.
Links
https://slateaudio.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/imgs/videos/inner-parts-im1-new.mp4?_=1
Here’s how a number of professional producers reacted when they listened to Immersion One for the first time:
Specifications
TYPE Open-back; Planar Magnetic
DRIVER Sendy Audio 97mm x 76mm, 1 micron diaphragm
FREKVENCY RESPONS 20 Hz – 40 kHz
IMPEDANCE 32 Ω
CONNECTIONS Unbalanced Y Cable to 3.5mm or 1/4″ adapter
CABLE LENGTH 1.8 meter / 6 feet
MATERIAL Maple Wood Earcups, High Grade Aluminum Casing
SOFTWARE VSX Platinum Modeling Software; iLok-account required
SYSTEMKRAV Mac: macOS 10.14 or later (Apple Silicon supported), macOS 11.7.4 for the stand-alone app, VSX SystemWide; PC: Windows 10 or later, 64-bit system
WEIGHT 470 g without cable
PRICE 10 695 SEK / 998 €
MANUFACTURER Steven Slate Audio, www.stevenslateaudio.com
SWEDISH DISTRIBUTOR Golden Age Music, www.goldenagemusic.se
PROS
The headphones sound really nice, even without software
Very solid and elegant design
Really good at emulating different playback environments
Lots of rooms to choose from
Many of the rooms have three different monitor setups
CONS
If would have been nice if the 1/4 inch adapter had a screw thread
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