Waves Nx: Virtual Mix Room

[logancircle]

The goal isn't to mix records on headphones as a substitute for a nice control room. But can you at least use a "virtual mix room" it to get the levels right?

This is how they tell you to do it: mix a song with Waves Nx engaged, get all your levels right, spread things around, shine up the mix, all in the virtual room. Then you turn off Nx and bounce it. You may find that the panning is very exaggerated, the virtual room blurs the stereo spread a lot and requires more extreme panning choices.

From SoundOnSound.com:

Given that many people now ‘consume’ their music via headphones or earbuds, it is important that your mixes sound OK on headphones without Nx engaged, but having the option of listening via Nx is like being able to ask for a second opinion. Even if you don’t find it absolutely lifelike, it is certainly more like listening on speakers in a real control room than headphones alone. It may even give you a better idea of how your mix really sounds than budget speakers in a badly treated room.

Please comment if you've tried Waves Nx with success (or failure!)

[flocentblack]

I tried it a while back when I was without studio monitors using a pair of Grado's I've been using for almost 20 years. At first I was really impressed with it, particularly when using the head tracker. Didn't do any mixes using it. After a couple of months of listening, I switched it off and fell in love again with the detail that the Grado's offer. That's not a dig against it - headphones and speakers will always sound different. I think A/B-ing it with some studio monitors - which I have not done, would be a better means of judging how well or not NX works.

I think I might dig that head tracker back out and give it a try again..