Sorry to jump on this thread on the tail end (been following along...), but I am intrigued and totally shocked at the VRM that has been mentioned...what ELSE is out there that I know nothing about???
 
It's taken a while for me to learn my (pretty-poorly-treated) 12x11' home studio room going through pre-lawsuit Behringer Truth monitors, and I've been relying on graphical analyzers and lots of car listens to get my mixes better.
 
On a scale of 1 to I NEED TO OWN THIS...how highly recommended do VRM users rate the product?  The reviews seem awesome...and gearslutz has its normal share of skeptics.  I trust my Sonar peeps...  ;)
 
Thanks for any opinions!
 
p.s. That Greg Howe tune (and the singer) are TOTALLY RAD!!!

Beeps:
I never saw this thread until today.  And I've always paid attention to your posts because I bit on X1 to X2 at the same short time, and I downloaded X3 on Sunday sooo, you've been my guiding light in some ways, but I'm so sorry you're as broke as I am, lol.
 
This is the longest 2 page thread I've ever read, and it was worth every minute.
 
Everything's been said in terms of the critique of the mix/mastering, and I don't have anything to add, but I'm going to say this: Don't worry about you don't have I've heard better-sounding (to me) songs of mine in cars with great or crappy sound systems than I've heard in studios.
 
Thanks for your courage.  I've found this to be inspirational!  
 
  

caminitic
Sorry to jump on this thread on the tail end (been following along...), but I am intrigued and totally shocked at the VRM that has been mentioned...what ELSE is out there that I know nothing about???
 
It's taken a while for me to learn my (pretty-poorly-treated) 12x11' home studio room going through pre-lawsuit Behringer Truth monitors, and I've been relying on graphical analyzers and lots of car listens to get my mixes better.
 
On a scale of 1 to I NEED TO OWN THIS...how highly recommended do VRM users rate the product?  The reviews seem awesome...and gearslutz has its normal share of skeptics.  I trust my Sonar peeps...  ;)
 
Thanks for any opinions!
 
p.s. That Greg Howe tune (and the singer) are TOTALLY RAD!!!

 
I think the thing to remember about the VRM box is that it's not a miracle solution, and you shouldn't expect it to be. I don't think it accurately recreates the experience of listening on real speakers, but it's a hell of a lot more like listening on real speakers than listening on headphones, put it that way. Basically you have three rooms to choose from with a selection of speakers in each. So you have a treated studio with various high end monitor simulations (including an Auratone simulation) , then you have a bedroom with various consumer speakers (including crappy laptop speakers) and a living room with hi-fi speakers, TV speakers etc. 
 
What it's good for is checking your mix in a wide variety of situations and speaker types. You're not going to do any detailed listening on them (might as well just use straight cans for that), but from listening to the mix on a selection of different speakers you can quickly hear and identify potential problems with it, particularly things like muddy low-mids and boomy basses. The theory being, if you can remove these problems on all of the speaker simulations, there's a good chance that the mix is going to translate well to real world speakers. Not a credible substitute for good monitors in a well treated room of course, but a hell of a lot better than just mixing in cans, and even if you do have good monitors and a good room, it can't hurt to listen through the VRM box to get a ballpark idea of what it's going to sound like on other systems without having to burn CD's and drive to your friend's house etc. 

caminitic
Sorry to jump on this thread on the tail end (been following along...), but I am intrigued and totally shocked at the VRM that has been mentioned...what ELSE is out there that I know nothing about???
 
It's taken a while for me to learn my (pretty-poorly-treated) 12x11' home studio room going through pre-lawsuit Behringer Truth monitors, and I've been relying on graphical analyzers and lots of car listens to get my mixes better.
 
On a scale of 1 to I NEED TO OWN THIS...how highly recommended do VRM users rate the product?  The reviews seem awesome...and gearslutz has its normal share of skeptics.  I trust my Sonar peeps...  ;)
 
Thanks for any opinions!
 
p.s. That Greg Howe tune (and the singer) are TOTALLY RAD!!!

 
I think the thing to remember about the VRM box is that it's not a miracle solution, and you shouldn't expect it to be. I don't think it accurately recreates the experience of listening on real speakers, but it's a hell of a lot more like listening on real speakers than listening on headphones, put it that way. Basically you have three rooms to choose from with a selection of speakers in each. So you have a treated studio with various high end monitor simulations (including an Auratone simulation) , then you have a bedroom with various consumer speakers (including crappy laptop speakers) and a living room with hi-fi speakers, TV speakers etc. 
 
What it's good for is checking your mix in a wide variety of situations and speaker types. You're not going to do any detailed listening on them (might as well just use straight cans for that), but from listening to the mix on a selection of different speakers you can quickly hear and identify potential problems with it, particularly things like muddy low-mids and boomy basses. The theory being, if you can remove these problems on all of the speaker simulations, there's a good chance that the mix is going to translate well to real world speakers. Not a credible substitute for good monitors in a well treated room of course, but a hell of a lot better than just mixing in cans, and even if you do have good monitors and a good room, it can't hurt to listen through the VRM box to get a ballpark idea of what it's going to sound like on other systems without having to burn CD's and drive to your friend's house etc. 

Hey Beepster... I wanted to wait for you and Danny to interact here before throwing this in... and your interaction will help others a LOT. And folks like sharke chiming in is even more helpful (especially to folks like me who are trying to learn). I first want to thank all of you for allowing the rest of us to read this... this is truly invaluable!
 
I really wish I could search these forums better to find this post... but a while ago, I contested Beepster's comment on classifying himself as a "beginner/intermediate"... and got the reply of (paraphrasing)... "If you have finished anything in the past year, then you have done more than I." The fact is, I haven't!! And the "mixing conundrum" is a big part of this....
 
(Unfortunately,) my "career" has sent me down a path which has made music (always) take a sideline to "life," yet my passion (through and through) has always been music. As I have evolved, I will default to rhythm guitar and vocals, which I have often considered a "dime a dozen," and even when I am complimented, I often shrug it off and walk away... even simple things like doing karaoke, I will often not participate because I can do "at home" as I please... and a local pub owner chased me into the parking lot one night asking me to sing, I told him this and he replied "But when you sing this place is packed... they come here to see YOU." Even when I have done "open mic" nights, I often "fade away" but ran into a guy who used to run them one day and he said "Yeah, this guy needs to perform some more."
 
Enough BS about me... I just wanted to interject a few quick points:
 
1) I very much respect the aspect of learning, and this post has impressed me a lot... you are learning, and courageous enough to learn even more by sharing... NEVER be intimidated by this
2) I feel you have learned far more than I... I read/understand, and screw around with "concepts" but do not feel I understand the application
3) The benefit to everyone reading this post is invaluable... for ME, Danny taking the time to post the detail that he did is impressive... I think many would agree here... anything he has to say I will read and try to understand well (as will a LOT of the regulars here)
 
Bottom line... you are learning, when many of us are trying to, but not delivering.... which brings a comment I say often to others into sharp focus... "Those who try and fail, learn, and persist, will often overshadow those who shy away from the 'spotlight.' That unto itself demands respect, and will earn it."
 
Just so that is clear... I wanted to interject into this thread that your "learning" benefits us ALL.... no "rant required"... those of us who do not learn are only crippling ourselves!

Just a note/request from those of us reading on our mobile phones:
 
When you reply to a loooonnnggg post, don't quote it. That's a lot of text to scroll through! : )
 
Just do this: @beep; @Danny;
 
Not trying to single anyone out here!! ; )

Everything just sounds sooo much crisper and defined.  This is also a reminder for me that my guitar playing sucks!

For a cheaper solution that can mitigate a bit of the headphone problems with mixing, you can also try this  http://www.112db.com/redline/monitor/
 
It is a vst that attempts to simulate speakers while listening on phones.  It actually helps at times, as it fixes some of the panning and mixing problems that phones introduce.  It will not replace mixing on speakers, but when its midnight and you want to work a bit, it keeps you from making really bad decisions.

Thanks, dub. I really was mostly trying to get some clarity and separation happening but pushed things a little too far. Just taking a second look at the project now. I have the "mastered" imported with the level adjusted to match the master bus levels in the project to try and hear how much the "mastering" job destroyed things.
 
@sven... I'll take a look. Seems to me that most of the work being done by the VRM is with its VST. Not sure how necessary the box actually is if you already have a good interface.

Oh and...
 
@grem... Yeah, I usually do try to do that. My mind is freaking wacked lately though. Again it was WWIII next door last night. Why won't they let me sleep?!
 
@mettulus... I've come to appreciate your posts and character. Keep it up. As far as me having any kind of balls by posting this... well it's for selfish reasons and any sense of false pride I may have had in the past has been banished into the realm of useless personality traits that served no purpose. This forum however isn't exactly a circle of shame and blame like some other forums that will remain nameless. Cheers.