Lynn


I've been using one for about 3 months, and I've found that it's good for letting me know when I've applied too much bass in my mix.  I would never trust it completely because it doesn't adjust for different headphones (I use Sony MDR 1706's), so it's all relative.  But, it can get you in the ballpark and let you know if you're close or not.  Switching back and forth between the VRM and my regular speakers just takes a second by switching screens in the mixer of my FF 400.  To check the value of the VRM box, just play a Steely Dan CD through any of its emulations and be prepared to be amazed at how well Steely Dan albums are mixed.

There is a list of headphones that it was designed around.  From the Focuswrite site:


"[font="calibri; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 1.4"]We used the Sennheiser HD 280/HD 650, Beyerdynamic DT 100, Beyerdynamic 770 and the PROline 650s to test VRM with, though during development the concept was tested on a wide variety of headphones of different designs (e.g. open and closed) and of varying cost and quality."


I still use my Blue Sky and KRK's but the VRM is a great help.

Hi, Lynn. I'm eventually gonna have things set up so I can route to my two stereo systems, various powered computer speakers and all my different sets of headphones/earbuds to do final checks on stuff. That's a bit of a pain while actually mixing though so I figure with the VRM and my monitors I'll have enough easily accessible listening variations without too much screwing around. Seems like the included room speaker emus would be a little more useful than all my ghetto consumer stuff too. Hope you've been well. ;-)

Hi gswitz. I'll take a look at those. I'd imagine even with the VRM having other monitor environments on hand right in the DAW could be helpful. It seems to me that most of the heavy lifting is done in the software. Makes me wonder how important the actual box is if you have precise headphone outputs already. I think the hp output on my Scarlett is pretty good. Might be an interesting thing to test. Cheers.

Howdy, lawajawa... Yeah, SPDIF does seem to be the way. IDK, like I said I had heard that it was an inferior connection from a buddy on another site but I have a feeling that he may have been referring to consumer electronics, not pro stuff like the Scarlett. It was more a discussion about monitor connections anyway (balanced 1/4" vs. SPDIF). I do like the idea of routing to multiple sources from the VRM but they do say on the Focusrite site that that might be counter intuitive because then you are introducing the room again if you are using speakers. But still something to play around with. Might pick up something in the mix that was otherwise missed. Cheers.

@vintagevibe... That is VERY good to know because I just happen to have HD280's. Hurray! ;-)

Beepster, S/PDIF is definitely the way to hook up the box. It's a way easier set up. Just make sure that you uncheck all references to the VRM box in Sonar's I/O settings, because Sonar doesn't have to know about it at all. This is something that confused me at first. 

I would recommend the VRM box to anyone who doesn't have the ideal monitor/treatment setup. It's not a complete solution, but it gives you an extremely valuable extra reference which will reveal loads of problems with your mixes. It doesn't sound like listening on real monitors, but what it does is give you a way of checking your mix on a number of different speaker simulations, the idea being that if you can get it to sound decent on all of them, there's a large chance it'll translate well to all kinds of real speakers. 


For people who have no option to use monitors at a decent volume (especially at night), it's a godsend, at least 1000% better than just using straight headphones. 


The only thing is that you MUST have a good set of cans. It relies on you listening through headphones with a flat frequency response. So I don't think it would improve the situation with cheap headphones much. 

I've had one for a while - it's useful, but I think the SOS review http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr11/articles/focusrite-vrmbox.htm
slightly overrates it.
 
 
 

rjeynes


I've had one for a while - it's useful, but I think the SOS review http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr11/articles/focusrite-vrmbox.htm
slightly overrates it.
 
 
 

Well, Sound on Sound's Mike Senior did not overate it at all: 
 
http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-ch2_FocusriteVRM.htm 
 
I do like the device however.  As a bonus, it gives you a decent headphone amp to boot.

@dmbauer... Wow. That site is freaking awesome. I was planning on picking up Mike Senior's book but the material there alone is enough to keep me going for a while. Perfect timing too because up until a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to understand much of it. As far as the review, despite all the negative stuff he says he goes on to describe exactly what I'd be using it for anyway. The weird driver conflict he mentions is worrying though but that's first time I've seen that complaint so I won't sweat it. Thanks.

@sharke... Hi there. I was hoping you'd stop in and post your experience so far. I'm using HD280's so that should be enough I think. Cheers.

Hi i'm an ARC owner but the best HP Monitors emulation is Isone by ToneBooster. It's a really good Company!! (i use the Reelbus too,it's incredible close to tape).Best

Hi GIM. Only $15 euros for that too (so I guess around $30). Not a bad price. Looks like it solves some of the problems with the VRM box discussed in that Mike Senior article. Might pick that one up too or maybe start with it considering it's cheaper. Thanks for the heads up.

So you have overcome the third-party VST thing.