Steven Slate Audio VSX Essentials Edition

Left unused after 2 weeks trying everyday

Not bad but not as good as I imagined. I produced better music without it. I wished I didn't buy it.

I like these headphones

The reviews sounded too good to be true, but I was pleasantly surprised. This system exactly fits my needs. I cannot have a perfectly-treated listening room, but now I have a practical alternative. They are comfortable, though one hour is probably the maximum I can do without a break. I use them for studio work, editing and mixing, but I like them so much that I use them for pleasure-listening as well.

No regrets so far…

I had plenty of skepticism about locking myself into this hardware-software system. But so far it seems like some of the best money I could've spent to improve my mixes. Previously I struggled to judge the low end from my monitors, and always found huge problems when playing back on a system with a subwoofer. These gave me an impression of the woof, without wasting time bouncing my mix back and forth to different places. It does convincingly trick my brain into thinking the sound is coming out of the monitors in front of me, and has made stereo imaging tasks easier. The mono avantone mixcube is also a useful emulation included with essentials. I had Archon studios included as part of a deal and I'm not sure I necessarily need many more rooms (although the phone and boombox emulations might be nice). If the upgrade to platinum went on sale I'd be tempted though.

Great for a portable studio, Very interesting rooms for check mix & master

Not a Gimmick whatsoever. Really does help mixes and overall mix accuracy.

So glad I bought these. An absolute must have for home producers that don't have access to a high end studio. You can literally take your studio on the go and mix anywhere with them. I upgraded to the platinum bundle after a few days of testing and I don't regret it at all. In terms of design they are very light, but perfect for me as it makes them easy to wear for longer periods of time. The software is very easy to set up and works flawlessly in FL Studio and Ableton (Only DAWs I can speak for). All in all , great addition, have been using them for almost a year now already before making this review.

U really need them!

I've been skeptical for a while since I honestly thought it was more a commercial move rather than a real game changer but... I was wrong. Like really.

I've been using also some top of the game headphones with top simulating studios softwares but, well it's not the same as the VSX.

I've been buying the basic package so, you don't really need dozen of rooms to have a good mix. I am just using the Steven's studio and the car and it's already good enough to have a great reference.

As a side note, I am pretty happy with the response of my physical room, not really so far from the response of the headphones.

Anyway.

VERY RECOMMENDED:

Get your ears used to the VSX sound with some reference tracks before blindly mixing; they suggest at least one hour, but I must confess it took me pretty much less than this since I really felt everything on the right place after minutes.

The only very very tiny thing, in my very personal opinion, is the comfort.

They are comfortable, don't get me wrong, but after a while I feel like a need to remove them and take a break, anyway they are light enough for long sessions if needed.

I still would recommend to use them as an alternative listen to your main room if possible and keep comparing mixes, especially in the SUV environment simulation.

But trust me, after mixing in Slate Room you really won't need anything else if you want to.

Go for it!

Does not disappoint

Brilliant, after doing a lot of research I bought essentials and Archon room for 39 extra. The midfield in that room is great. The details are amazing.

Great rooms and sound versatility.

I have a well-balanced room acoustically and good monitors, but the VSX is still amazing for the final touch.

Game changing sound but cheap build

Can never go back to other headphones they simply made mixing a whole lot easier. I had to go back and redo mixes from the beginning as it's hard to simply pick up a semi finished mix and then try work on it using VSX as there are too many problems in the mix.

The build quality is mediocre, cheap headphone cable and overall cheap headphone feel, so you really are paying more for the software

Believe the hype

The good stuff, believe it, buy it before they put the price up again