Mixing can be hard, especially if your environment lacks the optimal acoustic setup. Using a professional mix room is definitely one of the best ways to get a tight mix, however, not everybody has access to such a place.
With dearVR MIX, you can now enter your own virtual stereo mix room by putting on your studio headphones. The plugin simulates the acoustic conditions of several perfect studios and common listening environments, so you can test and refine your mixes like the pros.
Below are some examples of how to use dearVR MIX to achieve better mixes.
Female vocals are in the range of 165 and 255 Hz (A3-C4) and are one of the more common elements in modern pop music. In music of this style, it’s essential to make sure the vocal cuts through other elements in the track and stands on its own without getting lost. You want to capture the lush presence of the vocals (and other instruments), without the sound getting muddy or blurry.
The virtual monitoring rooms chosen in this demo help to check the performance of the mix in more lively acoustic scenarios - we used Mix Room A, Analytical Dry, and Club. This gives us a range of environments for testing. The mix room simulations provide a clean, objective tone, whereas the club is more lively and reverberant and lets you hear the mix in a larger space.
Using these models helps to identify problem areas in the mix. It lets us hear excessive frequencies, and get a better perception of how the track performs in a real acoustic environment.
This Demo-Track has quite an intimate, up-close vibe, which needs to be maximized in the mix. Using these room simulations helps to ensure that the mix doesn’t sound too spaced out or echoey.
We used Mix Room B, which is a larger-sounding studio compared to Room A to ensure the vocals sit well in the mix and retain power over the instruments.
We also used the Home Theater model, which is more of a natural, homely listening space with ambiance and room reflections. Many people listen to music at home, so making sure the dynamics are tight enough for a decent performance is important. With the Home Theater simulation you can effectively do that.
In music as complex as this progressive track, it’s essential that all the elements stand in their own space, without being lost. It’s important to retain a decent level of definition for each sound, while also keeping it cohesive.
The mix room simulations were used to test the overall performance and to identify issues. We also used the Car setting, to test the performance in a vehicle setting. This environment is often overlooked by mixers, although it’s one of the more common listening settings today.
In general, with the car setting you can make sure the song still performs well in smaller spaces and helps to get a clearer definition in the lower frequencies. If music sounds clean and tight in a car, it should sound good anywhere.
Rap is a highly dynamic genre, and needs to retain a full level of impact and punch.
When mixing on headphones, it’s, however, easy to under-tune the transients and punch because the headphones are so close to your ears.
Testing this style of music in a living room is a great way to check the dynamics are up to scratch. You can hear if some of the transient and punchiness is lost in a larger room. This helps you to identify areas where the dynamics could be enhanced, and compensate for the extra energy needed to portray the music in its best light.
Words only do this plugin so much justice. Test dearVR MIX yourself with the free 14-day trial. You will quickly see how MIX helps to improve your mixdowns.
Dear Reality is a pioneer in spatial audio. Check out the rest of our spatial audio tools and guides for more inspiration.
