AUDEZE Editing Headphones ... finally got something that works

[PatrickFaith]

I've been struggling with my monitors (real nice ones), but all the various computers, disk, room, people talking, phones, wind blowers ... NOISE ... was driving me crazy. (i have a sound conditioned room too btw). Anyway I've been using a bunch of headphones too, focal spirits sounded good but too "headphone", DT770 pro's which are good but it's hard for me to feel & edit to the visual/sound space. I normally run through a avid omni, but that was a hassle depending on what I"m doing. I finally bit the bullet and got a AUDEZE Deckard headphone amp and LCD-XC closed headphones, can't believe I waited this long to get them.

I mainly am do editing for sound and picture, I don't do the sound mixing (I think it's important to separate sound editing from sound mixing, sometimes the two are merged). Anyway the Audeze config is the closest I've had to a nice 5:1 room, you can really get the "placement" of the sound as it relates to the visual. Though the rig seems a bit expensive, I'm finding it so much cheaper & easier then a serious mixing room. Also the Deckard is USB, so I can move to a new room and computer, and still have the exact same experience. Anyway this quest seems to have taken forever, and I was pondering a way more complex/expensive/less_flexable path and did this as a kind of hail Mary pass into the end zone ... and as a somewhat miracle got a TD on this.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Love my Audeze cans.

Cheers - #19

 

[Nick Fury]

Hi Patrick!

Did you consider these: http://oppodigital.com/headphones-pm-1/ and the accompanying amp?

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[PatrickFaith]

Love my Audeze cans.

Cheers - #19

EXACTLY, LMAO ... you were holding out on this secret knowledge I can't believe how much I love these.

Hi Patrick!
Did you consider these: http://oppodigital.com/headphones-pm-1/ and the accompanying amp?
Thank you very much
Fury

Those didn't come up in my reviews. I was mainly referencing people that were either mastering or mixing music, and a couple that were editing sound on my trade of the "planar" headphones. There are two other companies aside from oppo that do something similar to AUDEZE ... but for what I do I never heard a single negative comment on the AUDEZE for someone that needed to work with headphones where monitors were not working out in the space/room they are working in. I wanted something that was reference quality and had good bass (like a 5.1 room), so I could get the vibe/immersed when I was editing. The other high end headphones I think are excellent, but it's that mix of reference flatness as well as room vibe that I think I was having a hard time finding. I mainly edit with just a few plugins, but what I'm attempting to get is the placement of the audience to the screen on the audio track so they don't become emotionally distant, I think this is were the very high end headphones really help(editing to get the "room" right so I get a emotional connection between the audio/video and audience).

[edit ... also I just have a lot of background noise, so needed the isolation ... which is real hard to do with closed headphones without having a issue)

 

[Nick Fury]

Hi Patrick!

Thank you for your reply.

I seem to recall that you had an interface and Pro Tools. Is that where you you run your Plugins and where you are mixing? If so, I have a similar setup. with an Apollo 8p and a fairly well treated room ( nowhere as good as my last one, sadly), but with the efficiency of the Oppo offering's top line planar cans, I am very tempted to run them out of the Apollo-seems that should be adequate, without additional power. Interestingly, I was told that these same headphones were bought by Skywalker-Lucasfilm to replace what they had been using. At any rate, 30 day look available. We'll see.

BTW, big devotee of planar tech as well, for many years, in certain applications. Wisdom Sage series and the like are truly amazing.

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[Graeme Nattress]

The Audeze are superb! I got the LCD-2 quite a few years back and they've been excellent. I heard their new headphones at CES and they were interesting improvements on the Audeze formula, both in practical usability (introduction of the closed back designs) and industrial design.

Graeme

 

[PatrickFaith]

Hi Patrick!

Thank you for your reply.

I seem to recall that you had an interface and Pro Tools. Is that where you you run your Plugins and where you are mixing? If so, I have a similar setup. with an Apollo 8p and a fairly well treated room ( nowhere as good as my last one, sadly), but with the efficiency of the Oppo offering's top line planar cans, I am very tempted to run them out of the Apollo-seems that should be adequate, without additional power. Interestingly, I was told that these same headphones were bought by Skywalker-Lucasfilm to replace what they had been using. At any rate, 30 day look available. We'll see.

BTW, big devotee of planar tech as well, for many years, in certain applications. Wisdom Sage series and the like are truly amazing.

Thank you very much

Fury

Hey Nick, thank you, you've helped me out so many times! Skywalker sound is pretty much my gold standard of copying their workflow and equipment as much as I can with my indie budget. Lmao if I knew they went with OPPO I would have sure checked that out. I'm not as sophisticated as you, so I can't really test the lower cost yet high quality equipment to balance value. So I pay a premium cost so I'm not second guessing myself & equipment(it's really only me doing everything, so I really don't have time to test everything and the cost isn't so much since I just need to buy one of something). Skywalker sound btw did "Inside Out", I'm basically lusting over that sound track, I'm stretching myself to a breaking point to do something of that quality ...

I decided not to use my omni or get a apollo, and almost bake in my sound recording to a Nagra VI. My protools HD-omni is now powered off most of the time, I did look briefly at the apollo but the Nagra VI is just so simple for me and I only edit in the box. I basically copy the 5.1 wav sound files from the Nagra VI to my mac pro which is protools-HD and do simple 5.1 sends inside protools HD for a stereo output. My assumption is someone else will do the mixing, so I just keep my protools hd session real simple with the goal to get something emotionally compelling on the timing. I btw have a fairly sophisticated system of getting the sound baked into the Nagra, basically 4 CCM41 on a surround sound schoeps, then a cm5u or KU5 for center, and for the ".1" use a u67 or ku5 (thus my 6 channels). The center channel and ".1" both go through "retro channel strip"'s, which then go through either a sta-level or 176 compressors - before it gets into the Nagra. Thus my center is fairly well baked before it hit's pro-tools. I kind of copying exactly how they did it in the 50's for musicals, but throwing the hi tech sound with ccm41 surround mics to give it a modern feel. My sound approach I think works for me, but wouldn't recommend it as a generally good thing to do.

*wave Graeme

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Oh no, don't tempt me with such things. My Senn HD 600 are the most expensive headphones I own and nowhere near this level or type of technology. I will have to sit back in envy.

 

[Marc Wielage]

also I just have a lot of background noise, so needed the isolation ... which is real hard to do with closed headphones without having a issue...

I think that's your key problem. Move all the equipment out of the room with the exception of your mixer, mouse, keyboard, and monitor. No drives, no CPU, nothing with a fan. Do that, put some work in treating the room acoustically, and you can mix and work in it.

I have cut and processed dialogue with just headphones only, but the reality is that it's a different experience than listening on good studio speakers. Anything else will be a compromise.

 

[Nick Fury]

Hi Patrick!

Must have taken a LOTTA testing to go for the baked in effects...interesting, but seems waaay too tough for me. Nevertheless, I am Interested in which channel strip(s) you settled on, for your projects. I have pretty much been enjoying the Neve 88RS, by UAD. Granted, pretty much any plug in and presets as wellcan be duplicated, with enough knowledge and time, can likely be duplicated, but I idon'thave the frst and don't want to put the effort in for the second, when these tools are, for my humble needs n=mostly satisfactory, with tweaking to taste.

Hi Marc! I had always dismissed using headphones and have done just what you said-treated the room, but was intrigued by this headphone discussion and may try the lighter Oppo offering for comparison, etc.. I had always dismissed high quality headphones out of hand, as too heavy, at the go get, for protracted listening anyway. The price point, between the Audeze and Oppo pieces noted above is of no import to me and it is exclusively a taste preference issue and has my interest at the moment. We'll see.

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[PatrickFaith]

I think that's your key problem. Move all the equipment out of the room with the exception of your mixer, mouse, keyboard, and monitor. No drives, no CPU, nothing with a fan. Do that, put some work in treating the room acoustically, and you can mix and work in it.

I have cut and processed dialogue with just headphones only, but the reality is that it's a different experience than listening on good studio speakers. Anything else will be a compromise.

I will for sure do that when I get close on a reel, but as you see in this shot, in order to have a possibility of finishing this film I'm ping ponging between 3 machines all day long. I have protools on the right computer, nuke studio on middle, and maya/motionbuilder/houdini on left. When I get a bit closer I'll do what your saying, the room is fully sound conditioned but I'll just move the protools stuff into another room.

Hi Patrick!
...
Must have taken a LOTTA testing to go for the baked in effects...interesting, but seems waaay too tough for me. Nevertheless, I am Interested in which channel strip(s) you settled on, for your projects. I have pretty much been enjoying the Neve 88RS, by UAD. Granted, pretty much any plug in and presets as wellcan be duplicated, with enough knowledge and time, can likely be duplicated, but I idon'thave the frst and don't want to put the effort in for the second, when these tools are, for my humble needs n=mostly satisfactory, with tweaking to taste...

On the left you can see my tube rack that goes into the nagra (i think thats a 744t in this shot). I tested all the plugins in protools, but I personally couldn't get any plugin to track close to a real tube pultec and real tube 176 & sta-level. From a performance viewpoint, I think it's important to commit emotionally during the recording (and not "attempt" to add emotion in the mix ... which really I can't figure out how to do anyway). Also on the ribbons I'm using exact replica's of what was used on the hollywood sets in the 30's and 40's, with exact matching tube pre-amps like the OP-6. So I edit in protools really clean (i use the fabfilter collection with a few other things like RX4). The AUDEZE closed headphones are quite a bit heavier then my other headphones like the 770 or focal spirit, so aren't for everyone.

 

[Nick Fury]

Hi Patrick!

What a commitment! There's nothin' like the real thing, baby...and some modern tech as well.

BTW, Rx5 now has a De-Plosive and a few other Plugins. Just upgraded, but no hands on quite yet.

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

The Audeze are superb! I got the LCD-2 quite a few years back and they've been excellent. I heard their new headphones at CES and they were interesting improvements on the Audeze formula, both in practical usability (introduction of the closed back designs) and industrial design. Graeme

You gotta try out the new models my friend. One thing Audeze has figured out, is a way to create an even thinner planar material which dramatically improves efficiency. You'll still want a high quality signal chain - DA converter/pre-amp/headphone amp - to get the best results, but even on more typical gear you don't have to push the gain too hard just to get a decent level.

Mixing on headphones is never ideal, but the Audeze are as spatially neutral as any headphones I've ever experienced. Perhaps because their physical response is so fast, with so little mechanical overhang, that tiny variations in temporal "spacing" are perceivable enough for your brain to resolve more spatial cues from the original recording environment. Or maybe magic pixies, hard to say... ;-)

Cheers - #19

 

[Graeme Nattress]

Yup, you get fantastic spatial cues from them, and yes, it's probably due to their linearity and impulse response. If you try some binaural recordings they can be quite incredible.

Graeme