We all know that listening on headphones provides a very different experience from listening on loudspeakers. In an effort to narrow that gap, Waves have developed Nx: a monitoring plug-in that slots into a DAW’s master stereo out insert point with the aim of emulating a control room/loudspeaker environment when listening on conventional headphones. This includes simulating the reflective qualities of a well-designed control room and applying binaural processing to create a convincingly real listening experience, to the extent that Nx can present surround mixes in 7.1, 5.1 or 5.0 formats as well as mono and stereo, all using conventional stereo headphones. There have been other attempts to reproduce the loudspeaker listening experience on headphones, but many have failed to compensate for head position and movement. On headphones, the soundstage follows every movement of our heads not so with speakers, where the change in what we hear as our heads move is key to locating the direction from which the sound is coming. That’s where Waves’ Nx head-tracking technology comes in. This can follow the movement of the user’s head, either using the computer’s built-in camera or, better still, the dedicated Waves Nx Head Tracker unit, which clips on top of your headphones using a thick rubber band and communicates with the computer using Bluetooth. The Nx Head Tracker works in low light conditions and when you’re not directly in front of the computer it also responds rather more quickly to head movements than the camera. For the greatest precision and speed, it is possible to combine input from both the Head Tracker and camera. The Nx Head Tracker only works with the newer Bluetooth low-power systems (Bluetooth 4.0 BLE), so some older computers may not support it directly, though adding an inexpensive USB-BT4.0 BLE dongle should get you working. Powered by a single AAA battery and activated by a rubbery button, the tiny Head Tracker can follow head movement in all three dimensions, and there’s a Sweet Spot button in the plug-in window so that you can optimise listening for your preferred position. Pairing the tracker with the software is straightforward, and a blue status LED on the unit lets you know when it’s successfully connected. If you leave the headphones on the desk for a while the tracker will go to sleep to save battery power, necessitating a push of its button to bring it back to life. The Nx Head Tracker is an inexpensive device that attaches to your headphones and communicates with the computer using Bluetooth.When working with a DAW - I tested it with Logic Pro - launching the Nx Virtual Mix Room plug-in automatically launches the separate Nx Head Tracker software and causes the plug-in to open in a format corresponding to the output channel format of the project. For example, if your mix is set up for stereo, you’ll see two speakers, whereas if you have a 5.1 mix set up, you’ll see five speakers positioned around the head as well as a subwoofer. With the tracker active, a virtual on-screen head moves to follow your own head position. The angles of these virtual speakers can be changed, as can the level of room reflections, with a Centre Trim control to reduce the level of ambience in the mid channel. An XYZ lock switch disables all but the rotational elements of the processing, to allow movement away from the mixing position. Importantly, the head-modelling section at the lower left makes some assumptions by using average head measurements. If you adjust these to correspond to your own actual measurements the positional effect will be more convincing. The cheapest pledge starts at $69 while the retail price for the gear is estimated to be around $99.įor more details, head to the Waves NX Kickstarter Page.Your own settings can be saved as user presets. Waves Nx is now being peddled on Kickstarter and is well on its way to achieving its goal. For example: when you tilt your head, the sound from your headphones will react to this and change the position of the sound to your direction. The head movement is vital to the technology. The system is supposed to recreate real time sounds that you would hear in every day life. Nx does this using either your computer’s camera or the Nx Head Tracker, a compact Bluetooth device that latches on to your headphones and follows your head movements in all directions. Waves Nx personalizes the 3D audio experience to your physical movement in space by tracking your head movements wherever you go. Once the application is installed, Nx recreates – on any set of headphones – the same three-dimensional experience as listening to sound in the real world. Waves Nx is an application that you install on your desktop computer or mobile device.
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