Waves has released two new Nx combos with multiple Nx Head Trackers: the Nx Virtual Mix Room plugin + 6 Nx Head Trackers, and the Nx Head Tracker 5-Pack.

The combos enable improved headphone monitoring during recording and mixing sessions with multiple participants. 

Waves Nx Virtual Mix Room, which the company first launched at last year’s NAMM Show, is a virtual monitoring plugin that simulates the ideal acoustics of a high-end mix room inside any set of headphones. Nx technology lets users hear the same natural depth, reflections and panoramic stereo image that would be heard from speakers in an actual room, turning headphones into a more reliable mixing and monitoring tool by adding dimension to the sound.

The Nx plugin has now been updated to work with up to six Nx Head Trackers at the same time. This allows as many as six musicians (or five musicians and one engineer) to hear Nx simultaneously in their headphones while recording. Alternatively, two (or more) mixing engineers can now use Nx to mix together on headphones.

When recording vocals in particular, Nx helps vocalists perform better by reducing the effect of hearing their inner voice, in that it moves the sound from inside the head to the outside – thus staying true to how the singer is used to hearing and perceiving his or her voice in playback. This contributes to an overall more natural vocal performance while also reducing the potential for out-of-tune singing.

Commenting on his experience with Waves Nx, producer/engineer Russ Long said: “Waves Nx virtually removes the constraints of headphones, allowing musicians and vocalists to reach their full creative and technical potential. It creates a more musical recording experience by allowing the musicians to interact with their instruments and with each other, without feeling any restrictions from headphones. In my experience of tracking with Nx, vocalists are able to hear pitch better, bass players are able to hear the air of the bass tone, even when recording direct, and drummers are able to lock with the other musicians better. It’s quite amazing.

“I used the Nx plugin and Nx Head Tracker with vocalists recording in my studio without telling them what it was,” Long added. “They said it was like taking the headphones off – like they were part of the mix rather than listening to a previously recorded mix – which made it easier for them to sing in tune. In addition, I used Nx in the control room during my tracking session so I could have the same monitoring experience as the musicians. I was surprised that Nx monitoring with headphones was as accurate and sonically pleasing as tracking with a $5000 pair of monitors.”

http://www.waves.com/