[Mike Rivers]

I just posted a review of the Focusrite VRM Box on my web
site. This is a USB playback gadget that simulates the sound
of several different speakers in a few different rooms. It's
not a substitute for good monitoring, but an interesting way
to check your mix to see how it sounds to the rest of the
world.

http://mikeriversaudio.files.wordpre...box_review.pdf


--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com - useful and
interesting audio stuff

[cedricl[_2_]]

On May 4, 8:39*pm, "Soundhaspriority" wrote:
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message

... I just posted a review of the Focusrite VRM Box on my web site. This is a
USB playback gadget that simulates the sound of several different speakers
in a few different rooms. It's not a substitute for good monitoring, but
an interesting way to check your mix to see how it sounds to the rest of
the world.

http://mikeriversaudio.files.wordpre...srite_vrm_box_...

Excellent review. I have a couple of opinions:

1. The function of this box could be done entirely in software. My own
suspicion is that it actually is, with the box serving as a security dongle,
and satisfying the craving of some for tangible hardware.

2. Ten years ago, I was listening to movies with a Sennheiser device, about
the size of a remote control, that attempted to create a 3D headphone
environment from analog Dolby matrix input. It was a mildly successful
gadget, packaged with the excellent 580 headphones. In comparison with
Focusrite, Sennheiser did not ignore a salient fact: the 3D image perceived
by human hearing is largely a result of modulation by the pinnae, that funny
convoluted thing that each of us has two of on the sides of our heads. Each
person's pinnnae are different, and each person's brain is customized to
interpret the comb filter unique to his set. Without individually modeling
each person's pinnae, a headphone simulation cannot approach what is
possible.

Sennheiser achieved all this with a very simple microprocessor, probably an
ARM. The user calibrated the system to his pinnae by listening to and
choosing from sets of white tones, for optimum localization. If Sennheiser
could do it a decade ago, Focusrite has been a little light on engineering
not to include it in their current product.

3. The choice of Focusrite to define the interface appearance of the
hardware as a Microsoft standard usb audio device is limiting.

Perhaps they want to see how it flies. Perhaps this will inspire others to
do better. It's about time.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

I still have the Sennheiser box that came with my 580 headphones. It's
attached to my home audio preamp and I use it to listen to the TV late
at night so I don't wake up my wife. It's a great headphone preamp.

It does seem that a software only solution should be available.

[Mike Rivers]

On 5/4/2011 11:39 PM, Soundhaspriority wrote:

Excellent review. I have a couple of opinions:

1. The function of this box could be done entirely in
software. My own suspicion is that it actually is, with the
box serving as a security dongle, and satisfying the craving
of some for tangible hardware.

On the VRM box, the modeling software does indeed run on the
host computer. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in the
review. The box serves as the connection between the model
and the headphones (as well as between the source and the
model when using the S/PDIF input). It's a nice industrial
design, and probably does serve as a deterrent for those who
want to try to run the software without the box.

The original implementation was as part of an interface with
a DSP mixer, and on that one (so says Focusrite anyway) the
model runs on the hardware DSP chip, which also provides
some reverb for the monitor mix. On the Pro24 DSP, there's
also software that runs on the computer, but it's just the
driver and control panel part.,

2. Ten years ago, I was listening to movies with a
Sennheiser device, about the size of a remote control, that
attempted to create a 3D headphone environment from analog
Dolby matrix input. It was a mildly successful gadget,
packaged with the excellent 580 headphones. In comparison
with Focusrite, Sennheiser did not ignore a salient fact:
the 3D image perceived by human hearing is largely a result
of modulation by the pinnae

Sennheiser achieved all this with a very simple
microprocessor, probably an ARM. The user calibrated the
system to his pinnae by listening to and choosing from sets
of white tones, for optimum localization.

Did you read the AES paper on developing the speaker model?
I didn't dwell on it, but it, through references to the MIT
study, suggested that the ear was included in the model,
though not customized. I never thought about it, but I never
really got a "3D" sense when listening to the VRM Box, nor
is that really its intent as far as I could tell. I got a
sense of distance in front of me and reflective walls around
me, but not a "behind me" sense.

3. The choice of Focusrite to define the interface
appearance of the hardware as a Microsoft standard usb audio
device is limiting.

Well, of course, and that's why they provide a driver that
gets installed along with the modeling and control panel
software. The class compliant USB part is a matter of
convenience. Without the driver, it works as a headphone
amplifier and volume control, and that's all. I guess they
didn't have to do that, and not providing this option
wouldn't necessarily make it better.

Perhaps they want to see how it flies. Perhaps this will
inspire others to do better. It's about time.

Maybe. Or maybe they wanted to offer an inexpensive way for
people without a collection of speakers to get another view
of their mixes. It's not perfect, and someone using it the
wrong way could get misled at times. It's just another tool.

I hope in the review I didn't sound ecstatic about the VRM
box. I've read a couple of reviews that were more
enthusiastic than mine. I just thought it was interesting
and potentially useful, and I think that's the way more of
us should look at more of the audio tools that are available
to us today. It sure isn't a game-changer (at least not for
me) nor did it blow me away. The review is there to give
others who might be curious about it a sense of what they
might find.


--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com - useful and
interesting audio stuff

[Stuart Barkley]

On Wed, 4 May 2011 at 23:39 -0000, Soundhaspriority wrote:

2. Ten years ago, I was listening to movies with a Sennheiser
device, about the size of a remote control, that attempted to create
a 3D headphone environment from analog Dolby matrix input. It was a
mildly successful gadget, packaged with the excellent 580
headphones. In comparison with Focusrite, Sennheiser did not ignore
a salient fact: the 3D image perceived by human hearing is largely a
result of modulation by the pinnae, that funny convoluted thing that
each of us has two of on the sides of our heads. Each person's
pinnnae are different, and each person's brain is customized to
interpret the comb filter unique to his set. Without individually
modeling each person's pinnae, a headphone simulation cannot
approach what is possible.

Last weekend Studio 360 had a feature on something new with 3D sound:

http://www.studio360.org/2011/apr/29...ures-3d-sound/

In addition to this segment, listen to the first 3 minutes of the full
broadcast to get a couple of other examples.

Like the Focusrite, this sounds like it is a fairly simple DSP
process. I'm sure it took a lot of work to get all the parameters
working satisfactorily.

It has a definite sweet spot. I heard the broadcast in my car and
really didn't understand what the fuss was about. I did guess that it
had a center sweet spot, but I wasn't able to move my head enough to
hear any change. Hmm, I wonder if I have my car system set to FM
mono, the station intended to broadcast stereo since during the
station break there was a comment about the samples in the program
intro.

The photo on the web site shows a Fritz style head which I didn't hear
mentioned in the broadcast piece. This technique might be interesting
to convert binaural recordings from headphone based to speaker based.

There is a different sample for headphones. I didn't listen to it but
wonder if it has any processing beyond being a binaural recording.

I'll let Scott and others discuss why this is a toy and not something
generally useful.

Stuart
--
I've never been lost; I was once bewildered for three days, but never lost!
-- Daniel Boone