# Waves NX. Is it worth it?



## Haakond (Apr 4, 2020)

Hey!
I saw that Waves are selling their NX at 29$. Since I mainly use headphones for mixing, I thought this could be a useful tool to mix a bit better.
Have anybody here used it? Does it help, or is it not worth the money? 









Nx – Virtual Mix Room over Headphones | Waves


Want to create great mixes but don’t have an acoustically perfect room? This plugin recreates the acoustics of a high-end studio inside your headphones.




www.waves.com


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## damcry (Apr 5, 2020)

Would be interested also ...


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## mgnoatto (Apr 5, 2020)

I thought that too, but I can’t use it very much cause the computer gets glitchy cause of the cpu. So I can’t tell if it’s great or not cause I used it very little, I guess if you have a powerful computer it may worth it. I bought it at $100


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## bbunker (Apr 5, 2020)

I think the short answer is 'maybe, but probably not.' I got the AR Studio 3 version of it, and while it definitely does a good job of giving a 'room perspective' to the mix, and a feeling of air moving between you and the sound source rather than just a headphone speaker an inch away, the problem is that your headphones used will profoundly change the mix balance, and since it's the mix balance of a 'room' sound, it can be very disagreeable.

As an example, I tried running it through a set of K514's - decent budget cans that are known for being a bit veiled and without great definition in the low-end - and professionally mastered tracks just fall apart completely with the plugin engaged. It's odd, because without the plugin, the K514's are perfectly 'OK' for general listening, but the plugin makes the things that are 'not great' about the cans, and makes them absolutely terrible.

If you've got a set of headphones that are supported in their EQ balancing (the cheapest cans are the Sonys, AFAIR) then you might have very good results, but if you're using anything else, just keep in mind that problems in your headphones aren't going to be removed, they're going to be multiplied.


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## mgnoatto (Apr 5, 2020)

Yes, I have the Sony 7506. There aren't too much models. And I just realized that I have the Abbey Road Studio 3, not the NX! fiuuu 
I did try the NX and I think the Abbey Road Studio it's better. I believe you can try them for a few days before buying them


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## storyteller (Apr 5, 2020)

NX is great. It isnt perfect, but I still use it to check mixes with headphones. I find I LOVE using NX and the Bluetooth attachment for watching movies with headphones... so good! if you get NX, you’ll definitely want the Bluetooth attachment at a later time.


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## sostenuto (Apr 5, 2020)

storyteller said:


> NX is great. It isnt perfect, but I still use it to check mixes with headphones. I find I LOVE using NX and the Bluetooth attachment for watching movies with headphones... so good! if you get NX, you’ll definitely want the Bluetooth attachment at a later time.



THX ! Leaning to NX versus AR Studio 3 ..... $$ not big issue, just assuming senior/seasoned ears will not detect much difference. No clue, really ??


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## rrichard63 (Apr 5, 2020)

bbunker said:


> ... the problem is that your headphones used will profoundly change the mix balance, and since it's the mix balance of a 'room' sound, it can be very disagreeable. ...


I think that a lot of NX users use it together with a headphone correction plugin like Sonarworks or IK Multimedia's ARC System. If you use them together, you need to put NX first in the monitoring chain and headphone correction after it.


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## Haakond (Apr 6, 2020)

I ended up buying NX without the bluetooth adapter. So far, it looks pretty useful. I can see that the CPU bar goes up a little more when it is active, but I don't think it will be a problem. I will keep you posted when I have tried it more!


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## Consona (Jan 29, 2021)

Is this plugin useful if you have open headphones?


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## pmcrockett (Jan 29, 2021)

Consona said:


> Is this plugin useful if you have open headphones?


I use it on open headphones, and their headphone profiles built into the software include open models, so I don't think open vs. closed makes any difference in this case.


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## jben (Jan 29, 2021)

I have it and I used it at first (alone or in combination with Toneboosters Morphit), but now I prefer to use dSoniq Realphones, it works very well with all my headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770 pro, Audio Technica ATH-40x and Senheisser H598).


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## MauroPantin (Jan 29, 2021)

I tried the OceanWay, regular NX, and Abbey Road (you can get a demo from waves) along with Sonarworks Reference for Headphones. I ended up going with OceanWay, it seemed the most natural of all and I am quite liking it. If your headphones are properly calibrated it is quite okay and it helps make mix decisions when you room is less-than-ideal. It's not a perfect solution, but since it's pocket change when on sale (ie... all the time) I think it's worth to have as an option to check mixes.


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## tebling (Jan 29, 2021)

I recently bought the Ocean Way Nashville plugin on a whim, and it's actually been pretty useful. I primarily use HD580s since my room is far from ideal, and this did let me spot some low end issues in my current project that would have taken far longer to discover otherwise.

I'm planning to get the Slate VSX when their next manufacturing batch is ready (March I think) - so this is basically just to tide me over until then.


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## Crossroads (Jan 29, 2021)

I just bought the original NX and the Ocean Way Nashville plugin and tried them for half an hour. Jeepers. I know I don't want to live without this anymore. This is absolutely insane! The sheer impression of depth you get with this is worth it alone!


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## sostenuto (Jan 29, 2021)

Checking Ocean Way Nashville Demo now ! 

dSoniq Realphones is cool as well. THX @ jben


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## filipjonathan (Jan 29, 2021)

MauroPantin said:


> I tried the OceanWay, regular NX, and Abbey Road (you can get a demo from waves) along with Sonarworks Reference for Headphones. I ended up going with OceanWay, it seemed the most natural of all and I am quite liking it. If your headphones are properly calibrated it is quite okay and it helps make mix decisions when you room is less-than-ideal. It's not a perfect solution, but since it's pocket change when on sale (ie... all the time) I think it's worth to have as an option to check mixes.


Hi Mauro! How did you go about using NX with Sonarworks? Sonarworks as the last plugin in the chain, right?


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## MauroPantin (Jan 30, 2021)

filipjonathan said:


> Hi Mauro! How did you go about using NX with Sonarworks? Sonarworks as the last plugin in the chain, right?


Correct! You have to have Sonarworks last because it alters the left and right channel separately, and if you add NX after it then you get crossfeed after the calibration, which defeats the purpose


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## filipjonathan (Jan 30, 2021)

MauroPantin said:


> Correct! You have to have Sonarworks last because it alters the left and right channel separately, and if you add NX after it then you get crossfeed after the calibration, which defeats the purpose


But do you need to disable something in NX? Or just leave it the way it is by default?


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## juliandoe (Jan 30, 2021)

Also, Tonebooster Morphit is a sonarworks-a-like plugin. and it's basically free. 
from the TBA website "Contrary to many other software vendors, *ToneBoosters demo* plug-ins have no time *limit*. *Trial* them as long as you want. The only *limitation* is that *demo* plug-ins will not save settings, and you will be reminded about plugins running in *demo* mode when opening the user interface."


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## MauroPantin (Jan 30, 2021)

filipjonathan said:


> But do you need to disable something in NX? Or just leave it the way it is by default?


The Headphone EQ correction should be off because that's what you are using Reference for. Other than that, no, nothing needs to be disabled for it to work properly.




juliandoe said:


> Also, Tonebooster Morphit is a sonarworks-a-like plugin. and it's basically free.
> from the TBA website "Contrary to many other software vendors, *ToneBoosters demo* plug-ins have no time *limit*. *Trial* them as long as you want. The only *limitation* is that *demo* plug-ins will not save settings, and you will be reminded about plugins running in *demo* mode when opening the user interface."


Been meaning to try it out, I didn't know there was a demo for Morphit. I'll give it a shot this weekend. However, please know it is not really free and if it is valuable to you, you should purchase it when you have the opportunity to do so. Same as Reaper or any other software out there that has this type of generous trial mode. Thanks for the heads up!


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## filipjonathan (Jan 30, 2021)

MauroPantin said:


> The Headphone EQ correction should be off because that's what you are using Reference for. Other than that, no, nothing needs to be disabled for it to work properly.


Thanks!


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## EwigWanderer (Jan 30, 2021)

What about Goodhertz CanOpener-plug-in? There are some reviews that say it’s more accurate than Waves NX.

it’s a bit more expensive. At Sonarworks site there are an article about it and it seems they recommend CanOpener to use with Sonarworks.


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## BassClef (Jan 30, 2021)

Trained music educator and musician here (French Horn) but just a hobbyist composer and only 18 months into VIs. I work in a 12 foot square untreated office, with decent Focal monitors. So I spend a lot of time using headphones to test mixes against my monitors. I happen to have 2 of the headphone models that have correction profiles in the NX plugin, Sennheiser DH 280 Pro and Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro. I have been using the NX Ocean Way for a few days and like it very much. With my limited mixing experience (much to learn) I can find problems in my mix that were covered up by my monitors and headphones without NX. My gut tells me that if I had a great room, the NX would not be as useful. Also, I find the head tracker (using iMac camera rather than NX Bluetooth device) is pretty heavy hitter on my 7 year old pc, so I usually turn that off. It's fun but certainly not important for the end result of developing a clean mix in a good control room.


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## MauroPantin (Jan 30, 2021)

EwigWanderer said:


> What about Goodhertz CanOpener-plug-in? There are some reviews that say it’s more accurate than Waves NX.
> 
> it’s a bit more expensive. At Sonarworks site there are an article about it and it seems they recommend CanOpener to use with Sonarworks.



CanOpener is also good. Basically, what all of these plugins do is add crossfeed to simulate a less "direct" monitoring and solve some of the stereo imaging issues that headphones produce. There are also free alternatives like AMBEO Orbit that do this, but you have to manually set up the stereo image. The extra feature NX (and others) adds is an impulse response taken from a nicely treated room that solves most of the config second guessing. 

I wouldn't really call CanOpener more "accurate" than anything else, I've tried several of these plugins and IMO there's no way to tell how "accurate" Abbey Road 3 or OceanWay or CanOpener or Redline 112db or any other is, unless you sand in the exact same room with your head at the exact same spot the mic was placed when the IR they are using was taken. It just depends on what sounds natural to you. 

A good cue you have stuff set up correctly is that occasionally, for like half a second, you have to take out your headphones because you thought the sound was coming from your speakers instead. If you can fool yourself like that then you know it sounds natural, alright.


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## BassClef (Jan 31, 2021)

Good points Mauro. The thing that made me want to spend $35 on NX Ocean Wave was the interviews with all of the engineers/producers that have worked extensively in that control room... and were amazed. Now in this world of marketing, you never know if interviews like that are biased or even paid for. 

And I have on many occasions forgot that I had head phones on (especially the very comfortable Beyerdynamic DT-880 Pro) and reach for my monitor volume control knob.


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## Consona (Jan 31, 2021)

Man, I'm so accustomed to my headphones and referencing all my mixes to other tracks via them that I don't know whether I want to re-learn all of my perpection. :D

What does that plugin really do? It makes you hear like sitting in a treated room or what?


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## Nate Johnson (Jan 31, 2021)

Consona said:


> Man, I'm so accustomed to my headphones and referencing all my mixes to other tracks via them that I don't know whether I want to re-learn all of my perpection. :D
> 
> What does that plugin really do? It makes you hear like sitting in a treated room or what?


This exactly how I feel. I’m in my cans working AND listening to other music 90% of the time. I still reference my final mixes on monitors, other crappy headphones, iphone speakers and the car. 

Maybe these sort of plugins can help get to where I’m going faster though?

I’m also starting to use ‘AI’ analysis type plugins on the mix/master bus (Izotope) which I can already see will help point me in some better directions too, so...


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## Nate Johnson (Jan 31, 2021)

Nate Johnson said:


> This exactly how I feel. I’m in my cans working AND listening to other music 90% of the time. I still reference my final mixes on monitors, other crappy headphones, iphone speakers and the car.
> 
> Maybe these sort of plugins can help get to where I’m going faster though?
> 
> I’m also starting to use ‘AI’ analysis type plugins on the mix/master bus (Izotope) which I can already see will help point me in some better directions too, so...


Alright, the manual for Nx actually recommends turning off the Headphone eq correction if you’re already familiar with how your headphone mixes sound elsewhere. That makes sense.


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## BassClef (Jan 31, 2021)

Consona said:


> Man, I'm so accustomed to my headphones and referencing all my mixes to other tracks via them that I don't know whether I want to re-learn all of my perpection. :D
> 
> What does that plugin really do? It makes you hear like sitting in a treated room or what?


Exactly... the whole idea is to give you the the sound of sitting in that exact control room listening to those exact, custom built monitors. So that it DOES NOT sound like headphones but like great speakers in a great room. 

So you activate the plugin on your master bus and engineer your mix. Then TURN IT OFF and see how is sounds in your room and with your headphones or other speakers in your home, car, etc. The idea is to have that perfectly treated room to engineer your mix, not worrying about your "crapy" room and the normal (not realistic) sound of headphones. This is just how you would work if you have a really good mixing room/monitor setup in your home. Then HOPEFULLY you have a good mix that translates well to many other listening playback options.


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## peladio (Jan 31, 2021)

EwigWanderer said:


> What about Goodhertz CanOpener-plug-in? There are some reviews that say it’s more accurate than Waves NX.
> 
> it’s a bit more expensive. At Sonarworks site there are an article about it and it seems they recommend CanOpener to use with Sonarworks.


It is an excellent plugin..does one simple thing and works perfectly..I find Sonarworks or Morphit and CanOpener combination miles better for my needs than these gimmick emulations such as this and Slate VSX..


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## Crossroads (Feb 1, 2021)

peladio said:


> It is an excellent plugin..does one simple thing and works perfectly..I find Sonarworks or Morphit and CanOpener combination miles better for my needs than these gimmick emulations such as this and Slate VSX..


I can tell you upfront that if you want actual depth perception on headphones these NX plugins are definitely not gimmicks. It's actually incredible.


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## BVMusic (Feb 8, 2021)

Pretty happy too with the NX Nashville, I can definatley hear my mix into a kind of warm and focused sound environment. Compare your sound on your headphones by switching the NX off. Regarding latency I had no issues using it in Logic Pro X. But better to try it out first extensively in your DAW to see what happens. Another tip is to use a reference track through it to see how it sounds and then compare yours. I use it with my onboard laptop camera too, and besides you have the rotation wheel in the plugin. Also of good use is the measurements that you can enter (see the manual) and the distance from camera etc.. Get the most out of it for better results I guess!


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## BVMusic (Feb 8, 2021)

Crossroads said:


> I can tell you upfront that if you want actual depth perception on headphones these NX plugins are definitely not gimmicks. It's actually incredible.


agreed! 🎧


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## ennbr (Feb 8, 2021)

Has everyone taken the time to add the Ear to Ear and Circumference measurements they have defaults but should be changed for your individual values.


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