Waves Nx makes headphones sound like studio monitors

Waves Nx makes headphones sound like studio monitors

Waves NX is an interesting new plugin from the digital audio plugin company that they say will turn your headphones into sound like the inside of a recording studio control room.

How Waves NX works is that it uses your laptop webcam to track your head movements and then emulates the acoustics accordingly so that you get the same sound you’d get if sitting in front of a pair of actual studio monitors, even though you’re actually using headphones.

This is quite a novel concept and if it was any company other than Waves one could assume it to be a bit of a gimmick. However Waves are one of the top developers of plugins and in theory this is an awesome concept. Studio quality headphones, no matter how good and expensive they are, seldom hit the mark quite like a good pair of nearfield monitors.

Kickstarting Waves NX

They’ve launched a kickstarter campaign to fund the head tracker accessory which is needed for Waves NX to work. It clips onto your headphones, uses Bluetooth and is needed to accurately track your head movements.

Why not just use studio headphones?     

What Waves NX does is deliver the sound in a real-world dimension instead of simply as a flat response into two ear cups. This depth of sound is what is needed to accurately determine placement of sounds in the stereo field and is even more crucial if you using 5.1 or 5.0 surround.

Potential ear fatigue should be limited and they say the sound will still be flat. i.e. no colouring so this is in fact an awesome way to produce anywhere, anytime from your laptop and still feel like you’re in a studio.

Technology… sometimes you just gotta tip your hat and say, YES PLEASE!!!

Check out the Waves NX promo video here…