I'd placed a preorder for the Saffire PRO 24. I cancelled it when I learned that mere weeks after announcing that product, Focusrite unveiled the the Saffire Pro 24 DSP yesterday. (I coincidentally learned while browsing their site.) What's new? Mainly, aside from two (instead of one) headphone outs, the DSP is used to power effects (and lessen load on your CPU), and most intriguingly, this thing called VRM — Virtual Reference Monitoring.
VRM is advertised to make your headphones sound like speakers in different scenarios. Why would you want to do that? A matter of cost and convenience. Just like guitar amp simulators have provided time travel through a pedigree of famous sounds, there's a lot of home studio owners who don't have the luxury of a variety of environments to test their mixes in. Focusrite claims:
VRM effectively overcomes the major obstacle for mixing with headphones by giving you multiple perspectives on your mix, as if you were listening through speakers. Noise levels from mixing through speakers can make it impossible for most to mix at home, especially late at night. But with VRM you can mix any time, anywhere.
Also related, Redline Monitor, an earlier, simpler approach:
Redline Monitor is a listening, mixing, and mastering tool. It replaces the extreme stereo separation that is characteristic for headphones with the detailed stereo image of near-field monitor speakers.
And I know Audio Ease Speakerphone isn't designed strictly for this purpose as it's aimed (if I can say that — beloved thing is so goshdarned versatile) towards grittier stuff, but it's been a great joy to hear what my mixes might sound like in different spaces. Including through a windy cellphone.
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Mixing and headphones? I can't believe it to be a good thing