Surround mixing on headphones just got serious with OLLO Audio’s S5X€539, olloaudio.com
OLLO Audio is an independent developer of pro audio-focused headphones based in Slovenia. Its latest release is the S5X, a set of analogue, wired headphones boasting clever design and additional software to help you accurately judge surround mixes while listening in stereo.

READ MORE: Universal Audio’s SC-1 and Hemisphere eight-mics-in-one are tempting additions to any studio’s mic collection

To be clear, while surround headphones do exist, the S5X are not the same. Rather they are “tuned for accurate object positioning in virtualised 3D audio”, according to OLLO. But what does that mean in practice, and can they be used for regular stereo mixing?
Before we get to that, a word on the build. The headphones are beautifully constructed in a combination of wood, metal and plastic. They’re an open-backed design with detachable plugs that terminate in a 3.5mm jack, and a 6.3mm adapter is supplied too.
The ear pads are soft, comfortable and replaceable, should they eventually start to wear out. The headband is, of course, adjustable and the phones feel light when worn, comfortable for the invariably long periods of mixing for which they’ll be employed.
OLLO S5X headphones on desk
You can just plug in and go but OLLO’s whole thing here is the idea of calibration. The headphones are designed to be as flat and neutral as possible to give the most accurate picture of a surround mix when downmixed into binaural (stereo) format. The thinking is that most surround content for games, movies and other applications is in reality experienced on stereo headphones rather than elaborate home cinema systems and as such it’s vital to mix it accordingly.
OLLO takes the idea of calibration very seriously indeed. To demonstrate just how seriously, part of your purchase is the company’s USC (unit specific calibration) plugin which you can download after registering. Then you send them the serial number of your headphones and based on their records of the build and analysis of your specific pair, they generate a calibration file which is emailed back to you. You then load this into the USC plugin, which you insert across the master bus in your DAW, and it calibrates the output for your personal pair of cans. The plugin itself is simple, with on/off and gain controls as well as the ability to hold up to eight configurations, should you own more than one pair.
The company is at pains to point out that this isn’t some kind of enhancement, which some other ‘personalisation’ systems use to magically make everything sound punchier. Nor is it they say for audiophiles expecting a similar result. Instead, it’s a very subtle 0.5 – 1dB change in tolerance where required. Since the headphones are already tuned to be as flat as possible, it’s making very minor tweaks based on the physics of your specific pair. It also works with the Waves NX plugin (for virtual room emulation for headphones), though our experience of trying to get Waves’ own software to authorise properly was frustrating to put it mildly.
So what’s happening here is that when working with a surround project the output from your DAW is being downmixed to binaural format for monitoring in stereo, and passed through the USC plugin to best calibrate it for your headphones. This does of course mean turning the plugin off before doing any actual exporting, or it would be included in the bounces. Most modern DAWs provide at least a few options here, like Logic’s Dolby Atmos with its multiple binaural monitoring modes.
OLLO S5X headphones USC plugin
If any of this sounds like a foreign language, it’s likely that this particular model of headphone is not aimed at your workflow. OLLO points towards its S4X model (€449) as a more conventional mixing tool, with a more mid-focused tuning. The S5X is tuned to have less bass and more high-end presence, which the developers say based on extensive testing offers the most accurate results for object positioning in 3D space.
As such, you would lean towards the S4X for more conventional stereo mixing duties. The S5X however is quite remarkable when fed downmixed surround content. Unless you’re a seasoned pro, it still feels a bit like magic being able to move sounds around in three dimensions and have this translated live to a stereo pair of headphones. But they are indeed extremely accurate, their flat response coping very well with the complexities of working in three dimensions.
When listening to regular stereo mixes they are too upper-mid-heavy and lacking bass but this is precisely because they are tuned for a different use. A good test – and a way to gauge their surround performance on a ready-made source – is to play back an album that has been properly mixed for Dolby Atmos, for example, and where the work has already been done.
We try the 2017 mix of R.E.M’s Automatic For The People since we’re intimately familiar with the original and the results are amazing. The talent lies with the people who mixed it of course, but the S5X does an incredible job of revealing all the detail, much of which isn’t even apparent in the original stereo mixes. Whole melodies appear and there’s just an incredible sense of space that elevates the record to new heights.
OLLO S5X headphones on desk
That’s where you’d hope to end up when mixing your own projects for spatial or surround and, with these carefully-tuned dynamic headphones, you can be assured that the monitoring side of things is taken care of. The goal is accurate translation of what’s on the surround speakers into your binaural mix in real time and on that front they certainly deliver. The sound is incredibly detailed, and separation is spectacular.
You may or may not be the type of user who cares deeply about the fine-grained calibration that the USC plugin offers. Either is fine, honestly. And you can use these without it, though it’s part of the purchase price anyway. While most serious reference phones will do a good job of handling a downmixed surround signal for mixing purposes, the specialised flat tuning on offer here really makes a difference and will be invaluable if you’re doing this kind of work with any regularity. OLLO does offer a 30-day money back guarantee with a few caveats, although you’re not likely to need it.
Key features

Reference class, open-back dynamic headphones with flat frequency response
Hand-picked, left/right matched transducers for better instrument separation
Dynamic Neodymium drivers
30 Ohms
Replaceable earpads with outer diameter of 95 mm
Detachable braided silicone cable with OFC core
Specially tuned for handling downmixed surround audio
USC calibration plugin (AU / VST3)
All components user-replaceable
Front-to-back air pressure equalisation
Works with Waves NX

The post Surround mixing on headphones just got serious with OLLO Audio’s S5X appeared first on MusicTech.

Taylor Swift is now “bigger than jazz” in 2023, streaming data revealsPop mega-star Taylor Swift would officially be “bigger than jazz” if her music was considered as its own genre, data reveals.
Swift’s popularity has risen exponentially in recent years, which has been captured by her iconic Eras tour. Throughout the global stint, which continues in 2024, Swift plays music from each album era of her successful music career so far.

READ MORE: “We couldn’t figure out what to do with it”: Meduza nearly scrapped hit track Piece Of Your Heart

According to new data from Luminate, as reported by Billboard, Swift had reached 15.92 million in album consumption units as of 16 November. Her industry market share at this point was 1.66 per cent – with just six weeks left in the year.
If Swift was her own genre, she’d rank at No. 9 based on the data provided to Billboard, which documents market shares of genres such as R&B/hip-hop, rock, pop and more. Her position falls between Christian/gospel’s 1.76 per cent market share and children’s music’s 1.12 percent. “In 2023, Taylor Swift is bigger than jazz,” the outlet says.
In October, it was reported that major labels were seemingly “overhauling contracts” for newly signed artists, with some restricting their musicians from re-recording their music no earlier than 10 years or more after leaving their label.
The new limits appeared to have been implemented following the success of Swift’s re-recorded albums, which she released as Taylor’s Version cuts. The Anti-Hero singer decided to remake her old music to regain full ownership of her catalogue.
Swift’s Midnights album became the first record to sell better on vinyl than on CD in 35 years back in 2022. She was also named as Apple Music’s Artist Of The Year for 2023, with the brand describing her as a “generation-defining artist.”
View all 2024 live dates for the Eras tour via the official Taylor Swift website.
The post Taylor Swift is now “bigger than jazz” in 2023, streaming data reveals appeared first on MusicTech.

2024 Music Industry Predictions from Maykel Piron of Armada MusicMaykel Piron, co-founder and CEO of Armada Music, shares reflections on the last year and predictions for 2024. Between now and the end of the year, Hypebot will be publishing a. Continue reading
The post 2024 Music Industry Predictions from Maykel Piron of Armada Music appeared first on Hypebot.

Output Releases FREE AI-Powered Sample Pack Generator
Output released Pack Generator, a free AI-based sound generator that lets users create royalty-free sample packs using text prompts. It’s no secret that AI tools for music production aren’t as advanced as their counterparts for generating images, videos, and text. However, AI music generators and similar audio tools are catching up, and the latest one [...]
View post: Output Releases FREE AI-Powered Sample Pack Generator

Helicity Space raises $5M to unlock fusion propulsion – and fast travel in deep spaceHelicity Space has closed a $5 million seed funding to accelerate development of a technology that could finally unlock fast, efficient travel in deep space. That technology is fusion propulsion, which has long been the domain of science fiction. The startup says that they have discovered a way to use plasma jets for fusion reaction. […]
© 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

🆕 Hey there! We are facing the PublMe platform updates for data storage, monetization, etc. and after this we'll be ready to restart the uploads to the community Music Store: https://explore.publme.com/ 🎶

‘Animate Anyone’ heralds the approach of full-motion deepfakesAs if still-image deepfakes aren’t bad enough, we may soon have to contend with generated videos of anyone who dares to put a photo of themselves online: with Animate Anyone, bad actors can puppeteer people better than ever. The new generative video technique was developed by researchers at Alibaba Group’s Institute for Intelligent Computing. It’s […]
© 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

AllMusic's Best of 2023Each year at AllMusic, our editors look back through the albums that made the biggest impact, broke new ground, and just all-out moved us. We begin with our overall best-of list, and will explore a different genre each weekday until the new year. These are our 100 favorite albums of 2023.

Audio Modeling partner with GPU Audio Audio Modeling have announced a partnership that will see their SWAM instrument line-up gain support for GPU Audio’s graphics card-powered processing technology.

How This Record Label Sells More Vinyl Than StreamsThis week, Ari is joined by Terry Cole, owner and operator of Colemine Records and Plaid Room Records.

Get Up To 80% Off SoundToys Plugins During The Black Friday Sale
Up until the 1st of December, you can get your hands on the mighty Soundtoys‘ catalog of plugins at highly discounted prices on PluginBoutique. Some of them are discounted up to 80% off during the SoundToys Black Friday Sale, starting from $29 to $49 for single plugins. Alternatively, if you want to go ‘all in,’ [...]
View post: Get Up To 80% Off SoundToys Plugins During The Black Friday Sale

Tokyo Dawn Labs unveil Special Filters bundle Tokyo Dawn Labs' latest plug-ins offer specialist solutions for situations where traditional EQ processors may fall short.

How many music genres are there? [Bobby Owsinski]How many music genres are there? Hint: A LOT more than you think… by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 One of the things that’s particularly hard for artists and bands. Continue reading
The post How many music genres are there? [Bobby Owsinski] appeared first on Hypebot.

The effect of Beyoncé’s Homecoming on the Dance Music GenreBeyoncé’s RENAISSANCE may have caused controversy at the Grammys, but its positive impact on the career of seasoned dance musicians like Honey Dijon and Big Freedia is undeniable. by Harry Levin from. Continue reading
The post The effect of Beyoncé’s Homecoming on the Dance Music Genre appeared first on Hypebot.

How to organize and revisit your ‘leftover’ music projects
From bouncing demos to revisiting your folder structures, let's explore a few techniques for making the best use of your 'leftover' project files.