Josie, some better answers to your questions from the Focusrite FAQ:

Which headphones was VRM designed to work with?

We used the Sennheiser HD 280/HD 650, Beyerdynamic DT 100, Beyerdynamic 770 and the PROline 650s to test VRM with, though during development the concept was tested on a wide variety of headphones of different designs (e.g. open and closed) and of varying cost and quality.
Obviously the better the headphones in terms of frequency response, the more the individual speaker's qualities will be discernible. However, the VRM system was not designed with one specific model of headphones in mind.

When considering headphone impedance, the general principle is that higher impedance headphones typically have a flatter frequency response, however they require more power from the headphone amplifier to provide the same output level as headphones with a lower impedance. Having said this, the VRM Box's headphone amplifier should be powerful enough to drive higher impedance headphones at a high enough level for most purposes.
2011-03-24 Views: 2721


How does the VRM Box work with my existing audio interface?

1. Using the USB cable provided, connect the VRM Box to the USB port of your computer
2. Connect the S/PDIF output on your audio interface into the VRM Box S/PDIF input
3. In your audio interface’s control panel, ensure that audio is sent to the S/PDIF output of your audio interface
4. With the volume control turned down, connect your headphones to VRM Box
5. Open the VRM software, check the icon in the bottom right corner of the VRM software that the VRM Box has locked to the S/PDIF signal
6. Start playing audio from your DAW software or any media player
7. Turn up the volume control on the VRM Box until you have the required level in your headphones
2011-01-12 Views: 4598


What latency is added to the audio by VRM processing?

The VRM Box processing takes place at a driver level on your computer. This process incurs a 64 sample latency (about 1ms). The VRM processing also uses a certain amount of CPU resources.
The VRM Box driver will also add additional latency. This latency will depend on how you use the VRM Box:

When using the VRM Box as your audio interface in your DAW, the latency you experience will be dependant on the audio buffer size you set in your DAW, and in most DAWs the actual latency figure is displayed in the preferences. If the audio buffer size is set to less than 64 samples, then the VRM processing does not have enough time to do the processing and no audio will pass. VRM CPU requirements are much higher when the audio buffer size is set too low, so it is recommended that a buffer size of 512 samples (Mac) or 10ms (Windows) should give the best starting point.

When using the S/PDIF input (receiving audio from another audio interface), the latency figure will be dependant on the audio buffer size you set in your DAW for that interface, PLUS additional latency from the VRM Box. In this case, there will be latency incurred from the transfer of S/PDIF audio sent from the VRM Box via USB using the VRM audio driver, through the VRM processing, then back to the VRM Box. The total round trip latency is likely to be in the region of 20ms (depending on computer specs)
2011-01-12 Views: 2639


Does the VRM box have DSP or does it use my host processor?

The VRM box uses the processing power of your host CPU to process the VRM. To see how much of your CPU the the VRM Daemon is using, you should check the 'Activity Monitor' on your computer.
2011-01-12 Views: 2227

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.