Pro's have different stereo image.

I should find some samples, but you prob know what I mean. In pro mixes the vocals are WAY up center like 1 foot above the speakers.. I mean they are up there riding above all in the mix..... Is there some trick with delay or something that is at play, also noticed it with drums and bass, REALLY SHOT right up the middle really thin and tight seem to "COME FROM ABOVE"..... Pan laws, delay, reverbs.. can't figure it out... If you want examples I can find some... ~Rob

i guess this "in-your-face-vocals" are created with the use of compression and eqing. i would avoid using delay or reverb.

I would guess the focussed sound comes from the sense of space around the vocals. It depends on the track of course but what I am imagining is the vocal track being split so that the main vox is processed in one way, possibly eq'd to have plenty of definition and with no or very little reverb, and the other vox signal gets processed to give it a great big sense of space around the vocal. Obviously not so much that you would really hear it, only that you hear the difference if it's not there. Total stab in the dark though The sound you describe probably also has some exciter and imaging FX too. Last but not least, I have been amazed at what some of these guys here can do with Reaper and no fancy tools whatsoever, there's a lot to be said for having good ears and a ship load of experience :)

Its anything but in your face.. layed back but up real high

REALLY great book you should check out (and put on your Christmas list): The Art of Mixing: A Visual Guide to Recording, Engineering, and Production by David Gibson Its a great VISUAL representation of different stereo fields in 3D space for many different gendres. I found my copy at Barnes And Noble, so you may want to look to see if your local bookstore has it... if you look through it, you'll probably drop plastic on it as fast as I did!