Or is the problem my ears? I used the preset for my new Samson SR 850 cheapo headphones....I imagine there will be a lot out there. Didn't sound very good to me. Mids sounded overdone and a loss of top end. I then tried the preset for the superlux 668b which is supposedly similar as is the superlux HD681B which I also tried. The graphs at the high and low ends look the same. Both of these sounded to my ears, battered by years of gigging rock, much better by far. I know I can't expect too much with non-calibrated headphones. Can anyone confirm that this correction curve sounds ok? If it is i will have to make up a correction curve for my ears as well as the headphones. cheers to all

 

I do not know, try Morphit.
https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_morphit_v1.html

 

I only have the V.R version but I had the same Problem, Somehow the Systemwide was working even it was shut off. I had to deinstall it and now it works fine (only with the plugin). But then I tried it with Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 and it sounded weird again. On other Instruments it worked great. The correction on Studiomonitors sounded right!

 

No offense but you use ~30 bucks headphones. I bet the quality controll is not very good if there is even one at all. If you compare 2 SR 850 the chances are high you hear a bigger difference between the two than your 850 compared with/ with out the currection curve.

I know this cause i got a bunch of chepo superlux here for "live rehersals with a band". Same Models. Great Headphones for the prize, but every single one sounds noticible different

So I would say, yes sonarworks can be trusted. But can you trust your headphones?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Feb 25, 2018

Did you buy their mic or use a generic for your monitors?

 

That´s a BAD solution - basically because it´s not working at all!

 

Took the chance to test it with my old AKG K271 MKII headphones (which I never use nowadays & hate, they sound so nasal), but oh boy, Sonarworks was a very pleasant surprise. It really reminded me of the sound I get from my monitors (which I trust a lot) and semi-treated room, so I'm satisfied atm. I haven't used the plugin at all, only the systemwide app and it's working great so far.

 

It introduces more problems than it solves. You are used to how tracks sound on your HP, changing the EQ response wont solve most problems , you would have to listen to music trough sonarworks for weeks to get re-adjusted.
And even then...depends....personally i dont use it.
Good neutral headphones have better drivers, better transient impulse response, so you can adjust your compressors more accurately, better instrument separation, depth, width and top and bottom.
The solution is to get good quality neutral headphones and two or three pairs of monitors. (good ones and cheap ones).
Use the cheap hp when a/b-ing mixes, not as your main mixing tool.

 

I'm a tad unclear about the software myself. When using Systemwide, my Audio Technica M50X headphones sound ok. When I use the plugin within a DAW, it seems to sound different to the Systemwide and more dampened or muffled somehow, even using the same average M50X ESQ curve. I am currently still persisting to try and work out whether it is worth using or not...

 

I just have taken a look of Sonarwork plugin and Morphit....And woww! with Sonarworks my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro sounds so nasal,the frequencies around 1K-3K are too boosted for me,really not pleasant at the first listen! And it sounds different from my Adam A7X monitors.With Tone Boosters Morphit the correction applied is smoother than the Sonarworks one.I prefer the Morphit on my headphones.
I wanted to try a correction system because when I mix with my DT990 my mixes are too dark after listening them with my monitors.
But I still don't have found a great solution.I'll try to work with these 2 plugins again and see.

EDIT: I don't have calibrated my monitors with Sonarworks.And the acoustic of my room is not good.

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2018

I have just tried morphit and it is a lot better to listen to with the setting for my sr850's. I have only just bought these headphones so I thought it wise to get used to how they sound if they are giving a better representation of whats going through them,

I'm afraid the expensive solutions are out of the question due to reasons of poverty, but thanks for taking the time to reply

 

I'm a Sonarworks user for my Sennheiser HD-650 but with individual calibration, which you really need because the differences with the normal profiles are huge. At least a few db's. To answer the question, it can definitely be trusted but ear training / development and also using good monitors (I have Adam for example) is also important to put things in perspective. Same with visual analyzers. And of course, you need to get used to it first. I was also sceptical in the beginning but not anymore since the individual calibration. That's my opinion.

 

I read on an other site that Sonarworks said them standard calibration resolved the most of headphones problems . But indeed Sonarworks said that individual calibration improve from 5% to 15% the correction.

I don't know if the most non linear frequency response problems on headphones are voluntary by the manufacturers are not.
If they are voluntary,the manufacturers have a reason to do that.
And is it judicious to try to fix all the imperfections?

I think like DMusic,hours of ear training are essential.
I don't use a lot my headphones,95% of time I mix with my monitors.
Maybe I need more to learn to mix with my headphones problems than Sonarworks.

DMusic,have you the same listen or very close between your headphones and your monitors?

 

I don't trust these types of plugins for two reasons.
First, I have listened to all of my favorites by my headphones without any modification, and that sound has been internalized in my head.
Second, all you need to do for mixing is checking your mix against a reference, and you should make it close to the reference. That's it!

 

I am using Samson SR850 and I loved it. I dont need any correction, my mixes translate well in studios and big systems too

 

It's a different approach I guess, I don't have sub or bass speakers on the floor for example so calibrated headphones can help with that (frequency range is wider). For clarity, both. For raw adjustments or work during the day, monitors. For detailed adjustments or working at night, headphones (for example: sometimes you don't hear if a sound or sample 'pops' at the end on speakers).

The headphone curve is flat btw while the standard profiles aren't. So the difference is very noticable in the mid range and high end. I wouldn't advice someone who's still in his or her 'training ears' period to get used to the standard calibration. I did in the beginning so when I started to use my new monitors and individual calibration it resulted in lots of mixing adjustments in the projects I did before. Now I can say it helped me to train my ears the right way.

 

And here they are! ​

 

"Can Sonarworks ref 4 be trusted?"

I would say, yes .

 

Last edited: Sep 25, 2018