Sonarworks is total bullshit !
Signal mapping using EQ LOL

 

@SmokerNzt What is signal mapping?
For me, i just want a good translation. And my tracks before i used SW sounded cool on Headphone, but not that cool when checked on other systems. Its a simple eq, ok. I could possibly take the same curve and apply with Pro-Q , for example. If its work it works. But i‘m totally open to be teached?! I heard of people they refused to use it after some time. ‍♂️

 

Sonarworks they simple capture the curve than create a Presets
if you take simple kick bass
then take the headphone knob inside the head phone to 12 or 1 a clock , listing to that , then put
the fader of each instrument (vsti of kick and bass) to same volume and you ready to go !
12 or 1 a clock do the magic even if you are use bad headphone or even speaker !

 

Mixing the kick and bass together isn't quite as simple as "look at the meters and make them the same volume". Not even close, especially if the instruments are not samples and the bass is an actual player (or even more fun, upright bass). Not to mention maybe you *want* one to be louder than the other for some reason (bass solo, funky slap groove, a bass fill, whatever). And not to mention there's more to low end than kick and bass. Correction software is there to let you know if your guitar is too boomy and needs to have its low end rolled off. Or if your vocals have too much upper mids. If your headphones are making the high mids sound strange (I'm looking at you, my trusty ol' pair of HD280) you have to either learn the weirdness of your headphones well, or use correction. Working on both studio monitors and headphones, I'll gladly take the latter and not have to run back and fix the mix because I made it sound good only in the listening environment I was in at the time.

Also, reference more tracks, everyone, it's as close to bypassing your gear/room anomalies and getting consistently good results as it gets.

 

why dont u just learn headphones u like. play your favorite songs in them. repeat

 

Doesn't work as well as you might think.

 

Greetings, I wanted to post about the Subject of Mixing with Headphones and since it's here maybe I can get some information as well

I recently did a Trance Mix, and the Feedback I got here was more than Fantastic! people here mentioned some key things that I did lack and bought some gear that was discussed here such as the ATH-M50X and also got with it the Focusrite Scarlet to maximize the benefits of the Headphones.

However, I recently done a different Track and was really proud of it when it was done! it sounded Amazing on my Headphones! but as soon as I got the Track played on my TV and other Sound systems it didn't sound exactly as I made it. That made me a bit upset, but after reading about the issue, it's clear that Mixing with Headphones is quite of a Challenge and not as easy as expected.

A lot of Videos,Website,Learning Material...etc Strongly Suggest Mixing with Stereo Monitors is the best way to go since they can give the Best Sound that's basically as Flat as you can get, So in other words when you are mixing your track with the monitors, it will basically sound the same any where you play it at. At least that's what I understood since I'm really just a beginner and not a Master.

So when I dug a bit deep, I found out about Sonarworks and what it dose, I didn't try yet and I'm very eager to. However my question is that when I use it do I have to begin my Track from scratch? I mean for the EQ'ing, Compression, Reverbs....etc since I'm 100% sure it will sound different with a more Flat Headphone adjustment. Thank You,

 

@mox Most people use headphones to edit. To hear small clicks, pops, breath, etc. Mixing decisions are made on stereo monitors because the stereo filed of headphones and monitors are completely different.

For me, it is impossible to make mixing decisions about panning, reverbs, and loudness of a track with my headphones. It never sounds the way I want on my monitors or speakers in general.

Again this has not much to do with the "flatness" of your headphones more with the stereo filed. If you want to experience that stereo difference yourself, try Goodhertz Can Opener (sister site) or waves Abbey Road studio 3. I am really impressed by studio 3. Does it sound like Abbey road? I don't know. Is it better than mixing on good monitors in a treated room? No.
Is it better than mixing on monitors in a bad or untreated room? In my opinion a lot. Is it better than mixin on headphones exclusively? Hell yes.

 

Last edited: Apr 29, 2020

HI, just my 2 cents

I have been using beyerdynamics DT770 for around 6 years now, and with sonarworks for a year or so. I also use HS8 as monitor speakers.
To me sonarworks really was a gamechanger while mixing and composing on headphones (I compose tekno music so the totally non flat response of DT770 in the bass field was a total misleader for years). I also managed to make things sound like I wanted but it was super long and not always worth it. SW really changed the game for me and listening to my old mixes on it just shows me how important it is to have a somehow flat response on your monitoring system. Yes even after 4 years mixing on it.

That said, the MOST IMPORTANT THING is :
Chose a monitoring system (be it headphones or speakers) and stick ot it. I mean for a few years, and listen to a lot of music you like on it. The almost one and only important point on that subject is get used to your system and train you ears with it. At some point your brain will do the work believe me ;)
At that point I would never go for other headphones and fear the day this set will not work anymore

EDIT
I realised I did not answer your question.
Well the answer is all headphones are usable without sonarworks, only you need to train your ears on them like I said before.
You can go for ~200$ headphones and be really fine once you know how they sound.

Happy mixing !

 

Under 500$ no headphone beats the performance and tech specs of the Hifiman Sundara.

 

I really hate Sonarworks. I've mixed on Sennheiser 280 HD Pros for years, figured I'd try Reference out and see "how much better it would actually make my headphones sound". To my surprise, it actually made them sound terrible. The high end suddenly vanished. I literally no longer heard hi-hats or overheads. I expected some changes I would have to get used to, but to actually lose parts of the spectrum was crazy. I also have a pair of 380 HD Pros that I've barely used because of the same reason ... except A/B switching between the two sets of 'phones, I can at least still hear a little bit of the hats and overheads (in my opinion, the 380 HD Pros are really mid-rangy, which probably makes them great for vocalist's headphones or for guitarists). I'll concede that it's possible I could have set something wrong, but I spent a while going over everything, just to make sure I was listening to Reference properly before writing it off. I actually really wanted it to work.

Then, getting rid of Reference, at least on the Mac, is a shit-show. There's probably still bits and pieces of that damn software on my hard drive.

 

280HD Pro (before facelift) here as well. Stock they are terribly pushing the midrange (300-2k). You may find better results decreasing Dry/Wet for less drastic correction at first. The software made me realize how colored 280s really are, and sure enough comparing with my monitors they do push that midrange a lot. I pretty much always have the software on when using headphones and found it helped me a lot to get things more balanced and comparable to the work I do on monitors. It's also really helpful when mastering (and referencing other tracks) to not have pushy midrange cloud up your perception of tonal balance. I'd say give it a shot for 2-3 mixes (resisting the urge to completely switch it off) and then compare to your work previously. Use different listening environments, too - you might be surprised.

 

sennheiser he1 best in the market

 

HD650

This is flattest you'll get with headphones.




Even Sonarworks people admit that it's the flattest they tested (though still not completely flat as you can see in the photo above) : https://www.sonarworks.com/blog/reviews/sennheiser-hd650-review/#pros

 

@Zer0Mark what the hell is the dislike in @Iggy's post for???

 

That's probably because the HD 280 Pro have a serious spike at ~ 7kHz which was flattened.

This.

 

AKG K 371

 

I still don't get why the people are obsessed with the software Sonarwalks. I have never used it.

BTW, i'm using the headphones AKG K 271. I freaking love them. When i get an oppurtunity, i might get AKG K 712.

 

Well, I was veeery curious to test it because of the feedback, but mostly because it works system-wide, has an easy dry-wet controller and adjustable phase/latency.
The correcting curves were useful, but I found it too exaggerating for my taste and therefore I applied them to a much smaller amount in my soundcard driver.

 

My 280's are fine (non-Reference), it's the 380's that sound ultra-midrange-y and sort of drop the high end. And I usually base that stuff on professional mixes that I know well, not my own stuff. If anything, I'd say my 280's might be a little bottom-heavy, but not overly so. I do get what you're saying, though; I never tried a dry/wet tweak. I think I was just too appalled at how much the Reference filters wiped out my high end.

Like I said above, I was going by professional mixes, not my own stuff, where a sudden loss of all high end might make me go "Well, I fucked that mix up!" When I say the hats and overheads suddenly disappeared (on an AC/DC track), it's not hyperbole; they disappeared. I had to check my monitors to make sure my 'phones weren't suddenly broken, or that a connection hadn't fouled up. Again, like you guys said, it's a matter of tweaking the dry/wet controls to taste. But I probably won't push my luck.

Yeah, these are on my wishlist for sure.