“First having tested the software it immediately showcased a huge step forward in getting good monitors in a so-so (small) room to improve drastically.
The setup procedure is easy and excellently guided. The measurement process takes some time (a mic stand is highly recommended). Immediately upon finishing and having applied the correction curve, you get a totally new sensation in sound. Clarity, depth, placement, it's like you have bought new monitors. It will take you some time to get your ears to adjust to the corrected sound, but after a few days there is no going back. As a result my mixes now translate to other systems much better and often even perfect.”
“I think the software is a very necessary tool for the studio/home studio. In my case we are talking about a 10 - 15 % improvement in the frecuency response. Even if the studio is a acoustic treated space you will notice the difference when engaging the calibration. The microphone is a very flat mic and the unique ID number that the software takes in account makes it very precise for the measurement. There should be a more detailed/clear guide as to where in all the posibilities and options you should settle, for example the modes; if you are mixing/mastering you probably dont want phase shifting in the low end so you probably should go for the Linear Phase option. The same could be applied to the other modes, in any case it is not hard to navigate, try or listen to the different options until you find the sewwtspot. The lat thing is that i would recommend doing the measurements at least 3 times and not to go with the results of correction right away, listen to a lot of music and tweek all the options until you find the right place, this is a great tool but as many others you should take your time to know it and play with it so the music can be more alive and more fun to interact with,we are working with/making/creating music or some form of art, ¡have fun! c:”
“After finishing up the acoustic treatment, I decided to make the finishing touches with SoundID Reference.
The software was easy to set up. The reference mic felt a little cheap in the hand (it's a $50 mic so it's expected) but ultimately allowed for a proper calibration of the speakers. The difference was subtle but it cleaned up the mids nicely.
The VST is sleek and I will be using it on every major project from now on.
Would I recommend it though?
If you're in a home studio, probably not.
Just get familiar with your room and your speakers.
Reference on as many sets of speakers as possible.
In a larger studio though, probably yeah.”
“In my home studio I thought to have a good sound with no noticeable peaks or dips in the audio response, having used free software for correction.
When I installed the Sonarworks SoundID Reference for studio and headphones trial version and calibrated studio it with my existing microphone, I was amazed at the result. Not only the sound message was more complete, but also with greater resolution.
The response was already quite flat before but with Sonarworks the result on the low frequencies is really good and evident.
With headphones the result is also incredible and there is a lot of different calibration files for a large number of headphones.
Using Sonarworks I can decide whether to use the maximum flat response or keep the phase alignment, and I personally prefer phase alignment in most cases.
This is because after the trial period I decided to buy the software and the calibration mic. The cost is little compared with the big results.
I recommend Sonarworks to everyone, but especially to those who have a small home studio (because we can't afford investments for environmental correction with acoustic treatments), the result drastically changes the use during the post-production phases by applying the plug-in to your DAW or to the mastering SW.”
