Setup and Use of Sonarworks SoundID Reference

In less than 20 minutes you can calibrate your existing studio speakers with Sonarworks SoundID Reference which is a speaker and headphone calibration software. Using SoundID Reference will allow you to calibrate your speakers with a measurement microphone. If you rely on headphones, there are already 280 headphone calibration profiles ready for you to start mixing with a Reference target!

In this video I'll show you how to use Sonarworks SoundID Reference and the results the program was able to deliver.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:46 Unboxing Sonarworks SoundID Reference
02:52 Sonarworks SoundID Reference Setup
08:39 Sonarworks SoundID Reference Results
13:10 Sonarworks SoundID Reference Modeling
14:11 Sonarworks SoundID Reference Headphone Modeling Audio-Technica ATH-M50x
15:19 Using SoundID inside a DAW
17:14 Conclusion

[robendj]

Love this, wish though you'd add 'club' environments to the translation check. It would be such a useful addition.

[TytyVideos]

Drew, thanks a bunch for posting this as I found this on B&H after learning how a fellow sound tech I work with does their speaker (and mic) EQ tuning with a microphone just like this, but both the mic and software used are the more expensive variant and using white noise as their source audio. I would love to see from you how to apply the calculated calibration from the software into the main output EQ of an X/M32 mixer whether that's on the stereo bus EQ or the matrix bus (of course it will depend on which of the two buses is connected to the amplifier in the XLR out tab). Your videos have been amazing and very helpful. Thanks for all that you do! 🙂

[MrGaryJ]

Thanks…I found this very helpful and now have confidence to proceed with set up and use of this software.

[robertwagner]

Hey Drew!
Nice Video! I use the same Mic for EQing my X32 MainMix with REW and calculate the EQ settings in REW. I just have to apply the settings then on my X32. Cool feature in my opinion and the results are enormously. Can you do a video about that? I think that would be a great improvement for many users and needs only a small budget.
Greets from Munich in Germany!

[Radar]

I noticed you needed a lot of input gain when setting up the mic.. I had increase the gain almost to maximum on my UA Volt4 preamp input.. I did also increase the monitor volume to compensate, as I wasn't sure if full gain was ideal.. My calibration seems to have gone well and the speakers I set up sound way less boomy and more balanced.. Guess it works?!?

[hoseacreative]

What a dream it would be to have something like this for a live environment where you don’t have to be a qualified scientist to work it out! If there’s any way to use this live please let me know.

[ForSynthsSake]

how do i ensure that the microphone signal cannot be heard through the speakers? Doesn't the audi need to be on and mic gain up to do the test?

[snapascrew]

Just to confirm, the desktop app will allow everything one does on the computer to go through the correction eq? YouTube, DAW, iTunes, everything right?

[SiQuemaCuhh]

Drew how would you be able to make the audio from an X32 go to a DAW with sonar works then return to the out of the X32 to the room?

[rciancia]

Drew - can you do a video on setting up the X32 for use with a Roldan VAD Drum Set... Mostly EQ settings

[yamansitar]

Hi, iv got sonarworks , I have a question, I have a SSL6 mixing desk which will be in my mixing chain, when I’m setting up my speakers to sonarworks to calibrate should I plug my mic in to the mixing desk then from the desks to the soundcard. Or should I plug the mic straight into the sound card or interface , thanks

[xaronwhite]

Does anybody know if its better to enable or disable the safe headroom function when mixing?

[EmoceanUK]

How do i use this with auto volume speakers

[OldGreyMulletTest]

Sorry, but how can your true listening position be in the middle of your desk? I might have missed something obvious but am a bit confused...

[Bass_Nomad.]

i am a big fan of devine 4000 headphones, but unfortunately thats not supported.

[silkroad]

Does anyone know how to use the software when you're using an analog console?
I need the plugin on all the tracks, but I can't put it on mono tracks
(master fader doesn't work because my desk is my master fader)

[johniebeats]

@Drew Brashler BrHello can you make a video using room eq

[jonc]

Odd question but something I've been thinking about lately. With the advent of AI and the inevitable AI music generation thats coming, do we really need an acoustic treated room/accurate listening for mixing/mastering? If AI can spit out a fully rendered/mixed and mastered song ( not talking about AI mastering tools, but that is also a concern ) then what's the point of spending money on this software and acoustic treatment?