Does Sonarworks REALLY Work?

Making your space sound good can be difficult. We've discussed acoustical treatment and where to place panels, but there are other techniques you can use to setup your space. Utilizing custom room correction software, like Sonarworks, you can create audio that is tailored to your space using your speakers or headphones.

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[cozy-coding]

I would have liked if you went more in depth about the benefits and drawbacks of sonarworks for headphones. Some of us don't have an appropriate space or are on the go constantly. I'd love to see a video diving into this!

[kencreten]

Along with your excellent descriptions of what is important in frequency/room response. I would like to add idea of close monitoring's role in reducing room reflections. I sit less than 3 ft from my monitors. I happen to have Neumann KH80s, with a good sub. The playback is amazing. But sitting closer to the speakers allows a listener to turn down the output of the speaker and get the same level at the listening position. This, of course, does not fix room response problems, but reduces the overall audio input into the room, by simply reducing the overall level of the system.

[curtes]

Buddy, you - hands down, have the most informative channel I've come across on YouTube! I've learned so many things from it, that would have taken me years to learn. You cover everything and then some on audio electronics imaginable. Keep up the good work my friend, and thank you for keeping it real!

[DanLiveOnUTube]

It’s a bandaid as you said. But if it can give a close approximation to a flat response at the “listening” spot. It serves its purpose. I don’t think it promises anything more than that.

[soundstorm]

I just bought it used. Mainly to get a good picture of what’s happening in my room. It’s already treated but this will help me dial in the last of the treatment. I know I have some buildup in the 100-200 area.

[robbehr]

I'm always concerned about "flutter echos" from corners. However, I don't see many people using corner treatments, especially between walls and ceiling. Does it not usually end up a significant factor or is some flutter considered good ambiance?

[marshee-]

I purchased sonarworks a long time ago,
My main problem with it is, that it is solely taken on the listening position, and most people move around when mixing, leaning into their monitors at times, secondly I just didn’t like what it done to the low end, and when I used sonarworks my mixes didn’t sound right .
I’m not saying it’s no good, as I do occasionally use it on my headphones - but I’d rather get to know my room and monitors inside out, rather than that.
Besides, I listen to music every day on my monitors - so it makes sense to leave them alone . Just my thoughts

[venturousv]

So, does any of this matter if you mix using headphones? I don’t have the space for a dedicated mixing room setup and was thinking of getting a set of headphones that is supported by this.

[donepearce]

Sonarworks does not correct a room. It corrects speakers. If you have a bad room, you have to fix the room. It measures 37 locations in the room in order to gather the data in needs to cancel out room variations in its measurement. It works, and it is brilliant.

[nantschev]

Getting mine today. Curious how it will work

[ryanogorman]

Great videos, you have a great speaking voice and I like that you are just providing concise info... no chit chat

[samuelbanstan]

Just wondering, would it be possible to do your own version of sonar works to accomplish a similar result? Like would it be possible to run a tone generator with a super wide frequency sweep, record it from ideal listening spot, then apply a match eq with the original sound from the tone generator sweep as the side chain input? I’m probably missing something, but I’m curious

[InnerHacking]

With a video title like this I was expecting more information about how this works with headphones, but there was none.
Here goes my take: I have the Beyrdynamic DT770 Pro headphones and if you buy another one of these the frequency response is not exactly the same as on their website they say each one of these headphones are built manually, which already introduces fluctuancy, even more so when for sure it's not always the same person building all of these headphones.
These programs are to be used as guides and when I use Sonarworks with my headphones I never set it to 100% wet signal but between 50 to 60% tops. Another thing I noticed is the version 4 of Sonarworks at 50% wet signal is different than version 5 of Sonarworks at the same 50%, using the same heaphone profile.
There's a lot of room for ambiguity here. And ofc you can adapt your ears overtime to using it at 100% wet (as I see many people recommending this) but how is that any different than adapting your ears to a bad mix or unnoticed ear fatigue? Furthermore using Sonarworks at 100% wet means you're mixing with a flat dead headphone and there is no such thing as a flat dead headphone or earbuds, when the majority of people are listening to music on cheap basic earbuds or headphones with a lot of bass and treble.
All of this is relative because there is a broad band of frequencies that just sound perfectly good within a mix, and if this happens with headphones then the difference in perceiving what sounds good in a room is even broader. My ultimate take is, if it sounds good, it sounds good. No need to be so meticulous, it's just a waste of time.

[zlClutchy]

I literally had this idea years ago using pink noise and a feedback loop to get a perfect tune, like a custom fingerprint for the room's acoustics.

[avia]

Hi have you used smaart software? I like to see a video and see how it works with live reading.

[A.JayWeber]

You could be my hero with Sonarworks. MAN they have SoundID Reverence 4. SoundID Reference the plugin. (which is also in my logic plugins with Reference 4 plugin) Two plugins that do the same thing with the same interface. Except R4 says my Activation key isn't valid. Then Sonarworks is on my mac tool bar as well as Sonarworks system wide. I wish Sonarworks had an in depth youtube channel. Exploring every version and aspect of their software.

[himham]

My understanding is that the Trinnov systems, ie Nova and ST2 do correct for phase, is thus true?

[jonankwikiriza]

Hello am sorry to bring this under here but I wanted you to help me on the budget of media for the church. What is required to start up media en the costs. Thanks 🙏🙏

[michaelgabrielolivas]

Hi what is the best qudio mix for WZ3 S1 Update

[iandeegrees]

Is SW also considering the reverberation?