Calibration Target Modes in SoundID Reference

[@DavidFlow]

Just dropping by to pay my respect to Sound ID Reference , the virtual monitoring add on is a game changer for me, it save me countless hours of mixing ,especially balancing work which is very tricky and complicated, thank you very much for making my mixing and mastering work so so so much reliable and secure...First time that i feel completely confident on headphones.. im in love of this 😍

[@SoundIDCreators]

Hello David, Thank you for the great feedback! We are happy to hear that the Virtual Monitoring add-on is suiting your workflow! It is indeed a game changer and there will be more updates and innovations along the way! Have a great day. 😎

[@dynoprod.]

Is something new to Sound ID reference coming up ? ... 🤩

[@MattZildjian]

So for speaker calibration when selecting "Flat - SR" option, we arent actually getting flat but a hidden curve? It would be nice to know exactly what SoundID is doing when selecting the "Flat - SR" option, I've always found this setting to be incredibly thin and harshly bright. I have been trying to use the custom EQ to recreate the Harmon Target, however I'm now not sure if I am putting a curve on top of another hidden curve? If I want to use the Harmon Target Curve how would I do it? Please let me know about this.

[@SoundIDCreators]

Hello, Thank you for reaching out! You can learn more about the FLAT target in our online blog, simply search for SoundID Reference SR whitepaper: www.sonarworks.com/blog/research/white-paper Here you will find anything that might concern with the flat target itself. I hope this helps!

[@MattZildjian]

@@SoundIDCreators Thanks, I had a look, but I still can't find what the "SR" option is truly doing. It is labelled as flat but it can't be truly flat as the description says it's "based on neutral speakers in a treated room". So what exactly is it targetting? Why is it hidden? How can I target my own curve and bypass the hidden SR curve? Thanks!

[@SoundIDCreators]

Hello, Thank you for the review! "Based on neutral speakers in a treated room" is a standard that our technology follows. This is explained more in-depth in the previously mentioned article. You can find the accurate representation of the frequency response within SoundID Reference by toggling the main Frequency Response Window curve to display Simulated after (available at the drop-down menu above the primary window) which will precisely show you the output curve for your particular calibration profile. To see what is being applied to make the frequency response flat, you can also enable Before and Calibration curves to be seen, but this might be overwhelming so I'd leave it only to Simulated after when creating or adjusting Custom Calibration. As per the Headphone profiles, the accuracy may vary between the Individually calibrated headphones that guarantee precision of ±0.9dB across the frequency spectrum. However, the readily available AVG profiles in SoundID Reference are ±3dB accurate. I hope this helps!

[@MattZildjian]

​@@SoundIDCreators The articles explain the reasoning and philosophy behind the flat target, but never show what that target looks like. Enabling simulated after just shows the same perfect flat line that the target line does when selecting the "SR" mode. This cannot be accurate as a perfectly flat line is not what a speaker does in a room. I am still unable to tell exactly what "SR" is truly targetting. I'm not so keen on there being a hidden curve that the user cannot see. Please consider a fully manual mode / expert mode where nothing is hidden and the user has full control. Furthermore I am still unsure how I would go about setting up a harmon target in SoundID, can you help?

[@SoundIDCreators]

Hello, Thank you for the reply! It is not a hidden curve and SoundID Reference Simulated after line does show what is the actual output frequency response. The output is close to matching the 0dB target across the entire spectrum which is the aim of the SoundID Reference software. As stated previously, use this curve to adjust it to your liking as it will provide the most accurate visualization of the output itself. Hope this helps!