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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Sonarworks Configuration Process (KZbin Video): • SONARWORKS REFERENCE 4...
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[@matfoster5938]

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!

[@AudioUniversity]

Great idea! I was so focused on showing the LIMITATIONS of corrective EQ that I kinda skimmed over the actual BENEFITS of using corrective EQ. I'm currently planning a video about mixing in headphones - I'll go into more depth on this topic in that video! Thanks for watching.

[@Elriri]

Headphones focus would be great!

[@tk-kg3oj]

@@AudioUniversity+1 for a headphone video, would be great if you could touch on room emulation or cross feed plugins I.e GHz CanOpener and how necessary they are.

[@nunolance23]

​@@AudioUniversityplease do make a video on mixing with headphones!

[@curtes347]

Buddy, you - hands down, have the most informative channel I've come across on KZbin! 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!

[@AudioUniversity]

Thanks! Very glad to hear this.

[@kencreten7308]

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.

[@soundstorm9508]

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.

[@ryanogorman1980]

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

[@AudioUniversity]

Thanks!

[@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.

[@KirtanFi]

Great video as always - thank you

[@AudioUniversity]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.

[@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.

[@LEGOBubuS]

Very well summarized! 😊❤🎉

[@jamescave7102]

Great video always !!!

[@AudioUniversity]

Appreciate that! Thanks for watching!

[@marshee-5425]

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

[@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.

[@hi1mham]

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

[@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.

[@avia4281]

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

[@venturous1v]

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.

[@Digalog]

Nice. Apps looks much better than Genelec GLM as well.

[@iandeegrees1509]

Is SW also considering the reverberation?

[@BojanBojovic]

I have a problematic room with over 15db at some points, so ARC and REW were always able to fix this properly. Sure, not an ideal solution, but in my case a solution. Sonarworks is much more complex and time consuming, but not able to make it flat the way REW and ARC do. I tried it multiple times, but it simply does not work very well.

[@jonankwikiriza2123]

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 🙏🙏

[@robbehr8806]

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?

[@AudioUniversity]

Thanks for the Super Thanks! Flutter echo is usually treated with absorption. It can occur between parallel walls, so placing absorptive panels helps absorb those echos faster.

[@michaelgabrielolivas]

Hi what is the best qudio mix for WZ3 S1 Update

[@kevinlentz7604]

Great vid

[@gtgsinister]

waiting for next video

[@AudioUniversity]

Thanks for watching!

[@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

[@AudioUniversity]

Better to make the measurement with a free software called Room EQ Wizard. Here’s a video on how to: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpWahphua7ihnMUsi=T9PSVuU7gwi-H985

[@chrisquirk4754]

'Resonations' isn't a real word. Us audio engineers use the word 'resonances'. Otherwise you have a very detailed grip on audio. Hats off to you.

[@AudioUniversity]

You are absolutely correct. I realized this AFTER recording... Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@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.

[@campar1043]

sonarworks blew arc3 out of the water for me, caught some mids I was lacking that arc completely missed

[@boristubeti6776]

Can’t access the guide. Help

[@bakedcreations8985]

First you you use acoustic treatment in your little room than you buy iloud mtm monitors and calibrate them. Than you install Sonarworks and calibrate. After calibrations you play sine tones one by one and with munson fletcher curve in mind you manually adjust every single frequency on Sonarworks as if tuning a piano and Viola! You have your self a flat respons worthy of a professional studio environment 🎉

[@jimtremayne]

use REW (room equalization wizard) with a target curve. waaaaay faster.

[@AudioUniversity]

@bakedcreations8985 - It doesn't have to be perfect to be worthy of professional work. Little improvements over time...

[@bakedcreations8985]

@@AudioUniversity I agree, I'm just amazed at the result I've reached this way. Thank you for your videos by the way🙏🎵🙏

[@soundrocketstudios]

I'm someone who reviewed SoundID as soon as it came out. I recently removed it from my listening chain just to test some recent mix work and... What? What is this? Depth. Height. Space. Emotions. Everything I lost with using it for the last 2 or 3 years just reappeared. A couple manual touches on some low end freq and it's perfect I'm opening a mixing and recording studio here in Italy and was ready to spend 4 or 5K on some (surely great!) Neumann KH310 or Amphion ONE18+amp700 but... don't know if I will for now 😄 Great video as always btw! Cheers 🎹

[@Exert145]

Do you use a harman target?

[@unclemick-synths]

Good video 👍. I'm delighted with it. I don't go 100% on the blend because I like to preserve a touch of the character of my speakers. One important requisite (apart from having a not-bad room) is a system with enough grunt. My amp has plenty of power and my PSB towers are reasonably flat but attempting to use Sonarworks on 5“ monitors is a waste of effort and money - it's better to spend that cash on better monitors. Small cheap monitors are usually heavily ported (some honk horrendously IMO) and to keep the price down they only have enough power to handle the speaker as it is. There is no extra power available for attempting to compensate for the frequency response of little ported boxes.

[@gabrielgavril3435]

I use wavelet and autoeq instead.

[@nicholassimmons6291]

Sorry late my bro, I just been dealing with the war and side my head neee to take break away from u tube n get the help i need .

[@aledum1815]

Cheers.

[@Strepite]

Of course it works but with some phase problems (it’s an eq in the end). I wouldn’t trust it 100% and would always check mixes elsewhere and on headphones… also, it’s a pain in the ass to use, especially if you use multiple speakers and headphones, having to switch profiles all the time… running it in through software like audio hijack makes it a bit easier but still… All in all, if you own the space you’re working in or you’re renting long term, it’s much more convenient to acoustically treat the room. Premade solutions are quite expensive, but if you’re savy with tools it can actually be quite cheap self-made.

[@Harmony4jaaz]

Is this software works correctly with headphone?

[@listenfidi]

Yes, they are so good for headphones! Really recomend it.

[@martinb.770]

Thinking of how camera manufacturer add firmware + IDs to their lenses to remove chromatic aberrations/uneven sharpness/vignetting/..., speaker and headphone makers will publish equalizer/optimizer profiles and then sell "all new designs" as "most modern technology with digital enhancement", despite them being cheap crap.... you bet?

[@lupit1]

you should really consider using different background noise removal, there's a lot of artifacting and removal of actual tonal frequencies in your voice going on

[@soundknight]

Completely flat sucks really, better to hear on multiple systems and use your imagination and trial error. More satisfying too. I do this manually for my microphones and make sure I check frequencies that I would rather I didn't tamper with like the 'air'.

[@bakedcreations8985]

Completely flat sucks for listening but not for mixing and mastering. Once your ears get to know how flat should sound and feel like the rest fixes it self.

[@AudioUniversity]

Good point, @soundknight. Completely flat is not necessarily the most pleasing to listen to, you're right. This is especially true in headphones. But when listening through speakers, there is a BIG benefit to treating those big cancellations and summations. It's difficult to imagine something that isn't there at all!

[@frogofwar26]

I use flat + some sub boost (as my M40xs are kinda weak there) and after getting used to it it's totally enjoyable to listen to. I think it's actually best to listen to music with a similar setup as during mix/master, so that you unconsciously form a good perspective on how good music should sound like.