Upgrade your headphones and speakers? (SoundID reference review)

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In today's video I'm reviewing SoundID reference, a crazy piece of software that allows you to calibrate your headphones or speakers (along with a bunch of other features). Is it worth it?
This video does not contain any product placement or sponsors. All opinions are my own.
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[@DMS3TV]

I made a POSTER of the thumbnail because so many people asked! Now on dmstech.store I lowered the price as much as I could while still using a sustainable and ethically sourced OEM.

[@alendolsak3519]

Sir I believe you have stolen the crown for best thumbnails.

[@DMS3TV]

Awesome to hear! I've been putting a lot of time into them.

[@DMS3TV]

@@joanfrederick9176 I’m making a poster today 😄 I’ll pin it in the comments in a bit

[@DMS3TV]

@@joanfrederick9176 Just put the poster on my store!

[@mini-337]

@@DMS3TV no other KZbinr has thumbnails this good. Keep it up DMS!

[@Phynl]

Yo is anyone gonna mention how top notch this video production is. Bro is making movies for reviews. DMS is constantly improving his video quality and I love it. Keep it up.

[@christianfinazzi8226]

Yep the thumbnail is fire

[@Auruchius]

Thumbnail is so awesome. I’d love to see more of this style in the future :)

[@205g0]

the production quality is absolutely insane

[@ZeroDayAnubis]

Yo, it is SO awesome seeing how much this channel has grown. The content and the production are both so so good, I look forward to what comes next!

[@yuckysamson]

DUDE! THE BLADERUNNER AESTHETIC! OMG!

[@jaydensydes3478]

Your production style is so captivating it's making me watch videos about audio again. Those new features are pretty good. I tried sonarworks a few years back and decided to disable it because my ears are broken and didn't like it but this might be a solution for me. Upgrade pricing is pretty good too!

[@jdllim]

The production quality just keeps getting better

[@Newrecordday2013]

Banger of a thumbnail!

[@EridenEstrella]

DMS have turn to eleven the video quality production!!! I'm amazed by your work and the focus on education man!! Thank you so much!!!

[@ZeusTheImortal]

Incredible this is amazing!

[@castro619a]

Cinematography and information is amazing

[@MrBlitzpunk]

Thumbnail of the year tho

[@gourabasis]

Amazing production!

[@DMS3TV]

Thanks! 😄

[@johnnyboy0g460]

After seeing the short - I instantly downloaded the trial and calibrated with my Røde NT1-A. The quality was instantly way better and more recognizable than when I bought new speakers. Once I saw the remaining days tick down.... I instantly bought the full software at a discount (lucky me) because I couldn't bare the thought of listening to music without it...

[@DiegoSanchez-fi9cf]

This production is insane, completely blew my mind

[@bjvp182]

I just love the vibe and chill nature these videos have. Like lounging on a comfortable couch with some hot cocoa whilst conversing about your favorite subject. Relaxed yet attentive. Keep up the great work!

[@Gheno]

Just found this channel. Good shit man, def gon be watching all uploads from here onwards.

[@DMS3TV]

Thanks! 😄

i fucking love your video directing. kino

[@GalaxiusPilgrim]

thats a phenomenal thumbnail jesus christ..

[@Krmpfpks]

At this point DMS‘ videos are art.

[@approxahmed]

Love the video production on this video! Really great

[@sfxs9090]

I don’t know I single thing about shooting-videos, but I could tell this is top tier editing, and I very much was amazed and entertained!

[@bindstf2]

My god the production quality, all just for 1 youtube video. It's like the equivalent of watching a group of experts thoroughly deconstruct and critique the design of a toy truck.

[@iknowyounot88]

It's here!

[@WhiskiedGinger]

It's not often you see a creator make the switch to their style. Usually it's a gradual change. We, however, get this glorious video. This is, without question, the best video you've ever done. Both in style, content, and delivery. If this is what you're planning on doing with this channel, your audience thanks you.

[@RolandDobbins]

I bought this a few months - it’s worth every penny, especially for folks who must master using headphones due to environmental constraints.

[@kvbk]

Good old CRT, Mechanical keyboard, DAC/AMP, DSP, Speakers, Headphones, Mic, Frequency curves, Dark and bright video styles, retro everything is prefectly recorded in the video. That's some tough and good production.

[@mrprototype1194]

You outdid yourself with the editing keep up the great work

[@ThankYou_AV]

COOL design

[@DolemiteSammich]

Unfortunately they don't have the measurements for a lot of the headphones I own. I emailed them and they said they would measure my headphones for free, but the problem is they are located in Europe and I don't want my headphones traveling so far. Otherwise, they make cool software.

[@jean-pierredupreez4413]

This is such a well produced and executed video. Keep up the good work dude 👏🏻

[@LuminatX]

loving these 21:9 videos on my ultrawide.

[@ELJefeReviews]

Awesome work on the video production side. Feels like you've been hanging with Patrick Tomasso!

[@DMS3TV]

Thanks bro that means a lot! Been really taking my time with these vids lately 😄

[@JOSEGUTIERREZ-pj5dy]

Loving this new turn for the channel. Immense Thumbs up!

[@stephenmenor6557]

The production is crazy! This is your most enjoyable (and informative) video by far!

[@thetndixie]

Great video! ❤️

[@elvisleong6358]

this video is giving GxACE vibes, i love it.

[@FabioKasper]

Used this for more than a year. Built a very aggressive V-shape target that after a couple of minutes the result was always the same: headache. 😄 My EQ adventures are currently on a sabbatical leave.

[@maszekmeans]

So awesome style !

[@ManleyReviews]

this video goes so hard.

[@DMS3TV]

Ayeee thanks my guy. Trying to keep this production level up going forward 🤙

[@reuben8192]

Appreciating the rgb monitor. Definitely a retro gamer :)

[@WyattOShea]

Haha the googly eye speaker though. 👁👄 👁

[@Smood47]

Cool production techniques

[@samza9622]

Now if only we can get this tech to work for people without a pc.

[@user-mu6uy6ly6e]

Wow really cool thumbnail! Sonarwork IMO for headphone is just like autoeq from Reddit that gives you eq presets. It will help you get to the right direction towards “neutral” tonality but the execution isn’t quite precise, probably due to unit variations and how we hear differently. For example, the calibration for dt700 proX greatly changes its tonality (just like every eq software) BUT to my ears it sounds a bit honky and missing air. For speaker calibration my mixing engineer friend told me to never trust sonarwork…

[@SSimon]

Love the cinematography style. In case you haven't seen GxAce yt videos, I highly recommend watching them for inspiration.

[@_LuX_p]

i like the backing track on this video!! what is it? keep up the great work!!

[@IBODEGAI]

I’m really feeling this new visual direction you’ve taken. Og tube displays are a phenomenal touch. Really speaks to my 80’s baby soul. Super dope! Bravo!

[@Level12Creative]

Hey @DMS3TV, could you take the PEQ & Delay data from SoundID and implement it in hardware (Dbx Driverack PA2 or some other loudspeaker DSP) for standalone use? Alternatively it would be cool to try and run something like this on an embedded computer inline from your DAC using loopback 🚀

[@kagenslookingglass]

Could you lead me in the direction of the site where you got the television clip for editing at the beginning. New sub here ant that would be perfect for my content. So many editing tools and been hunting for these styles. Thanks man. Good work!

[@DMS3TV]

There is no site I filmed it lol. You buy an old broadcast monitor on eBay.

[@kagenslookingglass]

@@DMS3TV Thanks, I figured it out using DaVinci. Thanks man for responding.

[@oinkooink]

That Joe Beatto guy told Warren Huart to tell Graham Cochrane to tell me to tell you that you're doing great buddy. There's plenty of market for us all.

[@sethfarmer5870]

Super cool production bro

[@DMS3TV]

Appreciate that

[@frederf69]

If the realism is really there, it would save a lot of legwork; not having to try various system's/situation's of an audience. Good review, thank you 👍👍

[@MXF5700]

I''ve been using SoundID on my phone for my Drop Pandas and they sound much better. You should revisit the Pandas with your own SoundID profile.

[@joosteijkenboom1988]

great video DMS! Really like these kind of videos. The major downside for me too would be the PC. Do you think it is possible to measure the EQ with SoundID reference and then apply the filter in a miniDSP?

[@Koopagamelouda]

Susuwatari? Nice.

[@nurmbms90]

You got me into audio. Time to get your hoodie

[@DMS3TV]

Thanks for the support! 😄 happy listening!

[@nurmbms90]

@@DMS3TV thank you man 😊🙏🏾.

[@daniwalmsley611]

Please compare to Dirac Live and REW, these three need a head to head to head battle. Obviously this has more features than either dirac or REW but there are alternatives to those features if you already have dirac or should you bother oaying at all and going REW

[@NasHxGamer]

hey dms! you ever looked into other solutions like this? Acourate and Audiolense for example that promise to do much more than the likes of dirac can do? im just starting getting into room correction and wonder what the best path into a newly build surround setup will be. your atmos on a budget video really got me interested in multichannel music again.

[@philiptalbert458]

I might have to check those out, currently use Dirac minidsp digital/digital

[@kyron42]

You can EQ the bass all you like. It won't necessarily give you lots of deep clean punchy bass.

[@mini-337]

Isn't this just autoeq with a cool UI for hesdphones

[@philiptalbert458]

I really like your video style. Have you ever done anything with Dirac Live? It greatly helped my speakers, particularly in the time/phase area. You can use any source.

[@niccster1061]

With REW and rephase, you CAN do sample delay/phase correction. The rest is just making sure you measure properly. REW and eqapo can do everything sonarworks can. The only difference Ia convenience. If you truly want an upgrade then use dirac

[@DMS3TV]

You manually can yes, but more than just a level of convenience is a level of sophistication in the data being generated. I highly doubt anyone manually calibrating will take 30 measurements in various positions then be able to interpret weighted-averaging (which would need to be done outside of rew). Manual calibration is still great, but it's a pretty huge stretch to say even a moderately advanced audiophile could achieve the same results with REW and EQ APO. 😄

[@avichayt9373]

An evil voice over for the first half of the video would've nailed it XD

[@daniwalmsley611]

Hey no mention or AutoEQ? and just applying a parametric EQ. It's free but has a premium version that lets you use any measurement graph to generate an EQ if your headphones/IEMs haven't already been generated

[@ACE112ACE112]

the frequency response stuff seems similar to a paid feature on crinacles website.

[@kchou0907]

The fact that this is a one time payment is insane... definitely thought it would be subscription based

[@ClevrGrl]

Great video!

[@DMS3TV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@goodboid]

I use my Adi2Pro's EQ for calibrating all my speakers. Life's too short to not EQ, and I've never met a speaker (yet) that doesn't benefit from some amount of EQ. The speakers I use - Avalon Mixing Monitors, JBL 4429, JBL 4311, Hedd Type 20, B&W 805 Nautilus, Kef LS50, and a few more. Have to try the SoundID software, I've only every used the SoundID app on iOS to vaguely EQ my iPod Pros, and it's a poor experience. To EQ iems, I use the rather lovely Qudelix 5K.

[@kutokuro538]

It always surprised me when people consider additional 30ms latency while gaming is bad while I casually game at 100+ms thinking I'm getting good response time

[@gaashmusic]

Would this program work on a Mac with a UAD Apollo interface? I have a studio that’s only over-reflecting 105Hz and being able to fix that would be incredible for the studio experience and allow me to tone in my mixes much more accurately. And thanks for the great vid as always of course!

[@tron2c928]

Bro looks hella anime in that thumbnail

[@NFStopsnuf]

Imagine getting your video produced by a man named DOUG

[@jwester7009]

Something like this is only an upgrade for speakers if the room is absolutely terrible in my experience. I've tried a more advanced system that also takes care of phase issues, standing waves in the room and so on. In my room it did almost nothing except make it sound a bit grainy with lack of resolution. So I've disabled it completely

[@patrickguth3796]

2 small corrections: you can export your calibrations to ADAM monitors of their new A-series and other manufactuerers are already following. secondly: SoundID Reference - as any other software for this matter could only fix non-modal issues, which means, that especially in the low end domain, you still need at least some treatment of your room. It does not change (unwanted, inhomogeneous) room reverb as well. In fact, boosting lets say SIDs full 12 dB on maybe 90 Hz, a typical SBIR-Dip in a home environment, will cause the bass driver to have a difficult time in reproducing audio (because of the much higher strain caused by higher amplitude) and could in some cases even damage drivers and amps. Other than that, you're totally right and SID-Reference is a worthy invest. BUT also only one of many options out there, which deliver similar results (Dirac, miniDSP, RePhase, , or even much, much better results because of real timing correction via MLS-Bursts (Trinnov)

[@adame3009]

Someone's been watching GxAce...

[@corvojose]

Help me: 7Hz Timeless or Fiio FHE Eclipse to voices, folk and extreme metal. Thanx!!!!

[@iknowyounot88]

Hey DMS I was wondering, is SoundID able to adjust the speaker EQ according to volume? I'm assuming since it doesnt have direct communication with the amp it wouldn't be possible, but you never know!

[@DMS3TV]

Not to my knowledge, but that would be excellent.

[@hartyewh1]

So I can make Edifier R1280T's sound like Revel F328be's? Cool. Jokes aside, I wonder how valuable EQing speakers to sound like each other is since they aim for a flat response and the space is what messes that up usually. A flat speaker is nothing special like a target adherent headphone as they're often a mess. How are the presets on this compared to Oratory1990 presets? That's what I'd consider the test to see if it's worth the buy.

[@lukenycz7967]

no option for TYGR 300R :(

[@lary90210]

Genuine question, is the main reason to use this instead of REW for speakers the fact that it guides you through it and goes to a specific target?

[@DMS3TV]

That plus sample delay correction and its a much more sophisticated methodology for measuring the room and calculating errors.

[@niccster1061]

@@DMS3TV except you CAN do sample delay correction with REW pretty easily lol. Sonarworks is purely for convenience imo. If you want a more "sophisticated" process then Dirac absolutely stomps it

[@MichaelAmster]

Any chance these filters can be exported to something like a miniDSP? Can you follow up with how this would compare with a REW or similar type of process to calibrate speakers. I understand the headphone angle is unique.

[@juliangst]

Much prefer Dirac Live for speaker correction. The phase correction is just worlds better than anything SoundID does. And upcoming Dirac live bass control even let’s you individually correct multiple subs with delays, phase correction and high pass filters on your mains. For headphone correction there are plenty of presets available online with different target curves.

[@joosteijkenboom1988]

Ah was debating this as a budget dirac but i guess not :)

[@lilaxlros]

The SoundID Reference measurement process is the most accurate one out there. The automatic microphone positioning system eliminates any chance of a user error. And the ability to obtain the same target reference on both speakers and headphones is just incredible. By the way, it offers the linear phase filter as well.

[@juliangst]

@@lilaxlros it doesn’t measure different heights and it‘s extremely annoying to set up compared to Dirac

[@lilaxlros]

@@juliangst Well, not to say anything bad about Dirac, but I disagree with you on that. SoundID Reference is literally the simplest speaker calibration tool with the simplest setup which also explains why it's also the most popular one by a huge margin. Regarding heights - the software collects information about the room dimensions (including heights) during the measurement process in order to give you the most accurate calibration profile. That's what all the sweeps and sounds are for.

[@juliangst]

@@lilaxlros your experience might be different but for me the SoundID setup was like hell. It never located the mic position correctly and took forever. The end results were not bad but far behind Dirac. Dirac isn’t perfect either though. It can sometimes have weird excess group delay in the bass. SoundID might be a really good choice for producers (I see many of them using it) but Dirac is the best for Hi-Fi imo

[@poturbg8698]

For speakers, how are the results an improvement from Audyssey MultiEQ XT32?

[@kyron42]

It's much better do your EQ to get it sounding how you like it.

[@philiptalbert458]

Do you have any mobile apps you would recommend? I stumbled upon wavelet that had headphone specific EQ that greatly helped a few of my headphones out.

[@lokologico]

What if I have a Sub? Does it calibrate that too?

[@0livera.lorenz0]

Better than Dirac?)

[@DMS3TV]

Definitely, because studios are actively using atoms to mix. Dirac is usually a post-adaptation.

[@NFStopsnuf]

Bruh big D looking pfp 😂

[@itayadler8565]

What are the best free alternatives?

[@DMS3TV]

AutoEQ for headphones can be decent.

[@MemTMCR]

good sir, I would like this image in pure form, would you be so kind as to provide a link?

[@DMS3TV]

I’ll upload a high-res version soon

[@Rainersherwood]

To bad about the latency. Not usable at all for making music until the very very final stages.

[@McanoLasala]

There's a free SoundId app for Android. I use it to eq my iems and it works surprisingly good. I guess the reference is the Sonarworks curve. Is this the complete version for computers?

[@Kunu_]

Doesn't support Amazon Music unfortunately. I really enjoyed doing their A/B tests. Reminded my if DMS' recent video where he showed what "dark" or "bright" sounds like.

[@McanoLasala]

@@Kunu_ yup, I can only use it with Spotify and KZbin, but very interesting tool.

[@Nordraw]

Why is nobody saying the price

[@DMS3TV]

I mentioned it twice in the video

[@immm2m]

I think with Roon Lifetime and the capabilities Roon offers. Sets a benchmark for anything else audiophile. Sonarworks SoundID is priced reasonably, however these upgrade fees concern me: Upgrading your Reference 4 or Reference 3 to SoundID Reference $39. How often do they upgrade version?

[@approxahmed]

0:32 can I have that font name

[@DMS3TV]

memesique regular

[@approxahmed]

@@DMS3TV thank you!!

[@johnhurley8918]

Was the "BWAAAAAHHHH" really necessary?