Sonarworks SoundID Reference Plug-in for Speakers & Headphones Reviews
At Sweetwater, we often say, "If you can't hear it, you can't mix it." This conundrum certainly doesn't apply to Sonarworks SoundID Reference, an intelligent software that calibrates your speakers and headphones to ensure consistent, accurate monitoring in an endless array of production environments. SoundID Reference works by applying a calibration profile to your monitoring output, supplying you with a ruler-flat response across all audible frequencies. The software is a breeze to use — most users find that they can complete the calibration process in less than 20 minutes. SoundID Reference permits you to make custom, on-the-fly curve adjustments, and you can save as many profiles as you'd like, which makes moving between different speakers, headphones, and rooms seamless and effortless. You can also audition your mixes on more than 20 different simulated devices without leaving your workstation. Think of SoundID Reference as insurance for mix translation. With it in your toolkit, you can be confident that your mixes will sound as good as gold everywhere.
Earn $13 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $11/month with 24 month financing*
$13 Earn $13.00 back in Bonus Bucks† on this purchase when you use your Sweetwater Credit Card without financing. Select your offer in checkout. Terms
As low as $11/month
with 24 month financing*
See all payment options
Delivered by download. Our unique partnership with Sonarworks delivers your license code within minutes.
Customer Reviews
Customer Added Media
This product doesn't have any review media yet!
Share Your Thoughts
Help other music gear aficionados by sharing your opinions of gear you've purchased.
Questions about the SoundIDRefStu?
Or call us at (800) 222-4700
Sweetwater's Sales Engineers are regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the music industry, with extensive music backgrounds and intense training on the latest products and technologies. They are available to offer you personalized product advice any time you need it.
Highest Rated Reviews
Great mixing and mastering tool
If you want to bring your mixes to the completely next level this is the tool for this. Taking mixing decisions now became much faster. Translation within different sound systems has also improved a lot and I don't have to make infinite mix changes for achieving that. Awesome product, totally recommend!
Amazing
Invaluable tool for mixing. Evens out awkward rooms nicely. Even with good acoustic treatment you can still improve the room response to get better mix translations.
My mixes got so much better
I've been using dsp eqs to correct my room deficiencies for a while now. The eq unit broke down and i tried sonarworks as an alternative. An oh boy did it do the job better than anything before! The room is really small, 3m x 3m, so acoustics are totally ruined by default. Sonarworks managed to tame most of the boominess at the listening spot and I'm able to do much more precise mixing now.
Must have!
SoundID Reference has completely changed the way I work. I don't know how it would be possible for me to work without it now.
Amazing results with some caveats
Room analyzer:
I'm using two Focal shape twins with a Focal Sub 6. My room has conditioning but could be better. For me part of calibrating the room was balancing the sub with the mains. This process was primarily experimental. From 300hz to 20Khz, SoundID found various deviations up to about 3db and handled those deviations very well. From 300hz down, as expected the deviations were greater. At first I had one deviation close to 12db. SoundID was not able to tame that well. Once through speaker balancing and room treatment I was able to get the deviations below 6db, the results were fabulous! First time I have ever been able to completely trust what I was hearing and not try to estimate where something was in the mix. Detail of every "voice" in the mix was greatly enhanced. Minor changes on a track are heard very well. No more guessing. You will need an interface that will turn off direct monitoring to do the measurements. The VST plugin works very well with Steinberg products.
Headphones:
SoundID provided a profile for my Focal Spirit pros that really cleaned things up making my cans much more valuable. The profile for Sony MDA 7506 did improve those cans. The profile for BeyerDymanic 770 Pro's was interesting. Not sure what SonarWorks was shooting for here. It did not flatten the cans. Frequencies were emphasized to include bass. Maybe they were trying to enhance "enjoyment" cans?
APO:
I don't have every interface known which should be obvious. The APO did not like Presonus firewire drivers one bit. Had to completely unplug the firewire interface from the mixer and use a Steinberg interface to get the APO to work. I usually use the Presonus for playback of my mixes which I can still do if I am using the VST but to play audio directly from the PC e.g. Youtube and use the APO, I have to use the Steinberg interface and route that interface through analog inputs in the board which routes my speakers.
SonarWorks technical support:
I have placed two tickets to date. From both I immediately received a response indicating delay per heavy call volume. I sensed that the support engineers were sincere in attempting to provide support but in both instances I solved the problem through experimentation before they provided resolve. I'm talking weeks here.
Bottom line for my system was a greatly enhanced ability to hear, mix, and master.
CAN'T GO WRONG!
1 Word....DOPE! I Love it! Leaves my ARC 3.5 in the dust on every level!
#RealTalk
DJ Ray Ray
R&R Studios MTL
Limitations for multiple pairs of monitors and time delay problems when tracking.
First of all, my Sweetwater Rep Wayne is great and always helpful. The software is overall okay. My initial installation wasn't smooth even though I am very computer competent, it took a week with Sonarworks technical help until I could get the correct file downloaded and installed from their website (multiple versions of OS installers were failing). This software's limitations require me to remember to turn it on and off, or change it to different DAW presets since I switch between 2 sets of studio monitors (Adams A7X and Avantone Mixcubes), and a pair of headphones (Sennheiser HD600) to check mixes. So if I forget to change the software, I will accidentally make EQ adjustments while a different room EQ is being used. Also the latency delay needed for the software corrections are plenty to ruin a recording take if you don't have the software off while tracking, your ears will hear the tempo, but you'll actually be tracking behind tempo (yes you can move the tracks after, but that's a pain). This software would be a great choice for people who are MUSIC LISTENERS for enjoyment and accuracy, though I wouldn't recommend it for recording engineers. I personally will be going back to analog 31 band rack-mount EQ to make a few room adjustments, using Room EQ Wizard which is free analysis software and accurate.
