[edwardsean]

Hi, 
 
It's real simple. You just copy the downloaded profile to the folder where all the profiles are stored: "Sonarworks Projects."
 
On a Mac it should be right in your user folder.  I'm not sure where it is on Windows. 
 
Once copied there, it will show up under your profile options to load. 
 
Again, the folks at Sonarworks say that you'll lose about 12.5db of sensitivity to avoid clipping, so you need a good amount of power in your amp. 
 
 
Best of luck. 

 

[dmbr]

  Hi, 
 
It's real simple. You just copy the downloaded profile to the folder where all the profiles are stored: "Sonarworks Projects."
 
On a Mac it should be right in your user folder.  I'm not sure where it is on Windows. 
 
Once copied there, it will show up under your profile options to load. 
 
Again, the folks at Sonarworks say that you'll lose about 12.5db of sensitivity to avoid clipping, so you need a good amount of power in your amp. 
 
 
Best of luck. 

Thanks, figured it out. Really appreciate the tip Amp is handling it fine (Xonar Essence One Muses)

 

[derbigpr]

I've been playing around with this a bit on HD600's and it seems like it does exactly what I do manually with a 31 band EQ by making a compensation curve according to the graphs available online, in fact, even the volume is reduced by exactly 6.7db to prevent clipping when flat curve is enabled, just like with my manual compensating curve. Maybe it's a bit more precise with Sonarworks, but tuned to a flat response it sounds pretty much identical to my own manual curve and I guess having 1600 reference points is the same as having 31 in this case, at least from what I can hear. 
 
The issue with HD600's is that pretty much the only thing that's drastically changed about it is the sub bass, the rest of the sound is already nearly flat, so there's actually very little change in the sound with and without the flat curve enabled, and the headphone drivers physically cannot produce significantly more sub bass that would make them flat, it just doesn't happen, boosting anything under 80hz by more than 4 db just makes it lose control and sound all wobbly and almost muddy. I tried playing with other curves, like the GS1000 Grado curve, and it doesn't sound good at all, neither does the K712 one, they make the HD600's sound nothing like those headphones. I don't know what is up with that, but it sounds totally wrong and absolutely nothing like either of those headphones, in fact, it sounds plain bad with the K712 simulation enabled. But that was not my interest in the first place, I just wanted to hear what it would do to HD600's, and it does improve them slightly overall, making them ever so slightly more neutral, and that bit of sub bass adds a bit of weight to the sound, but again, not enough to make them flat, because the drivers physically cannot produce enough bass to be flat without screwing with the rest of the frequency spectrum, I guess the basically 30 year old driver designs is showing it's age and absolutely cannot extend as deep as the newer stuff. 
 
I don't currently have any other headphones with me that are supported, but I do have HD650's, DT770 (80 and 250) and DT880's, as well as the M40X and M50X at home, so I'll try playing with them for a while when I get home, maybe the results with them will be more drastic, HD600's are just too flat to begin with and don't really need much work anyway.
 
I guess my biggest critique of software like this, not this one in particular, but plug ins like this one in general, is that they don't work on the level of an operating system, so I can't use the EQ settings all the time, with everything I do on the computer, and it just works when listening to music in foobar2000 for example.  Again with HD600's that's not a problem, but with some other stuff like DT770 80 for example it could be the saving grace, and would enable me to enjoy them while watching movies, playing games, watching videos on youtube, etc. whereas now they're unusable for those applications due to their recessed mids and thin character in everything that doesn't involve a lot of bass.
 
In general it's a step in the right direction, in the future DSP's will play a much bigger role than most old-fashioned audiophiles are willing to accept at this point. Especially when it comes to making headphones sound less like headphones. and more like speakers or the real world.

 

[dmbr]

Hi, 

For anyone using Sonarworks with the HD800 I got the go ahead to re-post this alternate profile: THIS. 

The stock HD800 profile was slightly rolled off at both ends of the spectrum. Full bandwidth correction requires quite a lot of power to compensate in the sub-bass frequencies. Sonarworks needed to cover the range of endusers especially engineering pros who don't necessarily have high power audiophile headphone amps. If your amp has drive to spare give this profile a shot. Personally, I really prefer it to the stock profile. 

Also, you may have heard that Sennheiser is getting ready to release the updated HD800s. I would've been excited were it not for the fact that, with Sonarworks, there's nothing more I want from the old HD800. 

Hi, 

For anyone using Sonarworks with the HD800 I got the go ahead to re-post this alternate profile: THIS. 

The stock HD800 profile was slightly rolled off at both ends of the spectrum. Full bandwidth correction requires quite a lot of power to compensate in the sub-bass frequencies. Sonarworks needed to cover the range of endusers especially engineering pros who don't necessarily have high power audiophile headphone amps. If your amp has drive to spare give this profile a shot. Personally, I really prefer it to the stock profile. 

Also, you may have heard that Sennheiser is getting ready to release the updated HD800s. I would've been excited were it not for the fact that, with Sonarworks, there's nothing more I want from the old HD800. 

Sadly, I found that profile made the highs too harsh and sharp on my setup; sort of like sybilance. Interesting to try though!

 

[edwardsean]

Sadly, I found that profile made the highs too harsh and sharp on my setup; sort of like sybilance. Interesting to try though!

Definitely, as with anything, it's taste and system synergy in the end. I'm using other DSP and a Moon Neo 430HA, and the highs are detailed but very smooth.
 
I'm really happy these days that DSP has evolved to where it is. The driver design on the HD800 is fairly dated at this point, but I'm consistently amazed at how well they scale. For me, this alternate profile also adds in the sub-bass region that the HD800 is capable of reproducing, but doesn't manage natively. 

 

[pieman3141]

Hi! I downloaded the trial version a few days ago, and I'm unable to load (or find) any presets. Also, I cannot change any EQ settings, and I'm unable to get any bars or lines apart from the red line. Only the Calibrate and Simulate buttons work, and I'm presented with a very limited selection.

I'm on OS X 10.11, running Vox 2.6 with Apple AU as my plugin manager.

 

[derbigpr]

 
Definitely, as with anything, it's taste and system synergy in the end. I'm using other DSP and a Moon Neo 430HA, and the highs are detailed but very smooth.
 
I'm really happy these days that DSP has evolved to where it is. The driver design on the HD800 is fairly dated at this point, but I'm consistently amazed at how well they scale. For me, this alternate profile also adds in the sub-bass region that the HD800 is capable of reproducing, but doesn't manage natively. 

 
 
Ridiculous!  It's nowhere near being dated, and won't be for the next 15-20 years. In terms of engineering it's still the most accomplished dynamic driver out there when it comes to headphones, and possibly the best engineered driver when it comes to headphones, full stop, regardless of type. Anyway, nothing else that came out after the HD800's were released comes close to it in the dynamic driver world. The driver is actually limited by the enclosure design, and you could get various types of sound signatures out of it, even in closed, fully sealed headphones, as many people realized when using the HD800's driver in DIY projects. 
 
Anyway, we've reached a point in driver quality where going further would bring little advantage. The future of high end headphones is in digital sound processing, compensating curves that are tailored to each specific person, and various effects that will compensate the shortcomings of headphones on a neurophysiological level and that will compensate for the imbalances in the human hearing (no person has the exact same "frequency response" in both ears, that leads to huge problems in imaging while using headphones, due to the driver being so close to the ear and the interaction with the outer ear as a result of that proximity). Only by doing that will we achieve sound from headphones that will truly mimic sounds from the real world or even speakers in a good room. It's just unfortunate that all the attempts so far in doing that were inadequate at best, reason being, most of those plug-ins and apps are made by sound engineers, who (no offense) have nowhere near enough understanding of human hearing on a neurophysiological level, and therefore can't achieve good results. When medical experts start infiltrating the audio industry and start working with electrical engineers, only then we will have real advances in this technology. I might do that exact thing, considering I have a mechanical engineering degree already, and in two years I'll have a medical degree, combining these two will lead to amazing results, I already have plenty of ideas and am working on some with very promising results.  The problem is, all the equipment required is expensive, and designing and building my own is out of the question in the next 7 years at least, until I finish my specialization.

 

[dmbr]

Definitely, as with anything, it's taste and system synergy in the end. I'm using other DSP and a Moon Neo 430HA, and the highs are detailed but very smooth.

I'm really happy these days that DSP has evolved to where it is. The driver design on the HD800 is fairly dated at this point, but I'm consistently amazed at how well they scale. For me, this alternate profile also adds in the sub-bass region that the HD800 is capable of reproducing, but doesn't manage natively. 

How perfect...I added an Uptone USB Regen to my chain and now your profile sounds better.

Point proven

And now to fiddle with wet/dry!

 

[Muziqboy]

Hey Guys, maybe somebody can help me out here. I am running Win7 32-bit Home edition on a Dell Inspiron 14Z laptop with JRiver MC20 and everytime I tried to install the Reference 3 plug-in, it says Failed to install plug-in. I've tried it so many times and even re-formatted the drive and re-installed Windows 7 to no avail. 
 
Has anybody ran into this problem before?

 

[Alec246]

I've been testing this plugin with my HD558! I removed the Foam from inside the Headphone, so I think it sounds more like a HD598 now, and that's the Profile I've been using.

I noticed some small changes after calibration, mostly on the Bass side, but it's very subtle. I wonder if the HD598 is that good of a Headphone, that the sound is so good with or without calibration?

I plan on getting an Apogee Groove to use with my HD558, I expect some improve in sound quality, specially since I've been using my interface amp which has wrong impedance for the Sennheiser

 

[phoenixdogfan]

The problem you are having is caused by using the wrong VST plug in.  There is a 64 bit plug in and a 32 bit plug in.  When you install the Sonarwworks software, I would be sure to install both plug ins.  ​
 
One plug  in is stored in the program files (x86) directory in the VST plugins subdirectory, the other in the program files drectory, VST files subdirectory.  If one file will not install on JRIVER, I guarantee the other one will.

 

[Muziqboy]

I tried both 32 and 64 bit plug-ins but it still fails to install on my laptop. Anyway, I installed it on my Desktop computer and it installed without any problems so I am experimenting with it now. I would have liked it on my laptop so I can take it with me anywhere but I guess I'll just have to try it again later on.

Listening to this with my HD800 and using it's model curve for it, all I can say is WOW! A lot more bass definition and it tamed that 6khz spike. I am liking it a lot.

 

[Syliano]

   
 
Ridiculous!  It's nowhere near being dated, and won't be for the next 15-20 years. In terms of engineering it's still the most accomplished dynamic driver out there when it comes to headphones, and possibly the best engineered driver when it comes to headphones, full stop, regardless of type. Anyway, nothing else that came out after the HD800's were released comes close to it in the dynamic driver world. The driver is actually limited by the enclosure design, and you could get various types of sound signatures out of it, even in closed, fully sealed headphones, as many people realized when using the HD800's driver in DIY projects. 
 
Anyway, we've reached a point in driver quality where going further would bring little advantage. The future of high end headphones is in digital sound processing, compensating curves that are tailored to each specific person, and various effects that will compensate the shortcomings of headphones on a neurophysiological level and that will compensate for the imbalances in the human hearing (no person has the exact same "frequency response" in both ears, that leads to huge problems in imaging while using headphones, due to the driver being so close to the ear and the interaction with the outer ear as a result of that proximity). Only by doing that will we achieve sound from headphones that will truly mimic sounds from the real world or even speakers in a good room. It's just unfortunate that all the attempts so far in doing that were inadequate at best, reason being, most of those plug-ins and apps are made by sound engineers, who (no offense) have nowhere near enough understanding of human hearing on a neurophysiological level, and therefore can't achieve good results. When medical experts start infiltrating the audio industry and start working with electrical engineers, only then we will have real advances in this technology. I might do that exact thing, considering I have a mechanical engineering degree already, and in two years I'll have a medical degree, combining these two will lead to amazing results, I already have plenty of ideas and am working on some with very promising results.  The problem is, all the equipment required is expensive, and designing and building my own is out of the question in the next 7 years at least, until I finish my specialization.

QFT, I wanted to say the same thing but I couldn't be arsed tbh.  But well spoken!

 

[DDF]

Spent a couple hours with the trial on SRH-840s, a few findings.  For reference, main system at home is 2 way + sub, 2 ways custom designed, better than +/-1dB on axis, and sub digs to 25 Hz flat, all set up and in room for nuetrality, with MLLSA
 
- bit challenging to install on foobar, a good user guide would save 30 mins
- great UI, really well done and intuitive!
- B&K house curve target is meant for RTA measured speaker/room systems measured with long time windows.  It doesn't represent what you hear as tonal balance, as the direct sound (not so much the room) with speakers strongly dominate perceived timbre above 500Hz.  Below 500hz it's a pretty accurate reflection of timbre.   So, not surprisingly, it sounds muffled using B&K curve.  I listened using "flat" as the baseline
- the eq did a really great job removing the excess bite and splash in the upper mid range of the SRH840, especially evident with classical, and removing the 150 Hz mud, but IMO added too much bloat to the lower bass.  The bass and tilt controls do a perfect job to fine tune this to taste.  Smart and very useful design
- Playing pink noise helps immensely to dial the eq in.  With pink noise, the effect is anything but subtle and it makes an obvious large improvement
- The wet/dry is a brilliant little feature and allows the amount of EQ to be reduced subtly, a bit at a time.  Its not subtle what 1 or 2 dB change sounds like over a a couple octaves
 
Overall did it sound better?  Definitely, much, after the fine tuning.  I guess this is to be expected, we all have different hrtf's.
 
The only really big drawback, and to me its a big one, is the excessive EQ applied above 15 kHz (+15 dB), where you won't really hear it, or there is so little musical information that it barely matters.  It's just not worth it, as you either risk high frequency clipping on peaks, or have to reduce the level 15 dB, requiring an external headphone amp and losing 2.5 bits.  I turned it off, set the eq a bit drier, and used 10 dB level reduction manually and could still (just) get enough level without an external HD amp.    I think much better solution would have been to limit the amount high frequency boost to equal the low frequency boost (or at least within a 4 or 5 dB), and then have the gain reduced by that amount instead of 15 dB.  The flat graph is pretty on paper but just impractical, better to limit the boost above 15 kHz.
 
Over-all a nice equalizer

 

[RiddleyWalker]

Just tried the demo out last night via Foobar w/ VST wrapper and the HD650 average plugin on my HD650's, and I've gotta say, really impressed with what I've heard so far.  Still tweaking the settings to dial in what works for me, but the sub-bass extension and bass-to-mids transition saw an awesome improvement.  Clarity in the highs and air/soundstage also improved.
 
The "flat" setting on default settings was way too strong with bass, but once you get the bass/tilt and wet/dry dialed in, I was really surprised to hear how well the HD650's can handle sub-bass rumble without distortion.  
 
And, since the this headphone already has relatively linear FR, it doesn't sound overly processed or weird when applying correction, assuming you adjust the settings from "flat" to your preferences.  Still sounds like an HD650, but enhanced.
 
I agree with those in this thread (and elsewhere) that have stated headphone-specific DSP/EQ is the future.  DACs and amps can provide appreciable improvements in sound quality certainly, but if you are looking for a specific sort of correction to your headphones' sound (i.e. HD800 4k peak, HD650 sub-bass, etc), intelligent EQ is really the best way to handle it.  Or at the very least, something to consider before spending $1000's on upstream hardware.
 
Definitely considering the purchase, keep up the good work Sonarworks!