[whatisit]

Cool, at least you have the option of deciding now!  I tried it months ago and couldn't figure it out either.  Somehow finding myself thinking about it again recently and was actually able to find useful info - which I was happy to pass on.
 
I'm in a trial period myself and leaning towards getting it, mostly because I can't be bothered to mess around with manually getting the EQ set up  That and because the flat profiles feel like they fatigue my ears less with the flattened EQ.

 

[Netherwind]

Yeah..
 
I don't know, can always do another trial if I really want to, I'm not sure if it truly sounds better or not.

 

[groovyd]

Finally after getting special adapter cables to use both input and output from Zoom via thunderbolt I got calibration files for the mini maggies and 20.7s separately.  Now the question is how do you merge those files as I always listen to both sets of speakers together.

 

[mcphable]

I'm currently using the average calibration on my DT770's (250 ohm) but am strongly considering returning these and getting a calibrated set of either DT770's or Oppo PM-3's. I've read the pro's/con's of open vs. closed but I my usage requires closed. I also spent some time listening to the DT770's without calibration and I find them unusable; the highs are incredibly fatiguing, but sonarworks makes them affective tool. Price difference is a little over $100 between the two.
 
Question is - has anyone listened to both with sonarworks average or individual calibrations and can advise whether there are significant gains to be had by going to PM-3's if both are running through individually calibrated versions of sonarworks? Does this partly or mostly level the playing field on those two? Best I can tell, there should be significant improvements in layering, separation, detail, and tonality, but I'm flying blind and could use some feedback before returning my set and spending the extra cash.
 
Usage - mostly for electronic music production/mixing (with the occasional full-band, Christian music project) and only used when I'm unable to use the home studio, which is at least 50% of the time.
 
Setup - MacBook Pro and an RME Babyface Pro.

 

[groovyd]

  I'm currently using the average calibration on my DT770's (250 ohm) but am strongly considering returning these and getting a calibrated set of either DT770's or Oppo PM-3's. I've read the pro's/con's of open vs. closed but I my usage requires closed. I also spent some time listening to the DT770's without calibration and I find them unusable; the highs are incredibly fatiguing, but sonarworks makes them affective tool. Price difference is a little over $100 between the two.
 
Question is - has anyone listened to both with sonarworks average or individual calibrations and can advise whether there are significant gains to be had by going to PM-3's if both are running through individually calibrated versions of sonarworks? Does this partly or mostly level the playing field on those two? Best I can tell, there should be significant improvements in layering, separation, detail, and tonality, but I'm flying blind and could use some feedback before returning my set and spending the extra cash.
 
Usage - mostly for electronic music production/mixing (with the occasional full-band, Christian music project) and only used when I'm unable to use the home studio, which is at least 50% of the time.
 
Setup - MacBook Pro and an RME Babyface Pro.

 
for me the improvement sonarworks makes on both headphones and speakers is pretty clear.  i would say averages vs a custom calibrated set of headphones will be significant and worth the cost. i'd be happy having a custom calibrated set of LCD-X for only $100 more then what I paid.

 

[mcphable]

groovyd - Thanks for the feedback! Any advice on custom calibration DT700 vs custom calibration PM-3? Any "mostly" guaranteed improvements by spending the extra cash on the PM-3's? I really don't want to spend the extra cash unless the differences are more than "minor" or you "may notice a slight...", etc. If the differences are significant, then I'll gladly go the cash! 

 

[groovyd]

  groovyd - Thanks for the feedback! Any advice on custom calibration DT700 vs custom calibration PM-3? Any "mostly" guaranteed improvements by spending the extra cash on the PM-3's? I really don't want to spend the extra cash unless the differences are more than "minor" or you "may notice a slight...", etc. If the differences are significant, then I'll gladly go the cash! 

 
judging by my experience with the software custom calibration will be more significant then many many other things in the hobby people spend much more then $100 on.  personally i would go for it as it also gives you that piece of mind knowing you got the best calibration possible and if you don't like the sound you are starting from a flat line that you can confidently dial in not some hard to quantify characteristic of the headphones.
 
it is surprising after listening to my headphones and speakers using the calibrations how when I turn it off i'm like 'how could i have ever listened to these without it?'

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I have the custom Sonarworks calibration for my LCD X and I'm sure it makes a much greater difference in the sound quality I enjoy than any putative upgrade of amp or dac ever could at any price.

 

[groovyd]

  I have the custom Sonarworks calibration for my LCD X and I'm sure it makes a much greater difference in the sound quality I enjoy than any putative upgrade of amp or dac ever could at any price.

seems entirely possible.  how much was it to send them in for the calibration?  is it not something i can do at home with their calibration microphone? shipping expensive? take a long time?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

No, they have to go to Riga Latvia.  After buying the generic package, I believe the cost of custom calibration is $65-75 plus you pay shipping plus insurance to Latvia.  The return leg SW pays for the shipping and insurance.  Entire process takes around four weeks.

 

[groovyd]

ran another calibration with the tweeter attenuators of the mini maggies removed.  figured since it is already making adjustments best to give it the unmodified speaker.  removes a good sized dip above 3k in the spectrum that it won't have to correct for. calibration goes smoothly for the first 15 of 25 measurements then gets really difficult to pass the last 10 since they are closer to the speakers and it seems the front/back reflections must be causing issues. its location of the mic seems to abruptly fall apart past a certain closeness to the speakers.
 
really need to figure out a way to merge both calibrations of the minis and 20.7s so it sounds consistent going from desktop to walking around the room. it would also be nice to be able to run it a bunch of times and average out the results since i'm sure there is a good bit of error in the measurements considering the room and speaker situation.

 

[groovyd]

Filter phase preferences... Min Latency, Optimum, or Linear Phase ?  Which is your preference and why?
 
Here is my current calibration for my Mini Maggies.  Am targeting the 'B&K 1974 optimum hi-fi curve' but add the sizzle back in flattening out the dip below 0 from 2k and up with added eq in JRiver and been using Linear so far and don't mind the 63ms latency at all.  Would be nice to be able to further customize the target curve by dragging the curve or via parametric settings rather then having to rely on a second eq in the chain.  I just find the B&K curve takes a bit too much life out of the highs and flattening it above 2k restores it while also giving a balanced but cozy warmth down below.  Tried the flat target for awhile but its a bit too cold for me.
 

 
Here is my calibration for the 20.7's though I don't use this since I am mostly at my desk it sounds better to have both speakers just set to the mini calibration...
 

 

[groovyd]

Sending 3 of my headphones in for calibration... My X, XC and McIntosh MHP1000

 

[514077]

You know, this is getting frickin' irritating.  I get the email to try systemwide, install it, copy my trial licence key, and they still won't activate without jumping through hoops.  I click on the icon and it doesn't open the program.
I'm dying to hear the improvement to the LCD-x.  But, frankly, it's beginning to be a big pain.
I guess I'll take a couple of hours off to get a fresh look at the problem.  But the original free trial months ago, didn't work.  I couldn't open the 'buy' page this morning.
Get it together, Sonarworks!

 

[dukefx]

It activated just fine for me, but WMP refuses to play FLACs through Sonarworks Virtual Audio Device (every other output works flawlessly for WMP and FLACs). It plays MP3s and all kinds of videos tho. Foobar and MPC have no such issue and they are all set to default device.
 
Update: Youtube doesn't really work either. At this point it's extremely glitchy.