[InstantSilence]

Sonarworks FTW

Absolutely hated it.
Reveal is far nicer.

 

[groovyd]

Absolutely hated it.
Reveal is far nicer.

Were you using the average profile correction or custom? Ref 4 or their lower-end products? My Ref 4 custom correction across all my headphones and speakers is absolutely flawless. Also appreciate that Sonarworks supports all brands of product as equals.

 

[InstantSilence]

Were you using the average profile correction or custom? Ref 4 or their lower-end products? My Ref 4 custom correction across all my headphones and speakers is absolutely flawless. Also appreciate that Sonarworks supports all brands of product as equals.

Ref 4. Just didn't sound good.
Got audeze reveal + and it's amazing

 

[groovyd]

Ref 4. Just didn't sound good.
Got audeze reveal + and it's amazing

guessing audeze average profile might be more accurate to their true averages since they sample every unit before it leaves. Could also be colored a bit to feature that 'audeze sound'. With Sonarworks I noticed a very big difference between the average profile and custom but yeah sending your headphones to Latvia to be calibrated isn't a light process.

 

[TheSonicTruth]

Does Sonarworks provide a list of, at least, the top 5-10 biggest adjustments made to the average curve for headphones? Freq, Q, and Gain(plus or minus)?

I'm seeking figures for the Sony MDR-7506 and the Beyer DT880 250ohm Pro: General correction, not individual, is fine.

The Equalizer app on all my mobiles has a maximum of 7 parametric adjustments, so I can recreate most Sonarworks calibration curves with a high level of confidence.

 

[gooeyrich]

Can anyone tell me how sonarworks compares to this: https://audirvana.com/

 

[alekc]

Can anyone tell me how sonarworks compares to this: https://audirvana.com/

Those are two very different things. Audirvana is a music player not headphone DSP plugin.

 

[alekc]

Ref 4. Just didn't sound good.
Got audeze reveal + and it's amazing

I hope this is not too far off topic but I wonder have you tried Toneboosters Morphit? I would say on some tracks it sounds better than Audeze plugin, at least that is the case with LCD-1. Can't really compare with Sonarworks Ref 4 Headphone Edition since it does not support any of my cans unfortunately.

 

[sigi]

I wonder if it is just me... or the change in the frequency response is fulling me?

I've been doing a lot of ear training lately (soundgym) and the better I get the less I like what Sonarworks is doing...

I just feel that it somehow chokes the sound stage or the sound just goes dead when Sonarworks calibration is engaged... (as in, the sound sounds more alive without Sonarworks) ...

For instance with the Senns HD800 while I get it/ I hear it that the frequency response gets a lot more linear but it reduces the HD800's to "cheaper" pair of headphones.

I tried it with linear phase, with zero latency and in between ...also tried it from 30% to 95% dry/wet - but all the same it just doesn't sound right for me.

 

[TheSonicTruth]

I wonder if it is just me... or the change in the frequency response is fulling me?

I've been doing a lot of ear training lately (soundgym) and the better I get the less I like
what Sonarworks is doing...

I just feel that it somehow chokes the sound stage or the sound just goes dead when Sonarworks
calibration is engaged... (as in, the sound sounds more alive without Sonarworks) ...

For instance with the Senns HD800 while I get it/ I hear it that the frequency response gets a lot
more linear but it reduces the HD800's to "cheaper" pair of headphones.

I tried it with linear phase, with zero latency and in between ...also tried it from 30% to 95%
dry/wet - but all the same it just doesn't sound right for me.

Fundamentally, you're just not used to flat audio reproduction.

As a TV calibrator, I get the same response from half of my clients: "it's too dim", "dull", etc.

 

[sigi]

Fundamentally, you're just not used to flat audio reproduction.

As a TV calibrator, I get the same response from half of my clients: "it's too dim", "dull", etc.

I feel the same at 30% or less wet ... and the sound is far from flat there (deviations of 8-10db +- from "zero") - I think I am used to flattish sound signatures with Audio Technica R70X or HD6xx (these don't deviate from zero with more than 3db, out of the box, without any calibration)

 

[TheSonicTruth]

I feel the same at 30% or less wet ... and the sound is far from flat there
(deviations of 8-10db +- from "zero") - I think I am used to flattish sound
signatures with Audio Technica R70X or HD6xx (these don't deviate from zero
with more than 3db, out of the box, without any calibration)

So you're used to 'built flat', not 'corrected' flat(as in, corrected by software)?

 

[castleofargh]

Fundamentally, you're just not used to flat audio reproduction.

As a TV calibrator, I get the same response from half of my clients: "it's too dim", "dull", etc.

There certainly is a matter or habit. And with something like the HD800, people can easily confuse the impression of big lateral distance that most people feel, with the idea of right sound. So anytime the instruments on the sides come closer or move somewhere else, many will assume it's a sign that the FR is going in the wrong direction. Which in practice doesn't mean that at all, as most stereo albums weren't made for headphone playback in the first place.
So you could very well be correct about @sigi . But contrary to calibrating a screen, the reference for flat on a headphone(doesn't really exist IMO) is not the same for everybody. It objectively isn't, as HRTF gets involved and different people simply have different HRTF. Sonarworks, the Harman target, or any other notion of a reference target on headphone, objective or subjective, can only work for so many people. When it does, that's great news for the user. And when it doesn't, oh well, better luck next time. @sigi not finding his compensated HD800 to sound right, does not automatically mean he needs to relearn what neutral is. The same conversation about screens, printers, or speakers and I would conclude the same as you. But headphone playback is different.

 

[sigi]

I'll explain with an example...
There is a game on Soundgym called Reverb Wizard. Three sounds are played and one has a different reverb setting - you have to catch that one. It is easy at the beginning but as you progress though the levels the differences become more and more subtle. You can find the odd on out if you catch subtle differences in the reverb tail or the vocals sound more or less up front than the others...

(BTW if you haven't already - try Soundgym out ... I am at about level 60 with this perticular game - and I've been at the diamond ear status for quite a while now - I am not telling this to brag about it but just to make it clear that my listening skills are getting regular training)

So the thing with the Sonarworks calibrated HD800 is that with the calibration bypassed it is easier to hear the really subtle differences... And I am quite sure this has nothing to do with the flatness of the frequency response, as I am experiencing this with the calibration set to 30-40% wet - where the frequency response is far from flat. It is simply that the filters/EQ used for the frequency correction does something to the sound that I can not really put into words or I can not consciously say what that change is, but the sound of the headphones, the sound stage becomes less clear ...

 

[sigi]

.... ....
...../EQ used for the frequency correction does something to the sound that I can not really put into words or I can not consciously say what that change is, but the sound of the headphones, the sound stage becomes less clear ...

I just picked the reverb example as it has more to do with - and this is not a technical term - the sound reproduction of a headphone being more 3D ... and with SW it becomes less 3D...