Sonarworks True- Fi EQ Program

[Koukol]

Yeah that was my pride and joy.

Here are the specs--Dolby B and all. . . https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/aiwa_fm_am_cassette_boy_j02_hs_j02.html

I am just wondering it if had tone controls. . . I can't remember.

Mine didn't which made this a great buy for the time as well.

 

[Steve999]

Ha! Super cool! Never saw one of those. And we are at least sort of back on topic.

Mine didn't which made this a great buy for the time as well.

 

[Koukol]

Yeah...I'm afraid I might have derailed this thread permanently...I surely hope not.

Anyways, If Sonarworks offers Tru Fi as a VST I'd be very interested in buying.
This way I can convert from flac to flac with the correction added.

Right now my EQing regime is TDR Nova in Acoustica since Audacity doesn't play well with Nova, J River never gives me accurate results in the end and Foobar is in it's own little World.
I want the Tru fi results on my two DAP players (Pono and Fiio X5ii)
I'll have to contact them but I won't get my hopes up.

 

[castleofargh]

the original Sonarworks product is REFsomething, now REF4. it was only available as a VST and people asked for alternatives for a long time, which came. you have a bunch of possible uses for the headphone version of REF4(others being for speakers and include a 100$ mic for calibration). including of course VST.

about foobar, the only things annoying me from time to time is that foobar is a 32bit system and some VSTs could really really benefit from using the 64bit version, if only CPU wise. I never left foobar because of habit and because it's free and super versatile, but I'd really love to be able to use vst3 stuff and have 64bit foobar. right now I go dirty with virtual cables and a 64bit VST host when I want/need that. works ok, but it's a little bother too.

about trufi for DAPs, they have a beta app for android already. beyond that, for dumb audiophile DAPs sans android, the solution is to convert all your files including an EQ in the conversion. so maybe not the exact true-fi convolution, but something close. I've done that for years for my DAPs with crap integrated EQ. I would convert a full SD card in foobar with some DSPs included in the conversion(EQ, crossfeed, sometimes replaygain as a change of gain instead of a tag for DAPs that didn't handle it...). aside from the extra work, the obvious flaw is that you need a SD card per headphone/IEM you use. but that's still how I roll to this day.

 

[Koukol]

...for dumb audiophile DAPs sans android, the solution is to convert all your files including an EQ in the conversion. so maybe not the exact true-fi convolution...

As I said this is what I've been doing including sometimes bass management, room simulation and cross-feed adjustments offered in J River.
ALL adjustments remained after converting.
In the end I make sure I label what I've done in the great program MP3Tag.
In this case I would put under details "Tru Fi HD600 Mix"
Unfortunately, unlike Foobar and Acoustica, the results from J River sound different on my DAP's.
And as you said Foobar is not a great choice for High End manipulation which is why I never use it for my vinyl rips and the like.

Anyways, cheers...I'm going to pour over what Sonarworks offers when I have a quiet moment to concentrate.
If they don't offer a full program like J River (with converting possibilities) then hopefully something I can use in Acoustica, Audacity and Reaper in that order.

 

[florence]

Still can't believe how this software gets along well with my HD800s. Truly impressed!

 

[Darksoul]

This software feels off. I install it, activate it and it indeed sounds nice, boost the bass a bit and enjoy if for a while. I turn it off and my headphones sound completely different, wrong even. However I uninstalled it without turning off the music and when the headphones return to "normal," zero processing, the sound is no where near as bad as when Tru-fi was installed and turned off. It feels as if when turning off Tru-fi while installed, still adds some processing. Removing it completely makes the headphones sound nice again, I tried True-fi and went back to Apo Equalizer, get the same results without that feeling that something is off.

 

[Bern2]

This software feels off. I install it, activate it and it indeed sounds nice, boost the bass a bit and enjoy if for a while. I turn it off and my headphones sound completely different, wrong even. However I uninstalled it without turning off the music and when the headphones return to "normal," zero processing, the sound is no where near as bad as when Tru-fi was installed and turned off. It feels as if when turning off Tru-fi while installed, still adds some processing. Removing it completely makes the headphones sound nice again, I tried True-fi and went back to Apo Equalizer, get the same results without that feeling that something is off.

What headphone?

Bern

 

[Darksoul]

What headphone?

Bern

Beyerdynamic DT-1990.

 

[SilverEars]

When you calibrate your headphones to the same response curve used in professional studios, you’re hearing it as close to the way they heard it as you can. The only way to get closer would be to listen on calibrated full range speakers.

Can somebody post response curve used in professional studios? The target curve for EQ'ing the headphones to professional studio response?

 

[bigshot]

If you're talking about EQing headphones, the Harman curve is close to the way that balanced speakers calibrated for a room would sound, and that is what is used as the reference when mixing.

 

[TheSonicTruth]

Ha! Super cool! Never saw one of those. And we are at least sort of back on topic.

I remember that EQ - and regret never getting one in retrospect! Can still use with any portable digital player.

 

[fungd92]

I just tried True-Fi on my Mac with Hifiman 400i's connected to an XtremPro DAC. What Darksoul says happened to me too. Toggle within True-Fi and you can hear an improvement. Actually quit (or uninstall) True-Fi and relaunch whatever software your audio is playing through (and double checking that the audio is routed straight to the DAC), and the difference is markedly less. In other words, in my case, True-Fi seems to be altering the signal when turned off. And when it does so, it makes my rig sound bad. If I were being a cynic, I would assume that this is being done on purpose to exaggerate the A to B comparison. The sad thing is that I like overall equalization, but feel a bit queasy about what I'm seeing in the software.