Anybody using Sonarworks?

Lodious

I downloaded the demo for the Sonarworks headphone calibration last night. I've not have an in depth play, but initial impressions are good. Very good.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 650's and a pair of Bayer DT880's.  Last night I tried the plugin with my HD650's. I really like these headphones, they have a smooth top end and are really easy to listen to loud. Enabling the Sonarworks plugin while playing back a solo'd loop of Evil Drums made the headphones sound a bit more 'correct'. It took out a bit of midrange 'honk' and the low end was fuller. Playing back a full mix of music strangely had a more subtle effect, but a definite improvement. 

Tonight I brought my Bayer DT880's home, and tried AB'ing them against the HD650's. This is where it got interesting. The 880's are reasonably well regarded, but I've never been totally convinced. They always sounded like the top end was hyped....a bit 'HiFi' sounding. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to see how close the correction software got the 880's to the 650's.

Then answer is very close. They still did sound different, but the 880's were totally transformed. Turning the correction off makes it obvious how hyped to top end is. They sound nasty without the correction.

With the correction, I think I might actually prefer the 880's to the 650's.

IMHO, this technology is going to revolutionise audio quality. I can see a time when all manufactures start supplying their hardware with calibration files so the hardware can be corrected for the inevitable inaccuracies which occur in trying to reproduce music using a box, some plastic film and a magnet. It's already happening with camera lenses....I think audio equipment is next.

I'd really recommend giving the software a try, there is a free trial. I'm going to order the kit with the microphone and try calibrating my ATC monitors with it next.