Mickster
Well-known member
So....I've been using the Sonarworks Reference 4 Headphone VST for about 3 months now and I thought it might be of some interest to a few of you here to get my impressions of how it works.
First of all......I have to say....I like it and I'm impressed...to be honest. I bought it because I use headphones as part of my overall mix check. I currently have a set of Tannoy 501a and JBL LSR305 monitors (I switch back and forth) in use for mixing. Like many of you....my environment is not ideal. It's a medium sized bedroom with no real treatment. Over time I learned how to mix in the room but it's not been easy to get the results right the first time. I did find that SW Ref4 did help me to get better mixes....period.
I have several sets of headphones and I'm going to list them along with how they worked with SW Ref4 and some impressions that you might find of use. I'm going to list them from best to worst...IMO. I used a few different commercial tracks for the testing.
Sennheiser HD 600: These are by far excellent mixing headphones. Applying SW Ref4 to them made the least amount of change of any of the cans tested. The change was subtle but certainly there. They were always good to mix on....but they're absolutely better now.
Sony MDR-V6: These were terrible to mix on before. Like the 7605's they are treble and upper mid crazy with mids lacking tone. Wow......SW Ref4 made a huge change and they ended up being extremely close to the sound of the HD600's. Even more amazing if you realize that they're a closed set. The bass is very refined and articulate now and the sound stage is wider than the HD600's
Philips SHP9500: Sonarworks actually recommends these cans as a budget purchase. They claim that they're more neutral than most to begin with. Applying SW Ref4 to these cans also made them sound very much like the HD600's...also with a wider sound stage. They're VERY comfortable and are not very costly.
Sennheiser HD598: These cans also ended up sounding like the HD600's after applying SW Ref4. The mids are excellent now......the high end...which was a little sharp edged at times...is now tamed and clear. The bass is better but not as defined as the others above. And man......if you're looking for comfort......these are it!!
Status Audio CB-1: Ok...these were cheap cans. I think I paid about $69 for them. They're closed back. They didn't quite match the HD600's but were close enough to make me impressed. These cans are also very comfortable and they really have a very neutral sound using SW Ref4. I like the bass response. The mids are just a touch "distant"......but you can work with that.
AKG K240 Studio: These cans did do well with SW Ref4......but the upper frequencies didn't really improve much. Think "air" and "shine" and you'll know what I mean.
Audio Technica ATH M-50: Ok...here's where things got weird. Applying SW Ref4 to these cans gives you the most "change" of all of the others. It tells you how far from neutral they really are......and going by the difference in sound.......wow....these things are not even close......and amazingly "off" IMO. That being said....the change did not bring them anywhere close to the HD600 sound. Not even in the same ball park. After using SW Ref4 for a while.....you get a sense of what neutral is all about and going back and forth between applying and removing the SW Ref4 effect really can be quite startling on some sets.
Audio Technica ATH M-40: These cans did not like SW Ref4 very much it seems. They struggled to improve. Both these and the M50's seem to not be able to take the EQ changes very well......especially in the high mid to highs.
Disclaimer: No.....I do not work for Sonarworks....never have. It's rare for me to even comment on any product.
Comments: Before you ask.....both of the Audio Technicas' are genuine....not fake. When I refer to the comparisons of the HD600's....I mean the HD600's with SW Ref4 applied. Do not expect miracles if you have cheap cans. It's obvious that the "better" (higher priced) headphones are more likely to respond to the EQ chages applied by SW Ref4. SW Ref4 presented no resource issues and runs well on my master.
I realize that not all of the headphones listed are currently available new.
All of the above is just my opinions...........and my 2 cents worth on the subject.
First of all......I have to say....I like it and I'm impressed...to be honest. I bought it because I use headphones as part of my overall mix check. I currently have a set of Tannoy 501a and JBL LSR305 monitors (I switch back and forth) in use for mixing. Like many of you....my environment is not ideal. It's a medium sized bedroom with no real treatment. Over time I learned how to mix in the room but it's not been easy to get the results right the first time. I did find that SW Ref4 did help me to get better mixes....period.
I have several sets of headphones and I'm going to list them along with how they worked with SW Ref4 and some impressions that you might find of use. I'm going to list them from best to worst...IMO. I used a few different commercial tracks for the testing.
Sennheiser HD 600: These are by far excellent mixing headphones. Applying SW Ref4 to them made the least amount of change of any of the cans tested. The change was subtle but certainly there. They were always good to mix on....but they're absolutely better now.
Sony MDR-V6: These were terrible to mix on before. Like the 7605's they are treble and upper mid crazy with mids lacking tone. Wow......SW Ref4 made a huge change and they ended up being extremely close to the sound of the HD600's. Even more amazing if you realize that they're a closed set. The bass is very refined and articulate now and the sound stage is wider than the HD600's
Philips SHP9500: Sonarworks actually recommends these cans as a budget purchase. They claim that they're more neutral than most to begin with. Applying SW Ref4 to these cans also made them sound very much like the HD600's...also with a wider sound stage. They're VERY comfortable and are not very costly.
Sennheiser HD598: These cans also ended up sounding like the HD600's after applying SW Ref4. The mids are excellent now......the high end...which was a little sharp edged at times...is now tamed and clear. The bass is better but not as defined as the others above. And man......if you're looking for comfort......these are it!!
Status Audio CB-1: Ok...these were cheap cans. I think I paid about $69 for them. They're closed back. They didn't quite match the HD600's but were close enough to make me impressed. These cans are also very comfortable and they really have a very neutral sound using SW Ref4. I like the bass response. The mids are just a touch "distant"......but you can work with that.
AKG K240 Studio: These cans did do well with SW Ref4......but the upper frequencies didn't really improve much. Think "air" and "shine" and you'll know what I mean.
Audio Technica ATH M-50: Ok...here's where things got weird. Applying SW Ref4 to these cans gives you the most "change" of all of the others. It tells you how far from neutral they really are......and going by the difference in sound.......wow....these things are not even close......and amazingly "off" IMO. That being said....the change did not bring them anywhere close to the HD600 sound. Not even in the same ball park. After using SW Ref4 for a while.....you get a sense of what neutral is all about and going back and forth between applying and removing the SW Ref4 effect really can be quite startling on some sets.
Audio Technica ATH M-40: These cans did not like SW Ref4 very much it seems. They struggled to improve. Both these and the M50's seem to not be able to take the EQ changes very well......especially in the high mid to highs.
Disclaimer: No.....I do not work for Sonarworks....never have. It's rare for me to even comment on any product.
Comments: Before you ask.....both of the Audio Technicas' are genuine....not fake. When I refer to the comparisons of the HD600's....I mean the HD600's with SW Ref4 applied. Do not expect miracles if you have cheap cans. It's obvious that the "better" (higher priced) headphones are more likely to respond to the EQ chages applied by SW Ref4. SW Ref4 presented no resource issues and runs well on my master.
I realize that not all of the headphones listed are currently available new.
All of the above is just my opinions...........and my 2 cents worth on the subject.
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