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1. #Sonarworks reference 4 worth it serial number#
2. #Sonarworks reference 4 worth it software#
3. #Sonarworks reference 4 worth it trial#
4. #Sonarworks reference 4 worth it series#
5. #Sonarworks reference 4 worth it mac#

#Sonarworks reference 4 worth it series#

Then Reference 3 does a series of tests to determine how far apart the monitors are from each other, and how far back the listening position is. Next Reference 3 checks the signal level coming from the mic to make sure it’s at an appropriate level. You then select your input and output channels.

#Sonarworks reference 4 worth it serial number#

In this case it was the XREF 20 with the associated calibration file that relates to the serial number on the microphone. You start by selecting a microphone and a calibration profile.

The calibration process is straightforward with onscreen prompts guiding you clearly though every step. I’ll start by talking about the process of calibrating itself, and then I’ll discuss my results. I went through the calibration process seven times in all, five with my high-end monitors to test the influence of various settings and to track consistency, and twice more with my 5” bookshelf monitors. Anything below 500Hz is a bit of a crapshoot due to the room so that’s where I’m hoping Reference 3 can help me out. My higher-end monitors claim to track +/- 3dB 20hz-20kHz and from my own testing, they do so from 500Hz and up.

My room measures roughly 13ft/8ft/7.5ft with a mix of flat surfaces, and furniture and limited treatment. I do some of my sound work at a post-production facility with treated rooms, but my home rig is a pretty average setup with an MBox 3 Pro, feeding both a pair of small, powered 5-inch bookshelf monitors and a separate Crown amplifier feeding higher-end 4-way monitors in a A/B setup (both pairs are calibrated to 79dB). I’m primarily a composer and sound designer.

#Sonarworks reference 4 worth it mac#

The plugin comes in the following formats, VST/AU/RTAS/AAX, so you could conceivably borrow a mac to run the calibration component and then use the plugins on a windows machine if needs be.īefore I begin, a little context about my space and the work I do.

#Sonarworks reference 4 worth it software#

On the software side, Reference 3 is only Mac compatible currently, with older versions still available for PC users. The FAQ online says that “you can use any calibrated measurement microphone”, so you need not use the Sonarworks microphone if you have your own. The mic itself is well-built and individually calibrated so any bias towards certain frequencies are accounted for by the software by way of a calibration file. Unfortunately trying to access the help menu from the software itself didn’t… well, help. Whilst Reference 3 is designed to be intuitive and simple to use, I did have some questions which were only partially answered by the online FAQ. I’m not sure if the Software suite & Mic Bundle pictured above comes with any documentation, but there was none to speak of in the microphone-only package.

#Sonarworks reference 4 worth it trial#

The package I got included their XREF 20 measurement microphone which is bundled with a free trial of Reference 3. Other reviews have been broadly positive so I was excited to give it a go and see how it could help improve the sound of my home studio space. Sonarworks were kind enough to send DesigningSound a copy of Reference 3 and their calibrated microphone to review. It does this by taking numerous measurements around the mix position with a calibrated measurement microphone, then generating a preset for their plugin that makes EQ, delay and level adjustments in an attempt to calibrate your system to either a flat, emulated or desired response curve. Sonarworks Reference 3 is a software/hardware solution that attempts to account for the combination of your monitors, the space they’re in, their placement and your mix position. Aside from all of those, there’s something else you might try…

Steps such as using more transparent gear, learning the various biases of our existing equipment and account for them, acoustic treatment and extensively testing final mixes under a variety of conditions. It’s easy to quickly turn to despair in the face of all this, but there are steps we can take to minimize the influence of some of these variables. This is why dubbing mixers or mastering engineers often are heard saying something along the lines of, “that’ll be the last time anyone hears it as it’s meant to sound”. city noise)Īs a result of all of this, the only thing you can be sure of is that no one will ever hear your music or sound the way you do.