Question: Is Sonarworks SoundID SR a superior method of determining FR in headphones? In the link below they have graphs of headphones measured using different hardware and propose that they've developed a better way of determining the desired audio output. I think this is important because of how music is mixed since many producers/mixers use SoundID for calibration.
https://www.sonarworks.com/blog/research/white-paper
Some background (and another question at the bottom) on why I'm wondering this....
Today, I was comparing equalization curves from Oratory1990, Crincale, and Sonarworks SoundID for my Audio Technica ATH-R70X headphones. I'm using SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba to do A/B tests and volume matching the output. Granted, SoundID is doing more processing on the signal than just EQ as it also tries to phase match the output based on their ATH-R70X wired average. I don't hear much difference with phase matching disabled though.
ASR, Crinacle and Oratory1990's measurements show a dip in the 4-5k region with a stronger dip at 10k (though not sure if that should be considered).
Here is SoundID's measurement, which is a bit confusing as their target is "flat", but that's a bit of a black box. For Sonarworks, "flat" means they've matched an equalization curve similar to studio monitors.
Here's some rough estimates on measured differences:
100hz -> SoundID: +3db from target, ASR: -1db, Oratory: +0.5db
3k -> SoundID: -3db from target, ASR: ~-3db, Oratory: 0db
5k -> SoundID: -3db from target, ASR: -7.5db, Oratory: -3.5db
7k -> SoundID: +3db, ASR: Close, Oratory: Close
Listening to the difference is striking in the mids and highs. As a music producer who is trying to find out a "reference", this seems a bit bewildering. So I guess I have another question for other producers/mixers on this forum. Do you mix using a Harman target for headphones or try to go for something "flat"?
https://www.sonarworks.com/blog/research/white-paper
Some background (and another question at the bottom) on why I'm wondering this....
Today, I was comparing equalization curves from Oratory1990, Crincale, and Sonarworks SoundID for my Audio Technica ATH-R70X headphones. I'm using SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba to do A/B tests and volume matching the output. Granted, SoundID is doing more processing on the signal than just EQ as it also tries to phase match the output based on their ATH-R70X wired average. I don't hear much difference with phase matching disabled though.
ASR, Crinacle and Oratory1990's measurements show a dip in the 4-5k region with a stronger dip at 10k (though not sure if that should be considered).
Here is SoundID's measurement, which is a bit confusing as their target is "flat", but that's a bit of a black box. For Sonarworks, "flat" means they've matched an equalization curve similar to studio monitors.
Here's some rough estimates on measured differences:
100hz -> SoundID: +3db from target, ASR: -1db, Oratory: +0.5db
3k -> SoundID: -3db from target, ASR: ~-3db, Oratory: 0db
5k -> SoundID: -3db from target, ASR: -7.5db, Oratory: -3.5db
7k -> SoundID: +3db, ASR: Close, Oratory: Close
Listening to the difference is striking in the mids and highs. As a music producer who is trying to find out a "reference", this seems a bit bewildering. So I guess I have another question for other producers/mixers on this forum. Do you mix using a Harman target for headphones or try to go for something "flat"?