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Reviews

What people you trust think about us.

Media reviews Professional testimonials Customer reviews

Word from the industry

World class engineers use Sonarworks

Truly accurate monitoring, allowing you to be fully confident in your mixes. An absolute must have for the studio.
Smith Carlson Engineer and Producer
One Republic, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, Beyonce
Sonarworks not only makes Sol Seven Mix & Audio Post's entire stereo/5.1/11.1 system perform better, it makes the films & music mixed at Sol7Post.com sound better. Our mixes translate perfectly to major theaters, Blu-Ray and HDTV as well.
Michael Lehmann Boddicker Composer, Musicia, Producer/Owner Sol7Post.com
Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Chicago
Bill Gould and I mixed the new Faith No More record, “Sol Invictus”, with the Sonarworks Studio Speaker Calibration software and are thrilled with the results. It’s the first time, in our 20 year history of working together, that we’re able to hear music so accurately.
Matt Wallace Producer and Mixing Engineer
Faith no More, Maroon 5, Train, Andy Grammer, Deftones
What an awesome tool for managing my playback options for monitoring! I am loving this.
Mark Needham Mixer, Producer and Engineer
11 Grammy nominations, The Killers, Pink, Shakira, Imagine Dragons, Chris Isaak

Media reviews

Sonarworks in the press

“Excellent correction for both speakers and headphones. Easy analysis process without the need for a manual. Systemwide applies the correction to the entire computer audio output.”

Systemwide is an app that routes your computer audio system through the assigned profile. That means that any general computer application (like iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, etc) can be played through your speaker correction curve. You can also choose between a flat response, or customize the bass and tilt settings, or even simulate different headphones, studio monitors, and consumer speakers included in the app.

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Sonarworks Reference 4 Studio Edition
Ask Audio, February 2nd

“If you are at all concerned about how the sound you hear in your studio translates to other environments (and who isn’t) or if you just want a better headphone listening experience, I highly recommend giving Sonarworks Reference 4 a spin with the Free Trial. It’s well-designed software that is now an indispensable part of my work flow.”

Play back a professionally mastered mix through your phones, toggle the calibration and I guarantee you will be pleasantly amazed. The Systemwide and Plugin GUIs allow you to view your headphone profile as well as simulate what other listening scenarios might sound like. Without mentioning specific manufacturers, Sonarworks offers simulations such as “Japanese white cone Studio monitors” and “Popular consumer headphones” from a company founded by “a famous Dr. Rap Artist.”

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Review: Sonarworks Reference 4 Studio Edition
Pro Audio Files, December 15th

“It’s been nearly three years since I first encountered Sonarworks’ Reference software, and it has been an essential part of my life ever since.”

Coming up with a meaningful and repeatable measurement of the frequency response of an individual pair of headphones is likewise anything but straightforward, given the complex interactions that take place between drivers, earcups, skull and ears. Sonarworks have met this challenge very successfully, and the key factor that makes Reference so useful is their proprietary measurement technique, which really does allow it to compensate for frequency-response variation in a way that we perceive as flat.

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Sonarworks Reference 4 & Standalone
Sound On Sound, February

“Now that we’ve been using Reference for an extended period of time, we struggle to imagine life without it. It’s a fantastic way to help you improve the sound of your room, your speakers, and subsequently your mixes.”

We reviewed the Headphone version of Sonarworks’ Reference 3 software last year, but it also offers a similar version for speaker calibration. Both were previously only available in plug-in format, but Sonarworks listened to user feedback and added the Systemwide app a few months back, which allows you to run all your system audio through the software without the need for a plug-in host.

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Sonarworks Reference 4 Review – Getting The Best Out of Your System
MusicTech, December 12th

“I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment in committing to the Sonarworks profile when mixing with these headphones.”

Despite my initial apprehension, I can honestly say that I do believe almost everyone can benefit from using the Sonarworks speaker and headphone calibration system. For inexperienced users, you will start off on the right foot; mixing to as neutral sounding speakers, or headphones, as possible. For experienced engineers who work on the road or in different studios, this is an invaluable tool. Simply run the Reference Measure app in your new environment and use the plug-in on your master bus.

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Review - Sonarworks Reference 4 Software
Pro Tools Expert, October 12th

“A professional room tuning can cost hundreds up to thousands of dollars, while this simple-to-use tool from Sonarworks brings a high level of accuracy to your room for much less. I highly recommend this software as a finishing touch in any room.”

The Reference 3 plug-in provides many useful features, like graphs of the before and after frequency responses, the correction curve, as well as more esoteric information like dynamic range limits and phase-response graphs for those who desire to view such information. This effective plug-in may be used in a very simple plug-and-play way, or you can delve under the hood for finer tweaking, experimentation, and useful feedback about your system.

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Sonarworks: Reference 3 speaker & headphone calibration software
Tape Op, August 20th

“Sonarworks has really got a winner here, and I highly recommend checking it out, no matter what kind of system or room you have to work with.”

My room already has a decent amount of acoustic treatment in it to begin with: I have panel absorbers above, behind, and on both sides of me, as well as floor-to-ceiling bass traps in the front corners of the room. Still, the Reference 3 App and plugin greatly improved all aspects of my monitor environment and, the difference was not subtle. Even laptop warriors who only work on headphones or with small speakers will find Reference 3 to be highly useful.

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Gear Review: Sonarworks Reference 3 Room & Speaker Correction Suite
Sonicscoop, November 5th

“When switching between the two I noticed Reference 3 had a very well defined low end and upper mid range clarity. ARC 2 also brought a focus and clarity to the upper mids but didn’t quite refine the lows as well as Reference 3.”

I personally feel Sonarworks Reference 3 is the better of the two for a couple of reasons.

1. The ability to trial Reference 3 for a very small price without having to buy the full bundle.
2. The easy step-by-step setup of the software. The experience of the setup really gave me confidence in the software’s ability as the measurement process was very intuitive and also displayed the correct measurements between my monitors and listening position.

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Room Calibration Software Shootout - ARC 2 vs Reference 3
Pro Tools Expert, October 5th

“All in all, Reference 3 is an excellent package that really delivers on its promise.”

It felt like the plugin peeled away the nonsense in the headphone response, delivering a much flatter and, arguably, less engaging sound. That's what we need for proper monitoring, though, so job done.

Overall, both plugins do great work, but the speaker option is definitely the most impressive of the two, going some way towards resolving room problems in a simple and transparent way.

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Sonarworks Reference 3 review
Music Radar, July 5th

“Once the sound of the room is effectively ‘removed’, mixing and mastering audio that translates well to other systems is a breeze.”

Now that I have measured my project studio room and calibrated it with this software, I can’t imagine ever working without it. An incredibly vivid, detailed soundstage is now present, stereo imaging is excellent, and every aspect of the sound is delivered with wonderful focus and clarity.

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Sonarworks HD Reference Speaker Calibration Tool
TheProAudioWebBlog, April 15th

User testimonials

Our users love us as well

The Sonarworks Reference plug-in makes a difference that is out of all proportion to its modest price, and is capable of turning an unremarkable pair of headphones into a serious mix tool.

Christopher Tin
March 2016

It makes my AKG 702s significantly more trustworthy as a second mix reference. In other words, the plugin makes checking my mixes via headphones suck much less by making them more accurate. But the raison d’etre why I really like this plugin is that it makes the pain go away. Allow me to explain: I suffer from severe headaches that become migraines if I forget to take a ten minute break every hour. The plugins ability to tame/balance the 702s frequency response oddities make prolonged headphone usage much less fatiguing on my poor ears.

Christopher Tin
March 2016

The Sonarworks Reference plug-in makes a difference that is out of all proportion to its modest price, and is capable of turning an unremarkable pair of headphones into a serious mix tool.

Christopher Tin
March 2016
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Customer reviews