Hello everyone,

I just picked up the Sonarworks Headphone Calibration plugin and loaded up the profile for my Audio-Technica ATH-M70X. I loaded up a track that I finished mixing just the other day to see how it sounded using the plugin. I was shocked at how drastically different the sound was. It sounded very flat and almost 2-dimensional. It lost a lot of its power and just overall sounded a lot worse. Now, I understand that the plugin is supposed to make everything flat so that I can then make better mixing decisions, but is what I'm hearing in my finished track the result of me doing a horrible job mixing it? In other words, I was pretty happy with the mix I did without the Sonarworks plugin. When I listen to it without the plugin enabled, I like the sound. If I were to redo the mix from the ground up using Sonarworks, would my goal then be to try to get the new mix (with the plugin enabled) to sound the way my old mix did with the plugin disabled? Would this then supposedly translate better to other listening environments? 

I guess I'm just a little uncertain of how to go about mixing now that these headphones that I'm so used to sound so different with the plugin. 

One other question: there is a "Prevent Clipping" switch that is enabled by default. This drops the output volume by about 6.5dB. How am I supposed to compensate for a 6.5 difference in volume while making my mixing decisions if I going to be disabling the plugin before doing my final mixdown? 

If any of you have used Sonarworks for a while and are very comfortable with the workflow, I'd love some advice on how best to approach this. 

Thank you!

Hi Chris, I use K702's and they being open backed are very light on the bass end, the calibration profile has flattened them out and the mixes translate far better. Before I had a tendency to overcook the bass due to compensating for the lack of bass in the headphones, now the plug in compensates but not the resultant mix. I have also used the room/speaker reference calibration (I bought the mic for $50 ) as my reference speakers tend to lack around 60Hz but over egg around 150 Hz.
Once again the plugin removes any uncertainties over the final mix.  Try running a frequency analyser before and after the Sonarworks plugin in the FX rack. In fact I have re-created the sonarworks speaker calibration profile as an eq preset in another plugin (A/B'ed the two).   A good suggestion is to listen to the simulation of the beats headphones, they should sound really bass heavy with your headphones calibrated (some would say like in real life).
:)
 
p.s. I usually turn off the clipping as I mix to between 3 and 6db anyway to allow headroom for mastering.

If you know that the plugin is "reducing" the volume, there is 
no worry, as you will be removing it for "Mixdown".  The purpose
of the plugin is to give you "reference" quality for the mix, but
that is based on the headphones you are using, and the plugin will be removed
from the Master Bus when you mix down and all volumes will be
as they should be.  And, as was mentioned, if you watch your levels,
you can disable the "clipping" option when mixing.

Yes, what here is "reference" and you find that your mixes, when moved from
source to source, will remain consistent, and that is what you want.

You can have a GREAT sounding mix in YOUR headphones, but, when it's moved
to another source for playing it will NOT sound the same at all.  

Also, keep in mind that the point of this plugin is to flatten the response of your headphones to be close to "reference quality". 
 
It is not intended to emulate what your hear on monitors.  For that, you need something like the VRM box or TB Isone.

Try loading in some tracks from your favorite commercial recordings and spend some time just kicking back and listening to them through the filtered headphones. Training your ears to this new environment is going to be just as challenging as switching to entirely new headphones or speakers. It'll take some time to adjust.
 

I have to admit I was shocked at how much my ATH-M50x's were hyping the bass and the treble before I flipped on Sonarworks. They definitely remove any "goodifying" effect your cans might be creating. As for the clipping switch, that won't effect your mix levels as long as you have Sonarworks as the last thing in the chain before your interface. And that means putting it on its own bus, routing the bus to the hardware outputs and then routing the master bus to the Sonarworks bus. This is how I use ARC2 as well. It means you can mix away without having to worry about how the calibration is affecting your meter levels.

I haven't heard the ATH-M70s, but from reviews I gather they're very close to the ATH-M50s, and those are horribly bass-hyped by a good 10 dB at least. You must take that low-end bump into account if you intend to rely on them as your primary reference. I'm not at all surprised that abruptly losing that bass boost would be quite jarring.
 
The good news is that once you've trained your ears to the flatter sound, you WILL get consistently better mixes, and fairly quickly. 

Thanks for all the feedback and advice, guys. I'm going to spend the next few days listening to as much music (both my own and other's) as I can do I can adjust to the new flatter sound. I have to write and mix a new track this weekend for a game, so that'll be the real test. I plan on mixing the whole thing through Sonarworks, so we'll see how it turns out.

Also, did I just miss it on the site, or is there no manual for the plugin? 

Direct from the website

We have streamlined the measurement and correction processes so you don't have to read anything before you start. You will be guided along the way as you go.

As streamlined as the process is, we are currently working on a user manual and it should be out by the end of 2016.