Software/plugin seems to work pretty well. I admit I am not a professional mixer, but after using it almost exclusively for a mix I was working on, it seems to get me a lot closer to where I want to be when I check it on other devices (larger monitors, native computer speakers). I do still find myself tweaking after checking the mix against those other devices, as certain things sound louder/softer/further away/closer in the headphones vs. monitors, but Reference 4 seems to get me much closer. Different headphones also make a difference as I have two models they make a preset 4 and have tried them both and they don't sound the same even with the plugin/correction applied.