“I've been using Sonarworks 4 before so when the discount came to upgrade i didn't miss a chance to do it as i was trailing version 5 for improvements. I was lucky this matched the discount sale which could be a more regular thing in my opinion. Reference 5 has quite a few improvements and is a lot more reliable with modern cpu's (Ryzen 3000/5000), which is the most important thing for me. Performance is great, measurement app has improved, and now there are translation checks. What i would suggest is to add more industry standard translation and/or reference targets (like the popular karman curves), and also to give some import/export functionality so that calibrations and targets can be shared with REW/EqualizerAPO/etc. This gives more flexibility and also can bring in new customers as it reduces the cumbersomeness of switching.”
“Using a Flat Target only for music production purposes I find out that, regardless of huge sound improvements, it is still a sound difference between two pair of headphones, different models, from different brands.
Can I recommend it, yes.
Is there room for improvement, yes.”
“Great product and support.
I had ordered the product hoping it would also work with version 4 which worked on my old mac, but it didn't. Technical support immediately offered me a refund, very kind. In the end I kept the product and updated my hardware, id reference is truly a complete product. The ability to try out the various listening simulations is also very useful.”
“I used to mix and master tracks by playing them on all of my monitors, mobile devices and in the car, which was an incredibly tedious way of checking the translation. Having a consistent calibrated sound has made my life so much easier, not only saving time but also getting a better overall sound.”
“Had real issues download the trial for whatever reason, by the time it started working my trial had about ran out. However, when it did get working, it does exactly what you wanted it to. I tested it alongside Dsoniq and Morphit and Sonarworks was by far the best.
I discovered Sonarworks was the best by real world translation. I've had to use Sonarworks lately due to being on the move and not having access to my usual NF monitors, in conjunction with Canopener I've found my mixes translating better than ever (a little frustrating after spending so much on monitors lol). Recommended to a friend who had a similar experience, and going forwards it's tempting to just keep using Sonarworks on HD600's.
I do think it's not great that they don't offer particularly good upgrade deals for people who own older versions of the software, but the whole thing isn't that expensive anyway so I don't mind too much.
TL;DR: Strongly recommend for headphone users, light CPU, not too pricey, stellar mix translation.”
“I'm very pleased with SoundID Reference for a few reasons: it's a one-time purchase, the app is responsive and packed with features, and it was easy to set up”
