Sonarworks True-Fi is Live!

Discussion in 'Product Announcements' started by Hrodulf, Jul 18, 2017.

  1. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Hey!

    We've finally released a piece of software made just for the listener crowd. It's called True-Fi and you have the chance to check it out for free! In essence it's the same headphone calibration technology which applies measurement based compensation curves to achieve various target responses.

    True-Fi Main.png
    So, it's FREE and there has to be a catch, right? Sure - the problem is that we can objectively infer a reference sound target for pro guys, but not so for listeners. So there are 4 choices and we want to see where you will gravitate to. Have a listen to you favourite tunes and switch around them to see what floats your boat. Then tell us what's your favourite in the poll.

    GET IT HERE!
     

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  2. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    How it works?

    True-Fi settings.png

    It's a thing that sits between your audio player and DAC. Like this -

    Foobar2000->True-Fi->DAC

    So it basically disguises itself as a legit audio device, captures the outgoing signal, does DSP magic to it and then sends it to your DAC/Wyrd/Eitr/Built-in audio/...

    While True-Fi is active, you won't be able to switch output devices via system configuration. Once you click the preferred output it will be reconfigured in True-Fi software. Use True-Fi preferences to switch outputs if you're using cans, otherwise quit the app and everything will go back to normal.

    On default True-Fi will start in a configuration that will preserve the default output level of your system. If you know something about EQ or have used Sonarworks Systemwide your immediate reaction might be - "zuh??" The problem is that doing additive EQ can only be done by lowering overall levels. The catch here is that we're using compressors to preserve level for guys using low power headphone outputs. For maximum fidelity tick the bottom most option and compensate with your big headphone amp. Now there's a legit reason for owning one!

    Feel free to post any questions you might have!
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2017
  3. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Cheers, @Hrodulf , looking forward to trying this. Unfortunately, the program is saying the activation key I was just sent is invalid. Any known issues?

    EDIT - restarted the app & it took the code ok this time.
     
  4. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Interesting, the key I just got worked for me fine. What OS you're running?
     
  5. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    All fixed, restarted app & it took the code this time. Cheers. (Win10)
     
  6. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Are you looking for feedback in this thread, or just on the web site linked in the app? I'm hearing weirdness with the HD800 filter. Is Tru-Fi adjusting DSP and/or volume on the fly?
     
  7. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Tell us through the app which target you like the best. As for weirdness, we only do DSP if you've ticked the box in the settings to lower your volume. Otherwise you might hear the compressor as well.
     
  8. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    Me like. Much better proposition than the " pro" set. Fast and simple to use. Well designed interface.
    I assume that custom curves will not be possible with this?
    For example I would like to use True-Fi A but roll of the top like in True-Fi B on the HD650's.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2017
  9. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    So far the idea is to test out the waters with these 4 pre-set curves. Custom might come in the future.
     
  10. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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    Definitely something wrong in my setup, sounds really odd, like a variable DSP or possibly a slight volume fader is being messed with as the track plays. I'll play around a bit more & see if I can pin it down.
     
  11. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    Out of curiosity, how were these pre-sets decided upon?
     
  12. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

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    @Hrodulf, just installed this on my Mac Mini. A cinch. Playing the HD 650 now.
     
  13. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Tbh I never actually tried Sonarworks, so just trying this right now.

    Too much goddamn bass, especially subbass even with the A profile. Forget the others.
    Using my modded HD600 with HD650 profile (since my mods make the FR closer to HD650, except a bit brighter and less bassy). I like what it does to the vocal range (the 2kHz thing), but it feels a bit overdone to me. My modded HD800 is somewhere in between the modded HD600 with HD650 profile and no profile.

    I don't like it when the subbass is higher than the upper bass. Makes it feel too intrusive. With certain songs this gives me a headache really quickly.

    Otherwise the EQ implementation seems decent. Doesn't decrease transparency too much, but something about the bass is off. But EQing bass without it sounding weird is hard anyway.
     
  14. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    1. The plain-Jane flat. It's been tried and tested with our pro audience and 95% of our clients use it to mix and master.
    2. Flat + bass-boost/tilt. Our research corroborates with the research of Sean Olive that less trained listeners prefer a more bass heavy sound.
    3. Our approximation of Harman curve. It's not perfect, so we've contacted mr. Olive to get a better one. So far nothing.
    4. The average response of the most popular headphones out there. Adjusted for popularity, not a straight average.
     
  15. Koth Ganesh

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    No wonder I preferred True Fi-D with both the 650 (modded) and the 800 (modded as well). However, when I switched back to playing music through the Mutec 1.2, I found an increase in overall dynamics (implying that I found True Fi "softer"). Need to do more comparos.
     
  16. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Interesting. Do your mods increase bass in any way? The thing is that "too much bass" complain always comes from people with open headphones. I have a feeling that it has to do with being used to open headphone having less bass. Maybe the weirdness is also higher bass THD, due to the driver being driven harder.
     
  17. Jackork

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    I also belive it's due to distoration, different drivers and different acoustic designs will show different results with bass EQ. I think the best way to solve this is to allow user to manually modify target curve, not restricting him to presets. Nonetheless, you did a great job, It's definitely step in the right direction.
     
  18. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    We employ a "master-frame" which limits the amount of low end correction. So if a headphone has -10dB at 40Hz, the correction won't try to bring it up to +0dB. That way we'd do more harm than good.
     
  19. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    The mods decrease the midbass hump, so there's more subbass compared to the midbass than without it, but without the mods there would be even more bass. And since I'm using the HD650 profile I have a bit less bass than regular HD600 with correction, too.

    The target curve you're using has an inherent bass emphasis. It won't measure flat on a coupler without some correction. Flat is my preference. For reference I attached a measurement I just took of my HD600 on a flat plate coupler. It needs a tiny bit more around 2kHz (1-2db), but otherwise I'm quite happy with it. It looks very warm and bassy (unlike my HD800), but that's just because different headphones will measure differently on flat plate couplers for the same FR.
    The HD600 profile has a better shape in the upper midrange in this case, but I still found it a bit hot around 2-3kHz, but I overall preferred the HD650 profile because it was brighter. My HD600 is less bright than a stock HD600.
    I don't like the wobbly stuff in the FR with the correction. This is not a measurement error on my part.
    I'm not sure if this is really a good thing. The sudden change in curve at this point gets you a lot of group delay at this frequency. In this case I got about 15ms at 30Hz, which I think explains what I heard. I do think this is audible because it reminded me of ported woofer bass.

    No wonder I didn't like it. Forget the Olive curve.

    EDIT: Changed the IR windows around a bit for my measurement.
     

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    Last edited: Jul 18, 2017
  20. FallingObjects

    FallingObjects Pay It Forward

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    Loving these on my Elears, btw. What's the reason why they're available on the True-Fi beta, but not the main Sonarworks? Not enough samples to get a high enough reliability EQ for that product?
     

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