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Post by bossanova on Mar 25, 2024 18:19:28 GMT -6
I've been on Sonarworks 4 for ages and can upgrade to Sound ID cheap til the end of the evening. Is it worth it?
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Post by ragan on Mar 25, 2024 19:59:09 GMT -6
I guess I’ll second this question.
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Post by ragan on Mar 25, 2024 20:00:05 GMT -6
Although I don’t know if I have any available discounts. But I’m still generally interested if people feel like the upgrade is worth it. I feel like when it first came out, there was stuff people didn’t like about it. But that was quite awhile ago.
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Post by mike on Mar 25, 2024 20:07:21 GMT -6
I'd guess you can download a trial quick to demo ID to see if it suits you ?
That's what I did a year ago give or take and I did not buy ID after the demo, I preferred the earlier sonarworks version before ID I think was called Reference 4.......I didn't care for ID then, but It's subjective and I only demo'd it a couple of days. I did not find it better, just different at the time. I don't know how many revisions they've done since then if any. YMMV
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Post by mcirish on Mar 26, 2024 8:17:08 GMT -6
I started on Sonarworks V3 I believe. Then went to 4 and finally SoundID, which is version 5. SoundID is a bit buggy on PC. Their latest builds have been pretty horrible. For a couple months I had >70% crashes in Nuendo. It would just go "poof". No dump file was created. It took a while to find a tool that I could run to figure out why it crashed so often. I found it was SoundID. I opened a support case and after a few weeks I was told that they know there is a problem with the latest builds. They explained how to go back to a beta build from July 2023. After installing that version, the crashes decreased greatly. I turned off the update feature as I didn't trust any of the newer builds. Sonarworks has helped me a great deal with mixes translating. I had said for years that it was the single most important purchase I made in the last 5 years. It's just impossible to mix what you can't hear, and my room has some issues.
I have to say though...
I am not using Sonarworks SoundID currently. I decided to give Arc Studio a try. Super simple setup and it sounds good. Does it sound identical to SoundID? No, I don't think so, but they are both very close and most importantly, I can hear the frequencies my room modes were cutting. The best thing about Arc Studio is that it runs on a hardware box so it can't cause my computer to crash. I've only been using it for two weeks but I have not had a single crash on the computer. If I were starting again, I'd go with Arc Studio over Sonarworks SoundID. That's a bit hard for me to say, since I have a fondness for Sonarworks. But... I have to get work done and buggy software can't be part of my daily routine anymore. I do wish they would have been able to make it more stable.
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 26, 2024 10:35:07 GMT -6
the sw sale was interesting, (undercutting arc pricing) but now you have to buy speaker and headphones together, cheaper then the new arc, but ,
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Post by wiz on Mar 26, 2024 14:36:20 GMT -6
I haven’t updated sound id in ages….and won’t till I am forced to.
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 26, 2024 14:59:52 GMT -6
Wise, you are: grasshopper!  |
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Post by yewtreemagic on Mar 26, 2024 15:48:42 GMT -6
I've heard SO many nightmares about Sonarworks Sound ID reliability over the last couple of years that I'm still sticking with Sonarworks Reference 4.
The only thing that would tempt me to upgrade (and believe me, I've tried to find out) is if the Sound ID filters sound better. Sonarworks themselves have stated that they are identical between the two versions, but various upgraders are convinced that the newer one sounds at least marginally better (or perhaps the Measurement utility is slightly different, or more sophisticated).
I do like the sound of Reference 4, except that its 'Linear Phase' filter option, while having more clarity, sounds distinctly harsh in the top end compared to the 'Mixed' filter (yes, I know about the phase differences, but I'd be surprised if the tonal differences are simply due to these).
Martin
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Post by bossanova on Mar 26, 2024 16:32:50 GMT -6
I've heard SO many nightmares about Sonarworks Sound ID reliability over the last couple of years that I'm still sticking with Sonarworks Reference 4. The only thing that would tempt me to upgrade (and believe me, I've tried to find out) is if the Sound ID filters sound better. Sonarworks themselves have stated that they are identical between the two versions, but various upgraders are convinced that the newer one sounds at least marginally better (or perhaps the Measurement utility is slightly different, or more sophisticated). I do like the sound of Reference 4, except that its 'Linear Phase' filter option, while having more clarity, sounds distinctly harsh in the top end compared to the 'Mixed' filter (yes, I know about the phase differences, but I'd be surprised if the tonal differences are simply due to these). Martin That's what I went with after reading some of the comments here. Staying on Reference 4. The clincher was double checking and reading that Sound ID replaces 4 and the two won't work together. |
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Post by bgrotto on Mar 26, 2024 20:11:02 GMT -6
no need to upgrade that I can think of, unless you're running some hardware that requires it. for example, my Adams speakers can run a sound id profile, so it was nice to upgrade in order to make profiles for my speakers to host. otherwise, I haven't really stumbled on any particular benefit.
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Post by yewtreemagic on Mar 27, 2024 14:46:12 GMT -6
Well I've certainly learned a lesson today, after re-running my Sonarworks Reference 4 Measure utility for the first time since last year. If you've moved anything (even minor items) in your studio, or added a few extra items, don't assume that your previous profile is still totally valid. Although my minor room peaks and troughs were all at the same frequencies as before, several of them had changed slightly in amplitude. My new Sonarworks profile measured this afternoon doesn't look very different from the previous one, but I can nevertheless hear improvements in my stereo imaging and a slighlt tightening up at the bass end  |
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 27, 2024 14:53:33 GMT -6
Agreed, have you ever turned off one speaker at a time to compare the stereo consistency? REW does this easily, interesting to see the differences in your stereo field too. |
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