Sonarworks True-Fi software wants to give consumer grade headphones studio quality sound

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I’ve been doing headphone reviews for at least the past four years now and no two brands are alike. Each brand tunes their soundstage a certain way, which isn’t always the way the artist intended their music to be heard. Sonarworks True-Fi is a new software that aims to balance your consumer grade headphone soundstage. And make it sound the way the original artist intended it to be heard. When I first saw the pitch for True-Fi I was a little skeptical. I’ve seen other company’s promising improvements in 1st-party hardware using third-party software so it was easy to doubt.

Sonarworks has been around since 2012 and has previously worked on pro studio monitoring software so this progression in too the consumer side of sound seems logical. Their software is used in thousands of studios around the world and top studio mixers use it every day. Their pro audio software is called Reference 3 and has received some big awards in the pro sound industry.

True-Fi’s software platform, which supports over 100 of popular headphone models, takes just seconds to configure and employs measurement-based compensation profiles to correct tonal discrepancies that are caused by the headphones’ physical construction. The resulting sound is a closer match to what the artist originally created in the studio — so listeners can experience a closer emotional connection to music in any genre.

“The biggest problem music listeners experience today is not in the file and stream quality, but the playback,” commented Helmuts Bēms, CEO, and co-founder of Sonarworks. “True-Fi uses proprietary, research-driven technology to audibly improve the performance of loudspeakers and headphones. True-Fi stays true to the promise in its name, helping listeners experience the artists’ true intention.”

In addition to offering wide compatibility with most computers, True-Fi is constantly updating its software by adding compatible headphone models. Also, the software enables consumers to personalize their listening preferences to meet their own hearing requirements.

Currently, the software supports sample rates of up to 96kHz and the company plans to announce support of higher sample rates in the near future.

Naturally, I had to try this for myself, so I downloaded the free trial software. Currently, there are just over 100 supported headphones, so you may not find your pair listed. I was able to find my V-MODA Crossfade 2 Wireless headphones listed so I was able to take it for a run. Sonarworks does have a submission form for headphones, so you can submit yours for consideration.

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This isn’t a review piece by any means but I thought I’d at least offer up first impressions of True-Fi. I’ve always been fond of V-MODA and I’ve enjoyed both their Crossfade Wireless and Crossfade 2 Wireless headphones. So I was surprised to hear quite the improvement in sound once I initiated the True-Fi software. I felt the clarity at all frequencies was restored and the music felt alive. Using the software is as easy as installing, choosing your headphone model, and plugging into your PC.

Sonarworks has provided me with access to True-Fi to test out and perhaps write a full review on in the future. For now, having only used one pair of headphones and tested the software for a short period, this looks promising. The software costs $79USD and the company is working on an iOS and Android app that will bring the same capabilities to mobile. In the meantime, I’ll keep using it on whatever headphones I have that are compatible and hopefully have a full review in the future.

What do you think of enhancing headphone sound with third-party software? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

[button link=”https://www.sonarworks.com/truefi” icon=”fa-shopping-cart” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Purchase or Trial True-Fi[/button]
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