With software technology providing an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the music-making and mixing tools at our disposal, the only major hurdle most of us still face in getting our mixes sounding their best is the physical space in which we make them. The compromised acoustics of the average home studio have always necessitated acceptance of the fact that what you’re hearing out of your monitors isn’t necessarily true to what’s going into them.

In recent years, however, that disheartening situation has started to change. Thanks to the rise of accessible speaker calibration systems, it really is now possible to counterbalance the dodgy interactions between your speakers and your room using any of a range of software- or hardware-based solutions.

In this feature, we’ll take a look at the most popular options to consider right now if you’re looking to incorporate speaker calibration into your workflow or upgrade your current calibration setup.

What Is Speaker Calibration And How Can It Help Improve The Quality Of My Mixes?

Any loudspeaker in a room will, to some extent, sound different to how it would in a perfectly anechoic space, due to the inevitable effect of reflections and room modes. This can make it difficult to accurately hear and appraise the true sound and nature of your output, resulting in mixes that might, for example, sound great in the studio but are either lacking in or overloaded with bass when played back through other systems.

Purpose-built recording studios and mixing rooms are designed to negate such issues as much as possible through carefully considered construction and high-end acoustic treatment, but getting anywhere near the optimum response in the home or project studio can be tricky, to say the least. And that’s where speaker calibration comes in. While, of course, it’s not possible to rewrite the laws of physics where room modes are concerned, today’s calibration systems can at least bend the rules slightly to help us get a flatter, more trustworthy response from our studio monitors.

If you’re considering introducing speaker calibration into your workflow, this article, weighing up the good and bad sides of the process, is a must-read. Read now the Pro & Cons Of Speaker Calibration Software.

How Does Speaker Calibration Work?

Speaker calibration systems differ in implementation, but one thing they all have in common is the requirement of a point of reference on which to base the all-important room analysis at the heart of the matter. In all cases, a series of sine wave sweeps is played through the speakers and captured via a measurement microphone placed at the listening position, to build a snapshot of monitor performance. The resulting profile is compared to a predetermined target profile (a flat response, say, or that of a particular listening environment) to generate an EQ curve that compensates for tonal issues within each monitor channel, and also works to correct the phase relationship between them, thus improving stereo imaging.

What Forms Of Speaker Calibration Are There For Me To Choose From For My Studio?

Although all speaker calibration systems aim to achieve the same thing – improving the accuracy of your monitors by adapting their response to fit the specifics of the room – the technology comes in a variety of different types, from software-only systems, to dedicated outboard and monitor-integrated DSPs. Let’s take a tour…

Disclaimer: All pricing information in this article was correct at the time of writing (March 2021).

Software Only Speaker Calibration Software

Software speaker calibration systems are ideal for most producers, costing less than their hardware counterparts and integrating directly with any VST/AU/AAX DAW via a correction plugin on the master bus. IK Multimedia’s ACR System 3 and Sonarworks’ SoundID Reference are widely considered the best on the market today.

IK Multimedia ARC System 3

Launched in April 2020, the third version of IK’s acclaimed ARC System debuted a dramatically improved analysis application, a new plugin with added controls for fine-tuning key speaker calibration parameters, and the ability to take height into account when calibrating. The results are far more natural sounding than previous ARC versions, which often felt too processed for our liking. 

Affordability remains a key selling point for ARC, with the software costing €199.99 ex VAT (any RTA microphone can be used for analysis), and the full system including MEMS Microphone (worth €69.99) priced €249.99.

ARC System 3 Analysis application features:

• Streamlined multi-point room measurement system based on 3D Volumetric Response Modeling technology

• Measurement precision when used with ARC System microphone: +/-0.5 dB

• Also works with any RTA microphone with or without calibration file

• Saves measurement sets to be opened with the ARC System Correction plugin

ARC System 3 Correction plugin features:

• High-quality frequency and time domain correction plugin

• Resizable user interface

• Natural and Linear Phase modes for best L-R phase coherency

• Real-time spectrum analyser showing how the room is affecting the sound before correction

• Adjustable Low and Hi correction range to preserve monitor voicing

• Three different resolution/smoothing options

• High-precision multi-standard metering derived from T-RackS 5, offering Peak, RMS, LUFS and DR metering

• Correction processor resolution: 32-bit floating point

• Correction processor supported sampling rates: 44.1-192kHz

• Virtual Monitoring feature mimics the sound of various listening devices 

Find out more: ARC System 3.

Sonarworks SoundID Reference

The recently rebranded SoundID Reference (previously known as Reference 4) comprises a plugin for use in your DAW and a standalone app for system-wide correction, as well as the SoundID Reference Measure room calibration app and a measurement mic. The latest version adds to an already impressive featureset and workflow with the ability to customise the target curve in real time and limit the calibration frequency range, and introduces the new Translation Check feature, which switches between 20 playback device emulations – earbuds, TV, car, etc – for comprehensive mix checking. Notably, SoundID Reference is geared up for calibration of headphones as well as speakers.

The complete SoundID Reference costs €299, but that drops to €249 if you don’t need the mic. A 21-day demo is available, too – while obviously this doesn’t include the mic, check out our article Do You Need A Measurement Microphone To Setup Speaker Calibration? for workarounds.

Find out more: Sonarworks SoundID Reference

Previous Versions Of Sonarworks Reference Software

Sonarworks offer the Reference 4 Studio Edition with mic for €299 which includes both Reference plug-in, systemwide application and Sonarworks calibrated measurement microphone which Sonarworks recommend you use for best results. As an added bonus, users also get three activations per licence which means you can use speaker calibrations across three of your computers at once.

In 2019 Sonarworks Systemwide got a big update which included a range of helpful features aimed at helping users manager calibrations across multiple monitor setups. Check out our article Sonarworks 4.4 New Features - Understanding User Presets And Devices And How These Can Help You Manage Your Monitoring to learn what these new feature are and how they can help you setup the perfect multi-monitor environment in your studio:

Hearing is believing. To download a 21 day free trial of Reference software visit Sonarworks. For best results, sonarworks recommend using one of their microphones, however, buying a mic just for trial purposes may not be an option for you.

Luckily, there is another way for testing Sonarworks without spending a single penny. Check out our article Do You Need A Measurement Microphone To Setup Speaker Calibration? to learn how you could use any type of microphone you have access to for setting up a trail version of Sonarworks. The results may not be spot on but at least you get a taste of what speaker calibration can do for you.

Genelec GLM Correction System

Genelec’s GLM 4 software controls the DSP chips in the company’s Smart Active Monitors and subwoofers (SAM) – from the diminutive 8320 to the enormous 1236 – for tightly integrated speaker calibration. The reference microphone kit is used to measure the acoustic environment of your studio, and the results are analyzed by the software to optimize each monitor in terms of level, distance delay, subwoofer crossover phase, and room response equalization, with the option for manual tweaking if required.

GLM 4 software tightly integrates with the internal DSP circuitry which Genelec Smart Active Monitors and Subwoofers are equipped with. GLM 4’s reference microphone kit allows your acoustic environment to be analyzed, after which GLM 4’s AutoCal feature optimizes each monitor for level, distance delay, subwoofer crossover phase, and room response equalization, with the option for you to further fine-tune the system.

GLM acts as a powerful monitor controller - giving you the ability to switch between monitors, maintain precise control of listening levels, engage bass management or entire system delay offsets, with between listening locations and manage and control more than 80 Genelec monitors and subwoofers.

Content on the new GLM 4 is coming soon but in the meantime see the GLM 3 analysis process in action in this video:

Outboard DSP Speaker Calibration

Despite having affordability on their side, software-based speaker calibration systems aren’t for everyone, especially those mixing multi-channel content – ARC System 3 and SoundID Reference are stereo-only, which rules them out for audio post production engineers working in surround. Enter, then, these two outboard multi-channel DSP solutions from Trinnov and MiniDSP…

MiniDSP Dirac

MiniDSP’s Dirac Series provides a range of boxes for home cinema and professional studio speaker calibration. In the latter category, the DDRC-88A (and its digital equivalent, the DDRC-88D) packs an 8x8 DSP board and miniSHARC module into a cost-effective 1U processor, with an infrared remote learning feature. The front panel rotary encoder enables control of the DDRC-88A processor without the need for a computer connection after the processor has been configured using the Dirac Live application.

How Does Dirac Live Work?

The Dirac Live software is used to set up the filters within the DDRC-88A. In contrast to some systems, Dirac Live corrects the frequency response towards a user-adjustable target curve, which takes account of the natural frequency range of the loudspeaker system and the normal effects of loudspeaker dispersion on the measured in-room magnitude response. it’s a rather different workflow that takes some getting used to, but once you understand it, it makes all the difference.

Dirac Live also corrects the system’s impulse response, which reflects how it responds to sharp transients, such as drums. Reflections, diffraction, resonances, misaligned drivers, etc, combine to smear transients, but this correction makes the real speaker in the room behave much more like the ideal model.

Contrasting with the minimum-phase and linear-phase filters commonly found in audio applications, Dirac Live deploys an analysis algorithm designed to create the optimal correction across the whole listening area, not just at a single point. This is accomplished using mixed-phase filters, which match a desired frequency response and generate a customised impulse response.

“While minimum-phase and linear-phase filters are relatively easy to design,” say MiniDSP, “they are tightly constrained in their impulse response characteristics – neither can make a desired change to the magnitude response independently of controlling the impulse response. In some cases, they may even make things worse. Mixed-phase filters are more difficult to design, but the audible performance of Dirac Live is due to its success in using mixed-phase filters to make the system response across the whole listening area more closely resemble that of an ideal speaker. The energy from the direct wave and from early reflections is optimally combined to arrive as a single wavefront to the listener. Late reflections are left largely untouched, being corrected only for their spectral coloration, as they contribute to a larger, more enveloping soundstage.”

Read our review of the miniDSP DDRC-88A With Dirac Live Room Correction System to get our full take on it and learn how to set it up in a multi-channel studio.

miniDSP DDRC-88 Features

• Processor: 32-bit floating-point Analog Devices SHARC DSP

• Input/output resolution: 24-bit

• Analog inputs: 8 unbalanced RCA, 8 balanced phoenix terminal blocks

• Analog outputs: 8 unbalanced RCA, 8 balanced phoenix terminal blocks

• Internal operating sample rate: 48kHz

• Optional DDRC-88BM plugin for Bass Management + Dirac Live + Active Speaker processing (Crossover/PEQ/Delay)

Dirac Live Technical Features

• Impulse response correction

• Frequency response correction

• Editable target curve with unlimited breakpoints

• Automatic target functionality

• Shows all measurements

• Chair, sofa and auditorium measurement

The DDRC-88A costs $999 and includes the Dirac Live software, measurement mic and software. The bass management feature is an optional extra for $99 if your studio requires it.

Find our more: miniDSP Dirac Series

miniDSP DDRC-88 Features

• Processor: 32-bit floating-point Analog Devices SHARC DSP

• Input/output resolution: 24 bits

• Analog inputs: 8x unbalanced RCA / 8x balanced phoenix terminal blocks

• Analog outputs: 8x unbalanced RCA / 8x balanced phoenix terminal blocks

• Internal operating sample rate: 48 kHz

• Optional DDRC-88BM plugin for Bass Management + Dirac Live + Active Speaker processing (Crossover/PEQ/Delay)

Dirac Live Technical Features

• Impulse response correction

• Frequency response correction

• Editable target curve, unlimited breakpoints

• Automatic target functionality

• Shows all measurements

• Chair, sofa and auditorium measurement

The DDRC-88A costs $999 which includes the Dirac Live software, measurement mic and software. The bass management feature is an optional extra for $99 if your studio requires it.

Trinnov Audio

As a glance at the price list below makes clear, Trinnov’s speaker calibration solutions are a cut above the rest and thus come at a premium – particularly the multi-channel options. For stereo applications, the difference between a Trinnov system and the software-based alternatives is that the Trinnov is a self-contained hardware unit that doesn’t require connection to a computer at any stage of the process. All Trinnov processors do, however, have to be calibrated via a dedicated four-capsule microphone that’s capable of measuring your entire 3D studio space with incredible accuracy. indeed, the system is so smart that it can even work out and display height differences between monitors, then correct for them, along with tonal issue and phase problems.

Trinnov Prices

• ST2 Pro (stereo): $4,400

• MC Pro (8 to 16 channels for 5.1, 7.1 or 7.1.4): from $7,050

• D-MON | 6: (5.1 rooms for post production): $6,250

• D-MON | 12: 3D mixing rooms (7.1.4): $10,250

These prices are for the Main unit only. You will, however, also need Trinnov’s 3D microphone, which costs an additional $700. The Trinnov Audio D-Mon Series are digital monitoring processors with immensely powerful speaker calibration that can serve as an Avid X-Mon replacement for Avid’s high-end current Eucon or legacy control surfaces. The D-Mon 6 is Trinnov’s entry-level multi-channel system, for 5.1 setups, featuring eight line inputs, eight line outputs, and eight channels of AES/EBU I/O. Besides calibration, D-Mon also provides a number of handy monitoring features, including routing, summing, assigning inputs to cue, stem mixes, and sends for foldback, listen and talkback feeds.

Learn more about Trinnov D-Mon and see how its calibration responds to a real-world multi-channel post-production studio in this video:

Studio Monitors With Onboard Speaker Calibration DSP

The obvious endpoint for speaker calibration technology is to have it built into the speakers themselves. You can read our article DSP In Studio Monitors – Do You Need DSP To Get A Great Sound? We Look At What Some Of The Top Brands Are Doing to learn more about the concept as a whole, but here are three fine examples of it in practise:

IK iLoud MTM Monitors

Launched in 2019, IK’s affordable iLoud MTM is a smart three-way monitor that completely does away with the need to run a speaker calibration plugin or application in your DAW or on your computer. It realises the dream of enabling recording, mixing and monitoring with speaker calibration active, with no latency, fuss or need to remember to deactivate calibration before bouncing sessions. Read more: IK Multimedia Reveals New iLoud MTM Reference Studio Monitors With Built-in ARC Speaker Calibration Technology For €349.99.

Future ADAM Audio S-Series With Sonarworks

In 2019, ADAM Audio announced their partnership with calibration specialists Sonarworks in the development of an onboard speaker correction system for their flagship S Series monitors: ADAM Audio and Sonarworks Announce Partnership – Could S Series Monitors DSP Soon Be Able To Host Reference 4 Speaker Calibration In The Near Future?

All S Series monitors have powerful DSP chipsets built in for dialling in custom EQ curves. While the S Control Remote app used to do this works, though, it isn’t as deep as it could be, so the prospect of replacing it with a full-on calibration process is hugely exciting. Alas, we’ve not heard any more news about this partnership since the initial announcement, but we’ll be sure to report on it when we do.

Wrap-Up

Ultimately, speaker calibration helps you to trust your monitors and mixing instincts, which in turn enables you to produce better sounding mixes that should translate well on real-world playback systems. As we’ve hopefully shown, whether you’re considering a software- or hardware DSP-based approach solution, there’s certainly no shortage of excellent options available.