Software for improving the sound of headphones is becoming more commonly used, but I’ve always been too stubborn to try it. I’ve already invested in studio monitors and acoustic treatment, why should I care about mixing on headphones when I don’t need to? It’s easy to dismiss the idea without trying it. On the other hand, I thought the same thing about subwoofers until I tried one, and I realized how wrong I was about not needing one.
Speaking of subwoofers, I got a call from my apartment manager that the neighbors were complaining about my subwoofer. I actually might have to rely on headphones.
When Dsoniq reached out to me to try their Realphones plugin I nearly turned down the offer immediately. After some thought and research I agreed to give it a try.
Disclosure – Dsoniq provided the software to me at no cost, and no other compensation. They did not have any editorial input on this video, or see it in advance.
The testing process
I did some quick balance mixes with speakers, and 3 sets of headphones with and without the plugin.
The Results
When monitoring through the software I was able to get mixes very similar to my speaker mix, especially with my most expensive headphones. That gave me a lot of confidence with it.
Results definitely depend on the quality of the headphones, there’s only so much you can do. Both mixes with the Apple earpods were pretty bad, but the AKG and Sennheiser mixes were clearly improved. Maybe not the most scientific approach but it’s enough for me to investigate further.
So my mind has been changed about headphone correction software. If I can get mixes done on headphones without all the guessing that it won’t translate to speakers, that is a really valuable tool.
Download a trial of Realphones here https://www.dsoniq.com/
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