Setting up Sonarworks Reference 4 for Speakers AND Headphones?

[Omni]

I just picked up Sonarworks Reference 4. In case you're unfamiliar with it, the software is a room/headphone calibration system to flatten out the EQ of your mixing environment. The tool has the ability to flatten your physical speakers (by measuring the room with a measurement microphone) as well as a chosen set of headphones.

I'm wondering if I can set that up in Reaper a bit better so I don't have to manually switch the plugin back and forth between speaker and headphone mode if I want a quick peak at how things sound in headphones.

I was hoping I could set up TWO master outputs so that I could use a separate FX chain for both. So I could have Master 1/2 set to use the speaker calibration, but set Master 3/4 to use the headphone calibration, and have all other tracks feed both of these automatically

But it doesn't look like this is possible?

I can clearly do it using some clever routing and folders, not using the existing Master track at all, but I was hoping there would be something a bit more streamlined I could use, more like a tap point in the chain just before hardware outs.

[akademie]

That's what is "MONITOR FX" for.
Put Sonarworks plugin on MonitorFX, then it will go through it to your speakers, but will not be rendered to master file

If you have more project tabs opened, then the MonitorFX button is visible on the right side of the arrange window. I you have only one project opened (no tabs), then use "View: Show monitoring FX chain" action to show monitorFX chain to be able to add plugin. (And there is also "Monitoring FX: Toggle bypass" action).

[valy]

Try this in your Monitoring FX chain:

https://imgur.com/a/y7B21S6

Outputs 1-2 are to one set of speakers
Outputs 5-6 are to headphones

(Outputs 3-4 are to a mono speaker that doesn't need Sonarworks)

[Omni]

Originally Posted by akademie

That's what is "MONITOR FX" for.
Put Sonarworks plugin on MonitorFX, then it will go through it to your speakers, but will not be rendered to master file

If you have more project tabs opened, then the MonitorFX button is visible on the right side of the arrange window. I you have only one project opened (no tabs), then use "View: Show monitoring FX chain" action to show monitorFX chain to be able to add plugin. (And there is also "Monitoring FX: Toggle bypass" action).

Huh. Had no idea that existed!

But it still doesn't resolve my original goal of having a different preset on the Sonarworks plugin on my headphone outs, unless it's possible to assign different FX to different outputs via FX: Monitoring.

Definitely useful to make sure I don't accidentally leave it on the master bus though!

(Looks like your advice combine with valy's does exactly what I needed. Thanks!)

[Omni]

Originally Posted by valy

Try this in your Monitoring FX chain:

https://imgur.com/a/y7B21S6

Outputs 1-2 are to one set of speakers
Outputs 5-6 are to headphones

(Outputs 3-4 are to a mono speaker that doesn't need Sonarworks)

Now that's clever!

[Troychapman]

This use of two instances of Sonarworks in the Monitor FX chain is very nice. I wonder, though, aren’t you routing SW plugin#1 (mains) into SW plugin#2(headphones) ? Meaning SWplugin #2 is correcting a correction? In other words, are the plugins in series or parallel (from separate sends)?

Excellent thinking! I’m just wondering if it really works they way we would like it to work!

[Omni]

Originally Posted by Troychapman

This use of two instances of Sonarworks in the Monitor FX chain is very nice. I wonder, though, aren’t you routing SW plugin#1 (mains) into SW plugin#2(headphones) ? Meaning SWplugin #2 is correcting a correction? In other words, are the plugins in series or parallel (from separate sends)?

Excellent thinking! I’m just wondering if it really works they way we would like it to work!

They're in parallel if you route the pins correctly!

That way outputs 1/2 get the Speaker correction and nothing else. Then outputs 3/4 (for me) get the Headphone correction curve and nothing else.

I did some testing and it does indeed work! ...as long as the input pins are set to the same as the output, e.g.
1/2 - 1/2
3/4 - 3/4
etc

If you use:
1/2 - 3/4

then the processing is in series and you're correcting a correction, which won't work without adding another correction to reverse the first (speaker)before applying the 3rd (heapdhone) curve.

[Troychapman]

Nice work! Thanks.