Using Axe-Fx III and Sonarworks Reference 4

StevenPersson said:
Hey folks!

Anyone here using the Axe FX III through the Sonarworks Reference 4 system?

I find it very hard to dial in sounds on the Axe because I cannot get the Axe to work through the Reference as it's currently only picks up computer audio and not my guitar input. My headphones are quite hyped so I want to flatten those with the Reference to get a more accurate representation of the sound. Using the Axe as a sound card watching YouTube or playing music from iTunes works with the Reference - but it does not affect my guitar signal.

In Logic Pro X, I have the Reference plugin on my master bus and it works great, but it's hard to dial in presets here as well since I can't record enable my channels in Logic without have the direct signal and the USB-signal from the Axe mixer together - making it impossible to hear the sound correctly - hence only hearing the unprocessed direct guitar signal from the Axe

Is there a solution to this?

At the moment, I hook my Axe directly to my Mac via USB. No audio interface in between. But will getting an audio interface and record the Axe via other inputs than the USB help to monitor the guitar signal through the Reference?

Cheers.
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You should be able to use Loopback by Rogue Amoeba. Sonarworks recognizes virtual Loopback devices as legitimate output devices.
 
jaycal6 said:
To me it was, yes. I’m not sure which is more accurate, but I settled on using Sonarworks. I think you can demo it for free.
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I got the full version of it. I couldn't hear much of a difference but on the other hand didn't listen super carefully either....might to that tonight!
 
GlennO said:
Wouldn't it be simpler to just get headphones with a flatter frequency spectrum response?
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Well, there's a lot that goes into chosing a type of headphone that you really like, stuff like cost, comfort, sound etc. To me the Beyerdynamics are super comfortly and also sound very good albeit with quite a spike in the highs and a drop of in the sub lows. I feel counter-EQ:ing that does the trick and it sounds balanced and good to my ears.

But as much as in other cases - having the best source possible is usally the best starting point, so having a par of phones with a flatter frequency spectrum is proabably better.....but that could also be tied to pricing.
 
StevenPersson said:
Well, there's a lot that goes into chosing a type of headphone that you really like, stuff like cost, comfort, sound etc. To me the Beyerdynamics are super comfortly and also sound very good albeit with quite a spike in the highs and a drop of in the sub lows. I feel counter-EQ:ing that does the trick and it sounds balanced and good to my ears.

But as much as in other cases - having the best source possible is usally the best starting point, so having a par of phones with a flatter frequency spectrum is proabably better.....but that could also be tied to pricing.
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In that case, you'll obviously need run the AxeFX output through your computer to get the correction applied. It sounds like you know that will add latency. Anyway, check out AudioHijack or Soundsource to do the correction. That way all audio will have the correction applied, instead of just Logic's output. It comes with a library of headphone EQ profiles, or you can load Room EQ wizard profiles.
 
GlennO said:
In that case, you'll obviously need run the AxeFX output through your computer to get the correction applied. It sounds like you know that will add latency. Anyway, check out AudioHijack or Soundsource to do the correction. That way all audio will have the correction applied, instead of just Logic's output. It comes with a library of headphone EQ profiles, or you can load Room EQ wizard profiles.
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No, I don't need to. As stated earlier in this thread, on page 1, I use an EQ block at the end of the chain (that goes out to OUT 1 in the Axe) that flatten my headphones. OUT 1 is solely for listening on my guitar while I've also setup an OUT 2 that records my guitar without the EQ into my DAW. Sonarworks is on my master in the DAW and I can't say I experience any latency issues as for now.

However, your suggestion could be an easier one, so I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
I don't know what you are using for an interface but if you have multiple inputs and output you can route the guitar to its own separate monitoring channel and put the sonarworks on the monitoring channel and not have any latency issues. I use this method for my recordings and it works great. I learned how to do it by watching this video
 
I have the full sonarworks software and it makes a huge difference to my studio monitors, but like everyone else it's frustrating that the correction isn't applied on input signals.

So does anybody know how to make an IR of the Sonarworks correction in the DAW? that way I can load the correction IR in an IR loader within my UA Console and have zero latency monitoring of the correction plot. I just don't know how to create an IR in my DAW
 
Misha shows how to put Sonarworks in the Control Room monitor chain so you can hear it when monitoring. If you want to shoot an IR of the correction though, you can use any deconvolver. Logic has this built-in, or something like the one from Voxengo should work fine.
 
GlennO said:
Misha shows how to put Sonarworks in the Control Room monitor chain so you can hear it when monitoring. If you want to shoot an IR of the correction though, you can use any deconvolver. Logic has this built-in, or something like the one from Voxengo should work fine.
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Nope doesn't work, I don't use logic.
 
GlennO said:
Deconvolution was proven to work long ago. Take it up with Fourier if you disagree :).
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I meant I can't use Misha's method as I'm not on Logic.

So yes I am wondering how I shoot an IR of the correction as I would have no clue.
 
Just ran across this post I am using sonarworks worked pretty good with a Helix but sometimes Fractal FM3 sounds great and other times its like what the heck happened to my settings

Long story short FM3 was sounding great again I'm like what the heck - ah noticed Sonarworks was not on that was the culprit so for now I wont be using that anymore with Fractal

I have the headphone version of Sonarworks for my Sennheiser HD 6xx's
 
When dialing in a tone, I highly recommend you use a recorded piece through looper or route a DI track to the Axe-FX. Firstly, latency isn't an issue anymore with Sonarworks. Secondly, being able to hear your guitar you are physically playing is probably going to fuck up your entire tone when you listen on playback. I'm always surprised how much character one gets from the actual sound of the instrument being played combined with whatever is being played through the monitors.
 
DLC86 said:
I just captured a couple IRs (for L and R) of sonarworks correction for my room and loaded them in a second cab block at the end of the chain going to out2, while non corrected signal goes to out1. This way I can record straight away without engaging/bypassing cab2.
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Could you let me know how you captured the IRs? I have SoundID on my Mac with correction profiles for my room / speakers and headphones but it is not clear to me if there's a way to get the equivalent IR file exported. Or did you do some kind of separate sweep to generate IRs with the profiles active in a DAW?
 
Fotukito said:
Could you let me know how you captured the IRs? I have SoundID on my Mac with correction profiles for my room / speakers and headphones but it is not clear to me if there's a way to get the equivalent IR file exported. Or did you do some kind of separate sweep to generate IRs with the profiles active in a DAW?
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I captured the IRs with voxengo deconvolver, basically I just loaded a sine sweep wave file (generated by voxengo) in the daw, put sonarworks plugin as an insert on the track and exported the resulting stereo wave file which was then deconvolved by voxengo
 
DLC86 said:
I captured the IRs with voxengo deconvolver, basically I just loaded a sine sweep wave file (generated by voxengo) in the daw, put sonarworks plugin as an insert on the track and exported the resulting stereo wave file which was then deconvolved by voxengo
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Got it, thanks! This will be fun to play with, since in my case I prefer to run the Axe out directly to a analog mixer for headphone and speaker monitoring, rather than looping through the computer / DAW.
 
Fotukito said:
Got it, thanks! This will be fun to play with, since in my case I prefer to run the Axe out directly to a analog mixer for headphone and speaker monitoring, rather than looping through the computer / DAW.
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Another option, just so you know: Room EQ Wizard can export a table of parametric EQ settings. Just measure your room, then copy the EQ settings into one or two peq blocks.
 
GlennO said:
Another option, just so you know: Room EQ Wizard can export a table of parametric EQ settings. Just measure your room, then copy the EQ settings into one or two peq blocks.
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Thanks, that does also look like a good option. In my case though I've already got full SonarWorks SoundID room & headphone profiles that I use for audio from my computer / DAW, so it would be nice to have the same in my Axe audio output paths for consistency. And I presume using IRs generated from those profiles within a Cab block would be a bit more accurate than matching with PEQ settings.
 
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