Users of ARC or Sonarworks Reference, did it work?

[Mind Riot]

Be sure to give us an update on how ARC 3 works for you when you get it all set up.

I'm also curious to know if T-RackS Mic Room is one of your 24 freebies, and if so, how the MEMS works with it in practice.

Absolutely, I'll let you know.

I did choose Mic Room as a freebie, I'm very curious to see what it can do. I wasn't planning on doing anything with the MEMS other than using it for what it was intended for, but I guess I can give it a shot and see what happens.

I've got so much stuff from this whole deal, so much to download and install, I don't even know where to start. It's kind of overwhelming.

[v1o]

Does the IK Mems mic have a calibration profile so I can use it with other software like Dirac Live?

[Lbdunequest]

Arc 3 is amazing. My colleagues noticed mixdown improvement instantaniously and I'm working in a treated studio. Only downside arc 3 doesn't have system wide.

[Mind Riot]

Okay, so I installed everything and did a BWOOP DEE BWOOOOP in my home studio, so I have a profile for my mixing position.

I am seriously impressed and thrilled with the results.

Here's my monitors' response before ARC 3's processing is applied.


And here it is after ARC has done its thing, with it set to the 'Sharp' setting for maximum precision (not sure why anyone would choose anything else).


I was expecting some improvement and would have been happy with some reduction in the peaks and some boosting in the troughs, but this is so flat it's just stunning. I mean, my low end was dropping off rapidly below 100hz and now it's dead flat all the way down to 40 freakin' hertz!

Now bear in mind that even though this is just a home studio, I've thoroughly acoustically treated it with as many acoustic panels as I can fit in the space. I think the acoustic treatment helped a lot and just made ARC's job easier.

I'm just kind of floored to think about how I'm now working with a monitor system with a response that is so flat from 40hz all the way up to Nyquist. There's a little wibble wobble in the mids, but very low level and nothing like I had before, and certainly nothing like what most people mix through without realizing it. You can't buy monitors with this kind of response, even the expensive stuff (well, maybe the really expensive stuff). This is the result of the monitors and their placement, the treatment of the room, and the correction software all contributing to bring about the final result.

I can say without doubt that this is the most significant step forward in music production for me since I first learned about acoustics and treated my room. This is like taking shackles off for me, I no longer need to fight the audio to get what I want from it. Mixing with this setup is going to be a pleasure.

[Mind Riot]

Does the IK Mems mic have a calibration profile so I can use it with other software like Dirac Live?

Last post on the first page of this thread might help you out.

[The Noodlist]

Okay, so I installed everything and did a BWOOP DEE BWOOOOP in my home studio, so I have a profile for my mixing position.

I am seriously impressed and thrilled with the results.

I found listening commercial music through ARC (in a DAW) made realise what it should sound like and maybe what it sounded like when it was mixed.

[Mind Riot]

Yes, good idea. I keep a few professionally produced tracks of similar genre in my projects so I can solo them for reference and see how similar or dissimilar my mixes are. One thing I've noticed is that the pro tracks have a lot more high end than what naturally comes out when I'm mixing; I've had to strap a Bax EQ across the whole mix to boost the high end for detail and clarity. I've needed less of that since ARC, but I've still needed some.

[Mind Riot]

I was reading about some of the systemwide solutions available. So if one were to set up things for systemwide using ARC 3, one would no longer use it in one's DAW, is that correct? Because continuing to do so would mean all your DAW audio would be getting ARC processed twice, once in the DAW and once in systemwide. So it would seem that if you set up systemwide you would just run one instance of ARC 3 in systemwide only and just leave it on all the time for all audio, regardless of source.

Am I understanding this correctly?

[Mind Riot]

Anyone care to weigh in on this last point?

[kPere]

I was reading about some of the systemwide solutions available. So if one were to set up things for systemwide using ARC 3, one would no longer use it in one's DAW, is that correct? Because continuing to do so would mean all your DAW audio would be getting ARC processed twice, once in the DAW and once in systemwide. So it would seem that if you set up systemwide you would just run one instance of ARC 3 in systemwide only and just leave it on all the time for all audio, regardless of source.

Am I understanding this correctly?

If its working like in reference, then no - it doesnt affect DAWs signal

[Mind Riot]

If its working like in reference, then no - it doesnt affect DAWs signal

Interesting. I guess I'll just have to try it and see how it works out.

Thank you for your reply, I might not have tried setting up both DAW and systemwide if I didn't know what you just told me.

[kPere]

If its working like in reference, then no - it doesnt affect DAWs signal

Interesting. I guess I'll just have to try it and see how it works out.

Thank you for your reply, I might not have tried setting up both DAW and systemwide if I didn't know what you just told me.

Hence there is a plugin versions, not just a systemwide.

[ramseysounds]

Sonarworks user here. Massive improvement in my mixes. Just remember to turn it off before rendering!

[Mind Riot]

Hence there is a plugin versions, not just a systemwide.

Well, the method for systemwide that IK describes on their website involves using the plugin with a couple different third party apps, so the lines can get a little blurry. ARC has no systemwide option, so there is only this kind of cobbled together solution.

[masterhiggins]

Does windows have anything like Rogue Amoeba Soundsource? Or do their audio drivers not allow it? I have overload and limiter plugins on my systemwide bus that’s saved me from quite a few ear-splitting bursts from various programs. Core audio is awesome.