Sonarworks SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring monitor correction software: features and spec-based rating

Sonarworks’ monitor correction software SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring recreates on headphones how near, mid and far speakers, and cars, laptops, TVs and phones sound. It includes a perpetual license for SoundID Reference for Headphones.

Monitor correction software corrects the quirks of speakers and headphones and the ring of the room so that you can hear sound accurately.

In this article we compare SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring with 8 monitor correction programs and rate how well it serves its purpose on three criteria. The basis is official manufacturer information.

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Summary

Among the 8 monitor correction programs, SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring is rank B. The ranks run S, A, B and C, and B is third from the top. Averaging the scores for the three criteria (out of 5) gives 2.7.

Things to keep in mind

• Correction controls (2 points): there are few controls for the correction.

Who it suits: people who work on headphones and want to check how a mix sounds in everyday settings such as a car or a phone.

Main features of SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring

Environments recreated on headphones

Monitor correction software corrects sound that is skewed by the ring of a room or the quirks of headphones so that you hear it accurately. Virtual Monitoring recreates on headphones three kinds of near, mid and far speakers, seven kinds of everyday devices and three car presets.

Includes SoundID Reference for Headphones

A perpetual license for SoundID Reference for Headphones is included. You need headphones from the more than 500 models that Sonarworks supports.

Checking in everyday environments

While mixing, you can try how it sounds in the environments your listeners use, such as a car, a laptop, a TV or a phone.

Where it is useful

• Checking a mix made on headphones as it would sound in a car or on a phone
• Recreating a flat speaker environment on headphones
• Seeing whether a mix holds up in many playback environments

Rating by criterion

What it can correct: 3 / 5

We look at whether it can correct speakers, headphones or both.

It is used with more than 500 headphone models that Sonarworks supports. Speaker correction (room measurement) was not listed in this product’s description.

Correction controls: 2 / 5

We look at whether you can choose or adjust the correction method and its strength.

There are few correction controls.

If “correction controls” matters most to you, SoundID Reference and ARC X (5 points) are a better fit.

Checking how it sounds elsewhere: 3 / 5

We look at whether it can reproduce how a mix sounds on other speakers, phones and other devices.

It can recreate 13 environments in total: three kinds of speakers, seven kinds of devices such as phones, laptops and TVs, and three kinds of cars.

How we score (Monitor correction software)

Criterion	Basis	5 pt	4 pt	3 pt	2 pt	1 pt
What it can correct	Whether it can correct speakers, headphones or both	Both speakers and headphones	—	Either one	—	—
Correction controls	Which of the correction method (phase and so on), the target curve and the amount of correction you can choose or adjust	All three	Two of the three	One of the three	None	—
Checking how it sounds elsewhere	Whether it can reproduce how the mix sounds on other speakers and everyday devices	40 or more devices and environments	20 or more devices and environments	Can reproduce them, but the number is not stated	—	Cannot reproduce them

Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5 on how well the product serves one goal: hearing a correctly balanced sound in a home-studio room or on headphones. Scores follow the conditions in the table above. So that speaker products and headphone products can be compared by the same standard, there are three criteria: "What it can correct", "Correction controls" and "Checking how it sounds elsewhere". The number of supported headphones is shown in the table for reference. The basis is official manufacturer information. How well the correction works has not been measured, so it is not scored, and neither are the price or any supplied measurement microphone. Features that cannot be confirmed from the manufacturer's or a retailer's description are scored as if absent.

SoundID Reference Virtual Monitoring system requirements and getting started

Operating system	Windows 10 or later / Mac (macOS 10.14 to 13)
Plug-in formats	Could not be confirmed on the official page
Other	Headphones that Sonarworks supports, or headphones corrected individually, are needed

Checked on the manufacturer’s official pages on October 17, 2026.

Compared with other monitor correction programs

Click a heading to sort. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.

Read next

• Morphit: features and rating (rank B)
• Nx Virtual Mix Room: features and rating (rank B)
• SoundID Reference: features and rating (rank A)
• ARC X: features and rating (rank A)