dSONIQ Realphones
User's Guide

Other languages:
RU
PT (traduzido por João Aranha para Realphones 1.8)
ES (para Realphones 1.8)

Realphones is a state-of-the-art software solution that expands the possibilities of using headphones for professional mixing and mastering.

Based on advanced research and development of the psychoacoustic modelling of human hearing, combined with acoustic measurements in numerous studio control rooms, our technology provides fidelity and confidence while estimating the main aspects of sound mix (levels, dynamics, equalisation, panning, stereo image, reverb, depth, etc.) with precise control over the full range of frequencies required for the mixing and mastering process.

The Realphones software solution is available as System-Wide application and VST, AU or AAX plug-in, compatible with the most DAWs supporting VST/AU/AAX technology.

Realphones provides you with confidence in mix control not only aligning your headphones frequency response to make them sound more linear but turning them into a professional studio control room with advanced psychoacoustic processing.

Although the main target of development was the use of headphones for mixing and mastering purposes, we did not forget about audiophiles, who can enjoy the enhanced fidelity and hear all the details of their favourite recordings using dSONIQ Realphones, as if they heard it on a high-end sound system.

The main features and benefits:

• Headphones frequency response correction using standard curves or individually measured variables (Realphones uses standard headphone correction profiles based on averaged multiple measurements of the same headphone model or custom calibration service provided by our specialists)
• Head-related transfer function (HRTF)-based binaural virtual sound source emulation
• Emulation of studio control room with far and near fields set-up based on acoustic measurements
• Increased precision over the full range of frequencies
• Enhanced control of Low Frequency range
• Selection of frequency response reproduction of different audio systems
• Flexibility of controls, giving you the possibility to adapt the sounding to match your perception
• Confident decisions when mixing in conditions where a professional studio control room is unavailable

Users are entitled to a 41-day trial period to evaluate the product before purchasing the licence.

To install the Realphones plug-in, please follow the link to the official dSONIQ website — https://dsoniq.com/download — and download the latest version of the product.


Once you have reached the download page, please follow these steps:

• Select your OS version and download the installation package suitable for your system.
• Run the Installer package.
• Select your preferred language that will guide you through the installation process.
• Read the License Agreement and confirm that you accept it.

Select the required components you would like to install on your system.
You have options to install the full package, plug-ins only or select the required components individually.

Customise your VST plug-ins folder if required.

The following installation paths are used by default if not customised:

Windows (64 bit):
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins – for 64 bit version
C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugIns – for 32 bit version

Mac:
/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Сomponent – for AU plugins
/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST – for VST2 plugins
/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3 – for VST3 plugins

When installing Realphones, please click “Trust the driver publisher”. It is necessary for the normal operation of the Realphones System-Wide application.

Complete the installation process and proceed to your DAW to scan for newly installed plug-ins. Please refer to your DAW user guide for the plug-in identification procedure.

Now you can visit your Customer Area.

User Information – Provides information about the person or company the licenсe has been registered to. Use it to update your contact details and change your password if required.

Purchased Edition - the edition of Realphones that you own.

Downloadable Versions - the versions of Realphones that are available for you to download. If you upgraded from the 1.* version to the 2.*, you can download the installer of the 1.* version in this section.

Upgrade - upgrade 2.0 licence to the next tier. For example from Standard 2.* to Professional 2.*

«Subscribe to the Newsletter in» - subscription to information about Realphones updates, promotions and discounts with the possibility to choose the language of the received emails.

Headphones – Displays the headphone profiles currently active in your account and shows any available credits.

To activate the required model, click the "Use a purchased profile" button, and select the required model(s) from the drop-down list. Click "Add Model" to confirm your selection.

After selecting or replacing correction profiles in your Customer Area, open the "License" menu in Realphones and click the "Refresh" button.

Please note that choosing/adding a model uses up a Headphone Credit. You can change the selected model if required anytime an unlimited number of times.

Computers – Provides the list of PCs (Machine IDs) under your license where the Realphones software has been activated and used within the last month.

You can add your Machine ID manually if offline activation is required.

Licence – Provides information about your active licenсe type and gives you the ability to upgrade your licence.

Once installation and correction profile selection is complete, you will be required to activate your licence to unlock the plug-in features.

Licence Button

When you click the Licence button, a window will appear with information about the licence, software version, and the number of profiles loaded into the plug-in.

Refresh Button

If you have selected correction profiles in your Customer Area after activating Realphones, you need to synchronize Realphones and your Customer Area with the Refresh button.

Standard – Allows activation of one headphone correction, no advanced mode.

Professional – Allows activation of up to three headphones correction profiles using available Headphones Credits.

Ultimate – Allows activation of any of the available headphones correction profiles (the current database contains 200+ correction profiles and is regularly updated with new models).

With any of these versions, you can change the selected headphones in your customer area any time without restrictions.

Trial - A 40-day trial period with full functionality of the Ultimate edition. The trial period can be re-activated every 6 months.

More information about the difference between the versions:
https://www.dsoniq.com/shop

Click either the "Activate" or "Activate Online" button that will guide you to the Realphones customer area where you can proceed with your licence activation.

Enter your e-mail address and password and the software will be automatically activated.

If your machine does not have internet access, which is required for online activation, an offline activation process can be applied.

Using another device with internet access, visit https://customer.dsoniq.com to access the Realphones customer area and use your credentials to log in to your account.

Copy your Machine ID from the Realphones software Licence tab on the machine where Realphones is installed.

Click "Add a Manual Hardware ID" and enter your Machine ID in the pop-up window, then click "OK" to confirm.

Click "Offline Licence" to download your software licence key.

Save the Licence Key file to the portable media (USB key or HDD) and transfer it to the machine where Realphones is installed.

Drag and drop the software licence key into the "Licence" tab of running Realphones software instance on target machine (stand-alone or plug-in version).

Insert one instance of the Realphones plug-in on the master or monitoring bus chain, after all other plug-ins and signal analysers.

Realphones is a binaural processing plug-in and should be used for sound monitoring with headphones only. Do not use it with a speaker system, as it will result in inadequate sound perception!

During offline export, the plug-in is automatically disabled; however, some DAWs require manual bypassing.

First thing, load up your reference tracks – these could be your favorite songs, tracks that you previously mixed/mastered or any other music material that you know very well. Use them for tuning Realphones to your tastes.

Realphones has quite a few of settings to tweak, but if you just want to get started right away, the Easy Mode is for you. For those of you tweak heads – start with Advanced Mode and go through the rest of the User's guide as needed.

(1) Profiles selection menu for headphone frequency response calibration. Right after installation and launch, you'll have access to generic profiles for closed and open headphone models. To add profiles for specific models from the supported list, activate the plugin using the purchased license data or register for the free 41-day trial period.

(2) Custom Calibration Profiles - Add a calibration profile that can be manually adjusted using the Tuning EQ tool.

(3) Correction - controls the depth of the frequency response correction applied to your headphones.

(4) Bypass button - disables the headphone frequency response correction module.

(5) Sets of emulations various environment, acoustic system, and headphone grouped by tasks or properties.

(6) Emulations within the selected set.

(7) Environment - controls the depth of the chosen environment emulation.

(8) Brightness - Tilt equalizer for adjusting tonal balance.

(9) Monitoring control section - soloing Mid, Side, and low-frequency components of the sound.

(10) Bypass button - disabling the environment emulation module.

(11) Output level control and limiter with the ability to turn it off.

(12) Section for saving frequently used settings and quick access to them (Snapshots).

(13) Settings and additional parameters.

(14) Presets - presets with various factory settings that can be used as a starting point for work or further customization.

(15) Bypass button - fully disables Realphones processing.

The purpose of this section is to help you quickly get the reference monitoring sound with your headphones.

(1) Select your headphone model from the "Headphone selection" menu.

(2) Choose a "Reference Monitoring - Normal" preset which is the best starting point for standard monitoring duties according to the feedback from our users.

(3) Adjust "Environment" if you need more or less emulation depth of a selected space.

(4) Adjust "Brightness" if you need to change the overall bass / treble ratio.

(5) Adjust "Correction" If you hear any unexpected timbral colouring, we recommend reducing the value until you get cleaner sound perception.

(6) Use the "Output Level" control to decrease the signal level If you experience an overload. (7) You can also use automatic volume compensation.
Repeat steps 4-6 several times until you get the right sound of the reference track.

Realphones can be useful for reference monitoring, mix-checking, composing/arranging and for relaxed listening to music.

After working with Realphones for a while, you'll find the most useful presets that work for you. During mixing, it is very convenient to switch between these presets quickly. Just save them as snapshots and you'll get one-button access to your favourite presets.

To assign the current state to the snapshot button, right-click on the desired button, and select the Take Snapshot option.

You might want to rename a Snapshot. To do this, right-click on it and select rename.

Snapshots can be "dragged" - click on the snapshot with the left mouse button and, holding it, move the snapshot to the desired slot.

If you understand all the parameters in Easy Mode and feel like you need more parameters to control your sound, use Advanced Mode. To access it, click the "Switch to Advanced Mode".

(1) Choose a correction profile that matches your headphones:

Generic – averaged profiles for open- and closed-type headphones.
Standard – averaged profiles for a specific model of headphones.
Custom – custom profiles that the user can create using the built-in equalizer (available only for Professional and Ultimate Editions)
Recalibrate – profiles for matching with third-party headphones correction software.
**i**** – custom profiles available to owners of individual headphone calibration.

(2) Load the factory snapshot Normal from the Reference set in the snapshot menu. It is an optimised setting, we recommend to use for all types of headphones.
(You can achieve a similar result by loading the factory preset Reference Monitoring - Normal from the Preset menu)

(3) Switch between different sets of snapshots to use all the features of Realphones

Please follow this sequence of actions:

(1) Choose a correction curve that matches your headphones в headphone selection menu
(3) Depending on your task, load a snapshot/preset for further tweaking. If in doubt choose Reference Monitoring - Normal factory preset

Headphone correction tuning:
(4) Correction – find a setting that gives you the most linear frequency response
(5) Presence – find a setting with most detailed sound and minimum resonances
(6) Pressure – correct frequency balance depending on the wear of your headphones' earpads and their pressing to your head

Room simulation tuning:
(7) Room Selection – choose ambience type
(8) Ambience – find a reasonable amount of room reflections
(9) Warmth – find a good amount of room tone coloration

Binaural sound source positioning:
(10) Angle – set the optimal width of the virtual monitor speaker placement
(11) HRTF – look for a natural timbral and spatial feeling of middle and high frequencies

Speaker Simulation:
(12) Speaker Selection – choose a loudspeaker type
(13) Response – set how much of this loudspeakers' frequency response you want to apply
(14) Density – set the amount of body vibration simulation due to low frequencies

Tone setup:
(15) Low – find the amount of low frequencies you prefer
(16) Mid – same for middle frequencies
(17) High – same for high frequencies

Output level setup:
(18) Output level – adjust the output level
(19) Limiter – turn on the limiter for overload protection and safer operation

Save the settings:

(20) to a snapshot – complete plugin state including Monitoring and Output Control settings for a single-click loading
(21) or to a user preset

The Advanced Mode interface of dSONIQ Realphones has been designed to be both user-friendly and effective for your daily work while mixing and mastering, where you can easily switch between required settings for the best control of your sound.

The visualisation mode selection menu is located at the right upper corner of the window.
Click on the dedicated icon to change the visualisation mode.

(1) Correction – Headphones frequency response graphs: initial measurements, the correction applied and the predicted result.

(2) Room – a selection of a room and speakers.

(3) Simulation – cumulative frequency response of the following chain of modules: room simulation, loudspeakers, positioning of sound sources, tone settings and filters of the mix control section (excluding correction). While adjusting the parameters in one of the modules from the above chain, the frequency response of this particular module will be displayed as a yellow line

Note: Only the Mid (mono) component is displayed when adjusting the Speaker Width parameter.

(4) Keep Last off - after adjusting any parameter, the visualisation window will return to the mode (1), (2) or (3) assigned by the user.

Keep Last on – after adjusting the parameter, the visualisation mode will remain in its latest state.

Headphone model selection is an essential step that must be done during the first step, prior to using any other settings.

Select your headphone model to apply the dedicated correction profile suited for your model of headphones. The profile will appear in the list once the Headphone Credit has been activated in the Online User Area.

There are several types of correction profiles:
Generic – averaged profiles for open- and closed-type headphones.
Standard – averaged profiles for a specific model of headphones.
**i**** – custom profiles available to owners of individual headphone calibration.
Recalibrate – profiles for matching with third-party headphones correction software.

Generic correction profile – If no dedicated headphone profile is activated, you will have two basic options:

Studio Closed – This profile is dedicated for closed full-sized studio headphones.

Studio Open – This profile is dedicated for open full-sized studio headphones.

Both of the options are generic profiles based on an average assessment of numerous models of studio-level headphones with their known common deviations in frequency response.

For better performance we do recommend that you use the Standard correction profile dedicated to your model of headphones.

Standard correction profile – Profile generated by an averaged curve based on multiple measurements of the same headphone model.

Custom correction profile – Profile generated for your unique pair of headphones, based on measurements performed by our technical team.

If you want to get maximum fidelity for your sound control, we recommend performing custom calibration of your headphones!

Why does custom calibration give the most benefits?

Although all headphones of the same model are produced with the same technology and quality control, there are always manufacturing tolerances that can affect frequency response, resulting in its deviations from pair to pair.

The following graph represents frequency response curves measured for multiple pairs of the same model of headphones.

You can see that deviations from pair to pair can reach up to +/- 3db and more in certain frequency ranges.

Therefore, custom calibration will give you the best veracity for your sound monitoring.

Recalibrate correction profile – a profile that allows you to match headphone frequency response correction from third-party software and Realphones emulation. A list of currently supported programs can be found here.

Use of Recalibrate profile makes sense in one of these cases::

• if you are already a user of third-party software and its work suits you
• if your headphones are not among the supported Realphones

To use the Recalibrate profile, you need to select and activate it in your account. Each Recalibrate profile is designed to work only with one specific program and will not work with other programs.

For combined use, you should turn Realphones on with the selected Recalibrate profile first, then the correction software.

The visualisation graph is displayed when one of the parameters linked to the headphones correction process is being adjusted. When Standard profile is selected, the light semi-transparent curve (1) shows the initial frequency response of the headphones with a variation of +/- 3 dB, which is most typical for different pairs of the same headphones model.

The white solid line (2) shows the predicted headphone frequency response after correction.

Note: the accuracy in predicting the resulting frequency response for averaged (Standard) profiles can vary in the range of 3 dB and more depending on the characteristics of the particular pair of headphones used and its ear pads condition (wear)!
Choosing a Generic profile will increase the scatter significantly (which will reflect in thicker semi-transparent curve indicating uncertainty). It is incorrect to speak of a linear frequency response in such a case and white line (2) should be considered only as a degree of optimisation.

A yellow line of the correcting frequency response is displayed (3) while adjusting the Correction, Presence or Pressure parameters.

Keep in mind that the actual frequency response of your particular headphones may differ from the predicted one due to the variation between different headphones pairs. In addition, the acoustic characteristics of the headphones can cause the fully linearized frequency response to produce audible frequency resonances.

We recommend that you adjust the settings in the correction section of the program aurally in such a way that you get the most neutral sound with the least interference. We suggest the following steps:

• Use musical compositions that you consider as the references of balanced and correct sound, or the ones you are confident in while setting the parameters.
  
• Load the factory preset: Mixing Basic – Full Correction – Standard Width
  
• Select correction profile which matches your headphone model
  
• Set Presence to 0
• Adjust the Correction slider to get the most natural frequency balance
• Adjust the Presence knob in such a way that you achieve the expressive detailed sound with presence effect and minimum side resonances.
• Adjust the Pressure knob to bias the frequency balance depending on how the headphones are pressed against your head and how worn the ear pads are.
• Use achieved settings as a basis for creating your own presets.

The Correction slider controls the degree of the frequency response correction applied to your headphones.

100% represents full matching to the measured values. However, setting the Correction slider below 100% may give you more detailed control over the mix, and it could minimise aural fatigue. If you hear any unexpected timbral colouring, we recommend reducing the value until you get cleaner sound perception.

75% is the default recommended value that can be adjusted, depending on your personal perception. We do not recommend reducing it below 50% because you may start losing precise control over your mix on some frequencies.

50% is recommended for users who are accustomed to the sound of their headphones and are adapting to correction as a good point to start with.

You can fine-tune standard correction profiles as needed. This feature is useful for adjusting differences between your headphone speakers, compensating for hearing impairments, or changing sound to your personal preference.

Headphone Tuning EQ includes 14 customizable filters and features for easy sound adjustment. You can save your settings as EQ snapshots and export/import them as files.

Band Bypass - lets you bypass the selected EQ band

Band Shape - selects the filter shape of the band

Band Frequency - sets the frequency of the band between 10 Hz and 20 kHz

Band Gain - sets the gain in dB of the band between -12 and +12 dB

Band Q - sets the bandwidth of the band

Band Balance - sets the difference between channels

Band Channel - sets the channels the band affects

Mono - converts the input signal to mono. If you hear a difference between the left and right channels when this button is pressed, it's due to the difference between the left and right headphone speakers. You can easily compensate for it using the 'Bal' control.

Realphones 2.0 also includes the ability to create your headphone correction profiles using the User EQ feature (available only in Realphones 2.0 Professional and Realphones 2.0 Ultimate).

This can be useful if your headphones are not currently supported by Realphones.
You can search for EQ settings for your headphones from sources like Oratory1990, squig.link, and other similar resources, then manually import these settings into Realphones.

Edit Headphones: Allows you to open the user equalizer interface.

Rename Headphones: Allows you to rename the custom correction profile.

Add New Headphones: Allows you to create a custom correction profile.

Duplicate Headphones: Allows you to copy a custom correction profile.

Disable Headphones: Allows you to deactivate a custom correction profile.

Delete Headphones: Allows you to delete a custom correction profile.

Band Bypass: Allows you to bypass the selected EQ band.

Band Shape: Selects the filter shape of the band.

Band Frequency: Sets the band's frequency from 10 Hz to 20 kHz.

Band Gain: Adjusts the band's gain from -12 to +12 dB.

Band Q: Defines the band's bandwidth.

Band Balance: Adjusts the balance between channels.

Mono: converts the input signal to mono. If you hear a difference between the left and right channels when this button is pressed, it's due to the difference between the left and right headphone speakers. Use the 'Bal' control to compensate for it.


* Please note that Realphones Professional allows only one custom correction profile. Unlimited custom correction profiles are available in Realphones Ultimate.

Presence controls sharp variations of frequency response correction and psychoacoustically induced slight attenuation in the low and mid frequencies.

Depending on your perception, you can adjust Presence from 0% to 100%.

Setting it to 0% will apply only the global bends of the frequency correction curve. This results in a softer but less accurate frequency response correction; however, preserving the general tonal features of the correction applied.

For most users, 75% is a suitable default setting. However, you can adapt it to your own sound perception if needed.

Setting the Presence higher will result in more accurate local bends severity of the frequency response correction curve applied to the measured headphones that is usually perceived as raise of sound clarity; however, it may bring some undesired tonal variation as well.

This option adjusts the sound deviation caused by a headphones pressure mismatch.

Increase the Pressure control if your headphones have deviation towards high frequencies due to inappropriate fit.

Conversely, reduce the Pressure if the ear pads are deformed due to normal wear over long periods of operation and sound emitters are too close to the auricles that may cause a loss in the high frequency range.

Binaural Room Simulation is a sound processing module that represents the acoustic and spatial features of the selected listening area. It allows you to estimate your mix in the selected sound environment with dedicated speakers setup.

Room Selection lets you choose your desired listening environment.

The drop-down list will guide you through the available options for sound control in a simulated room.

The availability of far field/near field choice has direct dependency on the selected simulated environment. All represented options are based on acoustic measurements taken in actual studios by dSONIQ specialists.

Note that Room Speakers should be set in the Speaker Selection list to represent the frequency response of the loudspeakers originally installed in the simulated environment.

If any specific custom room measurements and emulation is required (e.g. theatres, concert halls, and so on), please contact your dSONIQ representative for further assistance.

Ambience provides control over the amount of sonic reflections typical for the selected studio control room.

Setting Ambience to 0% will lead to an anechoic dry signal, while 100% will represent the measured amounts of acoustic reflections.

It is set to 100% by default; however, you can adjust this setting if you feel it is necessary.

We recommend switching Ambience to a dry value from time to time while working on your sound material in order to check your mix sound without room reflections. Setting this parameter above 100% may occasionally be useful for estimating how your mix would sound in listening environments with higher levels of natural reflections.

Binaural Sound Source Positioning is a psychoacoustic processing module that reproduces the spatial arrangement of external loudspeakers relative to the listener.

Angle represents the angular distance between sound sources in a virtual space and is achieved by binaural positioning.

Based on scientific HRTF measurements, this models virtual studio speakers placement with their soundstage and phantom centre and allows you to estimate not only the width and panning but also the levels, EQ and dynamics of your mix, thus avoiding mistakes that can occur when mixing in headphones without binaural crossfeed processing.

The default setting of 60° corresponds to the internationally acknowledged monitor speakers placement for professional studios. It may look too narrow to users who have extensive experience listening to the sound through their headphones; however, setting it wider may lead to insufficient width of the sound mix, while setting it lower may result in excessive width.

We recommend keeping it at the default. However, it can be adjusted within a range of 60° to 90° to suit individual comfort, with a slight impact on the mix.

HRTF provides more accurate correspondence to the spatial and timbral perception that occurs when listening to sound sources placed in front of the listener.

You will get diffuse sound field equalisation at 0%, while 100% will transform it to free sound field equalisation.

While diffuse field equalisation of headphones gives a more neutral and relaxed sound, it may provide less accurate localisation and timbral sensation, which are essential for precise mixing and mastering decisions.

HRTF is set to 75% by default, which is suitable for most users; however, you can adjust it if you feel it is needed.

This module does not affect the Binaural Room Simulation processing, which is applied only to dry signal routing from virtual speakers. The influence of HRTF is more evident when the Ambience is 0% and less noticeable when the Ambience is 100% because more diffuse sound field signal is added by the room simulation.

If you hear any unexpected colouring of the sound, we recommend reducing the value until you hear your target sound without colouring.

Speaker Simulation is a module that represents the on-axis and off-axis frequency response effects of loudspeaker reproduction.

The Speaker Selection parameter allows you to apply the frequency response of the selected speaker set to your monitoring. It helps to estimate how the mix would sound on different systems with their own specific tonal properties.

The drop-down menu contains the currently available options for selection.

Room Speakers – Corresponds to the exact reproduction of frequency responses captured from the speaker systems used in the selected room.

Subwoofer Boost – Low-frequency boost that is typical of systems with powerful subwoofers.

Hi-Fi – Provides more fidelity in low and high frequency ranges along with a relaxing of hearing. It is used to highlight the elements that are inconspicuous with linear frequency response and helps to identify an excess or lack of low and high frequencies in the mix as well as to assess how your mix would sound on hi-fi home appliances.
This is recommended for audiophiles to provide comfortable listening of favourite recordings.

Lo-Fi – Designed to focus attention on unpleasant sounding mid-range elements of the mix. It lowers the fidelity at low and high frequencies and decreases the comfort of hearing.

Japanese 7'' Classic – The frequency response of the legendary Japanese near field monitors with white woofers, which could be found in almost every recording studio in the '80s and '90s. These monitors have been discontinued since 2001 but are still of interest to many sound engineers. They have a rise in the mid frequencies that reveals important details of the mix in this range.

American 4.25'' Cubes – The frequency response of American single-band compact monitors in a closed cubic package. They were very popular in the '70s and '80s. Designed to test how the mix would sound on real equipment, with huge limitations on the frequency response.

Multimedia Modern – The frequency response of typical multimedia speakers. This will help to estimate how your mix would sound on household multimedia equipment with medium resolution.

Japanese 5'' Modern – The frequency response of modern bi-amplified Japanese near field monitors with 5" drivers.

Japanese 7'' Modern – The frequency response of the modern bi-amplified Japanese near field monitors with 7" drivers.

Japanese 8'' Modern – The frequency response of modern bi-amplified Japanese near field monitors with 8" drivers.

British Broadcasting Classic – The frequency response of the legendary small British near field loudspeakers designed in the 1970s by the well-known broadcasting company for use by outside broadcast vans to ensure the quality of their broadcasts. They were widely acknowledged thanks to their transparent and natural sound.

Californian Wired, Californian Wireless – The frequency response of popular earbuds from a well-known Californian manufacturer of smartphones and computers. In addition to various acoustic systems emulations, this list includes several target curves:
dSONIQ Balanced - Studio Target
dSONIQ Boxy - Mix Checking Target
dSONIQ Comfort - Listening Target
dSONIQ Sibilant - Mix Checking Target
dSONIQ Soft - Studio Target
dSONIQ Warm - Live Venue Target
Harman Curve - Listening Target
X Curve - Cinema Target

You can use these targets for mixing, mix-checking, or listening to music.

The Response parameter allows you to control the degree of processing applied to achieve the frequency response of the selected speakers.

Setting it to 0% will lead to flat on-axis frequency response, without taking into consideration the selected speakers characteristics, while 100% will adapt it to the frequency response of the selected speaker system.

Density is a simulation of low-frequency body vibration, which is missing during headphones reproduction. The psychoacoustic harmonic generator injects bass vibration that helps to re-create some of the genuine feeling. It allows for more accurate perception of the level and dynamics of low-frequency components in the mix.

We recommend using a value of 100%, but you can adjust the value to your own preference of perception.

The Warmth parameter controls the tonal variations in speaker sound that occurs due to the impact of room reflections and off-axis frequency response.

In real room conditions, the frequency balance of speaker systems shifts towards the low and medium range and high frequencies decrease. This occurs in all rooms and is perceived by the ear as a natural effect applied on the sound, which subjectively makes it warmer, softer and deeper.

The frequency colouring of Warmth varies depending on the Room Selection. This parameter affects the sound regardless of the setting applied on the Ambience slider. It allows for separate control of the tonal balance variations and the amount of reflections.

Setting Warmth to 100% will correspond to the actual measured impact of room reflections, while 0% will eliminate it, leading to a flat frequency response.

The default value recommended for balanced sound is 50%.

You can adjust this parameter to suit your own perception.

Tone is a three-band equaliser that allows for fine-tuning of the tonal balance.

Its algorithm uses the average common frequencies that influence tonal balance in different headphones models, based on numeric measurements. Tone implements a volume correction process to match the EQ input and output signal loudness for better EQ control.

Gain sliders are set to 0 dB by default; however, you can adjust them if you feel it is needed.

Monitoring Control consists of various options that will help to estimate the sound balance.

Snapshots – Provides access to sets of snapshots, each consists of nine reassignable buttons, where you can save your most frequently used settings for one-click access.
Snapshots support drag and drop. You can easily rearrange your snapshots by holding down the left mouse button and dragging them to your desired location.

Snapshots are stored in global settings and do not depend on the current DAW project.

Appears when you hover the cursor over any snapshot button for a long time or when you right-click on it.

Presets
Presets are used to save and restore certain states of Earphones.

The Default - Full Reset preset resets all Realphones settings related to signal processing.
Selecting the other factory presets does not change the selection of headphones, monitor, and output sections.
Selecting user presets doesn't change the monitor and output sections, but it does change the headphone selection.

Realphones 2.0 is primarily focused on the use of snapshots, but you can use presets in those situations when it is convenient for you.

The Bypass Processing button is used to bypass the main correction and simulation process; however, it does not bypass monitoring control or the output module.

In order to bypass all Realphones processing, use the dedicated function in your DAW.

When you click the Set as initial state button, all current values for each parameter are set as default: meaning that double-clicking on a parameter will return it to a value set as initial state. To apply the changes, you need to restart Realphones after you adjust the parameters and click Set as initial state.

Short step-by-step:

1) Open Realphones.
2) Set the parameter (e.g. Output Gain) to any value (for example, -9 dB).
3) Click the Set as initial state button.
4) Restart Realphones.

Now, when you double-click on the Output Gain slider, the value will be -9 dB instead of 0.
If needed, you can click on Factory Initial State to return to the factory default settings.

Realphones System-Wide is a standalone application that allows you to use Realphones correction without DAW. This application has a built-in audio player, but you can use it with any app or just route the entire system sound thru it.

You need to route your audio signal to the Realphones virtual audio device to use Realphones System-Wide app. The easiest way to do this is to select this virtual audio device as the default audio output device in your OS settings. In this case, all sounds from browsers, players, games, and other applications will be processed by Realphones.
If this does not suit you, you can choose a Realphones virtual audio device as an audio output device for individual applications (if they support the choice of another audio device other than the system one).

The next step is to select your audio interface in the settings of the Realphones System-Wide application as output.

Make sure that the same sample rate is chosen for both Realphones System-Wide virtual audio device and your audio interface.

In the Mac OS, you can change the sample rate for the Realphones System-Wide virtual audio device in the Audio-MIDI settings of your system.

Select Realphones System-Wide as the sound output on your OS

Settings for Windows 10:

Settings Mac OS:

Settings – Guides you to the Audio settings, where you can select your input/output devices, adjust buffer length and buffer length (applicable for the stand-alone application).

Audio Player – allows you to load your soundtrack for playback with Realphones sound processing.

Supports most common audio formats.

The Realphones System-Wide application has an "Thru out" feature.. The primary use case scenario envisioned behind this feature is monitoring the unprocessed signal (before Realphones) through monitors and the processed signal (after Realphones) through headphones.

You can enable it in Settings → Audio-MIDI Settings:

For example, Thru Out 1 is an output channel for your monitor speakers, Thru Out 2 is the headphone output channel. Choose Thru Out 1 (must be checked in the list on top of the headphone channel: choose 1+2, 3+4 or 5+6) in Active output channels and check Enable Thru. Thru Out 1 is an unprocessed output, while Thru Out 2 is processed.

Please note that this feature will only work with audio interfaces that have more than 2 output channels for separate main and headphone outputs. If Active output channels are not displayed in your Audio-MIDI Settings menu, your audio interface does not support the Thru Out feature.

Note: in addition to the program routing, audio interfaces have internal routing settings. Many interfaces are set to send headphone signal to main out. To use the Thru Out feature, ensure that the main signal and headphone signals are also sent to the corresponding channels (1+2, 3+4, etc.) internally.

We recommend consulting the manual for your audio interface or contacting the manufacturer to verify if you can adjust the internal routing for separate main and headphone output signals.

You can control various parameters and switch snapshots via MIDI in the Realphones System-Wide application. Open the Audio-MIDI Settings within the Realphones System-Wide app to configure MIDI control.

(1) MIDI Channel - sets the MIDI channel of the chosen controller that will be used to control the Realphones System-Wide App

(2) Correction Enabled - sets the CC number for controlling bypass of "Correction"

(3) Volume - sets the CC number for controlling the "Output Volume" parameter

(4) Bal - sets the CC number for controlling the "Balance" parameter

(5) Correction - sets the CC number for controlling the "Correction" parameter

(6) Phones Enabled - sets the CC number for controlling the bypass of headphone correction

(7) Environment - sets the CC number for controlling the "Environment" parameter

(8) Brightness - sets the CC number for controlling the "Brightness" parameter

(9) Enable Room - sets the CC number for controlling the bypass of environment emulation

(10) Snapshot Msg - sets the type of MIDI messages that will control the selection of snapshots

(11) Snapshot Ctrl - sets the CC number for controlling the snapshot selection (Only available if you choose "Ctrl" for "Snapshot Msg")

(12) Snapshot 1-9 - this parameter assigns a note to trigger each of the 9 snapshots within the active snapshot set (Only available if you choose "Notes" for "Snapshot Msg")

(13) Environment set - sets the CC number for controlling the "Environment" parameter

(14) Default - resets all MIDI settings to default values

The MIDI Learn function is available for assigning parameters. You can click on the value window and then press or move the desired controller - it will be linked to the corresponding parameter.

Reinstall:
1) Close the Realphones System-wide application.
2) Switch the system audio output device from Realphones System-Wide to any other.
3) Uninstall Realphones via the system's “Programs and Features” application for Windows or via Uninstaller.app, which is included in the image along with the installer for macOS.
4) Restart your computer.
5) Install Realphones. After installation, restart your computer again before turning on the application for the first time.

Manual uninstallation for Windows:
1) Close your DAW and the Realphones System-Wide application.
2) Change the audio output device from Realphones System-Wide to any other device
3) Go to “Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features” and uninstall Realphones.
4) Delete the folders:
“Disk:\Program Files\dSONIQ”.
“C:\Users\<User Name>AppData\Roaming\dSONIQ”.
5) Manually uninstall the VST plugin files in the path where you have plugins installed.

Manual uninstallation for macOS:
1) Run the command in terminal:
“sudo launchctl bootout system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.dSONIQ.Realphones.XPCHelper.plist”.

2) Delete the files:
"/Library/Application Support/dSONIQ/Realphones/RealphonesXPCHelper.xpc".
"/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.dSONIQ.Realphones.XPCHelper.plist".
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/RealphonesDriver.driver"
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Realphones.component"
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/Realphones.vst"
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Realphones.vst3"
"/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Realphones.aaxplugin"
"/Applications/Realphones System-Wide.app"
"/Applications/Realphones.app"

3) Delete the directories:
"/Library/Application Support/dSONIQ"
"~/Library/Application Support/dSONIQ"

4) Reboot your Mac.