Why does SoundID Reference lower my output volume? Safe Headroom feature explained.
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Safe Headroom feature
The Safe Headroom feature in SoundID Reference is implemented to ensure that even the most sensitive frequencies won't distort. The output is lowered when the Safe Headroom feature is enabled. SoundID Reference cuts and boosts certain frequencies to compensate for the inconsistencies in a particular output's frequency response. Boosting certain frequencies creates a risk that the digital audio will peak above 0 dB and clip. The Safe Headroom feature lowers the output volume by the maximum peak in the correction curve to prevent the output from clipping (prevents gain-staging related audio distortion).
You can disable Safe Headroom and turn the volume fader all the way up at the risk of introducing clipping.
Safe Headroom logic
This feature has a logic that was implemented to avoid sudden gain jumps. It is being followed in the standalone app and plugin. The lowest dB of the preset already loaded will be applied to all future presets, so as not to have any gain differences when switching between them, as shown below. This consistency ensures the most convenient mixing and listening experience.
- When loading multiple presets, newly added profiles will adjust to the lowest Safe Headroom volume of the loaded presets
- The option to readjust the volume after loading the profile remains and will be saved
6 comments
SoundID lowers the monitor output even with safe headroom off, and output all the way to 0db.
Why is that? is there a way to make sure what comes out of the audio interface is the same when refference is enabled or not?
Hello Filippos Iliadis ,
Thank you for reaching out!
I have created a support request regarding the issue encountered, it would be best to look into this in greater detail.
As per the Audio interface and the calibrated output, it would be best to test if it's enabled by using a more pronounced target curve such as a Car stereo or MacBook speaker to see if the calibration is taking place.
I hope this helps!
I'm glad I checked here - as this is a serious issue for us running the Multichannel SoundID on a major film project. The setup was so easy btw - a real pleasure dealing with such innovative and progressive method of implementation.
Currently any Protools session we run when started or restarted requires the SoundID plugin to be deactivated - then re-activated - otherwise the Level is literally around 10dB low as described above by Philip (with the Safe Headroom Disabled), without exception.
I'm running a Mac Studio / Sonoma / PT 2024.3.1 - but note this was also happening on my iMac running Monterey and PT 2023.12.1.138 (?).
I have a question, I need to have my room calibrated at 74, 76, 79 db, usually before calibrating I set my speakers to 79 db and then calibrate, and I put some marks on the master of the monitoring control. but the sound id reference drops the safe headroom limiter at the output by 12 points,
how can I make my room stay at 79 db without taking the safe headroom to 0?
What meaning do those 12 dB that result from the measurement have?
Would it be better to calibrate, leave the limiter where it is at those -12 points of the sage headroom and then increase the volume to the master monitoring control?
Or would it be better to raise the speakers to 91 db, calibrate and leave the -12 points of the safe head room limiter below?
THIS! What Juan Montoya asked is something I and probably a lot of others NEED to know.
Specifically about whether to raise our monitoring output to compensate for this drop in loudness, which in my case is -6.1dB, so in essence, I'd be raising my interface's output by 6.1dB.
I'm a music producer who's been at this for 12 years now. I and several other bigger producers and engineers have now started using SoundID Reference after discovering just how much of a difference it makes on our devices, especially our ATH M40X's and M50X's, and how much better our mixes have gotten since using this software.
However, we've also been deep diving into the technicals and the specifics to ensure that we're getting everything done CORRECTLY.
I even ended up remaking the entire correction spectrum in Pro-Q 4 with speed set to very fast and resolution at maximum, with range set to 120dB. However, I was using a far more accurate measurement as my reference when making this, which ended up being the wrong choice, given that my test correction was different from the Reference one, so now I just have a preset called HELL that doesn't serve much of a real purpose, but oh well.
The point is: We the producers, the engineers, all of us, we take this kind of thing extremely seriously, and we need answers.
So, Sonarworks, if you guys could PLEASE respond to Juan's comment left in July of last year, that would be really great, and please let me know when you do, so that I get a notification about it!
Especially about whether to raise his output by 12dB, or 6.1dB in my own case. I don't have anything that can measure what happens to the output waveform after sonarworks, as I'm using the systemwide version, with the injection into my output device, and using a virtual-type ASIO to send my DAWs audio to that output. So there is no reliable way for me to actually look at the waveform and what happens to it AFTER my interface. Though I do have an oscilloscope, so I might try that.
Thanks.
@Brent Burge This is a known issue. I noticed you already wrote to us and we’ll update you once a fix is available.
@Juan Montoya Safe Headroom is a feature that ensures that no gain-staging related clipping as a result of applied calibration takes place, even on the most sensitive frequencies. The level is based on the measurements and can be influenced by the room properties (reflective surfaces, etc.).
This might take some getting used to when using the SoundID Reference plugin in DAW since the level will go up once the plugin is bypassed for rendering. For this reason, you might want to add some metering plugins before SoundID Reference to keep track of the real level of the mix, or simply hard-bypass the plugin every once in a while during the process to hear the actual mix level. Additionally, using a dedicated monitoring bus for the plugin might be helpful for a more permanent/template-based levelling approach to your projects.
To answer the question on a dedicated monitoring level - yes, if your production workflow requires monitoring at a specific dB level, simply increase the overall level on your output device for the amount of Safe Headroom used.
Making changes to your room can ensure a less severe Safe Headroom level.
@Christoffer Rønaasen FYI, see the comment above. When using the plugin, make sure SoundID Reference is the last in the audio chain. As a test, you can of course play around to see the waveform. Using the standalone app is a good solution too, if the added latency is not an issue.