File locations of SoundID Reference

SoundID Reference file and component locations detailed. This information may be useful when backing up your speaker profile or troubleshooting an issue with the software.

In this article: 

• Speaker and headphone calibration profiles
• Microphone profiles
• Standalone app configuration files
• DAW plugin configuration file
• User and license files
• Log files
• DAW plugins

Note: The user\AppData and User/Library directories on Windows and macOS are hidden by default. To enable showing hidden files and folders, follow the instructions here: How to show hidden files Mac and Windows?

Note: For macOS users: since version 5.4.0 (Oct 18, 2022) the "Sonarworks" folder has been moved from ~/Library/Sonarworks to ~/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks

Speaker and headphone calibration profiles

The speaker profiles are created using the Measure app, and are saved as .swproj files, while headphone profiles are downloaded as .swhp files. Both are stored in the Sonarworks Projects directory by default. Learn more here: Where can I find my speaker profile?

macOS

Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/Sonarworks Projects

Windows

C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\Sonarworks Projects

Microphone profiles

Whenever a Sonarworks microphone ID is entered in the Measure app, the mic profile is downloaded and stored locally. For every mic ID, a .zip archive will be downloaded in the Measure > micprofiles folder, containing various files. Learn more here: Where can I download the calibration profile for my SoundID Reference microphone?

macOS

Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/Measure/micprofiles

Windows

C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\Measure\micprofiles

Standalone app configuration files

All of your standalone app preferences, appearance settings, output presets and DSP settings data, are stored in a main config file, and an additional backup file. Learn more here: Deleting the config file in standalone app

macOS 

Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/Systemwide/Systemwide.cfg
Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/Backup/Systemwide.cfg

Windows

C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\Systemwide\Systemwide.cfg
C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\Backup\Systemwide.cfg

DAW plugin configuration file

All of your DAW plugin preferences, appearance settings, presets and DSP settings data, are stored in a main config file, and an additional backup file. Learn more here: Deleting the config file in DAW plugin

macOS 

Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/Plugin/cfg.json

Windows

C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\Plugin\cfg.json

User and license files

The user and license data is stored in .json files in the Sonarworks directory. If needed, these files can be deleted for a clean start (new ones will be created upon launching the app/plugin), learn more here: SoundID Reference app not launching after update

macOS

Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/license.json
Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/SoundID Reference/user.json

Windows

C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\license.json
C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\SoundID Reference\user.json

Log files

All SoundID Reference software modules record essential usage data for troubleshooting purposes. Logs are created for every new software session, and stored in the Sonarworks Logs directory: 

macOS

Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/Sonarworks/Logs

Windows

C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Sonarworks\Logs

NOTE! All log files older than 7 days are deleted automatically. 

DAW plugins

The default file paths for SoundID Reference plugin formats:

macOS: VST, VST3, AU, AAX

Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/SoundID Reference VST Plugin.vst
Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/SoundID Reference VST3 Plugin.vst3
Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/SoundID Reference AU Plugin.component
Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/SoundID Reference AAXPlugin.aaxplugin

Windows: VST, VST3, AAX

C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins\SoundID Reference VST Plugin x64.dll
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\SoundID Reference VST3 Plugin.vst3
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\SoundID Reference.aaxplugin\Contents\x64\SoundID Reference.aaxplugin

NOTE! [WIN] Custom install locations can be assigned on Windows by clicking on Customize during the installation.