Calibration Extras The Sonarworks system also offers headphone calibration, to allow for moving back and forth between monitoring in speakers and headphones when mixing (if necessary), without being overly distracted by very different frequency balances. Unlike with speakers, there's no option for the user to perform the measurement/calibration on headphones-due to the difficulties of taking accurate measurements with phones, the software relies on preset measurement/correction curves for various headphone models. Correction curves are available for a large (and frequently updated) set of headphone models, and the company will generate a custom profile if you ship them a set of headphones that are not already covered. I tried this feature with a pair of Sony MDR-7506 closed-back headphones, Sonarworks Reference 4: Calibration curve for Sony 7506 headphones a popular tracking headphone that many people consider too bright and harsh for mixing, and the results tamed those unpleasant characteristics well enough to make them useful for mixing (if not my first choice for that purpose). Monitor calibration may not be the answer for everyone, but current systems are capable of doing quite a good job-for a few hundred bucks, calibration may turn out to be a useful approach to achieving a better monitoring environment. Joe Albano is a musician/engineer/ producer/educator and former studio owner in NYC. Contact him at joealbano@recordingmag.comhttp://www.colemanaudio.com