Sonarworks has officially launched Virtual Monitoring PRO, a new headphone monitoring solution that captures the exact acoustic signature of any studio environment and recreates it over headphones with personalized precision. The system became available globally today, November 19, 2025, priced at €299 with a bundled binaural measurement microphone.
A Different Approach
Rather than relying on pre-made room simulations, Virtual Monitoring PRO takes a different approach by letting users measure and digitally clone their actual monitoring environment. The system comes with a USB SoundID binaural in-ear measurement microphone that captures how speakers and room acoustics interact with each user’s unique head-related transfer function. This personalized approach addresses one of the longstanding challenges in virtual monitoring, where generic room models often fail to replicate the specific sonic characteristics that engineers learn to trust.
Grammy-winning engineer Richard Furch, whose credits include work with Prince, Frank Ocean, and Usher, tested the system during its beta phase. “It’s like taking my studio on the road, being totally flexible, checking what I created here somewhere else, or the opposite: start somewhere else and finish it here,” Furch noted.
How It Works
The measurement process follows a straightforward four-step workflow. Users first connect the binaural microphone and position it in their ears while sitting in their normal mixing position. The software then plays test tones and frequency sweeps through the studio’s stereo speaker system, recording how the sound reaches the user’s ears. This measurement captures not just room acoustics but also the individual’s personal head-related response, creating a profile that cannot be shared with other users.
The entire capture process takes approximately 15 minutes and must be performed in person within the space being measured. Once complete, the software generates a personalized room profile that loads directly into SoundID Reference, either as a DAW plugin or systemwide application.
Virtual Monitoring PRO works with any pair of over-ear headphones already supported by SoundID Reference, a roster that includes over 500 models. The system operates at a 44.1 kHz sample rate during measurement but supports playback at sample rates up to 196 kHz.
Here’s a video overview of the product:
Multiple Environments, One Workflow
The technology extends beyond traditional studio setups. Engineers can measure and recreate monitoring profiles from client studios for remote collaboration sessions, capture the sound of a car interior for mix translation checks, or digitize mentor studios for educational purposes. Each environment can be measured and stored as a separate profile, allowing users to switch between different reference points.
Multi-platinum engineer Koen Heldens, who has worked with Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, and Missy Elliott, emphasized the personalization aspect. “Every engineer hears the world a little differently, our ears deflect sound in unique ways, and that’s always made translating mixes between headphones and studio speakers tricky,” he explained. “Virtual Monitoring Pro finally solved that. It lets me hear my mixes exactly as they sound in my trusted studio, wherever I am.”
Technical Details
The system includes three activation licenses per purchase, enabling use across multiple computers. Latency remains under 20 milliseconds in systemwide mode, with near-zero latency available in the plugin version. Currently, Virtual Monitoring PRO supports stereo environments only, though the SoundID Reference ecosystem also offers multichannel calibration for immersive audio setups through separate products.
Users need a sound card with separate speaker and headphone outputs to perform measurements. The included binaural microphone functions as a USB-C class-compliant audio device, though Sonarworks recommends using it exclusively for the Virtual Monitoring PRO measurement process.
Market Context
Virtual Monitoring PRO distinguishes itself from existing headphone monitoring solutions through its user-captured room profiles. Competing systems take fundamentally different approaches to the same problem.
Slate Digital’s VSX system pairs proprietary headphones with binaural modeling software that emulates pre-profiled studio rooms, club sound systems, and car interiors. The VSX plugin provides multiple fixed environments, including Steven Slate’s own mix room and other professional spaces, but these are generic simulations rather than captures of your specific monitoring setup.
Neumann’s RIME (Reference Immersive Monitoring Environment), priced at €99, takes yet another approach. It recreates a single, meticulously captured Neumann control room environment recorded with a KU 100 binaural microphone. RIME works exclusively with Neumann NDH headphones and supports immersive formats up to 7.1.4, making it compelling for Dolby Atmos work, though it provides only that one reference space.
IK Multimedia recently launched ARC ON-EAR, a standalone hardware solution priced at $249.99. This portable DAC and headphone amplifier corrects frequency response using measured calibration profiles for hundreds of headphone models and employs physical modeling to simulate over 20 professional studio monitors. Unlike Virtual Monitoring PRO, ARC ON-EAR doesn’t capture actual rooms but rather models generic ideal acoustic spaces.
The key distinction with Virtual Monitoring PRO is its personalized room capture capability. Where other solutions provide pre-made environments or generic spatial simulations, Sonarworks allows engineers to digitize and carry their own trusted monitoring setup with them, complete with their personal binaural characteristics.
Sonarworks already offered a standard Virtual Monitoring add-on before this PRO version launched, featuring simulations of generic nearfield, midfield, and farfield monitors calibrated to a flat reference. That basic Virtual Monitoring add-on remains available separately for €49. The PRO version represents the company’s first foray into personalized room capture technology, building on the foundation established by the original Reference 4 software.
Pricing and Availability
Virtual Monitoring PRO with the binaural measurement microphone retails for €299. The package includes a SoundID Reference for Headphones license, the Virtual Monitoring PRO software, and the USB binaural measurement microphone. Upgrade pricing is available for existing SoundID Reference users, starting at €139 for those who already own the standard Virtual Monitoring add-on and €159 for SoundID Reference for Headphones owners.
The company also offers a 21-day free trial of the standard SoundID Reference software, though this does not include the measurement hardware required for Virtual Monitoring PRO. System requirements include Windows 11 or macOS 11 or later, running on 64-bit systems.
Virtual Monitoring PRO is available now through the Sonarworks online store, while Soundworks’ sostware caltalog is authorized retailers including Plugin Boutique.
