This app makes your cheap headphones sound like premium ones

Getting the best headphones can be a financially painful experience, but Sonarworks’ True-Fi mobile app lets subscribers test out other headphones all from the comfort of their current pair. Currently, Sonarworks has just shy of 300 headphone calibrations listeners can choose from via their phones or computers.

Perhaps you’re eyeing the BeatsX but don’t know if it’s worth investing in. Well, the True-Fi app can give you an affordable test-run. Of course, the company also has higher-end calibration references like the Bose QuietComfort 35 II with noise cancelling on or off, the Monoprice Monolith M1060, a slew of Sennheiser headphones, and hundreds more.

There’s more to the app than basic mimicry, though. Users can customize their experience based on age, where the software adjusts the treble response to mitigate frequencies outside a specific range of hearing.

During the present early access period, Sonarworks’ True-Fi app supports the highest possible sample rates depending on the source device. IPhone users will benefit from 96kHz and higher, while Android users will listen at a sample rate of up to 48kHz. Once released, it will support an array of formats including MP3, WAV, AAC (iOS and Android), and more.

The app will be available later this year via the App Store and Google Play for $3.99/month. Users can also make a one-time purchase of $99. Those who already own the desktop app are allowed a free lifetime upgrade for the mobile app.

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