SoftKrtl

Single installer

Sonarworks installation.

Sonarworks is a single download that you activate the first time you open it. Set aside about ten minutes. You will need the activation code from your licence email.

Official brand help

support.sonarworks.com/hc/en-us ↗

How to install and activate

Register your licence

  1. 1

    Find your licence activation key

    It is near the top of your licence email: a 24-character key in four blocks of six, joined by dashes (it looks like Y36AUN-41ZNQ2-5STZR1-3DCXS1). Bought an upgrade? Your key begins UPG- instead and is shorter; see the note at the end of this guide.

    Your activation code

    It is in your licence email, in the purple panel. Signed in? It is in your account too.

    Sign in to view it
  2. 2

    Log in to your Sonarworks Account, or create one

    Go to the Sonarworks login page. If you already have a Sonarworks Account, sign in with it. If not, create one with an email address you actually check: this account is where your licence lives from now on, and it is how you activate the software on each computer.

    Open ↗
    TIPUse the same account for everything you buy from Sonarworks; a licence cannot be activated until it is registered in an account.
  3. 3

    Click Register a new license and enter your key

    In your account, click Register a new license in the top-right corner and type or paste the key from your licence email, dashes included. Buying does not register a licence by itself; this step does.

    TIPMore than one product on your order? Each one has its own key. Register them one at a time.

    CHECKPOINT

    Your product now appears in your account as a registered licence, with an Activate button.

Install and activate

  1. 4

    Download and install SoundID Reference

    Go to the Sonarworks Download Center and download the SoundID Reference installer for your computer (macOS or Windows), then run it and follow the prompts.

    Open ↗
    TIPThere is one installer for everyone. It includes the complete SoundID Reference package; your licence decides which features switch on once you activate.
  2. 5

    Activate on this device from your account

    Back in your Sonarworks Account, find your SoundID Reference licence and click Activate on this device, then Open SoundID Reference. The software opens on your computer already licensed; nothing to type into it.

    TIPRepeat this step on each computer you use (up to three at a time). To move to a new machine, click Manage under the licence and deactivate the old one first.

    CHECKPOINT

    SoundID Reference opens without asking for a licence. You are done.

Upgrades (for example Reference 4 Studio to SoundID Reference, or Headphones to Speakers & Headphones): your email carries a licence upgrade code beginning UPG- rather than a new activation key. Log in to your Sonarworks Account, find the licence you are upgrading, click Upgrade license under it and enter the UPG- code; the upgraded licence then appears in your account with its own download and activation instructions. The original licence must already be registered in your account for the button to appear. SoundID VoiceAI and its token packs: VoiceAI licences are registered and activated from the Sonarworks Account the same way (Register a new license, then Activate on this device, which opens the SoundID Download Manager). Tokens are spent on cloud processing and unused tokens expire 12 months after purchase; Sonarworks's pages do not say how a token pack bought from a reseller is added to an account, so if your email carries a token-pack key and the account does not accept it, contact us.

If something goes wrong

My code is not accepted

Codes are entered exactly as sent — paste rather than retype, and keep or drop dashes exactly as the steps say. Still stuck? Contact us with your order number and we will sort it, usually the same day.

The plug-in does not show up in my music program

Check you installed the format your program uses and rescan its plug-in folders. The Sonarworks help pages cover each program's scan settings.

I bought this but have no email

Check spam first — licence emails arrive within minutes of payment. Nothing there? Contact us and we will resend it.

Do I need an account?

Only if the steps above say so — some brands licence entirely inside the software.