Thursday, January 22, 2026
Technology
9 min read

Beyerdynamic Launches Free Headphone Lab for Optimized Audio Monitoring

MusicTech
January 21, 20261 day ago
Beyerdynamic debuts free Headphone Lab plugin for optimising audio monitoring through headphones

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Beyerdynamic released Headphone Lab, a free plugin designed to optimize its monitoring headphones for producers working outside treated rooms. The plugin uses a crossfeed model to create a natural soundstage, improving bass reproduction and mix translation. It offers Standard Calibration for DT models and Factory Calibration for select Pro X and Pro MKII models, ensuring accurate audio monitoring.

Beyerdynamic has unveiled Headphone Lab, a free new plugin which enhances the performance of its range of monitoring headphones, aimed at producers working “outside of acoustically treated rooms”. Setting up a fully fledged speaker system in your home studio is often both a logistically challenging and costly endeavour, so many producers opt for headphone monitoring to keep things simpler. But as Beyerdynamic explains, where conventional headphones deliver isolated signals to each ear, Headphone Lab employs a “sophisticated crossfeed model” that accounts for frequency-dependent time and level differences, and ensures accurate bass reproduction without phase issues or artifacts. This, the brand says, results in a “centred, natural soundstage ideal for critical listening, mixing and mastering”. READ MORE: NAMM 2026 Live: The latest guitar launches and news from the biggest music gear event on the planet Compatible with Beyerdynamic’s range of monitoring headphones, Headphone Lab ensures “accurate, reliable” mix translation by optimising the tonal balance of said headphones. “Each model’s fundamental sonic character remains intact, but it is refined using a proprietary studio sound profile – a scientifically developed reference curve built from years of research and collaboration with professional studios,” Beyerdynamic says. Each headphone model has a Standard Calibration, which is based on a “Golden Sample” reference unit landed on by the Beyerdynamic acoustics team. There’s also Factory Calibration, which uses “original production measurement data” from an exact headphone unit, “compensating for even the smallest manufacturing or material variations”, resulting in a technically precise calibration for peace of mind that mixes will translate across playback devices. “Headphone Lab reflects our commitment to making professional-quality monitoring accessible to every creator,” says Martin Stahl, Director of Pro Audio at beyerdynamic. “Our studio headphones have long been trusted as a professional reference. Headphone Lab builds on that foundation, using innovative and precise factory calibration technology to unlock their full potential wherever creators work.” Headphone Lab’s Standard Calibration supports all Beyerdynamic DT headphone models, while Factory Calibration is available exclusively for the DT 700 Pro X, DT 900 Pro X, DT 1770 Pro MKII, and DT 1990 Pro MKII. Headphone Lab is available now as a free download for Windows and MacOS, and supports VST3, AU and AAX formats for integration with any major DAW. You can learn more at Beyerdynamic, or visit Beyerdynamic at NAMM 2026 and Booth #10702 – Hall A. Sam is the Associate News Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Thoroughly immersed in music culture for the majority of his life, Sam has played guitar for 20 years, studied music technology and production at university, and also written for the likes of MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer.

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    Beyerdynamic Headphone Lab: Free Audio Plugin