ToneBoosters Enhancer

[foosnark]

This is kind of weird. It makes my Microbrute sound like it's got a thumpy key click on the release. Going through some other synth voice types it seemed like it helped a little, or it was way too harsh... and the controls are not making a lot of sense to me.

Kind of a shame because all the other TB plugins are pretty clear in terms of how to use them and what they do.

I think if it were a free plugin, I'd throw it in my folder and it'd be the sort of thing I'd try at random to see if it helped. But it's not free.

[mcnelson]

The documentation hasn' t been updated since November 2018, and Evoke is absent from the manual still. Shame, but I guess it's a common problem with 1 man outfits?

[Michael L]

This seems to be a fully-developed version of the Exciter module in the Evoke channel strip, where harmonics were synthesized from a chosen analysis area. But I wonder why it synthesizes sub-bass, bass and treble, but analyses mids yet does not synthesize those harmonics separately (from the bass) in that frequency range?

[The Noodlist]

Not only that,on the website it looks as though the "News" tab has been removed also. Which was handy

Yes, the news was the first place I looked. I now refer to the changelog.

[lingyai]

As the very happy owner of several TB plugs, I felt comfortable buying this without demoing it (he's one of very few devs I'd do that with). Alas, I'm sorry I did. My criticisms echo some of those made above, first and foremost, how awkward it is to A/B due to the gain surges in some of his presets -- this plug sorely needs an output gain control at the very least. Also, not so intuitive to use; and finally, after trying it for around an hour on various tracks and busses, I had a few "hmmm, that's not bad" moments, but no real "wow"s. Utlimately, I think it's unwise to expect too much magic from any "AI-powered" feature -- like this plug's, or Neutron's -- which makes changes to a track in isolation while remaining ignorant of the overall mix.

[BerryLaCroix]

this plug sorely needs an output gain control at the very least.

Well there is a 'gain' control which is exactly what you'd expect it to be - an output gain

For what it's worth and as a beta tester of this one: the workflow is a bit different from other enhancers and gives more control over harmonic synthesis than other enhancers I've used. It needs a bit of guidance to understand it's inner workings and I hope the manual will be updated soon.

The trick is to first 'select' the frequency region which is to be used as frequency range for which you'd apply harmonic enhancement. This is done with the little 'bandpass' icon (and there's one for bass, mids, and treble separately). Use the audition and spectrum analyzer as guides.

After determining where the frequencies are that you'd like to enhance, there's various controls to shape the harmonics. Move the 'bandpass' icon itself up and down to generate 'in-band' harmonics; these will exist within that same band only and not fold out of that band.

The 'upper' band controls the upper hamonics in level and bandwidth above the band you've selected; move the little icon that has 3 vertical lines (the ones going downward) to change the level and frequency range of the upper harmonics.

For 'lower' band controls the sub-bass synthesis (in level and frequency range).

I hope I explained this properly; perhaps the dev can chime in too.

[Michael L]

@BerryLaCroix, why does it analyse mids but not synthesise mid harmonics, as it does with the treble and bass? There is a gap between the treble and bass.

[plexuss]

Is ToneBoosters headquartered in a place with legal cannabis? That might explain things. Enhancer appears to be a very mysterious plugin...

[Tilly]

It surely needs a second thought in workflow before using it but I've seen way worse. The sound is pretty much like expected, decent when it has to be but can kick ass too so far. I'm sure TB will improve it further more-

[Butwug]

Take my money. Dont even know what the plugin is but most likely Ill end up buying it. Love TB stuff. Quick question tho. Did he raise the prices of his plugins by 10?

Tried it out, and gonna hold off on it, until I know what it does exactly . Is it pretty much a multi band with saturation on each band? Used stock multi band FX and put klanghlem saturator on it, with same frequency band cross overs, and got similar results. Does seem like it is faster to use the TB plugin, but still holding off on it. The timbre knob is cool tho! Is that pretty much like an EQ?

[filulilu]

Is it similar to FabFilter Saturn?

[dionenoid]

Is ToneBoosters headquartered in a place with legal cannabis?

In Holland, so yes

Quick question tho. Did he raise the prices of his plugins by 10?

It seems he did yes. 9 Euros raise here...

[neverbeeninariot]

The trick is to first 'select' the frequency region which is to be used as frequency range for which you'd apply harmonic enhancement. This is done with the little 'bandpass' icon (and there's one for bass, mids, and treble separately). Use the audition and spectrum analyzer as guides.

After determining where the frequencies are that you'd like to enhance, there's various controls to shape the harmonics. Move the 'bandpass' icon itself up and down to generate 'in-band' harmonics; these will exist within that same band only and not fold out of that band.

The 'upper' band controls the upper hamonics in level and bandwidth above the band you've selected; move the little icon that has 3 vertical lines (the ones going downward) to change the level and frequency range of the upper harmonics.

For 'lower' band controls the sub-bass synthesis (in level and frequency range).

I hope I explained this properly; perhaps the dev can chime in too.

Thanks! I appreciate the explanation of the controls, they are not so intuitive although I'll get the hang of them eventually. A manual update is a must for this, so if you're listening Jeroen...

Been playing with it for a little while, definitely an interesting plugin which provides some nice excitement (or enhancement, or whatever.t.f it's actually doing...) - lifted some of my 'almost there' mixes to 'there' with a little high-end enhancing.

It's easy to apply way too much processing though, but backing off on the settings (a lot) gets better results. So yeah, nice for polishing lackluster mixes, but I can definitely see a use for it on individual tracks and busses.

If I've any criticism of the plugin, it's that it's way too easy to overdo things, I'd like to see some of the parameter limits reduced a little so that there's more working headroom on the controls, also the default preset does it no favours, and I can see that putting off potential buyers - maybe something more subtle here would be a good idea. But niggles aside, I like it a lot. I don't really own anything like this (AT's Valve Exciter doesn't come close), so it's a purchase and a from me.

[djeroen]

Thanks all for the constructive feedback on this new plugin! As you'd probably know by now, you can expect some updates of the plugin in the near future addressing several of the points made here.

And yes, a manual is in the making. We've added a simple explanation of what the various draggers do and how they shape sub and supra harmonics (scroll down a bit): https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_enhancer_v1.html

[mcbpete]

These are some cool looking beta testers !