Trackspacer (Wavesfactory) alternatives?

[mdstudio]

I have Gullfoss and Trackspacer, both are great. There's also TEOTE as an alternative to Gullfoss. I don't have Soothe but people say good things about it. MSpectralDynamics could theoretically replace the rest, but check the demo for workflow.

[orbita]

Thanks for the tip on Teote - going to try demo tonight.

[andymcbain]

For those with Soothe 2, is it worth having Trackspacer too?

I'd like to be able to eliminate harshness and create space / good balance in my tracks.

It's black Friday and I'm considering Sooth2, Trackspacer, MSpectraldynamics and Gulfoss.

Do some of those make the others redundant? Which would you go for?

I haven't really used Trackspacer for ducking since getting Soothe 2, so in my case Soothe has made Trackspacer redundant for now. If I use the lower quality settings for real time processing in Soothe then I can get lower CPU usage than Trackspacer also.

[orbita]

For those with Soothe 2, is it worth having Trackspacer too?

I'd like to be able to eliminate harshness and create space / good balance in my tracks.

It's black Friday and I'm considering Sooth2, Trackspacer, MSpectraldynamics and Gulfoss.

Do some of those make the others redundant? Which would you go for?

I haven't really used Trackspacer for ducking since getting Soothe 2, so in my case Soothe has made Trackspacer redundant for now. If I use the lower quality settings for real time processing in Soothe then I can get lower CPU usage than Trackspacer also.

Thanks, that's what I was keen to know. It seems like there is a lot of crossover between these and also DSEQ2.

Why specifically using Soothe2 instead of Trackspacer? easier to use or better results?

I'm thinking of getting Soothe2 and either Gullfoss or Teote, probably Teote as it's cheaper. The combination should cover a lot of ground.

[andymcbain]

For those with Soothe 2, is it worth having Trackspacer too?

I'd like to be able to eliminate harshness and create space / good balance in my tracks.

It's black Friday and I'm considering Sooth2, Trackspacer, MSpectraldynamics and Gulfoss.

Do some of those make the others redundant? Which would you go for?

I haven't really used Trackspacer for ducking since getting Soothe 2, so in my case Soothe has made Trackspacer redundant for now. If I use the lower quality settings for real time processing in Soothe then I can get lower CPU usage than Trackspacer also.

Thanks, that's what I was keen to know. It seems like there is a lot of crossover between these and also DSEQ2.

Why specifically using Soothe2 instead of Trackspacer? easier to use or better results?

I'm thinking of getting Soothe2 and either Gullfoss or Teote, probably Teote as it's cheaper. The combination should cover a lot of ground.

I haven’t done extensive A/B between the two but when ducking with Soothe 2 you do get more control over the shape of the ducking - e.g. tight notches or broader strokes. You also have more control over the spectrum - e.g. you could duck more tops and less low mid, for example. The results seemed more transparent than Trackspacer to me, but perhaps you could get a close match with some tweaking. Maybe demo both and see what you think

[Ou_Tis]

For those with Soothe 2, is it worth having Trackspacer too?

I'd like to be able to eliminate harshness and create space / good balance in my tracks.

It's black Friday and I'm considering Sooth2, Trackspacer, MSpectraldynamics and Gulfoss.

Do some of those make the others redundant? Which would you go for?

I haven't really used Trackspacer for ducking since getting Soothe 2, so in my case Soothe has made Trackspacer redundant for now. If I use the lower quality settings for real time processing in Soothe then I can get lower CPU usage than Trackspacer also.

Thanks, that's what I was keen to know. It seems like there is a lot of crossover between these and also DSEQ2.

Why specifically using Soothe2 instead of Trackspacer? easier to use or better results?

I'm thinking of getting Soothe2 and either Gullfoss or Teote, probably Teote as it's cheaper. The combination should cover a lot of ground.

I haven’t done extensive A/B between the two but when ducking with Soothe 2 you do get more control over the shape of the ducking - e.g. tight notches or broader strokes. You also have more control over the spectrum - e.g. you could duck more tops and less low mid, for example. The results seemed more transparent than Trackspacer to me, but perhaps you could get a close match with some tweaking. Maybe demo both and see what you think

Do you mean ducking one track to another, like Trackspacer does? Soothe 2 is only supposed to detect resonances. Does setting Selectivity to 0 let you apply it to everything, not just resonances?... or maybe overlapping frequencies would be detected as resonances?...

I've been using MSpectraldynamics instead of Trackspacer. It gives you control over the shape (graph on the spectrum) and attack and release, look-ahead, etc.

[bboxdw]

I also sometimes use MSpectraldynamics for reducing collisions between tracks, and I sometimes use it on the master bus to increase clarity. This article describes these uses in more detail under "Usage Note #1: Mastering" and "Usage Note #5: Spectral Ducking." Melda recently released a lite version of the plugin as well, which I believe also offers the collision-reducing function.
https://soundbytesmag.net/spectraldynam ... continued/
Melda's plugins can take a little up-front reading and video watching to figure out, but often feature pretty extensive capabilities.

[andymcbain]

Do you mean ducking one track to another, like Trackspacer does? Soothe 2 is only supposed to detect resonances. Does setting Selectivity to 0 let you apply it to everything, not just resonances?... or maybe overlapping frequencies would be detected as resonances?...

I've been using MSpectraldynamics instead of Trackspacer. It gives you control over the shape (graph on the spectrum) and attack and release, look-ahead, etc.

Soothe 2 will detect the resonant profile of what you're feeding into the sidechain and duck that from the signal. It's only supposed to detect resonances yes, but you can shape the incoming profile to be fairly "broad stroke" using the sharpness function. It's probably a different process to what Trackspacer is doing but in practice I find it works very well. As I say, worth demo-ing both and having a listen.

[SeeingInMidi]

I wanted to love Dseq but it just didn't sound as good as Soothe2. Dseq always introduced too many artifacts, warbly filters and pre-ringing. In terms of collision side-chaining, Trackspacer can get me to the goal faster but Soothe2 is much more flexible.

[shibs]

Why can't you use Trackspacer?
I'll never understand these threads where people ask for alternatives to x, but don't mention why they can't use x in the first place. If you want help finding something, it's usually a good idea to list your requirements.

My first thought, too. What is wrong with Trackspacer? It absolutely works as designed and you can get it for 30 to 40 bucks in a sale.

Trackspacer would've been a killer app if it had a) lookahead - to be able to carve space in time and not deal with the delay in catching up b) multiple band selection
I own trackspacer, but end up using other mechanisms/tools for that 2-3 ms early action..
I think these are the reasons ppl look for alternatives...

[Ah_Dziz]

Melda has many options for cheap. There are lots of others too. None of them are as easy to use as track spacer.

[Dark Fiber]

Why can't you use Trackspacer?
I'll never understand these threads where people ask for alternatives to x, but don't mention why they can't use x in the first place. If you want help finding something, it's usually a good idea to list your requirements.

My first thought, too. What is wrong with Trackspacer? It absolutely works as designed and you can get it for 30 to 40 bucks in a sale.

Trackspacer would've been a killer app if it had a) lookahead - to be able to carve space in time and not deal with the delay in catching up b) multiple band selection
I own trackspacer, but end up using other mechanisms/tools for that 2-3 ms early action..
I think these are the reasons ppl look for alternatives...

I didn't notice any delay when testing trackspacer. It did the ducking immediately. Why I use smart:comp, however, is because it uses more bands and is just as easy to set up.

[Ploki]

more bands can also mean more smearing, depending on how it's implemented

[plato1123]

I frickin adore TrackSpacer VST, what a great plugin... but after reading this thread I tried SmartComp and wow I think it might even be better than TrackSpacer. I can basically play two synths/instruments in exactly the same frequency range and somehow magically they are both intelligible and clear. Totally blown away.

[d-s-m]

I frickin adore TrackSpacer VST, what a great plugin... but after reading this thread I tried SmartComp and wow I think it might even be better than TrackSpacer. I can basically play two synths/instruments in exactly the same frequency range and somehow magically they are both intelligible and clear. Totally blown away.

Can it do a fat kick drum and sub bass at the same time? As Trackspacer isn't so great at that particular job imo (but it is a good plugin for most other sounds).