Soothe/Smooth Operator vs Dynamic EQ.

[Funky40]

Soothe 2 is much more complex than just a dynamic EQ

would/should it work on "very electronic modularsynth grooves" that has quite a bit high-freq content which can sometimes become quite harsh at some high frequenzy peaks ?

[ampetrosillo]

By that description, you just need a dynamic EQ. Or even just a multiband compressor. Or some kind of slew limiter, if we're talking about very high frequencies (Airwindows Acceleration<x>, Airwindows Slew<x>, where <x> is the version number, are some free examples).

[Scotty]

Yes, it doesn't care what the source is. There is a demo. Try it out in a variety of contexts though. It is relatively expensive. I use is sparingly on busses, I use it to add to vocal clarity in a busy mix as a side chain and for mastering. If it only did one of those things well I probably wouldn't have bought it. If used carefully it keeps more of the good stuff. I get better results with it then any other process or chain of efx that I have tried.

Soothe 2 is much more complex than just a dynamic EQ

would/should it work on "very electronic modularsynth grooves" that has quite a bit high-freq content which can sometimes become quite harsh at some high frequenzy peaks ?

[ampetrosillo]

What Soothe and similar plugins (if they exist) shine at is at making bad recordings (not necessarily for the recording per se, also because of a bad source) more acceptable. Take for instance some electric guitars that tend to be a bit peaky in places, all over the place. You use EQ and it sucks the life out of the guitar. You use dynamic EQ but it's too fiddly to set up because there are a variety of resonances all coming up in different moments. You try and automate an EQ but you're forever having to tweak stuff note by note, perhaps. Then here Soothe is great.

[Igro]

You use dynamic EQ but it's too fiddly to set up because there are a variety of resonances all coming up in different moments.

So what do you do in Soothe to catch them?
Set the region or just a wideband?

[ampetrosillo]

You use dynamic EQ but it's too fiddly to set up because there are a variety of resonances all coming up in different moments.

So what do you do in Soothe to catch them?
Set the region or just a wideband?

I don't quite know. I have never used Soothe myself, and I don't really intend to, since it's so expensive. I saw videos of it and basically figured out what it does.

[Igro]

From the answers I still understand that it's just a rebranded Dynamic Eq. But as the last action to prove it to myself, I will demo it, of course. I mean, thaks guys for all the answers, don't get me wrong, but I still didn't hear the significant differences, if any. But will see, maybe I'm wrong.

[Funky40]

......to be a bit peaky in places,

yes, exactly, thats what some of my modular recordings have.
I looked at these tools so far only in a way ....as if they´ve just been built for taming whole mixes.
Full tracks. Production works.
Ok, my interest is now alive.

Yes, it doesn't care what the source is. There is a demo.

Thanks for the feedback Scotty.

[MirkoVanHauten]

From the answers I still understand that it's just a rebranded Dynamic Eq. But as the last action to prove it to myself, I will demo it, of course. I mean, thaks guys for all the answers, don't get me wrong, but I still didn't hear the significant differences, if any. But will see, maybe I'm wrong.

Soothe is in its core a dynamic eq. Though not just with 8 bands but thousands. The plugin adjusts the bands settings and also decides when to enable it at all. You set up a region for it to process in the ui and a sensitivity. You can balance it to either work on problematic frequencies or in a musical context. I think it's more comparable to Voxengo Soniformer but much much smarter. And actually good sounding

[SoftSynthLover99]

Soothe 2 is much more complex than just a dynamic EQ

would/should it work on "very electronic modularsynth grooves" that has quite a bit high-freq content which can sometimes become quite harsh at some high frequenzy peaks ?

Yep! Pretty much anything that will be harsh, muddy or frequencies that cause ear fatigue, it will clean it up. Even on whole mixes or grooves I haven't found a source it doesn't work well on.

[Dr.Gunjah]

From the answers I still understand that it's just a rebranded Dynamic Eq. But as the last action to prove it to myself, I will demo it, of course. I mean, thaks guys for all the answers, don't get me wrong, but I still didn't hear the significant differences, if any. But will see, maybe I'm wrong.

The "eq bands" you see when you look at pictures of soothe are not really eq bands. The nodes let you set a range (and sensitivity) of operation. You could leave a flat line, increase sharpness and turn the big knob up and see how soothe will try to fix resonances over the whole spectrum, but only where they actually happen. It basically automates the task of setting up bands for the dynamic operation.

[Trancit]

From the answers I still understand that it's just a rebranded Dynamic Eq. But as the last action to prove it to myself, I will demo it, of course. I mean, thaks guys for all the answers, don't get me wrong, but I still didn't hear the significant differences, if any. But will see, maybe I'm wrong.

No, it´s not...

These kind of plugins are spectral dynamic plugins which work with idk how many bands but many many more than all the dynamic EQ´s of this world have all together...

The main difference is that dynamic EQ´s
1. working on a much broader range of the frequency spectrum ... not as fine/precise as spectral dynamics
2. they do not follow the pitch of the incoming signal... there are ways to make EQ´s doing this too but this involves very cumbersome setups which you got with the others already out of the box...

Especially the latter reason is the most important...
When people talking here about "harsh" frequencies they mostly talking about "resonating" frequencies which are (at least mostly with tonal instruments and full mixes) depending on the pitches/chords which are played...and moving according to pitch/chord changes because of being "partials" of these sounds

Assuming that your music doesn´t contain just a single pitch/chord this makes static (in terms of the selected frequency for this band) dynamic EQ´s in many situations less effective/precise...

It´s not that dynamic EQ´s can´t offer a satisfying result but this often requires much more work and time to analyze and setup yourself everything needed while in a spectral dynamics plugin you set one or 2 parameters and can call it a day...

It really depends on the source material how close or how different the result will be... but most of the time it´s good to have both...

A dynamic EQ where more static and broader changes do the job...
A spectral dynamics plugin where frequency changes are followed with maximum precision...

The main issue though with spectral dynamic plugins is, that it´s very easy to overdo and kill the soul and character of the actual sound because without your interaction it mostly works across the board so to speak...
This mostly happens less with a dynamic EQ as you are setting it up manually and can decide while going along...

[Igro]

Thanks for the clarification Trancit. Yeah, I see now some differences. I will try this out now.

[Funky40]

is soothe2 ever on sale ?
If so, how much $ then ?

[Dr.Gunjah]

I bought it on black friday for 139€