What (effect) plug-ins have really impressed you lately?

[dionenoid]

Have you already tried DSEQ? I think it's better than Smooth Operator.

Have you tried Soothe2 ? It's what these others try to imitate (with no succes imo).

[dionenoid]

Oh, another one : Claro from Sonnox.
https://www.sonnox.com/toolbox/claro
The standard digital EQ page is what counts here : the rest is a bunch of tricks (can be useful, can be stupid).
I can’t explain why, I don’t know how, but this EQ works flawlessly for me.
I’ve stopped using DMG Equilibrium since I own it (and I had stopped using Fabfilter ProQ when I got Equilibrium).
Claro has this "volume compensation" cryptical feature for each band you’re making. And it’s working so well ! If you untick the volume compensation, your equalization becomes dull and lifeless.
I can’t really tell you what’s happening and what this volume compensation is doing, but the fact is that for some reason this plugin is producing magical results for me...

Weird. I demoed Claro but it does nothing that Pro-Q3 already does. And Equilibrium is just much better sounding, but i guess the extended settings aren't for everyone.

[DJErmac]

Have you already tried DSEQ? I think it's better than Smooth Operator.

Have you tried Soothe2 ? It's what these others try to imitate (with no succes imo).

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

[Unaspected]

Have you already tried DSEQ? I think it's better than Smooth Operator.

Have you tried Soothe2 ? It's what these others try to imitate (with no succes imo).

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

Reads like you've got it set on "hard" mode, have the "sharpness" turned up and are driving it too hard. The attack and release have a great impact on how it works as well but the visual feedback is really helpful when it comes to finding the right settings if it isn't so obvious to your ears.

It's not the kind of effect that you want to be obvious - unless you are using it as a deliberate effect - so backing off a little, as one might with a reverb return, is probably wise. Don't shoot for too much gain reduction; use the visual display and A/B with the bypass.

I hope that helps a little, if you aren't already doing these things. For me, it's a great audio processor that saves time and complements a lot of other plugins. Of course, there might still be the odd frequency that you need to dial out manually - depends on both the signal and what you are expecting.

[DJErmac]

Have you already tried DSEQ? I think it's better than Smooth Operator.

Have you tried Soothe2 ? It's what these others try to imitate (with no succes imo).

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

Reads like you've got it set on "hard" mode, have the "sharpness" turned up and are driving it too hard. The attack and release have a great impact on how it works as well but the visual feedback is really helpful when it comes to finding the right settings if it isn't so obvious to your ears.

It's not the kind of effect that you want to be obvious - unless you are using it as a deliberate effect - so backing off a little, as one might with a reverb return, is probably wise. Don't shoot for too much gain reduction; use the visual display and A/B with the bypass.

I hope that helps a little, if you aren't already doing these things. For me, it's a great audio processor that saves time and complements a lot of other plugins. Of course, there might still be the odd frequency that you need to dial out manually - depends on both the signal and what you are expecting.

Thanks a lot for the tips, I’ll try again !

[Sinisterbr]

Have you already tried DSEQ? I think it's better than Smooth Operator.

Have you tried Soothe2 ? It's what these others try to imitate (with no succes imo).

Yes, I did, and I think it's amazing. But I guess I'd personally give the upper hand to DSEQ, as it's more flexible (if you need tweaking) and cheaper

[dionenoid]

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

Soothe2 is very transparent and is not supposed to be heard. Don't overdo it, small amounts will do the job quite often. Gain reduction peaks around -3 db are usually enough.

Unaspected gave some useful tips. I like to add that the 'delta' function is also very useful.

Quickest way of working is to select one of the presets that fits what you want to do, then adjust the amount to your liking.

[DJErmac]

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

Soothe2 is very transparent and is not supposed to be heard. Don't overdo it, small amounts will do the job quite often. Gain reduction peaks around -3 db are usually enough.

OK, that’s why.
That’s why I chose the Baby Audio one instead.

[Unaspected]

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

Soothe2 is very transparent and is not supposed to be heard. Don't overdo it, small amounts will do the job quite often. Gain reduction peaks around -3 db are usually enough.

OK, that’s why.
That’s why I chose the Baby Audio one instead.

Yeah. Soothe isn't a sweetener so much as a utility plugin that does one job very well and a few other duties by happenstance - very glad that the developers allowed for the parameters to be pushed way beyond subtle.

I favour it over those that also adjust tone because I want to make those decisions for myself.

However, a couple of things you might like to employ Soothe for are after wide band EQ boosts and to clean up audio ahead of processes which naturally increase the noise floor - such as compression and distortion.

EDIT: I should add that, when using after EQ, you'll want to set Soothe so it's hardly reacting without EQ - so it's only operating when the signal is boosted into it. You can push highs quite hard this way without them sounding harsh. YMMV.

[DJErmac]

I never clicked with Soothe. I purchased v1 and v2 because it’s a powerful tool, but something seems wrong to me in the sound. Always sounds like some kind of lossy mp3 compression where applied to my ears, even by tweaking it for hours. Doesn’t sound musical at all to me.

Soothe2 is very transparent and is not supposed to be heard. Don't overdo it, small amounts will do the job quite often. Gain reduction peaks around -3 db are usually enough.

OK, that’s why.
That’s why I chose the Baby Audio one instead.

Yeah. Soothe isn't a sweetener so much as a utility plugin that does one job very well and a few other duties by happenstance - very glad that the developers allowed for the parameters to be pushed way beyond subtle.

I favour it over those that also adjust tone because I want to make those decisions for myself.

However, a couple of things you might like to employ Soothe for are after wide band EQ boosts and to clean up audio ahead of processes which naturally increase the noise floor - such as compression and distortion.

EDIT: I should add that, when using after EQ, you'll want to set Soothe so it's hardly reacting without EQ - so it's only operating when the signal is boosted into it. You can push highs quite hard this way without them sounding harsh. YMMV.

These are very good tips, thanks !

[Unaspected]

These are very good tips, thanks !

You're welcome. I don't want you to feel like you wasted your money. There are a few tricks it can do as well - other than operation via sidechain - but I'll duck out of the thread for now. Pun not intended.

[DJErmac]

Best thread here so far : your plugins are more powerful than you thought aka user tips to get the best of it.

[jules99]

Has anyone tried this application of Soothe 2 for supressing out-of-key resonances? Or is it bollocks?

Edit: The embed did not catch the timestamp. Tip starts at 5:00

[Dombaeb]

I purchased Soothe for one thing: live spectral sidechain compression (aka Trackspacer). Oeksound doesn't mention that feature, but you can mix the whole track using only Soothe. It's the wealthiest spectral compressor on the market

SmartComp does that too, but it needs time to analyze and think about what to compress and how.

[DCrown]

I go for smooth operator, I compared it to some similar plugins like for example soothe and I prefer it because I got good results quickly and more natural sounding, but generally I do not use such plugins a lot. Smooth operator is also a song I like a lot :;
And I am sometimes wondering whether AI has not simply replaced presets, because I tested smart eq sonible on completely different drums and got very similar eq curves each time, so I suppose it's more or less presets with a kind of random function to make us think there really is a very clever algorithm calculating, but it was just a dev who decided that a kick needs a boost at 100 hz and a cut at 450 and a boost at 2.5 kHz and programmed it that way lol