Any Soothe2 users out there? How do you use it? How do you make the best of it? How does it compare to alternatives like Smooth Oerator or TEOTE?
I add this to the list, i personally fix harshness with pro MB from Fab Filter, but its not AI driven, and i make generally not more as 4, 5 bands ā¦ i would really like a comparison too for upxomming black friday.
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For those looking to do a shootout, Soothe2 is offering trial resets this month. Check out https://oeksound.com/trial-reset to reset your code.
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For me, Soothe 2 isnāt really that similar to Teote or Smooth Operator (both of which are great ā you can also add DSEQ, Wavesfactory Equalizer, and Gullfoss to the list). Those are aimed at spectral balancing whereas Soothe focuses on resonance suppression. Itās also completely different from multiband compression, which is relatively wideband compared to Sootheās spectral processing.
I donāt know of much else out there that does the same kind of thing. Ozoneās spectral shaper is kinda in the same ballpark, as are the Techivation plugs, but theyāre not nearly as full-featured as Soothe. Thereās nothing else out there like it imo.
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Where are people adding Soothe to their chain? I usually keep a copy on the mix bus and another right before my reverb send. But are people using it on stems? Or anything pre-mix? Are there particular instruments/sounds you want to have it on?
I use it to tame annoying resonances of any sound. I usually start with Pro-q 3 and when I see that there are too many resonances that need to be cleaned up, I switch to soothe2. Mostly itās used on hihats; for other elements it depends on the context of your mix. I see it as a time-saving EQ tool.
On track level (when used) it usually sits at the start of my chain, after the pro-q 3 and before saturation & compression. When thereās a lot of distortion and fx going on I might use it at the end again, to clean things up.
I used to use it as an advanced side chain compressor but found something like trackspacer more partical. For live sets itās not really usable as it introduces quite a bit of latency, so Iād use Gullfoss live instead to smoothen things out.
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I use it on busses (ooh, matron) and on the master buss. For sound design, I use it all over the place - itās great for taming harsh resonance on pads, for āfixingā kicks with dodgy low end, for taming basses with massive resonant peaks and as w-lf said, itās brilliant on hi-hats. Just essential for me now. You could achieve something like it manually automating several bands of an eq throughout a track, but that would suck all the fun out of making music for me!
I also indulged myself to Gullfoss a little while ago. Much less exciting than Soothe 2 but a nice tool for running mixes through to bring back a bit of energy and clarity.
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I use it as a quick frequency/resonance tamer. I use to use a notch eq (fab filter, eq8) with a high resonance and sweep back and forth looking for irritating frequencies. Typically in a bus for my highs/mids. Sometimes Iād use 2 or 3, but it had a noticeable impact on the sound. Soothe does it in a much more less destructive/subtle way. I initially didnāt understand the hype behind it, but after using it for a bit, I totally understand why people were gushing over it. Im starting to use it with my lows now to cut some unwanted rumble, while still keeping some of its character. Still experimenting with that, but it does a good job with the highs.
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So I tried Soothe2 after seeing it on Black Friday sale and having heard a lot about it, but to be honest I didnāt really notice it doing that much except in extreme cases. Would I be right in thinking itās most useful for recorded live instruments etc?
Iām making techno ITB and while it did slightly āclean upā some sounds, it was barely noticeable. If I had a very resonant sound I could hear what itās doing but Iād usually just turn down the resonance lol. I guess I feel like resonant frequencies are rarely a problem Iām aware of, and if it is an issue I can usually fix it in the synth/fx that are causing it, whereas with a live recording you might not be able to do this.
Maybe my ears/production skills arenāt yet at the level where itās useful? Is it about subtly making more room for frequencies in the mix because the resonances take up room even when they arenāt really audible? Do people find it useful for purely electronic music? Kind of curious what Iām missing. Iām comparing it in my mind to say Gullfoss (I know they are totally different things) which has a really noticeable, while still subtle, effect.
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I went with Elevate Bundle, while its not Ai powerd, i could do match EQ, which is adaptive, and learns over time, the result is very good. Far better than i expected.
Soothe is a perfect plugin. I use it all the time.
A true silver bullet no matter what the source material is, it always gets rid of the bad stuff fast and without dulling the sound.
As I already mentioned in another thread, the delta mode can also be used as a āliquidy resonant stuff extractorā.
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Most of the stuff making a mix muddy is also the most difficult to detect and it all accumulates while also fluctuating between different freqs.
A light touch of soothe on different tracks can do wonders for the clarity and sense of space of a track.
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I thought this could be the case. To be honest Iām wondering whether to pick it up on Black Friday price and figure out how to use it later, or wait for it to be something Iām aware of needing. I can afford it but I just feel bad about having tonnes of unused plugins lol.
I can only speak for myself but after the FF proQ3 this is the most essential tool for me.
Would suck to be mixing without it now that Iāve gotten used to having it.
Just makes life so much easier.
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Thanks for the input! The BF Sale has expired now so that decision was made for me 
but Iāll definitely keep this in mind and play with the demo more and maybe pick it up next time itās on sale. I picked up Gullfoss this time round so probably better to master one tool at a time!
Is there anything in Izotope Ozone/Neutron which is similar to Soothe2, out of interest? It seems quite unique but maybe Iām missing something. I do have Baby Audio Smooth Operator from an intro sale, but it seems quite different to Soothe. Much more obvious and I donāt usually like the way it sounds based on my limited usage.
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To my knowledge there isnāt anything quite like that from izotope.
Itās a bit strange bcs this kind of tool is so helpful.
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I wonder if it depends on the material you process - i have the impression that i often have resonances, when i put filters with resonance on the material, sometimes in drum samples - but from most synth, they are relativly resonance free? It might for sure add up with several tracks.
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It depends on that for sure and sometimes there is just annoying amounts of filter resonance but sootheās use isnāt limited to that as also wavetables, resonant and harsh fx like phaser, flanger, distortion and bitcrusher can generate nasty elements that constantly shift their frequency, making it a PITA to remove those without compromising the sound.
The selectivity and sharpness controls make it such a breeze to fix things compared to cramming an eq full of dents, and likely hating the outcome.
It takes about 1-2 minutes 99% of the cases.
It can be overused too. I usually take it to where I can clearly hear the difference and then dial it back a bit.
dynamically fixing things is so clutch, and why Soothe2 rules. Bitcrush the filter sweep and then use Soothe2 to remove the unwanted artefacts. Not sure if you got it? Switch to the delta and listen to the crap itās removing. Itās a subtle tool.
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Exactly!
It makes the most annoying thing in mixing fast and easy.
Iām using the soothe 1 myself and will upgrade as soon as I can afford it.