NAMM 2020: soothe self-adjusting dynamic EQ plug-in gets a big budget sequel
5,0 / 5,0 | 
The original soothe plug-in caught my eye way back in 2017. It’s still an unique and innovative development – a self-adjusting dynamic EQ which does audio analysis to detect problem frequency spots and automatically compensate. It’s great at cleaning up resonances, peaks, and other undesirable content from your tracks without getting in the territory of spectrum editing. soothe is also a beautiful plug-in with its serene, sky-blue interface. It was about time oeksound, its developer, gave it some more love.
soothe 2
For NAMM 2020, soothe returns with a sequel. Rewritten from the ground-up, soothe 2 expands its processing engine to all frequencies (not just three bands), gets important attack and speed parameters, and two new processing modes to make it more adaptable to how damaged your audio really is. There are also performance improvements, such as lower latency and reduced CPU load, thanks to leaner code.
soothe 2 still does its automatic resonance detection thing, of course, but given full frequency power, it’s now able to deliver transparent de-essing, tighten low-end, reduce harshness in close mic’d audio, and thin out muddiness. The two processing modes – soft and hard – optimize the processing engine for a less drastic or more apparent approach to your audio. Adjustable Attack lets certain transients be ignored from the analysis, while increasing the Release parameter reduces artefacts occuring from intense settings. Slower values on both parameters turn soothe 2 into a resonance-based spectral shaper, enabling creative use.
Finally, soothe 2 offers mid/side processing with adjustable balance per band and channel link amount; as well as a sidechain input option to make tracks react to each other.
All in all, soothe 2 is god like the original, but superior – just like a proper sequel should be.
Price and availability
Launching January 23, soothe 2 will be sold for EUR 199 in VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in formats. An upgrade from soothe 1 is EUR 50. A 20-day fully functional trial version will be available, authorized via the iLok License Manager. Excellent news all around!
More information
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