How are these three plugins similar and different? Which one do you prefer and why? Can any of them be used together - i.e. Soothe on busses and Gullfoss in master buss. Not sure where Zynaptiq INTENSITY would fit. Thanks for reading.

I'm wondering the same thing, debating what to buy for Black Friday. I've been conducting some tests. It seems Gullfoss creates a certain glossy transparency that soothe can't do. Although soothe is great for taming stuff on single channels. Soothe seems more of a problem solver. Also, have you taken a listen to Intensity by Zynaptiq? It might be the coolest one for master bus duties.

I haven’t heard of Zynaptiq. I’ll check it out. Thanks.

So do you think it would be a good idea to use Soothe on channels or busses and Gullfoss on the master buss?

*** I edited this thread after writing this post to include Zynaptiq. ***

I’ve only used soothe, but I wouldn’t be without it now - it gets used on everything I do.

Don’t know if that helps, but I wouldn’t regret the purchase!

I don’t know if spiff is worth it - anyone used that? I only occasionally touch transient designers as it is.

A bit late to the party.

I use both...

I think Soothe is more for handling resonant frequencies, so is more suited to vocals and recorded instruments (although I'm sure also useful on some VST instruments and samples).

Gullfoss is more about EQ balance and I find best used at the last stage before mastering. To try and improve the balance of a mix.

I only use synths and samplers (both VST and hardware). Considering the consistent praise heaped on Soothe I think I’ll get both. But now I’m also impressed with Zynaptiq but not sure what it does that the other 2 don’t.

If you mean their Intensity plugin? Then that's more about adding what might be missing from or enhancing an instrument, part of a mix or the whole mix.

You could look at the 3 like this..
Use Soothe on anything that has any mid-high frequencies harshness or resonance.

Use Gullfoss after you feel you cannot improve the mix yourself.

Then use Intensity to add more punch and or clarity... if needed of course.

I don't have Intensity, but to my mind, Gullfoss could be useful for anyone regardless of experience and skill level, especially if you do not have the best monitoring or room situation.

Wow! Thanks very much for the thorough explanation. I think that’s enough for me to make up my mind.

Zynaptiq seems pretty cool, but like some people have mentioned. It might just be the 21st century "aural exciter". Once I level match and A/B, I feel like it might be adding too much harshness to the signal.

Take a listen to this podcast with Mike Senior. He discusses it in humorous detail around 20 minutes in.

PSTB #6: Invisible gorillas, All Star (but…), and insane amounts of clarity.

Just want to add: If you think of Gullfoss only as a (pre-)mastering tool you are not doing it justice.
It can work magic on any source, be it a track, a bus or a whole mix.

Thanks for that. I think I’m going to only purchase Gullfoss and skip the others. I don’t record vocals or acoustic instruments. I make mostly electronic music so not sure how useful Soothe would be...

Soothe is fantastic for electronic music, especially for sound design and experimentation. It's a great way to tame harsh resonances that often occur when mangling sounds.

Due to budget constraints I could only afford one of these and got Gullfloss!!

Where is the cheapest place to buy Soothe?
Tried the demo and love it.

I opted for Gullfoss (I only do electronic music) - the intro price was definitely a factor. I'm not a professional, so this'll help, without having to use the walled-garden of Ozone/Neutron, which I've been avoiding.

So far, it seems to work best after doing my own best to make each track sound as good as possible, then adding it in on tracks where it seems it might help, and then generally trying to use it as modestly as possible. It helps "clean up" in a really effortless way.

I've only had it < 24hrs. Still has a slight tinge of pixie dust magicality to it

So far I’ve only used Gullfoss on my mastering chain with great results but needs to be be used with low settings. Will try on busses too.

Ive seen both of those in action, both seem to work really well. Just to make things harder to decide take a look at Plugin Alliances DSM. It’s a different beast altogether, it functionally it does over lap with what these things do.

Looks cool. I’ll look more into it but that price... gotta wait for a sale. But as far as multiband compressors I’m quite happy with TDR Nova.

It’s not actually a multiband, though it does use multiple bands to do what it does. It’s a different beast entirely. But for sure don’t buy anything you don’t need.

There’s a compressor on each band. So how is it not a multiband compressor (and EQ)?

It's a dynamic EQ - it's not compression on each band, but EQ attenuation. yes, it kind of does a similar thing to multiband compression, but the curves/triggers are different.

soothe is a notch-focussed dynamic EQ.

Got it. Thanks for the clarification.

I tried both Soothe and Gullfoss side by side and I can say Soothe is far more transparent and generally better (to me) sounding than Gullfoss. They both do the same thing really, the thing I missed with Gullfoss is the ability to determine the predestined curve. The creators impose a curve or sonic footprint that you're locked into. It took me one minute A/B ing between the two with a vocal (the ultimate test) to land on Soothe. It basically sounded better, and any settings in Gullfoss just sounded hollower or tinnier in comparison, particularly in the high mid register. I think maybe it's because the bandwdith of the soothe filters are slimmer.. Don't quote me, my guess is based on GUI feedback. The only thing swinging me towards GFoss is the ability to work on things under 250Hz but it's not really where these plugins shine, 4k region is where it's at. Soothe for the win for me and ultimately a purchase. Mix on!

Are there any other dynamic eq options like Hornet 31 that come close or Soundbrigade from SKNote? I have both and can't justify spending for a premium plug in at the moment.....not that I don't find the money spent is almost always justified FWIW....!

So far I have understood, Soothe has the purpose to correct issues with imperfect recordings, like resonances from the mic and room.
Thus in certain cases it will sure have the reqired impact.

Gullfoss uses a concept of "perfect sound" based on real people, anatomy of the hearing system, and what should sound good to a majority.
This means you are bound inevitably to the listening culture of the era.
The anatomy part is absolutely great, but it would be an empty canvas-functionality here, without the music as a given. And you cannot really predict music as such, but only in a certain cultural context that will change.
To me, it seems good for EDM and current pop and the Latino dance genres. But as an old rock'n'roll guy I dislike its "cold" impact on beefy rock music and also on classical instruments. There is a different purpose in the whole perception of what music should do to a human. Head banging in a club, or "elevator" background music, these things..

When I first got Gullfoss I thought the same as you.
But I wasn’t using it correctly.
Have you watched the videos on how to set it correctly?
I love this plugin.
BTW. I have Soothe also which I use for taming hi mid / high freq harshness
But Gullfoss set right on a full mix is incredible.

https://youtu.be/dt_rQbTebCk

You are misunderstanding what Gullfoss is doing. Unlike other tools, it's not using any kind of "best sounding average" that depends on a certain musical taste. Its mechanism is fundamentally different from any form of matching EQ. Instead, Gullfoss analyses the information that your brain can take out of a signal and then tries to maximise that information. This approach is entirely agnostic of any artistic preference or genre. It just makes more details audible while the characteristic sound of the signal is fully respected and conserved as well as possible.

So if you find that Gullfoss is making your sound cold or in any other way not likeable, you are almost certainly not using it correctly or your source signal already has a problem.

Especially for your example of classical music, I can guarantee you that Gullfoss shines. Not just we, but also many other classical recording artists have received great and very natural results with Gullfoss. In fact, we don't know of any genre that would not work.

Andreas
Soundtheory Ltd.

Newb here..

I have Gullfoss and a Soothe demo (kindly extended by the devs).

I find Gullfoss can be put anywhere from single tracks and final mixdowns, the controls allow it to be used subtly and extremely. Irreplaceable tool

Soothe on the other hand, I'm having difficulties with. I've only tried it on a stereo mix for the moment and it's been challenging to find a good use for it. Perhaps it does't suit the current context I'm using it in. I assumed it would take away resonant frequencies in the recordings I'm working on but i'm having to do this with eq's.

If I've used, say, 5db cuts on around 15 different bands, I expected Soothe to be able to replicate this with minimal effort.. It seems to be doing a lot, and it can red line a cpu core in Logic x easily, but if I increase the depth it doesnt sound good. If used subtly it doesnt seem like its doing much, yet the graph looks very busy.

i thought soothe was meant to be used primarily on vocals

Both.

Soothe on individual potential problem tracks, Gullfoss on the 2 bus.

Sorry.