# Sonible Plugins



## José Herring (Jul 22, 2021)

Yo Bros,

What do you guys think of Sonible plugins? I'm very interested in plugins that sound good but aren't just recreations of older tech. Not that that's a bad thing but needing as much mix help that I can get I'm interested in exploring the idea of AI for mixing. 

For mastering I've found AI to not work so well. The algorithm never quite seems to hit my music correctly, but my ears are always open to newer ways of doing things.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 22, 2021)

Were you looking for input on the AI side specifically or the UX/audio side?

They work very well as either a starting point or second opinion on the AI side. The Smart EQ3 group feature is really strong at unmasking as well.


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## KarlHeinz (Jul 22, 2021)

For me SmartEQ2 was the first (channel) EQ I understand how to use quickly and brings good results for my needs. It gets my standard channel EQ that way.

But I am no Pro and my needs are not very challenging I would say.

With SmartEQ3 I am still trying out things, with the group mixing options of course you got a world of new options, especially in direction of preparing mastering, but it does not get easier that way. Especially as with the upgrade they just reduced the number of available presets instead of adding some that are missing (sigh....).

I have not worked much with SmartComp so far, I simply bought it for cheap kind of crossgrade offer and hoping they will fit nicely together. Same goes for SmartReverb, I still dont really get what exactly it does but it sounds good. I never really understand Freiraum so I dont use it.

But all sound decent for me and kind of "quality work". Good starting point definitely.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jul 22, 2021)

I have their EQs (smart EQ2, then 3) and smart Comp, all are excellent plugins. Even without the AI features (which work great), they are easy to use, yet super complete and well thought tools.


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 23, 2021)

Smart:Comp is my favorite side chain compressor, especially for when you want it as transparent as possible rather than as an audible effect.

I wish it used less cpu though.


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## José Herring (Jul 23, 2021)

Trash Panda said:


> Were you looking for input on the AI side specifically or the UX/audio side?
> 
> They work very well as either a starting point or second opinion on the AI side. The Smart EQ3 group feature is really strong at unmasking as well.


Thank you for your response.

Not sure what UX/Audio really means. 

What I'm looking for are tools that actually help me on the mix side that make it easier for me to mix and get good results quickly. I've learned to mix fairly well over the years and getting better but I really don't like to do it. Not my thing and hiring outside mix help is really not feasable for 90% of what I do these days. 

So I guess I'm trying to find out if there are plugins that I can slap across say my Violins and it can balance it out based on the analsys of a track. 

Yeah, I'm trying to see if AI can beat Alan Myerson. I know it's a tall order but providing my orchestrations and arrangements are well done then looking for that AI that can help me make mix decisions because right now mixing is slow and painful.


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## doctoremmet (Jul 23, 2021)

José, I have all of them. The smart:reverb comes in handy, as do the rest of them. Very transparent sounding, and the AI and I often “agree”, so for ease of use they are of great value really.


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## Dietz (Jul 24, 2021)

José Herring said:


> I'm trying to see if AI can beat Alan Myerson.


The art of mixing is mostly about those ideas that are _not_ the obvious choices.

... that said, Sonible's plug-ins are marvelous nonetheless.


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## José Herring (Jul 24, 2021)

Dietz said:


> The art of mixing is mostly about those ideas that are _not_ the obvious choices.
> 
> ... that said, Sonible's plug-ins are marvelous nonetheless.


I understand that and I do use a lot of creative fx in sound design in the arrangement of my music, but...... Where I fall down is the actually obvious choices. Like my strings are too bright and I spend 3 hrs bouncing from too bright to too dull, to too bright, to too dull because in all honesty I only vaguely know where to cut to make the strings not as bright and I ended spending an enormous amount of time what for me is the digital equivalent of widely swinging the knob and hopefully I might find the right tweak. Not to mention that the ear gets use to certain frequencies after a while and that really sucks because I've often spent hours finding just the right EQ only to find out the next day that it's all wrong. I don't have time for that!

So if there is an AI that can point me in the right direction, I'm all in.


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## José Herring (Jul 24, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> José, I have all of them. The smart:reverb comes in handy, as do the rest of them. Very transparent sounding, and the AI and I often “agree”, so for ease of use they are of great value really.


Do you think the studio bundle is worth the grab or should I grab the smart bundle. I'm interested in the studio bundle for the Proximity EQ but in all honesty that one sounds a little gimmicky to me. How well does it work in creating proximity?


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 24, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Do you think the studio bundle is worth the grab or should I grab the smart bundle. I'm interested in the studio bundle for the Proximity EQ but in all honesty that one sounds a little gimmicky to me. How well does it work in creating proximity?


There's at least one demo video I remember watching and it seemed to do what it said, though it wasn't a magical and huge difference. Their older plugins, like proximity and entropy EQs, have been free/giveaways several times.


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## doctoremmet (Jul 24, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Do you think the studio bundle is worth the grab or should I grab the smart bundle. I'm interested in the studio bundle for the Proximity EQ but in all honesty that one sounds a little gimmicky to me. How well does it work in creating proximity?


Although I have all of their stuff, except for the older frei:raum plugin, I use the smart stuff the most. So I’d argue whatever you do, get those first. I was able to buy the compressor for $60 on APD, and the other stuff for intro prices. Like I said, hardly “intrusive” or “character” plugins, but really cool tools to have.


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## SupremeFist (Jul 24, 2021)

I likewise like the smart eq and smart comp for quickly providing decent starting points for settings that one can then tweak to taste. (As often as not with the eq I'll just tweak by reducing the very handy mix slider to 30-50%.) I don't use them if I know exactly what I want to do ie boost/cut a certain obvious frequency, but for subtle enhancement/getting something to sit better they can be very useful imo.


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## doctoremmet (Jul 18, 2022)

Heads-up:


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 18, 2022)

I'd love it if latency and CPU consumption were reduced - more than any new features.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jul 27, 2022)

Here is a first answer about the latency... Can't wait to test this one


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## Bee_Abney (Jul 27, 2022)

Is there a lower price for Smart:Comp 2 if you have the first one? I can't find the information. I was also surprised to learn that I don't have a Sonible account. Apparently I made my purchase at Pluginboutique.


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## doctoremmet (Jul 27, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Is there a lower price for Smart:Comp 2 if you have the first one? I can't find the information. I was also surprised to learn that I don't have a Sonible account. Apparently I made my purchase at Pluginboutique.


Upgrade: EUR 29.99 if you have v1


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## doctoremmet (Jul 27, 2022)

Clickbait as usual. My fellow countryman mostly seems to enjoy his role as joker. Still…. Did he delete Fabfilter? (I actually haven’t watched this haha).


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## Bee_Abney (Jul 27, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Upgrade: EUR 29.99 if you have v1


Great. I should be able to register my Sonible plugins with Sonible and get that upgrade price. Hopefully it isn't time limited; but if it is I might get it anyway as the curve editing should be very useful.


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## Bee_Abney (Jul 27, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Clickbait as usual. My fellow countryman mostly seems to enjoy his role as joker. Still…. Did he delete Fabfilter? (I actually haven’t watched this haha).



I did watch it. He thinks that he might well be using Smart:Comp 2 instead of Pro-C from now on.

He made the video before the release, so he didn't have a manual to not read. So he made a point of explaining the he didn't read the press release that he did receive with it!

Thus far, I still think that the funniest mistake he made due to not reading the manual - or any information - is when he tried to use Zynaptiq's Intensity on a master bus and also complained that it wasn't level matched. He ignored the fact that it is specifically intended to raise the volume amongst the other things that it does! Also, it does have level matching for when you don't want it to do that; but, of course, he couldn't work out how to do it so thought that it was fake level matching.

I like him, though! I've learned a lot from him; if not very much about the plugins that he looks at.


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## paulmatthew (Jul 27, 2022)

I finally decided to get the Sonible Smart bundle and am having issues with registering the serial. It keeps saying serial number not valid but it has added smart eq to my account. I have already contacted support about this so we'll see how it goes. I hope no one else has issues with registering upgrades or serials. I'm very confident the problem will be resolved but it's a bummer when you buy something and can't use it straightaway. 😪


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## KarlHeinz (Jul 27, 2022)

paulmatthew said:


> I finally decided to get the Sonible Smart bundle and am having issues with registering the serial. It keeps saying serial number not valid but it has added smart eq to my account. I have already contacted support about this so we'll see how it goes. I hope no one else has issues with registering upgrades or serials. I'm very confident the problem will be resolved but it's a bummer when you buy something and can't use it straightaway. 😪


Had only good experience with support but take into account its european times Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00 CET only. I had some issues with the serials in the beginning but for a long time now evrything works with no problems, so I really hope will be resolved soon.


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## AnhrithmonGelasma (Jul 27, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Great. I should be able to register my Sonible plugins with Sonible and get that upgrade price. Hopefully it isn't time limited; but if it is I might get it anyway as the curve editing should be very useful.


"Upgrade offer ends August 31, 2022" 

Maybe they'll bring it back for Black Friday?

Now I wish they'd add more profiles to Smart EQ, and (even better) the ability to intelligently learn profiles from one or more examples....


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jul 27, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Upgrade: EUR 29.99 if you have v1


Yep, got it for the same price. Sonible has a very generous upgrade and loyalty policy.


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## KarlHeinz (Jul 27, 2022)

Emmanuel Rousseau said:


> Yep, got it for the same price. Sonible has a very generous upgrade and loyalty policy.


IF the mathematics (AI ????) works right........I still got special offers in my account for things I already own and bundle prices higher then buying the parts I am missing separately.....


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## doctoremmet (Jul 27, 2022)

It seems Pluginboutique have a crossgrade offer (I guess for people who have purchased another Sonible plugin with them), maybe worthwile for some?


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 27, 2022)

I paid for the v2 upgrade. Latency is not improved, but the other updates are worth the $27 it cost me (exchange rate fee included). I haven’t tested it much, but it seems to definitely warrant the v2 moniker so far.


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## jcrosby (Jul 27, 2022)

$26 USD upgrade at Best Service:






Product no longer available | bestservice.com


Product no longer available




www.bestservice.com


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 27, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> $26 USD upgrade at Best Service:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hmm. Good to know, but I guess I’ll be happy in this case that my money - all $1 more - went straight to sonible with no middleman deduction.


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## KarlHeinz (Jul 27, 2022)

vitocorleone123 said:


> Hmm. Good to know, but I guess I’ll be happy in this case that my money - all $1 more - went straight to sonible with no middleman deduction.


Exactly my starting point today .

But then my usual payment problems dialed in.....no paypal account, no credit card. Last times that great Sonible support just sent me bills I could simply pay over my bank account but: much manual trouble for them, waiting times (days) for me till I got my hands on this.

Now lately it seems for to work to pay over paypal with direct debit but not on sonible.....so two mails to support, first about asking to change their paypal payment options (its inside EU, so in 80 % of the cases I had no problem with that), second that I will buy from bestservice for now to avoid manual trouble for them and waiting times for me.....


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## muziksculp (Jul 27, 2022)

Got it from Sonible's website as a crossgrade for *$57.82* , since I have two of their Plugins registered in my account.


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## paulmatthew (Jul 28, 2022)

KarlHeinz said:


> Had only good experience with support but take into account its european times Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00 CET only. I had some issues with the serials in the beginning but for a long time now evrything works with no problems, so I really hope will be resolved soon.


Small update. Best Service told me to contact Sonible which I did and received a support email this morning. I was given the child serials for the individual plugins in the bundle. However , I got a serial for Smart Comp and am waiting for a code for a free update to Smart Comp 2. I'm hoping to hear back again tomorrow about the Smart Comp2.

*****Final update***** Sonible customer service rocks !!!! Turns out that Best Service sold me a serial number for the old version of the Smart Bundle containing version 1 of the Smart Comp when the description clearly showed that it included Smart Comp 2. Not only were the original issues of getting the serials registered resolved in a timely manner , but they also honored the upgrade to Smart Comp2. They could have sent me to Best Service to deal with this but they didn't. Big kudos to Nora at Sonible for the amazing support.


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## poly6 (Jul 29, 2022)

FYI Plugin Alliance has smart:reverb on sale for $49.99 as part of its PA_EXT Hall of Fame sale.

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/x-sonible-smart-reverb.html


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## AnhrithmonGelasma (Jul 29, 2022)

Looks like the only vocal profiles in Smart Comp 2 are Buss, Low, High, Rap, Speech Low, and Speech High... that's a bit disappointing, I would have liked more profiles matched to subgenres, with multiple options for each. Same goes for the Synth profiles, etc. Maybe in the future....

I like the idea of Smart:Reverb but I'm not loving the sound in the video demos... like some other reverbs that promise to avoid resonances or muddy buildup it seems to take too much out of the reverb for my taste. Though it might work better in dense mixes. At $50 it's close to the $75 threshold for using the $25 monthly voucher though. Hopefully they'll bring the sale back around Black Friday and I'll have time to demo it.


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## liquidlino (Jul 29, 2022)

I'm trialling Smart:Comp2. So far bit hit and miss. Seems very material-specific. Not sure what others experience has been so far. On electronic and "band" type material, it seems to work quite well - particularly on busses and master channels. But for acoustic instruments and orchestral instruments individually, it doesn't seem to give a good result from the automated listening mode - makes things too bloated and "loud" almost like NY parallel compression. And the interface seems quite unfathomable other than the obvious stuff like threshold and the dials at the bottom. Not sure I need lots of control over the transfer function, I'd rather just have a few presets I can quickly click between, like in Omnichannel, where I can switch between three transfer functions really quickly for different flavours and hear the difference (without having to set them up myself first, which seems to be the ask in SmartComp, I have to save the 1-8 alternatives myself.) I'll keep trialling it, but so far not convinced I need this or will benefit greatly from it over my traditional compressors which I already have far too many of. What's others experience so far?


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 29, 2022)

Turn off auto gain and that can help. The auto gain isn’t very good in this compressor.

Also, it makes a great side chain compressor.


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## Braveheart (Jul 30, 2022)

poly6 said:


> FYI Plugin Alliance has smart:reverb on sale for $49.99 as part of its PA_EXT Hall of Fame sale.
> 
> https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/x-sonible-smart-reverb.html


Is it worth it when you already own many reverbs?


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 30, 2022)

Braveheart said:


> Is it worth it when you already own many reverbs?


I've never thought so (smart reverb may be smart but I don't like how it sounds).


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## Trash Panda (Jul 30, 2022)

Braveheart said:


> Is it worth it when you already own many reverbs?


Smart Reverb is probably the one miss from Sonible for me. It's competent and does what it says on the tin, but the algorithms in play aren't going to wow you the way other reverbs can. 

If I was in the market for a "smart" reverb, I'm more likely to reach for Neoverb as it seems "smarter" and uses the EA reverb algorithms, so it's strong from a workflow and sound quality perspective, whereas Smart Reverb is really just a bonus in the workflow perspective (and I feel Neoverb still beats it in that regard too).


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## Russell Anderson (Jul 31, 2022)

Braveheart said:


> Is it worth it when you already own many reverbs?


No, but the new Quantum 2772 is, because it/the Quantec are a totally different approach to reverb and sound SUPER good and have unique properties about excitation and decay times that will probably instantly differentiate it from every other algorithmic reverb you own the first couple of seconds/minutes you're playing with it. I have it up there with to CRP in terms of being my go-to first-pass reverb, like I might sell Seventh Heaven Pro since this does the "transparent tail with depth" think super easily and is, in my opinion, the "deepest" reverb I have ever heard, not anything to do with long tails or dampening

anyway, I'm in regular consideration about Smart:Comp2. It is... very different sounding. Not due to being a spectral compressor (it sounds like MSpectralDynamics in that regard - to its credit - and also to its credit it's WAY FREAKING EASIER TO USE for 80% of what MSD does and also has some featured of its own, namely being something you might actually load up since it's not explicitly a spectral compressor only and with large latency)

...

but because of how the Color knob appears to square the compression envelope, because it appears to gate the distortion in a very square way, sounds kinda cool if very crispy and... digital, and how the attack and release don't have the same... snug, supple clamping that compressors like The Glue and True Dynamics and whatnot have. It's like... ...god, how do you describe it? It's kind of harsh? Yet transparent? Can be really transparent, or washy (I mean anything extreme on a spectral plugin gets this way) and weirdly colored due to band-specific spectral comp or just because the material + threshold and ratio settings don't work past broadband...


Such a weird plugin. But way more usable than MSpectralDynamics, but both manage to be unique thanks to the broadband capability + blending on Sonible and the smoothing/spectral controls on MSpectralDynamics. I might just buy it so I can demo it for 6 months and leave it on the render when it sounds good, because sometimes it sounds as good or better than a 2-3 plugin chain, and sometimes it's weird.


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## vitocorleone123 (Jul 31, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> No, but the new Quantum 2772 is, because it/the Quantec are a totally different approach to reverb and sound SUPER good and have unique properties about excitation and decay times that will probably instantly differentiate it from every other algorithmic reverb you own the first couple of seconds/minutes you're playing with it. I have it up there with to CRP in terms of being my go-to first-pass reverb, like I might sell Seventh Heaven Pro since this does the "transparent tail with depth" think super easily and is, in my opinion, the "deepest" reverb I have ever heard, not anything to do with long tails or dampening
> 
> anyway, I'm in regular consideration about Smart:Comp2. It is... very different sounding. Not due to being a spectral compressor (it sounds like MSpectralDynamics in that regard - to its credit - and also to its credit it's WAY FREAKING EASIER TO USE for 80% of what MSD does and also has some featured of its own, namely being something you might actually load up since it's not explicitly a spectral compressor only and with large latency)
> 
> ...


My typical use for v1 was as a spectral side chain compressor. I’ll try using it on busses now with v2 (auto level off!).


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## Trash Panda (Jul 31, 2022)

I think SmartComp v1 did a better job as a set it and forget it and side chain compressor. 

v2 offers way more control, but I feel like its initial recommendations and side chain ducking isn’t as good out of the gate. 

Maybe they’ll tweak it a bit like they did with the original and it will be better in both regards. I have room for both on my hard drive for now. 🙂


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## AnhrithmonGelasma (Aug 1, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> $26 USD upgrade at Best Service:





jcrosby said:


> Product no longer available | bestservice.com
> 
> 
> Product no longer available
> ...


$24.36 at JRRshop with code GROUP


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## Russell Anderson (Aug 1, 2022)

Something I didn't pick up while demoing, from a gs review:



... said:


> One useful fact that I didn’t mention three years ago (but the user manual does explain) is you can use the default Universal profile when you analyse a file using the Learn mode and then select the profile that best fits the source sound. In fact, you can run the Learn mode using any profile and then change to any other profile and will end up with the same settings as running Learn with the final profile.


That's cool. That'll affect the spectral threshold curve/any other curves the spectral compression is following. You can flip through the presets until you find a suitable color without having to reanalyze.


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## Aeonata (Aug 3, 2022)

PeterN said:


> Never liked the Fabfilter compressor (I guess, bcs I can't use it properly, and am too inpatient to learn). Or is it just me? It squashes the sound too much. Its too noticeable. Nope, no use.
> 
> Been using Logics stock compressors for ever. They are great. Better than Waves crooks too. Might try this though. Because of the GUI. Also like SSL:s new X limiter (based on review) bcs you can draw down the threshold. You can't do that with Fabfilter either.


If you hold alt while increasing the input gain on PRO L2, it automatically lowers the output gain for the same amount. This is similar to lowering the threshold


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## paulwr (Aug 17, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Clickbait as usual. My fellow countryman mostly seems to enjoy his role as joker. Still…. Did he delete Fabfilter? (I actually haven’t watched this haha).



I don't reach for the Fabfilter compressor or limiter any longer. I'm not a fan of the snake man, but he got smart:comp 2 very right, to my ears, anyway. I'll post some comparisons I did for myself.


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## paulwr (Aug 17, 2022)

This is a copy of an email I sent to a long time close friend (producer/writer/mix/mastering engineer and Atmos Mixer) that told me I should look at the Sonibile smart:comp 2 and days later pointed me to the smart:comp limiter. When he read the email he suggested I share it, so here goes...


"I did a test this morning with three limiters: smart:limit, bx limit True Peak (plugin alliance), and Ozone 9 Maximizer. (note, I did not include the Fab Filter limiter. I did a comparison with it and True Peak already, and true peak retains the depth of the sound field noticeably better. And I'm no fan of the FabFilter GUI.)

Tried a couple of styles for the smart:limit and maximizer, mainly aimed at transparency. True Peak is not AI so that was all manual.

Took a while to get the levels matched and since maximizer was consistently not sounding as good as the other two, I let it be a tad louder to rule that out, and still not sounding as good as the other two.

Tests below were with significant gain reduction of about 6db.

smart:limit and True Peak were both more transparent and so felt very similar sound wise. I used Leprechaun Free Dance (a live jazz piece with 11 live brass parts) that actually needed more level, so a good test, especially with the dynamics and open soft areas and punchy energetic areas.

This test could have gone on all day, but initial impressions:

smart:limit sounding very open, dynamic with just a bit more presence than True Peak. At first I didn't notice it. I finally resorted to listening to one for a longer period before flipping to another one and then the differences would stand out more. Once I did that, even quick changes the differences became more noticeable.

True Peak is also very open, dynamic, and natural sounding. Maybe a tiny bit more transparent, but that may not be the word. Its a first class limiter but not nearly the depth of control available on the other two. But I prefer it to maximizer, I've been sticking with it.

Maximizer just seems to have more noticeable character to its processing which I suppose in certain situations could be a good thing.

Maximizer and smart:limit both have signal level matching and it is very telling.
smart:limit switching between on/bypass you don't miss anything, in fact not noticeable to maybe a difference that falls into "possible imagination" territory! Wow, at 6db with complex material and hearing no difference.... THAT'S transparent!
Maximizer is totally noticeable. This test is aimed at transparency, and on/bypass shows it isn't as transparent as the other two. I wish I'd written the notes as I was testing and should have. But Maximizer feels thinner somehow. The other two retain all or most all of the body and dynamics and excitement of the mix even on heaving limiting. Really impressive.

Bottom line: They are all actually great limiters, but smart:limit and True Peak really stand out. And the bit of extra presence for smart:limit makes it hard for me to resist. AND with all that extra control, I think it can accomplish more than True Peak when needed.

So, one guess who is spending $70.00 today...


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## Trash Panda (Aug 17, 2022)

How does your friend feel about Newfangled Audio’s Elevate bundle?


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## Russell Anderson (Aug 17, 2022)

David from MixbusTV doesn't like it so much, at least doesn't care much for Elevate or especially Saturate. Mostly due to the way the MB affects the sound and I think he still prefers KClip to probably everything.

I like Elevate and Punctuate on tracks and busses, smart:Limit certainly preserves the timbre better while pushing harder than anything else I've heard.

I did pick up S:C2 in the end, even if the Melda is still better on paper (afaik) and even if comparing to S:C2 made me better at using MSD, there was still a clear difference in which software I actually had a chance at using in a project :/


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## MarcusD (Aug 17, 2022)

AnhrithmonGelasma said:


> Looks like the only vocal profiles in Smart Comp 2 are Buss, Low, High, Rap, Speech Low, and Speech High... that's a bit disappointing, I would have liked more profiles matched to subgenres, with multiple options for each. Same goes for the Synth profiles, etc. Maybe in the future....


I think they are working on adding more profiles. But it takes a LONG time for the AI to be trained when creating new profiles for different genres / instruments.



Braveheart said:


> Is it worth it when you already own many reverbs?


IMO the Reverb is more suited towards sound design applications, due the weird and wonderful things you can do with it. So in that sense it's worth it. For a regular use, it works well. But you might already be covered with what you have.


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## Sid Francis (Aug 18, 2022)

My 2cents: The smart EQ3 is a great tool : it makes suggestions which always bring at least a small optimisation. Funny fact: you can draw the correction depth handle in both directions, up and down and up is what the system suggests. In 30% of all uses the exact opposite is what I was looking for so I draw it down But this contrary way then is very helpfull. Second nice point: as the smart EQ also is a normal EQ you can also enter some additional nodes to "correct the corrections" and this mostly brings me to the final result.


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## vitocorleone123 (Aug 18, 2022)

Sid Francis said:


> My 2cents: The smart EQ3 is a great tool : it makes suggestions which always bring at least a small optimisation. Funny fact: you can draw the correction depth handle in both directions, up and down and up is what the system suggests. In 30% of all uses the exact opposite is what I was looking for so I draw it down But this contrary way then is very helpfull. Second nice point: as the smart EQ also is a normal EQ you can also enter some additional nodes to "correct the corrections" and this mostly brings me to the final result.


Same with all their smart tools, I believe. Along with Ozone and Neutron, I suppose. They make suggestions. We as users don't have to keep them! And, in fact, can even try them as starting points in entirely different tools.


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## paulwr (Aug 18, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> How does your friend feel about Newfangled Audio’s Elevate bundle?


I don't know, he probably has not tried it. I used it for a while when it first came out. The gui is one I've not gotten comfortable with. Though I regard it as a very good limiter, I just never got where I wanted to go quickly enough. If I'd spent a lot more time with it to become fluent, I might have continued with it. But time is limited, pun intended.


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## jesussaddle (Aug 25, 2022)

paulmatthew said:


> I finally decided to get the Sonible Smart bundle and am having issues with registering the serial. It keeps saying serial number not valid but it has added smart eq to my account. I have already contacted support about this so we'll see how it goes. I hope no one else has issues with registering upgrades or serials. I'm very confident the problem will be resolved but it's a bummer when you buy something and can't use it straightaway. 😪


I had a similar situation and they had me delete the license file in Documents and try a couple of licenses. It all got worked out after 2-3 back and fourths. Hopefully it will be good going forward.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 8, 2022)




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## Jackal_King (Sep 15, 2022)

The Smart EQ2 is a very unique plugin that has caught my interest for awhile now. But I'm wondering from those who use it primarily for orchestral and cinematic music, is it more beneficial to use it when you EQ individual instruments or for group bus (strings, woodwinds, brass, ect)? I have Neutron 3 but I don't get much use out of it and I've read that it's more useful on non-orchestral instruments like synths, guitars and vocals. I don't do live vocals, just choir libraries like Lacrimosa.


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 15, 2022)

Jackal_King said:


> The Smart EQ2 is a very unique plugin that has caught my interest for awhile now. But I'm wondering from those who use it primarily for orchestral and cinematic music, is it more beneficial to use it when you EQ individual instruments or for group bus (strings, woodwinds, brass, ect)? I have Neutron 3 but I don't get much use out of it and I've read that it's more useful on non-orchestral instruments like synths, guitars and vocals. I don't do live vocals, just choir libraries like Lacrimosa.


I'm not so experienced with orchestral stuff, but here's my thoughts:

If the bus is for instruments with a very similar sound profile, you should be fine with using it only on the bus. This EQ is responsive to fine details and so should be able to bring everything into line there.

But if there are some big differences - say, you are combined a library of smooth, wet symphonic orchestral strings and spiky, dry studio recordings of a quartet, you might find they blend better by EQ-ing and shaping the reverb separately before combining them in a joint bus. That is, if you want to blend them together rather than emphasising their distinctness.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Sep 15, 2022)

I personally use it on individual channels for orchestral music. It usually works very well with the "Universal" profile as a tonal balance EQ. I don't really use the group features for orchestral music, but on other styles it can work amazingly well!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 25, 2022)




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## Bee_Abney (Sep 25, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


>



I love this response. What could a sensible role for AI be with a delay? I would think a smart echo might make sense, which simulates that particular sound in a particular echoing environment. But that isn't a particularly musical use of echo.


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 26, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


>



I'm with the Sonible guy as he asks the audience to give Sonible ideas about what a smart delay would even do that would distinguish it from other delays. For it to be such a popular request, what do so many people think they're onto?

One of Sonible's shticks appears to be using whatever you want to call their data-driven processes (machine learning or whatever) to tap into the potential of spectral processing. One of the strengths of spectral processing is the ability to operate on frequency, phase, and time independently (mostly) of each other. So what could that do inside of a delay?

Well, time stretching and pitch shifting, for one, though at least judging by Melda's offerings Spectral pitch shifting is generally not my favorite form of it. A layer of complexity and interest could be added in having a multi-tap delay with independent time/pitch values per tap, but immediately it's important to consider the UX, which is presumably where the "smart" comes in. So far this is just adding spectral pitch shifting / stretching to a multitap delay. It could be part-spectral, part-granular, which would also be interesting (and provide a second flavor of pitch shifting and stretching). There are certainly interesting textures that could come from such a delay but nothing yet to make it "smart". So I wonder too what all of those requesting it are after or think they're after.


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## MarcusD (Sep 28, 2022)

Even without the AI features, SmartComp2 is the most fully featured Compressor available at the moment.

SmartEQ3 is super easy to work with too, has all the functions you typically need. The AI is just a bonus.


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 29, 2022)




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## Bee_Abney (Sep 29, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


>


Good point; succinctly made!


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 29, 2022)

One does have to wonder, though, what a fully-featured compressor really needs. Sometimes a 2-knob 1176 is fully featured! Smart:Comp does do a good job of packaging complex functions in a very friendly manner. And I can't say I regularly go into MTurboComp with the intent of using all of those knobs. Those are there for _very_ rainy days.


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## MarcusD (Sep 29, 2022)

The free form transform threshold is the bit people overlook with SC2. It lets you expand or compress the level below the threshold. Which is very useful for a few reasons. It’s not just about the attack or release shaping.

+ you can work in M/S with SC2 and have the compressor react independent for both channels. But most won’t probably use such features! Nice to have them!


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 29, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> The free form transform threshold is the bit people overlook with SC2. It lets you expand or compress the level below the threshold. Which is very useful for a few reasons. It’s not just about the attack or release shaping.
> 
> + you can work in M/S with SC2 and have the compressor react independent for both channels. But most won’t probably use such features! Nice to have them!


Those are the features that led me to upgrade a plugin that I wasn't using. I haven't used it in action, yet, but they are features that turns it from a compressor I'd choose others over for pretty much anything to a compressor that has special tools for specific tasks.


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## MarcusD (Sep 29, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Those are the features that led me to upgrade a plugin that I wasn't using. I haven't used it in action, yet, but they are features that turns it from a compressor I'd choose others over for pretty much anything to a compressor that has special tools for specific tasks.


Yeah, it’s a compressor that caters to both mixing and mastering. Where as most compressors just have features that cater to one or the other. So in that sense it’s a Swiss Army knife, well rounded and does everything nicely.


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 29, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> The free form transform threshold is the bit people overlook with SC2. It lets you expand or compress the level below the threshold.


While it can be done in each of the Melda compressors also, it is implemented less-smoothly... (where free-form drawing is allowed, it disables the Thresh/Ratio controls which can then only be drawn in; for TurboComp it's a matter of using the 4 processors or their inversions for similar compression+expansion curves as would be seen in SC:2, +/- the Maximize knob to get upward compression closer to -inf dB)

SC:2 is for sure my preferred first-pass spectral compressor at this point. And I most enjoy it on complex material, I still can't get it to sound normal-compressory on e.g. a drumkit but it'll add depth and definition on a bus like nobody's business.

Shortly after SC:2 dropped, Auburn Sounds of Panagement fame released "Lens"; has anyone tried that? https://www.auburnsounds.com/products/Lens.html


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## MarcusD (Sep 29, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> While it can be done in each of the Melda compressors also, it is implemented less-smoothly... (where free-form drawing is allowed, it disables the Thresh/Ratio controls which can then only be drawn in; for TurboComp it's a matter of using the 4 processors or their inversions for similar compression+expansion curves as would be seen in SC:2, +/- the Maximize knob to get upward compression closer to -inf dB)
> 
> SC:2 is for sure my preferred first-pass spectral compressor at this point. And I most enjoy it on complex material, I still can't get it to sound normal-compressory on e.g. a drumkit but it'll add depth and definition on a bus like nobody's business.
> 
> Shortly after SC:2 dropped, Auburn Sounds of Panagement fame released "Lens"; has anyone tried that? https://www.auburnsounds.com/products/Lens.html



Totally agree SC2 deffinetly shines for bus compression. The only thing it’s not as desirable for, as you say, is for some drum compression. It hasn’t quite got that snap to it you would find using a FET based compressor. I tend to add a transient shaper or different comp post SC2 in the chain for more agressiveness. As a smoother or dept enhancer, it’s perfect IMO.

Interesting! I’ve not tried Melda plug-in, might have to use some credits and have a butchers. Always feel like entering a science lab using their products! Some great tools on offer.

Never heard of Crystal Clear, have you used it? If so what’s your impressions?


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 29, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> Totally agree SC2 deffinetly shines for bus compression. The only thing it’s not as desirable for, as you say, is for some drum compression. It hasn’t quite got that snap to it you would find using a FET based compressor. I tend to add a transient shaper or different comp post SC2 in the chain for more agressiveness. As a smoother or dept enhancer, it’s perfect IMO.
> 
> Interesting! I’ve not tried Melda plug-in, might have to use some credits and have a butchers. Always feel like entering a science lab using their products! Some great tools on offer.
> 
> Never heard of Crystal Clear, have you used it? If so what’s your impressions?


I haven't used it yet either (and to avoid confusion, Auburn's product is called "Lens", I just cropped the screenshot in probably a confusing way), but some of the people I know from Discord whose ears I trust have recommended trying it (some of them ruthlessly shit on SC:2 also, I think unfairly).

I think the Melda stuff can be really interesting, I've used TurboComp for regular compression quite a bit and for sound design, which is where I think it and most Melda plugins shine most thanks to the weirdness and depth of the parameters available. RatioMB is their free multiband splitting plugin and that by itself opens a ton of really strange, interesting doors in the different kinds of spectral splitting available. TurboComp adds onto that with input detection/detector output transformation curves and the plethora of the dynamics shaping options.

But I'd probably rather pull something else up for just compressing something because that's a lot of knobs if I don't like the baseline behavior on the surface lol


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## MarcusD (Sep 29, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> I haven't used it yet either (and to avoid confusion, Auburn's product is called "Lens", I just cropped the screenshot in probably a confusing way), but some of the people I know from Discord whose ears I trust have recommended trying it (some of them ruthlessly shit on SC:2 also, I think unfairly).
> 
> I think the Melda stuff can be really interesting, I've used TurboComp for regular compression quite a bit and for sound design, which is where I think it and most Melda plugins shine most thanks to the weirdness and depth of the parameters available. RatioMB is their free multiband splitting plugin and that by itself opens a ton of really strange, interesting doors in the different kinds of spectral splitting available. TurboComp adds onto that with input detection/detector output transformation curves and the plethora of the dynamics shaping options.
> 
> But I'd probably rather pull something else up for just compressing something because that's a lot of knobs if I don't like the baseline behavior on the surface lol


Just got home, will have a look into them now before the misses gets back 🤭 Yeah, I like how much control the Melda plugs offer. That's something they've always been good at implementing. Although the interface can be distracting being buried in all them controls!

Personally tend to learn towards Solid State Logic offerings for 'glue' or instrument comp using their Bus Comp or Channel Strip. I think their own renditions are the best sounding. A lot of people like Plugin Alliance version (got those too) but TBH I think SSL's own emulations have more depth and better lows.

For quick simple tinkering, ProC2 always does the trick, hope ProC3 isn't too far off! Also like the sound of PluginAlliance Shadow Hills compressor along with Waves CLA, which is ok. Smart:Comp2 gets used an awful lot now, nice and transparent, versatile. Just wish there was oversampling options and it could react better when getting aggressive. Nice mixing it with other comps on the insert.


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## ryst (Sep 29, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> Just got home, will have a look into them now before the misses gets back 🤭 Yeah, I like how much control the Melda plugs offer. That's something they've always been good at implementing. Although the interface can be distracting being buried in all them controls!
> 
> Personally tend to learn towards Solid State Logic offerings for 'glue' or instrument comp using their Bus Comp or Channel Strip. I think their own renditions are the best sounding. A lot of people like Plugin Alliance version (got those too) but TBH I think SSL's own emulations have more depth and better lows.
> 
> For quick simple tinkering, ProC2 always does the trick, hope ProC3 isn't too far off! Also like the sound of PluginAlliance Shadow Hills compressor along with Waves CLA, which is ok. Smart:Comp2 gets used an awful lot now, nice and transparent, versatile. Just wish there was oversampling options and it could react better when getting aggressive. Nice mixing it with other comps on the insert.


I agree with you. I think the SSL plugins from SSL are criminally underrated and I like them the best as far as SSL emulations go. Especially the Channel Strip 2.


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## MarcusD (Sep 30, 2022)

ryst said:


> I agree with you. I think the SSL plugins from SSL are criminally underrated and I like them the best as far as SSL emulations go. Especially the Channel Strip 2.


So true! SSLs plugins are really good, I don’t understand why people don’t talk about them more. They sound great and the interface designs are real slick.


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## ryst (Sep 30, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> So true! SSLs plugins are really good, I don’t understand why people don’t talk about them more. They sound great and the interface designs are real slick.


Well, let's just keep it our little secret then.


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## MarcusD (Sep 30, 2022)

ryst said:


> Well, let's just keep it our little secret then.


😂


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## Thlian (Oct 3, 2022)

I like them very much thank you, it's allright!

One thing, it could be than I am missing something. If a vocal need a bit heavy compression. I find using a stock Tube compressor from the Fat channel series in Studio one better. But all Sonible works great on then master. It's where I use them as a total noodle. On the single tracks I trend to go bananas with some other stuff.


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## Bee_Abney (Oct 3, 2022)

Thlian said:


> I like them very much thank you, it's allright!
> 
> One thing, it could be than I am missing something. If a vocal need a bit heavy compression. I find using a stock Tube compressor from the Fat channel series in Studio one better. But all Sonible works great on then master. It's where I use them as a total noodle. On the single tracks I trend to go bananas with some other stuff.


They are very much focused on transparently performing their function rather than adding character (in the form of hidden variations in frequency response and saturation).


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## doctoremmet (Oct 4, 2022)




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## doctoremmet (Nov 2, 2022)

Incoming november 9. Metering.


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## vitocorleone123 (Nov 2, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Incoming november 9. Metering.



That can't be smart, but it must be true.....


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