# Gullfoss & Soothe 2 Together/Separate, Etc.?



## RabornJohnson (Oct 27, 2020)

Does anyone use both Soothe 2 and Gullfoss on their master bus? They are similar tools, but seem like they could be complimentary. Is there any risk of introducing strange artifacts, phase issues, etc.? If you use them both on your master, what order do you put them in or where do you place them in your chain? If not, do you prefer one of these tools over the other? Why?


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## babylonwaves (Oct 28, 2020)

IMO Sooth works better on a channel, because you can tune it towards the shortcomings of an instrument. Gullfoss I hardly use on channels busses and mostly the master buss. Gullfoss does push frequency ranges which are temporarily underrepresented. From what I understand, Sooth is always removing (resonant) frequencies which does something different to the audio signal.


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## vitocorleone123 (Oct 29, 2020)

While you can use either anywhere, generally, Soothe would be on a track or group (I use DSEQ not Soothe), whereas Gulfoss would be on the mix bus. But there's no rule about one or the other.


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## Beat Kaufmann (Oct 29, 2020)

*Gullfoss* (btw. "gold" fall in Island) obviously knows how music should sound. He more or less removes things that seem too much to him or he adds to them when they are missing. He does this automatically and dynamically. Whether Gullfoss does it right for all styles of music, I do not know. Apparently most people like the tool.

*Soothe 2* suppresses certain frequencies dynamically. Which ones are, you can set yourself. Therefore I would only use this tool if you know what exactly it is supposed to suppress, e.g. as a deesser or resonance of a singer, ... As mentioned above, Soothe2 is in my eyes more for single channels. For mastering, Gullfoss does the job well enough on its own.

Basically:
Dynamic sound manipulation has a certain appeal. You should always be aware that a good mix does not matter if it sounds flat and balanced in all aspects (compressor + dynamic EQ). I personally use dynamic sound shaping today only to solve individual problems and no longer in general.

Beat


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## ceemusic (Oct 29, 2020)

There are no set rules, track or mixbus. They can help you solve certain issues or you can screw up an otherwise good mix overusing either one.


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## Harry (Jan 17, 2021)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> *Soothe 2* suppresses certain frequencies dynamically. Which ones are, you can set yourself. Therefore I would *o*_*nly use this tool if you know what exactly it is supposed to suppress,*_ e.g. as a deesser or resonance of a singer, ...


Is this how it is? As I understood it, Soothe works out itself which frequencies are resonant, and these can be accentuated by the user using nodes. But even with all nodes at rest, it still works ... am I wrong?


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## R. Soul (Jan 17, 2021)

Harry said:


> Is this how it is? As I understood it, Soothe works out itself which frequencies are resonant, and these can be accentuated by the user using nodes. But even with all nodes at rest, it still works ... am I wrong?


Nah... I think you're right. I use Soothe 2 a tons. It works really well on instruments where the fundamental note is very resonant and there's not that many overtones, like mallets or flutes for example. But I find it often works wonders on synths and distorted guitars. 
I use it mostly on single channels and Gullfoss on master, and occasionally on mix busses.


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## Mendelian (Jan 22, 2021)

Both Soothe 2 and Gullfoss are excellent tools also for mastering. Gullfos is less precise/narrow and more “broad” if that makes any sense. 

I sometimes use both during mastering; where i use Soothe 2 for mainly between 1 khz and 4 khz, oversampling x4 and Gullfoss for the “rest” to keep everything in check.

Do note: I mix mainly metal/extreme death metal.

When doing orchestral stuff i like to have Soothe 2 on the strings bus and Gullfoss on the master bus.

Hope this helps.


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