# Soundtheory Gullfoss - new mastering EQ



## babylonwaves (Mar 28, 2018)

This is an interesting new, adaptive EQ.

I just got this and it's fairly surprising how well you can tame a mix in absolutely no time. or get buried details out. usually i stay away from tools which have hardly any controls and are supposed to make you mix just better. but this one is interesting. it clears the mix up and basically all you do is decide on how much it "tames" and how much it "recovers".

https://www.soundtheory.com/home

they have a 14-day, fully working demo version. and no, i'm not affiliated


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## Beat Kaufmann (Mar 30, 2018)

I admit that I am very skeptical of such tools. They suggest that the mastering can technically be solved within fractions of a second (corrections of the sound)
So why is it then so difficult for all of us who have ears that can compare references to our own mixes - through speakers, headphones and with analyzers? Are we so incompetent?
The solution is: Take Gullfoss and your mix is saved!??? ...I've been in the business too long to believe that.

Nevertheless, I listened to the examples and ...
...It seems to be a tool as you know it already in photography. There it is called "automatic image optimizer". A little bit more contrast, a little bit more color and a little sharpening and the picture is "mastered". The three examples on www.soundtheory.com show the same with all three music examples. The sound is treated at first glance in all 3 pieces in a similar style - as with the image optimizers. Actually, it sounds a bit like when I press the "loudness button" on my old Hitachi amplifier. I often use the PlugIn Vitalizer (PlugInAlliance). It helps covered and hidden frequencies back to "the surface" The result sounds very similar. By the way: Ozone 8 tries to master with a similar strategy as well as Gullfoss.

Let's take a closer look at the example of the violin and Gullfoss, which obviously appears with a rather unpleasant "cheesy" sound. Although everything is as mentioned above, something brightened in the mastered version. At first glance, the example actually sounds fresher. But if I had to master the example, I would at least try to "reduce the cheese" a bit as well.
Everyone can lighten up a sound a bit. Removing "cheese" in the sound is more difficult. Unfortunately, the tool does not seem to be of much help in such and similar cases...

Try and test the EQ. Form your own opinion about Gullfoss. If you think that the tool is doing a job you can not handle yourself, buy it - great.
Happy Testing.

Beat


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## Henu (Mar 31, 2018)

Just like Beat said, I'm also very skeptical of these, which I have stated (and explained more why) in other topics in this subforum. 

However, for basic mixing I can somehow understand someone using these things, but for mastering it's absolutely a complete no- no- no- no. Mastering is compared to mixing like making a heart surgery vs ER. Both demanding and hard, but f**king up the mastering means a ruined product, while a non- optimal mix can still be saved at mastering.


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## R. Soul (Mar 31, 2018)

I only have a PC so I haven't been able to test it but I've followed discussions on it on Gearslutz for 2 months now. 
It seems like it's really rather special.
And it's not mastering EQ alone. It works well on buses and even individual tracks.


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## Beat Kaufmann (Apr 10, 2018)

There are many mixes - I mean especially those with orchestra samples - where "the EQ-work" often leads to a lesser sound quality. In other words: People would have better not used EQs. One probably forget that the samples were recorded with greatest care and at a high level. Because those mixers work with poor monitors and in poor room conditions, they adjust the sound with EQs towards "bad". Such an automatic EQ can certainly bring a profit for these people... if they really want to use EQs.

So nothing against the Gullfoss EQ. Every tool has its satisfied customers
Beat


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## AR (Oct 21, 2018)

Looks like Alan Meyerson is into it...


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Oct 21, 2018)

AR said:


> Looks like Alan Meyerson is into it...



I heard George Foreman was really into that grill.


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## jonnybutter (Oct 21, 2018)

I have Gullfoss, and it is very nice, if used judiciously. I use it more on individual tracks than the master bus, but use it on that too sometimes. But I think it's mainly a mixing rather than a mastering tool.


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## Mathematics (Jul 23, 2019)

It does smooth out a final mix. You just need to taper off the edges to taste. How do you guys use it effectively?


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## Vsevolod (Dec 19, 2019)

Hello! I watched the Gullfoss video and it sounds really amazing!

Question: If I use Gullfoss on the master bus after all the processing, before the limiter, then when I export each stereo instrument stem separately for subsequent mixing in the movie, how does gullfoss work in this case?

When each stem is rendered through the master (in Reaper), does it re-calculate each instrument again? Or takes the general data of the entire track? After all, this is a general analysis of the plug-in of the entire mix on the master bus. Thanks!


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## Bluemount Score (Dec 19, 2019)

Vsevolod said:


> Hello! I watched the Gullfoss video and it sounds really amazing!
> 
> Question: If I use Gullfoss on the master bus after all the processing, before the limiter, then when I export each stereo instrument stem separately for subsequent mixing in the movie, how does gullfoss work in this case?
> 
> When each stem is rendered through the master (in Reaper), does it re-calculate each instrument again? Or takes the general data of the entire track? After all, this is a general analysis of the plug-in of the entire mix on the master bus. Thanks!


Not sure if that's what you mean, but it just takes the current audio signal and analyzes it live (300x per second!). Therefore, Gullfoss re-calctulates each instrument individually. If you set your parameters (recover / tame etc.) to work best on the whole mix, you should change them or bipass Gullfoss before exporting individual tracks.

By the way, I love this plug-in. It's like a good friend / mixing engineer that sits next to me and gives me some advice here and there, on the master as well as on individual tracks, generally after (!) I did my best to make everything sound okay the "regular" way by myself, as good as I can. It's extremely usefull and totally worth the $99 dollar I spend (educational discount).


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## VinRice (Dec 19, 2019)

Vsevolod said:


> Hello! I watched the Gullfoss video and it sounds really amazing!
> 
> Question: If I use Gullfoss on the master bus after all the processing, before the limiter, then when I export each stereo instrument stem separately for subsequent mixing in the movie, how does gullfoss work in this case?
> 
> When each stem is rendered through the master (in Reaper), does it re-calculate each instrument again? Or takes the general data of the entire track? After all, this is a general analysis of the plug-in of the entire mix on the master bus. Thanks!



Huh? Like every other plug-in it only analyses and effects the audio going through it.

If you want _any_ plug-in to take account of the master mix when stemming then you need to set up a separate bus mix that does not go to the master output but can be side-chained to the plug-in in question.


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## Vsevolod (Dec 19, 2019)

Thanks for answers! Today I received an official response from Soundtheory:

Hi Vsevolod,

Thanks for contacting us and Unfortunately, stem exports require side-chain functionality which is not yet supported. There are a few technical hurdles with side-chain processing when it comes to accurate timing. A number of popular hosts do not properly compensate for the delay of a side-chain signal, which makes it impossible for Gullfoss to function correctly.

Gullfoss can only respond to the information it has access to. So, it will respond differently when you send it a full mix versus a submix or instrument bus.

Cheers!


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