Sonible Smart:EQ3

[R. Soul]

How does this compare to Soothe? That seems to be the industry “leader” and I’ve been trying to resist buying it.

Yeah, you should get both really. Different tools for different things.
If you're finding Soothe 2 a bit pricey you can have a look at DSEQ 3 at half the price, and Smooth operator from Baby audio, which is even cheaper, but also a lot more basic.

 

[ryst]

That's interesting, so you're using it essentially like Trackspacer with the vocal as the sidechain applied to the two-track?

Yep. It would look something like this:

 

[Dex]

I have thought for a long time that the problem with AI EQs is that they only listen to the track in solo. How are you supposed to find a good EQ setting on each instrument without listening in the context of the mix?

Smart EQ 3 is the first AI EQ to do things right...at least, conceptually.

Unfortunately, the results for me have not been great. I tried it on a metal track that I'd already gotten mixed pretty well. I put it on the drums, guitars, bass, and vocal buses (which was all the was in the song), grouped them appropriately in the plugin, and had the plugin listen to all the buses together to set their EQ. Since the song was already pretty well mixed I expected it not to do much. I expected it to recognize that things were already pretty well balanced and just do a little cleanup and separation. Nope. Instead what it did was turn everything into a boomy, cluttered mess. It made it sound more like an EDM track than a metal track afterward, and not a well mixed EDM track. On an objective level there was a lot more frequency clashing/masking after using it than before.

I have smart EQ 2 and I never use it (high latency and high CPU). Fortunately smart EQ 3 is zero latency by default. However, I doubt I will upgrade to smart EQ 3 even though it's only $25. For me I feel the only reasons to upgrade would be to help support the company and to get the discount on the inevitable smart EQ 4. I want them to get it right and they're heading in the right direction, but they're not there yet.

All IMO of course.

 

[Dirtgrain]

Instead what it did was turn everything into a boomy, cluttered mess. It made it sound more like an EDM track than a metal track afterward, and not a well mixed EDM track.

I wonder if there are certain things it is better at mixing--if there could be a list someone made. Rule out Metal. Some have praised the results, but I wonder how compositions vary with the positive and negative reviews. I don't own it, but I'm paying attention.

 

[Dex]

The thing is it actually does a pretty good job on the guitar bus by itself if you just set it to E-guitars. (Similar results can be had for free and with less CPU impact with their Balancer plugin, though, which I have praised many times.)

Perhaps they could implement a genre selector.

However, nothing explains the frequency collisions it chose to cause in the group setting for me.

 

[MarcusD]

There’s always going to be a human element involved refining the settings. Can’t expect it to be a wonder EQ that instantly replaces you as a mixer. Not one AI EQ can do that yet. For that to happen I assume a lot of deep AI machine learning would be needed with thousands upon thousands of hours listening to different music and raw mixed stems by engineers of their respected fields. Similar to what the online mastering tools do.

 

[ryst]

I have thought for a long time that the problem with AI EQs is that they only listen to the track in solo. How are you supposed to find a good EQ setting on each instrument without listening in the context of the mix?

Smart EQ 3 is the first AI EQ to do things right...at least, conceptually.

Unfortunately, the results for me have not been great. I tried it on a metal track that I'd already gotten mixed pretty well. I put it on the drums, guitars, bass, and vocal buses (which was all the was in the song), grouped them appropriately in the plugin, and had the plugin listen to all the buses together to set their EQ. Since the song was already pretty well mixed I expected it not to do much. I expected it to recognize that things were already pretty well balanced and just do a little cleanup and separation. Nope. Instead what it did was turn everything into a boomy, cluttered mess. It made it sound more like an EDM track than a metal track afterward, and not a well mixed EDM track. On an objective level there was a lot more frequency clashing/masking after using it than before.

I have smart EQ 2 and I never use it (high latency and high CPU). Fortunately smart EQ 3 is zero latency by default. However, I doubt I will upgrade to smart EQ 3 even though it's only $25. For me I feel the only reasons to upgrade would be to help support the company and to get the discount on the inevitable smart EQ 4. I want them to get it right and they're heading in the right direction, but they're not there yet.

All IMO of course.

To me, that's a strange way to test this plugin. Not sure what you could expect putting it on a mix that was already "mixed pretty well". Also, you aren't mentioning how much you're pushing the smart filter (strength) or the group impact. Not that I need to know, I just find this to be an odd way to test a plugin.

For what it's worth, I never expect plugins like this to be anything more than starting points or tools for me to get from point A to point B more efficiently. I use Gullfoss and Smart EQ not as replacements for other plugins, but enhancements that may make my other decisions less heavy handed. I think AI plugins can be great if you know what you want before you use them and you use them subtly. I certainly wouldn't trust them to mix for me.

 

[tmhuud]

I wish these AI plugins could also emulate console colouring...

yep. same.

 

[Emmanuel Rousseau]

On my side I have to say I'm super impressed with the results I'm getting on orchestral instruments - it was already the case with Smart Eq 2.

Most of the time I already know more or less what's going to happen before pressing the Learn button. Like "please remove the harshness from this naughty cymbal roll" : and it does just that.

So it's not only a gain of time, it's also pretty comforting! When mixing alone sometimes you can lose confidence and objectivity. It's very helpful to have this kind of "mix assistant" thing.

Sometimes it even helps you to commit to a choice and now what you really want! "Oh I see, you want to cut those 500hz. I'll keep them, it adds body."

 

[Illico]

On my side I have to say I'm super impressed with the results I'm getting on orchestral instruments - it was already the case with Smart Eq 2.
...

Which presets did you use for orchestral instruments (Strings, Brass, Woodwinds, Percussion...)?

 

[Illico]

... This is so dependant of the source. I always set them to Universal and tweak from there (or make my own profiles when I'm very happy with a sound).

Sorry, I just notice your post now.

 

[FireGS]

Since the song was already pretty well mixed I expected it not to do much. I expected it to recognize that things were already pretty well balanced and just do a little cleanup and separation. Nope. Instead what it did was turn everything into a boomy, cluttered mess. It made it sound more like an EDM track than a metal track afterward, and not a well mixed EDM track. On an objective level there was a lot more frequency clashing/masking after using it than before.

Did you remove all existing EQ? I wouldn't use this on an already mixed track - there's not much room for improvement in that case. Start fresh, and see how it turns out.

 

[Markus Kohlprath]

Really sad to find my Sonible account empty after purchasing Frei:raum, SmartEQLive, SmartEQ2, and Smart Comp. So I can't even take advantage of the upgrade until it's sorted out. Thank you Sonible.

I understand if they change systems, but why does the customer always have to go through the hassle of contact, searching for emails that prove the purchase, just to correct a lack of migration of information? And what happens if I can't find the emails? I'm out of luck?

I have to admit, I never worry if Fabfilter or SoundToys suddenly dump all my products out of my account, it would be a nightmare. At least they keep me updated. I've searched through my sonible emails, can't find one about this new account or migrating my products, and I've made 4 major purchases. Not a good sign.

I'm beginning to think the risk with these smaller companies is these kinds of basic mistakes that quickly get you disconnected and unable to upgrade. It's bad enough they don't do any updates on their products, like iZotope they just add a few things at a time then every year announce a "whole new product!" with a number incriment... really... The difference between RX4,RX5, RX6,and RX7 was not that great, yet here I am at RX8 because I work in film (oh, there's an RX9... great.)

I expect SmartEQ9 to be out soon and by the time it is, it will be a $300 upgrade (over the many small upgrades) from Smart EQ2... what a deal! Unfortunately I constantly use Fabfilter Q3 for the dynamic EQ functions, so I'm still interested in this...

I had the same thing. Contacted the support and they returned the licenses to my account after two days and I got smart eq3 for 25€.

 

[X-Bassist]

OK... Just fired up the laptop.

Something to try...

You can save and export your own profiles from Smart EQ2 and import them into Smart EQ3. Best thing to do, load up a session that's using smart EQ on your favourite sample libraries then save the profile for the instrument. After saving, click the settings cog and then export the profile. Bare in mind the audio needs to have been analysed prior to saving your profile, otherwise If you import it into SEQ3 it'll just be a blank line..

Only thing I've noticed is the profile isn't' exactly the same as what's come from SEQ2, but I'm assuming it's probably because the analyser does things differently.

If it were that simple why didn’t they import all the profiles from 2 to 3?

I am assuming a profile would give the AI an idea of what it’s listening to and prioritize the frequencies that are usually necessary for that instrument. This is why more profiles would be useful.

 

[X-Bassist]

I'm with you.

You don't need profiles. All profiles are going to do is color your source sound in one direction or another. You can affect the source in the exact same way by using the built in "EQ" curves that say "process this area more" or "process this area less".

Can we agree that if they, for a wild example, made a "profile" for Modern Scoring Strings that it would probably not sound very good on, say, VSL instruments? Or a "VSL" profile on CSS?

I am assuming a profile would give the AI an idea of what it’s listening to and prioritize listening to the frequencies that are usually necessary for that instrument. This is why more profiles would be useful. A profile is not a preset, something that would be a curve or an adjustment of specific frequencies, but prioritizing what frequencies it’s looking at.

A female voice for instance, would not need to focus on the 0-100Hz range and could mostly ignore it (or pull it out), where it would be higher in priority for a bass or kick profile. If it divides the audio spectrum by 256 or 512 “ranges” then these priorities could help the AI to work quicker and more efficiently, plus guard against sounds on a mic that are not the instrument (other live players, stands, chair squeaks, etc).

Unless I’m wrong, but then I’m not sure the point of the profile. Ok, I’m probably overthinking this...

 

[MarcusD]

If it were that simple why didn’t they import all the profiles from 2 to 3?

I am assuming a profile would give the AI an idea of what it’s listening to and prioritize the frequencies that are usually necessary for that instrument. This is why more profiles would be useful.

Probably because it analyses the audio and applies suggestions within the profile differently. It's not like they just use the exact same code as SmartEQ2 then add extra features...Profiles are a simple request IMO and they could add more in a patch. Don't really understand why it would be an issue.

Besides, when using any AI EQ it's NEVER a good idea to just rely on suggested settings... They're purely starting points that get you in the ballpark of where you need to be. Manually adjusting settings is, very much, still a requirement. There's no plugin on the market that can perfectly mix anything without SOME manual input.

 

[ryst]

Probably because it analyses the audio and applies suggestions within the profile differently. It's not like they just use the exact same code as SmartEQ2 then add extra features...Profiles are a simple request IMO and they could add more in a patch. Don't really understand why it would be an issue.

Besides, when using any AI EQ it's NEVER a good idea to just rely on suggested settings... They're purely starting points that get you in the ballpark of where you need to be. Manually adjusting settings is, very much, still a requirement. There's no plugin on the market that can perfectly mix anything without SOME manual input.

That's exactly why I prefer making my own profiles. I know what I usually do for bass, vocals, drums, guitars, and mix buss. So it's nice to make profiles for those and use them subtly to get me started.

Also, what seems to be lost with some users is that it's easy to change a profile if you don't like everything it does. For instance, load the universal profile on the mix buss. If there is a cut in the low end you don't like, use the eq to correct it and save a new profile. Done.

 

[Trash Panda]

Is anyone experiencing crashes with Smart EQ3? I’m getting this very often in Reaper, especially when using groups.

 

[tack]

Is anyone experiencing crashes with Smart EQ3? I’m getting this very often in Reaper, especially when using groups.

I haven't had a chance to play with it much since I picked it up, but yes, in my first run with it while playing with the groups feature it did take Reaper out.

 

[Living Fossil]

Is anyone experiencing crashes with Smart EQ3? I’m getting this very often in Reaper, especially when using groups.

I didn't get a crash, however, after reopening a 96kHz session where i had it inserted, it distorted the audio signal. Since i had no motivation/time to (try to) fix the problem, i just removed the plugin. Will try again once i have the nerves/time for it.