Gulfoss is awesome for working on the master, enhancing individual tracks and balancing low end. I didn't like Soothe at first. Enhances the master a bit but not individual tracks when used on them directly, at least from my experience. Because of it's potential as a a side chain, however, Soothe 2 is the most must-have plugin I've ever used. It's basically Trackspacer 2 times 20000. Parts just wrap around each other and everything becomes clear and audible.
You vocal ducking is a bit annoying in the video especially when you're doing bypass vs non bypass where you are talking when you click bypass making it hard to compare the two.
Now I’m super inspired to use Gulfoss. I’ve had it for a year and rarely use it because of how subtle it is but now I know exactly when and why I should use it. Thanks a ton!
Love your work. This was very helpful. I have Gullfoss and Neutron elements v1 with it's AI "assistant" which does pretty much the same thing as far as I can tell. I wouldn't want to go back to being wtihout gullfoss. Although i don't use it on EVERY mix, I feel like I got to have it there. I think I use on on maybe 80-90% of my mixes. I use the blue on on mix busses, the brown one on individual channels and the white one on master. That's not a rule, but it seems to be a quick go-to that I like. I feel like MSpectralDynamics is missing from this conversation. It's the grand daddy of all these tools and the name says it all. It's far and away the most sophisticated of them all which is probably why it's not as popular. They tried to remedy it by having these simplified devices in the front end but the real power is on the EDIT page. It allows side-chain processing which selectively ducks only the frequencies from the side chain that are peaking. It's nuts. You don't use vanilla side-chain compression once you have this. Unfortunately, I don't have the full version as I don't have unlimited funds, but I plan on upgrading. I have their lite version with just the simplified devices - but it allows me that spectral side-chain compression so I'm happy for now. If I get more mixing gigs, then I can justify the cost.
Just toggle on/off bypass. Your vocal interruptions degrade the contrast we are looking to hear. Don't mean to be an a-hole. Overall, this video is excellent. Thank you!
When I first got Gullfoss, I was very conservative with it, and, hence, I could not heart any big or important changes. When I finally stopped worrying about adding/subtracting too much, and just got goofy with Gulfoss, I started to hear what it was doing. Gulfoss can really add some magic to the sound of a mix. Caveat: Dunno about the other plugins, but Gulfoss uses alot of CPU power.
You‘re such a wonderful, thoughtful and calm presenter. The way you do it ensures me, that you‘re knowing what you are talking about. And even better: You never leave that „Hey, that‘s what I think about, everything is subjective and we‘re not talking about truths“-stage. Exactly this is what the world needs way more, ME thinks. Thank you for all this, sir.
The best explanation on RU-vid. Keep on this way. What about TDR Nova GE plugin. Would be nice if you make video about that and explain what it's capable of.
do you put sculptor on the snare bus or on the master bus? is that right that sculptor actually doesn't work with the rest of the mix, only with the snare? so the context sound of the whole song will change the "perfected" snare after it was processed by sculptor, right?
Really helpful video for visualizing the best use cases between fairly similar products, especially individual track vs. 2 Bus/Mastering. I have all three of these products but can't remember the last time I used Izotope Sculptor. Your video opened up a practical use case and I'm going to knock the virtual dust off this plugin. Occasionally I'm mixing an instrument, identify a problem, have a rough idea how to fix it, but end up creating new problems. Usually it's either too much subtractive EQ or unnatural freq boost curves. I've typically chalked it up to ear fatigue preventing me from recognizing new problems in the moment, but even with fresh ears I can't always solve the puzzle. The issue is morphing an instrument into something that deviates too far away from how it should naturally sound. So, could a product attempting to mirror a well recorded natural sound of a specific instrument keep me inside the guard rails? I don't know but it's well worth investigating. I have one hopefully constructive piece of feedback. When you are switching between Bypass and Active, it would be easier for a viewer to recognize the impact if you don't speak and lower the track volume between the off/on change. I found the timing gap and volume adjustment between the off/on toggle made it difficult for my brain to track the difference.
Honestly the "intelligent" concept of Sculpture is Pure BS! there is no way any snare can sound like other snare just because match a Frequency response, there is way more than that and transients... may sound cool maybe in some cases, but the concept and selling pitch is rubbish is just a processor
Really useful tutorial, many thanks. I’ve been bombarded with adverts for Soothe2 and I need to understand more fully what it can actually do for me. This was a huge help. Loving Gullfoss.
the reason i listen to you was because i toohave focal be 6 and ns 10m speakers, and now i notice you also have sennheiser 600s which i also use....also im from manchester and you are wearing a joy division t shirt..🖖
Hey Jeff, great advice and video thanks, however, the background music is quite distracting although very well mixed with your dialogue I have to say......
Really an excellent and informative look at these spectral shaping devices. Thank you very much for being so clear and articulate in explaining the capabilities of these plug-ins.
Your explanation was so good on gullfoss the best I have seen can you sometime do a walk through tutorial on a Chanel strip like SSL or Shepps, as you would slowly detail them so good making it clear to follow and work with. thankyou
Hey thx for this!!! I have these three plug-ins and you've made it clear as to how they function. Also, what program you are using to make. this screen capture/camera capture videos please?
Great Video. I'm enjoying soothe2. I like the Izotope stuff; I never understood what Sculptor was doing. I appreciate your walk-through. That Lewitt mic sounds great on your vocals. What one do you have? What preamp do you use?
1. correct. Your mix sounded better without Gulfoss. I want to hear pre-sets from which to start. I produce 2-3 finished library tracks a day, no time for too much faffing around. I was hoping Soothe could get rid of booming bass pesos....
FUCK - this exactly what i needed rn, i already have gullfoss but was seeing andrew huangs take on the soothe plugin and was wondering what the difference is - thanks man
Great video - Subscribed! My take is that while Gullfoss and Soothe 2 have some overlapping functionality, their "tame" features operate differently. Gullfoss' tame feature is designed to control frequencies that are dominating the mix excessively. So to me it works across the full frequency spectrum to dynamically reduce problematic frequencies and increase overall clarity. The tame function in Gullfoss would seem to me to operate as part of its intelligent EQ system that makes rapid adjustments (up to 300 times per second), but so as to improve the overall BALANCE (hence the name Gullfoss) and clarity of the audio. Whereas Soothe 2, on the other hand, seems specifically designed to target and reduce resonant peaks and harsh frequencies. It seems to operate more like a dynamic resonance suppressor, identifying and attenuating problematic resonances in real-time. For me the key difference is focus: Gullfoss aims for overall spectral balance and clarity, while Soothe 2 targets specific resonances and harshness. Like you said (I think) I often use Gullfoss on full mixes or busses, and more often use Soothe 2 on individual tracks or groups, Gullfoss and Soothe can both be used vice versa. I use Gullfoss often on instruments that take up too much spectral energy in my mixes, like Synthesizers or Clean Rhythm or Acoustic Guitars. Functionality I would say Gullfoss uses a broader, more holistic approach to frequency management, while Soothe 2 provides more targeted resonance control but I'm not sure what Sculptor does and I'm very curious to know.
Very nice and informative video! Thank you! 🤗 I have a question: is Sculptor pretty much the same as Ozone Stabilizer (or Clarity)? Do they behave somehow similar or are they using completely different algorithms under the hood?
Hello Mr manchester.... Question... Why would one need to Bias the gulfoss towards recovery or taming, when one could simply go to the Recovery and taming options and make moves from there in and of themselves? I'm sure I'm missing something.... I see this as a redundancy, can you please tell me where I'm mistaken? Or if any of the experienced Gulfoss users can help me out to understand that better, Im grateful to all.
This is a cool video but the constant volume drops for your commentary made it hard to actually A/B the differences because you kept interjecting right while you were switching so... for the whole Gullfoss part I really couldn't hear any difference in anything.
I found your channel today and subscribed, it is great! I am about to purchase Soothe2, I have a question. Where do you put it in your signal chain? I plan on using it mostly for vocals, at least to get started. I am a Pro Tools user.
Hey Jeff, fantastic dissection of these three rather complex plug-ins! I’ve been a Gullfoss user for years and love the tool. I’ve been curious about the others and how they compare so this was perfect information. Thanks again.
I really like gulfoss on my master and often on groups. You've sold me on Soothe, it was really effective on your demo. I can imagine it working well on my dodgy cello recordings
Could your unsynced meters issue be due to all the delay compensation from the plugins you're loading? I don't know how Logic handles it but I know that FL's UI lags pretty hard once you get a ton of plugin delay compensation going. I never understood why they don't delay the UI to match the delayed audio
Not sure. There's literally 3 tracks in this session (I think) and the only tools enabled are the ones you see on screen. Dumbfounded. I don't really mind the lag for personal projects but when video capture gets involved it's such a nuisance to put out laggy content ;( .
@@ManchesterMusic When you go to the Logic app icon and right click it and select Info, there's an option to Open in Low Resolution. This has fixed a few issues with me. In my case it was that third-party plug-ins slowed down the graphics and even slowed down Logic's response in general. But the give away, and this doesn't look to be the case with your system, was the beat counter would start moving in a jagged way. Give it a shot.
I'm looking into gullfoss atm. Will try the demo today but i was wondering. If you don't boost anything and only attenuate, would it not be kind of the same as soothe2?
Hi I followed your review and got the left meter now at almost zero dB from 200 down to recovery 18 and tame 7 ,bias16 bottom meter almost sweet spot it sounds much better but if I go to bypass it's loud its busy is that correct?
I own Gullfoss and Smart:eq3. I wondetr if Sculptor would be redundant for me, when using Smart:eq3 on single tracks. I mean Sculptor seems to me advantageous if you have a drumloop of more percussive elements and you want to bring one specific element (rides for example) out. But when you have every instrument seperate as a source just a regular eq would do also?!
This was highly informative and simplified. I was really wondering what sets these tools apart, and this video clarified it for me. I see that none of them are a one-stop solution and that each one is very handy in it's own way. This is exactly what I needed to determine which tools to get and in what order.
definitely a helpful vidoe for me and was much need clarity on what some of these plugins did since I ntoiced them being used before but wasn't sure what they were for thank you. and i really wanted something to tame the harher frequencies in some of my songs so I'lll definetely be giving sooth 2 a try thanks aagin 💚
I have Ozone 9 and Neutron 4 but due to their appetites, cpu-wise, I don't use them as much as I would like. Is Gullfoss a bit more easy on the hogging? Interesting video though Cheers Alex
Very good question. Smooth Operator is the newest kid on the block and so I haven’t had that much time to play with it and report back. It’s also not one I get many questions about whereas the others, I do quite often
@@OHHnoYOUdidntMAN I wasn’t swayed by that video, especially since I’ve gotten good use out of it (and, if I recall, the video you mention got an update / retraction of sorts). I haven’t used Soothe so I can’t compare, but I have used Gulfoss and Sculptor. What issues did you run into with Smooth Operator?
They do have track spacer vat especially designed to duck frequencies such as a bass chord vocals etc so is different than these plugins I do appreciate the review and your eventide shirt 👔
