10 intelligent mixing effects

Want to know more about the big players mentioned in the feature? Read on…

Soundtheory Gullfoss £139

Gullfoss is an intelligent EQ that uses signal analysis and real-time adjustment to improve the clarity of your audio signals. Traditional EQ parameters are replaced by five controls that allow you to enhance masked elements, control dominant ones and then finesse the results. It’s about as close as you’ll get to a ‘click and forget’ EQ, and a wonderful time saving tool.. soundtheory.com

iZotope Neutron 2 From £100

Neutron 2 is a quality modular channel strip plugin that’s been supercharged with a bunch of intelligent mixing tools. These include auto settings based on track analysis, plus visual tools that address mix balance, EQ masking and frequency content. Much of this is linked via inter-plugin communication. An excellent, multifaceted plugin for the serious mixer. izotope.com

Waves Vocal Rider $249

If you tend to do a lot of vocal heavy production, writing level rides can be a time-consuming process. Vocal Rider is a smart, labour saving plugin that does the job for you. Its simple controls, sensible layout and slick-looking interface make it a joy to use, and you can write its output back as DAW automation for further tweaking if required. waves.com

Oeksound Soothe €149

Oeksound’s two plugins – Spiff and Soothe – epitomise the new generation of smart processors, applying analysis to commonplace tasks, and thereby making them simpler and quicker. But if we have to choose one, it’s got to be Soothe. Yes, it’s expensive, but the removal of nasty frequencies and resonances is a big part of the mixing process, and this plugin makes it pretty effortless. oeksound.com

Sound Radix Auto Align €149

If you work with live recordings, re-aligning elements to make them punchy and cohesive is a big task. Auto Align removes much of the hard work. Using an internal bussing system, it creates time offsets and phase inversions on the target tracks, and can even be used in a serial configuration to create more complex offsets. soundradix.com

Sonible Smart:EQ+ £139

Sonible’s smart engine powers this hybrid EQ, which offers standard EQing alongside analysisbased filter curves. The latter help to resolve unpleasant resonances while boosting the more desirable ones, and can easily be reset to allow the audio to be reanalysed if required. Meanwhile, regular EQ bands can be incorporated to fine-tune the results. sonible.com

iZotope Ozone 8 From £100

IZotope’s second entry in our list earns its place through its sheer breadth of options, and although many of them are aimed at those on a mastering tip, features such as Master Assistant, Tonal Balance, Spectral Shaping and Track Reference provide big helping hands whatever the task. Be sure to check out the different versions for their tiered feature sets. izotope.com

Mastering The Mix Reference £49

Reference is a track comparison tool that combines track referencing with analysis. Neat features include automatic track levelling and alignment, but it’s the dynamic and spectral analysis that take things to the next level. This is a plugin that will save you time, and is very much a ‘best in class’ processor. masteringthemix.com

Softube Drawmer S73 $89

There are plenty of black box-style ‘minimalist’ plugins out there that condense complex chains under the hood. The Drawmer S73 Intelligent Mastering Processor is one of the best, offering up a broad range of effects from ten carefully selected style presets. It’s well suited to submixes and master chain duties, and the ‘point and shoot’ simplicity is refreshing. softube.com

Synchro Arts VocALign From £119

Although all DAWs now include time adjustment features, Synchro Arts’ VocALign remains a firm favourite for vocals and monophonic instruments. Available at three price points up to the feature-rich Revoice Pro 3, if you really want to get the job done quickly. this is the plugin you need in your locker. synchroarts.com