6 smart mixing tools

Sonible Smart:EQ 3 Mac/PC £107

At the summit of Sonible’s respected Smart series, sits Smart: EQ 3. This perceptive software carefully considers a sound or full mix’s characteristics, and effectively EQs it to perfection. Its intelligent cross-channel processing allows it to understand how multiple channels are affecting each other. sonible.com

Mastering the Mix Mixroom Mac/PC £49

Sitting on the boundary between ‘meticulously programmed’ and ‘intelligent’, Mixroom takes a look at the picture of your sound on a per-channel basis or the master bus, and applies clever EQ filters to help bring out your track’s oomph. The ability to import reference tracks for it to try and emulate is a useful touch, too. masteringthemix.com

iZotope Nectar 3 Mac/PC From £95

The ultimate go-to for vocal manipulation, iZotope’s Nectar

3’s 12 vocal processing modules, unmasking controls and super intelligent Vocal Assistant will set EQ nodes and scrub out plosives and sibilants. The Unmask function lets the plugin scan the whole mix and push out intrusive frequencies from any other channels affecting the vocal’s clarity. izotope.com

Oeksound Soothe 2 Mac/PC £165

One of our favourite plugins of recent years, Soothe 2’s sharp mix detective work allows it to be considered within the bracket of ‘intelligent’ in our view. Scanning your mix, Soothe 2 isolates problematic resonances and gives them the boot, and saves time laboriously notching the EQ by hand. oeksound.com

Zynaptiq Adaptiverb Mac/PC £180

One of the clearest examples of the benefits of AI in music production, Adaptiverb adapts its reverbcreating algorithm to the source audio, and smartly preserves the definition and clarity of the mix, applying its reverb subtly and with more nuance than a traditional application would. Genius – particularly its Bionic Sustain Resynthesizer. zynaptiq.com

Soundtheory Gullfoss Mac/PC £150

Another EQ game-changer. The nearly self-aware Gullfoss takes complete control over your mix and uses five controls to enhance and sculpt your mix.

Via its computational auditory perception, Gullfoss listens and prepares the audio to isolate what aspects of the mix are competing for attention, and there’s little it can’t fix. soundtheory.com