Soothe 2 €199/£169

TYPE: Dynamic EQ/resonance suppressor for removing harsh frequencies | KEY FEATURES: Soft/hard mode, Attack and Release parameters, frequency graph, optimised performance and lower latency, external sidechain input | SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite) and newer as 64 bit VST, AU, and AAX, Intel-based Macs; Windows 7 and newer as 32/64 bit VST and VST3, 64 bit AAX (PT11 and newer); iLok account and iLok License Manager installation required Soothe is an automatic dynamic frequency editor, and designed to remove harshness from instrumental and vocal recordings. It uses spectral processing to detect unpleasant resonances, and dynamically attenuates them via numerous level-sensitive notch filters. You might think this sounds like an EQ, but the band nodes control the reduction sensitivity dynamically within their specific frequency ranges. If you raise a node on screen, it will notch out the resonances within that band more profoundly as the volume increases.

Soothe makes this a beautifully realised process and the plugin has been a big hit with producers around the world. The latest version (2) reduces CPU load and latency and has much faster rendering plus a wider frequency range that covers the lower end down to 20Hz. It also comes with many more EQ options than the debut version.

Add in extra envelope controls to control the shape of the attenuation, a Balance option – to adjust the depth of processing between the left and right or mid and side channels – and Soothe 2 is a great, but not obvious tool for a producer’s vocal armoury.

It will make any vocal (or instrument) recording that much less harsh, without losing the punch and impact.