Plugin Alliance bx refinement - Secret Soothe 2 Alternative?

Рет қаралды 12,632

Күн бұрын

Is Plugin Alliance Brainworx bx refinement the best harshness remover? Is it an alternative to oeksound soothe 2? I think this is on of plugin alliance's best plugins from the plugin alliance brainworx bundle. Watch to find out!
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----Timestamps----
00:00 Intro
00:28 Plugin Alliance bx refinement
00:48 Harsh Mix Test
02:11 A/B Reference
03:15 Refining the Refinement
05:30 Presence and Saturation
07:00 Fixing a Single Instrument
07:54 bx refinement vs soothe 2
09:50 Conclusion - One of Plugin Alliance Best Plugins?
#vst #plugins #audiovst

Пікірлер: 71

@RayTheProducer 8 ай бұрын

Good stuff and perfectly explained, especially the Dynamics section. Some of the older BX range are studio GOATS.

@palebluedotstudios 8 ай бұрын

Wow! thanks so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. bx stuff RULES! Their amp sims are secret treasures, to name a few...

@nerdexproject 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the review man! 🙏

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Always a pleasure. Cheers!

@gautieronana1478 11 ай бұрын

Amazing review thank you. I’m going to buy it right now haha 🔥

@palebluedotstudios 11 ай бұрын

Amazing! Glad this was helpful! Cheers!

@misterkenova6695 2 жыл бұрын

Don't know why more people don't talk about Bx Refinement, love this plugin

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

Amen. It's a real magic tool! Cheers!

@tekis0 Ай бұрын

Thank-you very much! I didn't know how good Bx refinement is.

@palebluedotstudios Ай бұрын

It's great! Although, at this point, I'd say get Deres. It's fantastic, dirt-cheap, and much more tweakable!

@the-real-rabizzlethedoctor Жыл бұрын

Been using this forever, it just works, and does so very quickly. I've never needed Soothe for that matter.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it! It's a nice, simple solution. Cheers!

@tl1467 Жыл бұрын

It looks like the plugin is built around a specific frequency: 3.2kHz. Damping is a relatively steep bell cut at 3.2kHz. And Presence is a high shelf above that. And modulation, as the name suggests, modulate the cut. Saturaton adds 2nd and 4th order harmonics. All in all, refinement is far less sophesticated than soothe in that regard. Although often sold at a discount, the refinement's original price of $199 is on a par with that of Soothe 2.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Great analysis, my friend! One of my viewers pointed out that it's basically just a cut at 3.2k, and I verified this in Plugin Doctor. So yeah...it's kind of a gimmick, and only worth it if it's cheap, or you get it as part of the PA subscription. There is no world where I'd recommend this at $199!! NO way. Get DSEQ or soothe at that price. Cheers!

@musicproductionclips8928 Жыл бұрын

@@palebluedotstudios No, it's not just a cut at 3.2K and no it's not a gimmick. The fact that it accentuates the frequency cut around the 3.2K area does not mean that's all it does. You should watch a video called "Brainworx bx_refinement [Analyzing Mixing Plugins]"

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@musicproductionclips8928 Thanks for bringing this up! I watched the video, and, while I think there may be a point here, I suspect simply soloing the filter isn't the same as what the plugin is actually doing to the signal. But, I want to test this further. I've been meaning to post a follow-up, this is good inspiration! And to be clear: i'm a big fan of bx_refinement; even if it is a simple EQ notch, I still reach for it-because it works! Thanks so much for your comments; stay tuned for the follow-up soon!

@musicproductionclips8928 Жыл бұрын

@@palebluedotstudios Hey, a more in-depth follow up would be amazing! Will be looking forward for the video, keep up the good work :)

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@musicproductionclips8928 Thanks so much! I'll get to work on that follow-up! Thanks so much for watching!

@julianofalconery2177 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for indication.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

You are most welcome! Thanks for watching!

@chrishillery 2 жыл бұрын

Useful review, thanks! That was a pretty dramatic cleanup even listening on semi-good Bluetooth headphones. I agree that Soothe 2 could do the same, and could do more besides, but it's a tool that can do as much damage as good if you're not sure what you're doing. bx_refinement seems like an Easy Button for at least this specific kind of harshness.

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, it's definitely an "easy button" for sure! There's a lot to be said for something that can do the job quickly during a mastering/mixing situation. bx_refinement is not an outright replacement for soothe2, but can really deliver at that price point (when it's on sale). Thanks for watching and commenting!

@tape909_ Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the review

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

My absolute pleasure! Thanks so much for watching. Cheers!

@vikramjitbanerjeetuki 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video 👍

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

My pleasure! Thanks for watching! Cheers.

@arnaudjankowski5402 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the great comparison ! Excellent plugin and excellent tutorial ! And you made this AB comparison with "The Shooting Star" by Gojira 🤘 from my favorite album of the band 😁

@palebluedotstudios 6 ай бұрын

Dude, that song is amazing!! Haha. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for watching, cheers!

@JackMajor Жыл бұрын

It's also important to note that the refinement is marketed as running through tube circuitry to achieve its sound, whilst Soothe2 is dynamically surgically EQ cutting the signal; saying Soothe2 is more natural like the comments are below, to that I say: "well no shit!" 😅 Be mindful of the source material you apply it on as if your material is already heavy tube-driven, then Soothe2 may be the better go-to to keep it transparent. Definitely adding this to my toolkit!

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your insightful comments! I will point out that as long as you do not engage the saturation section of bx_refinement, it's a perfectly clean ~6 dB cut @3.2k. As fat as I can tell, that's all bx_refinement really is, with saturation, dynamics, and a strange LFO added. It's a fun, fast tool though; sounds great in a pinch! Cheers!

@issacv.3035 2 жыл бұрын

Love this plugin! It was one of the few from PA I had to have. It seems to work about half the time where I want it to. I just wish you could hone it in on a specific range to be like... FIX THIS! I rarely go past 2 on it though.

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

I would pretty much agree with that; it's just right, on the right material. And keep it conservative. The mix knob can help dial back in some realism too! Cheers!

@DavidFlores-xz9wb 2 жыл бұрын

This just saved me from getting sooth 2

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Of course you can do more with soothe 2, but bx_refinement gets you there really quickly. Cheers!

@sidsid-sk9iq Жыл бұрын

Beautiful song. Didn't find it anywhere. Why don't you share it on Spotify or somewhere else? :)

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'm going to upload this album soon, was just remixing it. Cheers!

@CLaw-tb5gg Жыл бұрын

I bought this a few days ago and I do like it, but after doing a few bench tests on it I’m starting to wonder if it’s kinda snake-oily and far more simple than it seems. I may be wrong, but I think it’s just a glorified single-band EQ rather than a much more complicated resonance suppressor like Soothe: I think it pretty much just cuts at about 3.2k, with the presence control boosting frequencies above 3.2k. I.e. as far as I can tell it doesn’t really do much you couldn’t do with a dynamic EQ. Which is okay, it does something useful in a quick and easy way, but yeah.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

You know what? I discovered the same thing a few days ago. I was testing a few resonance suppressors to recommend for work (we went with soothe2, natch), and I didn't see much happening except for a dip around 3k, like you noticed. I've never thought that it did anything in the spectral realm, or anything, but I assumed it was doing something more than an EQ notch! I'm going to write them to verify. Thanks for pointing this out!

@CLaw-tb5gg Жыл бұрын

@@palebluedotstudios Like I say, I think it’s still a valid tool, in as much as it does something useful fast (it’s a hell of a lot quicker than setting up a single band in Pro-Q, and I think the gain is non-linear and changes the Q).. just, yeah. Really glad I didn’t spend $200 on it, put it that way! Personally I really, really like Gullfoss. I suppose for resonance suppression it’s not as fully-featured as Soothe, but I really love the combination with the unmasking.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@CLaw-tb5gg You know, it's funny: I've noticed that Brainworx has a 3.1k notch filter in Masterdesk (along with a few other fixed notches) that was really good at fixing resonances. I ran them both through Plugin Doctor-and guess what? They are both a cut precisely at 3.1k, except Masterdesk's is a fixed, narrow notch, while refinement is a broader parametric cut. Screen-grab here: postimg.cc/JGM5q0t9 So nothing really fancy going on inside bx_refinement at all, apart from being to quickly fix a very common problem area. Great for beginners or for when it just works. I might have to post a follow-up! Cheers!

@jesussaddle Жыл бұрын

@@palebluedotstudios That's very helpful. Can you let me know what you were running through to get that - i mean what generated the white noise for you. I've never used plugin doctor is the reason I'm asking. (My personal choice for this is Soothe 2 for harshness, and as C. Law said above, Gulfoss is pretty good for unmasking (probably needs to be kept at lower settings for a final mix or it could hurt rather than help).

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@jesussaddle There's actually a great free plugin from Bertom called "EQ Curve Analyzer" that will generate the test signal for you. Insert one instance of EQ Curve Analyzer, then bx_refinement, then a second instance of EQ Curve Analyzer right after, and you'll see a dip at 3.2k. bertomaudio.com

@thomasfokas 2 жыл бұрын

How would you compare this to TBProAudio DSEQ? I already have the bx_refinement plug in the mix&master bundle.

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

I would say bx_refinement is a one-trick pony compared to DSEQ. bx_refinement is great for quick fixes, but really only works in a fixed frequency around 3k, which is generally where a lot of harshness can build up in a mix. DSEQ allows you to work in the spectral domain, with full control over what frequencies you want to fix, plus it's dynamic, can do EQ-matching...it's a real beast! On the same level as soothe2.

@thomasfokas Жыл бұрын

@@palebluedotstudios thank you, and especially for the quick reply. Glad you monitor this channel, unlike some other YT channels.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@thomasfokas My pleasure, and thanks! I love to keep the conversation going, always great to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions! Cheers!

@joeblow1229 2 жыл бұрын

Eh, I dig it no doubt, but it removed too much too quickly. Yes you have to push soothe harder, but that’s the point. It’s easier to get carried away with bx refinement, and to fool you into thinking it’s better. Soothe did it much more natural, and I preferred soothe in your example because it didn’t absolutely neuter the mix like refinement wanted to immediately.

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

I agree with that. You have to be very careful with bx_refinement because it's quite broad, and you have no control over specific frequencies. Soothe sounded more natural until I started pushing it hard, and it again shows how good soothe 2 really is. Thanks for commenting! Cheers.

@mainsailsound983 Жыл бұрын

where can I hear the rest of that song?

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Thanks for asking! I'm currently remixing my LP "Automat6n", by Arkana, and putting it back up on streaming. I'll post and update when it's ready! Cheers!

@L3MNZ 2 жыл бұрын

Just got it for $19.99 😋

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

Oh, look at that: Summer Sale! Great news! Cheers.!

@camstanley Жыл бұрын

What's this like compared to Smooth Operator?

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

It's quite limited compared to Smooth Operator, or indeed any other spectral correction plugin. bx_refinement basically only corrects in the 3.2 khz range, whereas with Smooth Operator, you can choose which frequencies to target.

@thomasfokas 2 жыл бұрын

What song is this that you mixed/fixed?

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

It's "Slivers of Silver", by my band Arkana. I'm currently remixing the album, will be on streaming soon.

@thomasfokas Жыл бұрын

@@palebluedotstudios thank you. Looking forward to checking it out when it’s done.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@thomasfokas Thanks, man! I'll let you know when it's ready (reminds me to get back on that)!

@blurryfaseswayez9238 Жыл бұрын

Y’all better get it now it’s on sale 🤣😂

@LosFicosMusic Жыл бұрын

Dams I wish I had a Time Machine 😢😂

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

No worries, guys. It goes on sale often!

@iamtorrego Жыл бұрын

It is free right now with the $20 off

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

@@iamtorrego Awesome! I highly recommend it for free, even though you can get similar results with an EQ dip at 3.2khz. Cheers!

@adammolot Жыл бұрын

What's the track dude?

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Slivers of Silver, by my band Arkana. I'm currently remastering to get it back on Spotify. I'll share a link. Thanks!

@h-dawg6462 2 жыл бұрын

if you wanna get rid of the awful noise, why not just turn the track off?!?! :P

@palebluedotstudios 2 жыл бұрын

You could be right! Or just re-record with a not-noisy guitar. Always a better option than processing your entire mix. :)

@init-crioxica Жыл бұрын

Plugin Alliance bx refinement - Secret Soothe 2 Alternative? - bx refinement!!!!! Because 0 latency in real time, Soothe it's + 34 Latency.... Bad for realtime playing.

@palebluedotstudios Жыл бұрын

Good call! bx is great for low-latency solutions. Resonance in your guitar? Slap it on! Thanks for watching. Cheers!