Every time I see a new plugin or I doubt of it's performance I search for your channel! Your feedbacks are always in depth, you stay authentic and you provide audio examples in different context! The best channel for this kind of content, seriously. Thanks for what you do, and keep making nice videos!
Oh yeah... I'm also a fan of Sonible stuff... Bought them almost everything. The results are stunning. And of course, bought them this new Smart EQ4 as soon as it was available! Best tools I have ever used!
Dude, can I just say that it's really cool you review all of these plugins and give them an honest chance while also being informative and entertaining as hell? Your channel has become one of my go-to's lately and I really love it.
ProQ3 is even quicker than you indicate at 4:50 . . . you don't need to touch the little range ring, you can just double click to make a new node as normal . . . then alt + mouse wheel scroll creates and sets the dynamic range at the same time. Or as you create a node, simply hold alt (Mac) down, then click on the yellow line and drag up/down.
The trick is to wait till after black friday and Christmas sales because plugin companies tend to release brand new plugins after a bunch of sales...just my observation.
At least in this case Sonible seem to actually care about their customers, and anyone who bought Smart:EQ 3 as recently as Black Friday gets the update to 4 for free. I know there's a lot of companies that wouldn't do that...
I’m starting to feel duped by this. Maybe I work with 3 till 10 comes out. That way I get more features for the same update price. Then hold off till 15/20. These guys have zero customer loyalty. This is what happens when you ARE the product! Their product supporters ARE the “suckers at the table.” I’m not digging it. “If you look around the table and you can’t tell who the sucker is ….. It’s you!”
Thanks for this review, it's spot on as usual :) Smart EQ3 already was my goto first EQ on my mixer channels. I don't always agree with its first curve after learning, but in no time I get the initial EQ stage right. So this is before I actually start the mixing process itself. The thing is, this first Smart EQ basically gets it right, without dominating the sound in a negative way. as a result of that, it's a lot easier to listen and make the mixing choices I want. Compression and EQ for character goes a lot faster because Smart EQ already fixed a few issues I don't have to worry about anymore. I had more issues with the group mixing though. Felt off a lot of the time for me. So I went and upgraded to Smart EQ 4. It really is much better now. I took the strings from an orchestral project, put first and second violins, violas, cellos and basses in one group, and it was just there, done. just a few minor tweaks and most of all the balance between the instruments was spot on. Just a bit of Pultec EQ after that to get the character right, especially in the low end. Pultec is a sound engineers bacon, everything is better with it :) I look forward to grouping my stem busses in one group and see how that works out. I already stopped using Fabfilter ProQ3 (though admitted, purely as EQ it's still the best there is if you are not into the AI mixing stuff), but if you like Smart EQ, this upgrade really is a no-brainer.
@@eddoorn1249 thats true, to be honest the Kirchoff is great for its emulations, kind of like a fabfilter with multiple flavours, Smart EQ is def up there as a go to for me..this one especially
I'm a fan of Smart:limit, but have been less sure about the 'smart' aspects, which put me off the EQ. But when I watched you not only divide the recommended EQ into band, but also just go in and change what you wanted, I became much more interested. I'm really not sure about the 'smart' aspect still, but everything else about these plugins looks and sounds amazing. It's not that I know better than their algorithms, it's more that I am still learning and don't want to rely on plugins that will make it too easy not to learn how to do things. Plus, I am looking to mix some less usual forms of music and soundscapes, so unusual EQ (etc,.) might be needed. Anyway: Merry Christmas Wytse! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and perspective. I wish you the happiest of years to come.
i love smart eq. I first use analog emulation plugins like some of the acustica stuff or plugin alliance, but then use smart eq on my busses or sometimes individual elements to help with the final tonal shaping and balance. The new version looks like some great additions, i will be picking it up. Also, for those who were wondering what song he's using in the video, its Sandstorm, by Darude. A rare funk remix!
Been a huge fan of both smart and Q3 after trying out a number of them, and despite the fact that I bought a FabFilter plugin bundle and learned/loved/use them for mixing mastering, smart quickly become my favorite EQ of all time. Only other EQ tool I own.
I'm glad you can now adjust the track and group correction amounts separately. Though I'm not sure why this wasn't included from the beginning tbh, it's pretty obvious that you might want to use the group correction for unmasking without necessarily employing the suggested track correction, but at least it's there now.
Maybe like a lot of products... If they give you everything straight away then how can they easily justify charging you for the next version with 'X' newly added feature which they could have given you in the beginning.
If I create an EQ setting through learn and then want to only make it subtractive and not adding. How do I get rid of the boosted or set the boosted frequencies to 0 db gain only while leaving the subtracted frequencies alone?
Serious question: How far away are we from full AI mix and mastering on a level that is competitive to human engineers? Like, open your project, select parameters/references, AI takes it from there?
I apologize for yelling, “HI-ERR-ARK-IK-CULL!” at you this morning. I’m pretty sure that i cannot pronounce 95% of the Dutch vocabulary. :) Happy holidays! This plugin is so good.
Thank you for being objective and showing the advantages and disadvantages of the plugins you present in a fun and definitely informative way. More and more often I notice that I look forward to newly released versions of well-known and used plugins being presented by you, and you are definitely one of the first people I turn to in such situations. Keep it up and collect the positive energy from the thoughts of those watching your page :)
I have an instance of Smart EQ 4 on every track in Studio One but when I want to load an instance in Smart EQ 4 there are none on the right side of the Smart EQ 4's GUI ? Am I missing something ?
So with the group feature you can make it behave like a more complex Trackspacer? Or am I missing something? In other words, is there any reason to buy Trackspacer, Fuser or Unmask if you have this EQ?
Looks like a very intuitive and easy to use interface with a lot of possibilities. Reading the manual now. Sonible and Izotope, are they the leaders in AI assisted equalization?
I'd love to hear when and why you would change the M/S section one way or another. I have been trying to go full on 100% S for hard panned guitars, and 100% M for bass, vocals, and kick. Am I doing that right or should I always keep it at the 50/50 setting? Thanks for all your videos!
I'm not sure the default instrument results are very useful. To my ears the EQ is over reacting to what it hears, even when setting it to listen to a whole minute. I was finding that it sounded OK at one point of the song, but completely messed up another part, emphasizing problematic areas (especially around 200 and 500Hz). I ended up running it in tandem with a dynamic EQ and that worked quite well, but I honestly think the dynamic EQ on its own would probably do as good a job.
You can save power if you freeze the singletracks with the EQ on it. I must do this all the time. Only the grouptracks runs the SMEQ3 without freeze. Sometimes i bounce ready mixed singletracks out of the DAW, remove all the plugins on this channel and import the file back to the DAW. Same you can do with every Group.
I feel like every time I try to use an AI EQ plugin like this I rarely like the results... so either these plugins profiles are too broad or I just suck at mixing
Just been trying this out as well as comp 2. So far got better results with playing around on pro-Q3 on the vocals of a song I've been spending some time on. I guess it is too early to say but so far I have the impression that the AI bit is still novice. It sounded thin and nasal on a 9 sec. attempt and a 30s one. I also tried different orders with compression and EQ and raw signal. I do like their limiter and the compressor so far seems pretty decent. Might have to give it a year before the results match the marketing at least for AI.
We are so lucky to live in this day and age. To get such an advanced tool for a fair introduction price , that’s fantastic. 🎉 Of course at Black Friday you might get it for half the price, but come on, I don’t see why I should blame Sonible for releasing it now. I mean they don’t charge $300 for it…
So, how about a Vs between a human and an AI mix and master? Using the sonible comp and EQ. No tweaks allowed. Be interesting to see how far apart they end up and if you would actually 'send it out the door'.
Great video as always! A question please. For a kick consisting of 4 or 5 different kicks, should I individually EQ each one and then group them, or should I simply route all of them to one bus and apply EQ there?
try applying subtle EQ to each kick, to bring out each individual kick character . then bus them to an EQ that shapes what the kicks represent in the context of the overall track. I think subtlety is key(when using 2 EQS) and intentionally boosting/cutting frequencies on individual tracks eq, differently compared to the drum/kick bus eq can bring different types of depth to the overall mix. Obviously this work depends on what sounds You are trying to achieve 🤷♂️
Already upgraded, love all the Sonible stuff, your channel as well, but that review was a bit weak - would have love to hear more music and less talk, especially the group impact and so on - but will figure it out now for myself 😁
This solves lot of things but, one dude when u put individual smarteq4 in each track, and u use a "mastering" smarteq4. Do you need analize individual tracks before and then send to mastering smarteq4 and "re analize"? Or the mastering smarteq4 analizes all and solves everything? I don t know if i m explainig well...sorry 4 my english
@@Fastvoice Thank you so much for that information! At least I'll be able to keep food on the table without going out of my way to try and get that great introduction price!
Fab Q3 is a great tool but when comparing the sound to the Pulsar 8200 you realize that the Fab collapses thesoundstage, it has some phase issues like all the vst eq
You mean a phase shift like every eq ever if it’s not a digital linear phase eq, the phase shift your pulsar 8200 and the analog eq the plug-in is modeled after creates every single time you use it? I don’t what causes your perceived collapse of your sound stage but it’s 100% not the phase shift of your Pro Q3. And even tho phase issues are always caused by phase shift, phase shifts causing phase issues is very rare.
@@tobimontana61 people with indiscriminate ears love to make bold claims and use terms like “collapse the soundstage” so it seems like they know what they’re talking about. Just about every world class engineer uses pro-q and don’t notice it, lucky for us we have the one guy in the world who can hear it RUINING any audio running through it
I would say that Soothe 2 has a different purpose, although Smart EQ's group function can be replicated to a degree through Soothe's sidechain feature. But that works only with cutting, not with boosting. Still, to me, Soothe 2 is king and I haven't found a better sounding plugin to automatically resolve frequency masking. Have Smart EQ3, haven't tested 4 yet.
probably not. I have soothe 2, and never even consider using smarteq where I need soothe. However, the best advice is to never need soothe. When I need Soothe, I know there is a problem to begin with, which I ought to have avoided. However, I often receive files/recordings for mixing, so then sometimes I have no other option.
Track+Group curve is kinda weird, I mean, for a proper mix project one should definitely have groups/busses to have independent control, in such scenario you'd have separate Track EQ and Group EQ, both available to tweak anyway
If you bought 3 very recently then you should get an email with a code to get the update to 4 for free, though I'm not sure if this only applies if you bought direct from Sonible. I bought the Smart bundle just over a month ago and have got the update for free. Otherwise the update is $29.
Just watched several Smart EQ4 videos, and outside of the videos from the manufacturer, you were the only person who actually seemed to know what's going on with this plugin. Seems like there were a lot of other people with video channels who were in a rush to video out, and they were totally clueless. I don't know why they even attempted to make a video. I got a loyalty offer from Sonible on this, so it's really not an expensive plug-in for me. I'm on the fence about it, though. Using it on multiple tracks, it looks like it quickly becomes a game of three dimension chess. Yeah, it has presets for a lot of different instruments and genres, but how do I know if their presets really apply to what I'm working with at the moment? You look at the videos of it in use on a bunch of tracks, and it's doing a lot of things to a lot of things. Are those really things I want done? I know I can overrule and override the AI, but how do I know that I wouldn't have been better off making those decisions, myself, from the start? Seems like a really slippery slope to me. Once we get used to these things being around, we might fall into thinking "AI knows best" in situations where it really doesn't. Watching you grapple with "hierarchical" was amusing. I look forward to you using it often in coming videos. Now, you need to move on to onomatopoeia, sesquipedalian and Worcestershire. ;)
I use smarteq3, but sparingly. Will purchase 4 now, but continue to use it sparingly. If using these kind of tools, I personally think the best way to do it is sparingly. If you let the "AI" take over, there's not much left of your own personal taste, is there? In most cases, I use smarteq as a challenge to my own eq - which I bypass, then check out smart's suggestions. I often end up with a blend. Never 100% smarteq.
I'm starting to hate Sonible! This is the second plugin I own that crashes. The other they fixed. Smart EQ 4 crashes when it gets results in my Reaper DAW. Then when I reopen the project, it crashes the DAW again on opening the project! I had to revert to backup files and lost a lot of work! I had to go back to Smart EQ 3, cause I can't trust version 4 to run stable!
My first impression after watching this vid is that it's a bit intimidating. It can do so much and for me it's only the first minutes of a session where I have "fresh ears". It's easy to lose track of up/down and left/right if you know what I mean. I have to stop like every 10 minutes and then go back and re-listen to see if it got better or worse - and if it's closer to what I wanted it to be. I'll have to watch more reviews of this and Pure EQ to see which one is right for me. (I try to have as few demos installed as possible to keep my system unclotted)
@@JakeyWakey :) I just bought it at a discounted price. And you are right - the group thing is a very powerfull tool. But I'm so stubborn and unwise that I started using it to try to fix the - for me - perfect snare sound. And I'm annoyingly picky how it should sound :D Combine that stubbornness with limited know-how, unwillingness to read manuals and impatience to watch the tutors I should - and the end result becomes extremely unsatisfying. But I will not give up. I will watch more tutorials, and I will use it on less challenging sound sources to get the grips of how to use it properly :) After more than 3 decades of composing on the computer I still go about it like someone who tries to design a car without knowing what a wheel looks like or how a motor works :D Will I never learn??
Important: If you upgrade from smart:EQ 3 to smart:EQ 4 you don't pay 129 € - you pay 29 €. Annoying: You can only see the prices once you added the product to your cart and view your cart. Obviously, you need to be logged in to see your upgrade-discount price.
It lacks the ability to learn the eq of a track and imprint to another, which Fab Filter has. This is extremely handy bc you can imprint the exact cuts say from kick and bass or whole mix to lead vocal and it sits perfectly. Perhaps its doing this in group mode automatically if you put them in the same lane or sidechain?
@@sburton84 I see that on v4 - but nothing different for any previous bundle purchases. Same for everybody, even if you bought a bundle in the past. Que lastima. at least their very useful and in my opinion, pay for themselves in frequency of use
I have tried EQ4, relaxed applied to my mix, however, its still an eq :-) nothing more, nothing less. i personally do not see any advantage over ProQ3.
It'd be great, it it worked! In the trial version, I click "learn", and the big green wheel never stops spinning. The "get result" button either stays grayed out forever, or it becomes active but clicking the button has no effect - the main screen stays faded, the wheel keeps on spinning, and I am locked out of the plugin features no matter what else I do (or undo). This happens as soon as I add a second instance of the plugin to a project in Bitwig. If I add a few instances on different tracks to a group, it only "learns" the first track, the others remain "unlearned" after any number of attempts. Which, to be honest, just about confirms my opinion of any piece of technology that gets called "smart" or "AI" these days :-) Was this release even beta-tested? Pure snake oil from my experience. Too bad, because I suck at mixing and this is exactly the kind of assistance I could use.
Too bad they still haven't added sidechain input on those dynamic bands but can't wait to pick this up anyways. (Correct me if I'm wrong?) Will be using the FREE Nova EQ for that meanwhile...
You better have MAutoDynamicEQ and Scaler EQ in the pipeline!!! I heard from a renowned mastering engineer in musical Key eq boosts/cuts have been a stable “secret” of pros. Used to be a tedious process now so many widows are open
If you don't believe Smart EQ4 is useless try this. Take a track, e.g. just some pink noise. Now use the same track as your reference in EQ4. If this worked as it should your reference should not change the track that is the same at itself? However, whatever I try bass is lowered by about 3 dB and treble increassed about the same. This is why make my mixes sound thin with EQ4.
Every time I see a new plugin or I doubt of it's performance I search for your channel! Your feedbacks are always in depth, you stay authentic and you provide audio examples in different context! The best channel for this kind of content, seriously. Thanks for what you do, and keep making nice videos!
I agree and his sound is always interesting no matter what the style. I can't trust someone's opinion if their music's crap 😂
Thank you for going more in depth into the plugin and showing examples of how it works. Fantastic content. I pulled the plug and got it.
Oh yeah... I'm also a fan of Sonible stuff... Bought them almost everything. The results are stunning. And of course, bought them this new Smart EQ4 as soon as it was available! Best tools I have ever used!
Dude, can I just say that it's really cool you review all of these plugins and give them an honest chance while also being informative and entertaining as hell? Your channel has become one of my go-to's lately and I really love it.
+1000 for adding tunable "learning time" to all sonible smart plugins.
+1001 😉
+1002
These guys from sonible are phenomenal. I already have version 3 and it will not take long until I download version 4.
ProQ3 is even quicker than you indicate at 4:50 . . . you don't need to touch the little range ring, you can just double click to make a new node as normal . . . then alt + mouse wheel scroll creates and sets the dynamic range at the same time.
Or as you create a node, simply hold alt (Mac) down, then click on the yellow line and drag up/down.
Or hold alt and double click
Thank you! I didn't know that!
So I can safely ditch fab filter pro 3 now?
Now we need a full detailed tutorial on dynamic eq
why? works like a compressor, or any other detailed dynamic eq. Very intuitive.
The trick is to wait till after black friday and Christmas sales because plugin companies tend to release brand new plugins after a bunch of sales...just my observation.
It's been more a trend this year then ever before...
@@Whiteseastudio 👍🏾
At least in this case Sonible seem to actually care about their customers, and anyone who bought Smart:EQ 3 as recently as Black Friday gets the update to 4 for free. I know there's a lot of companies that wouldn't do that...
Those who purchased smart eq3 on bf sales this year are allowed to upgrade to smart eq4 for free
I’m starting to feel duped by this.
Maybe I work with 3 till 10 comes out.
That way I get more features for the same update price.
Then hold off till 15/20.
These guys have zero customer loyalty.
This is what happens when you ARE the product!
Their product supporters ARE the “suckers at the table.”
I’m not digging it.
“If you look around the table and you can’t tell who the sucker is …..
It’s you!”
Thanks for this review, it's spot on as usual :)
Smart EQ3 already was my goto first EQ on my mixer channels. I don't always agree with its first curve after learning, but in no time I get the initial EQ stage right. So this is before I actually start the mixing process itself. The thing is, this first Smart EQ basically gets it right, without dominating the sound in a negative way. as a result of that, it's a lot easier to listen and make the mixing choices I want. Compression and EQ for character goes a lot faster because Smart EQ already fixed a few issues I don't have to worry about anymore.
I had more issues with the group mixing though. Felt off a lot of the time for me. So I went and upgraded to Smart EQ 4. It really is much better now. I took the strings from an orchestral project, put first and second violins, violas, cellos and basses in one group, and it was just there, done. just a few minor tweaks and most of all the balance between the instruments was spot on. Just a bit of Pultec EQ after that to get the character right, especially in the low end. Pultec is a sound engineers bacon, everything is better with it :)
I look forward to grouping my stem busses in one group and see how that works out.
I already stopped using Fabfilter ProQ3 (though admitted, purely as EQ it's still the best there is if you are not into the AI mixing stuff), but if you like Smart EQ, this upgrade really is a no-brainer.
Sad sad sad, kirchoff eq and fabfilter 2nd are best hands down
@@mikehunt576 true perhaps, unless you incorporate the AI functionality in your workflow like I described.
@@eddoorn1249 thats true, to be honest the Kirchoff is great for its emulations, kind of like a fabfilter with multiple flavours, Smart EQ is def up there as a go to for me..this one especially
The Kirchhoff emulations are far, far off the mark. I like Kirchhoff, but never use their ridiculous "emulations"@@mikehunt576
Dude, I LITERALLY looked 20 minutes ago if you've posted a video about SEQ4. And now there you go. You're aweosome Wytse
Very happy they gave free upgrades for anyone who recently purchased SEQ3 🙌
I'm a fan of Smart:limit, but have been less sure about the 'smart' aspects, which put me off the EQ. But when I watched you not only divide the recommended EQ into band, but also just go in and change what you wanted, I became much more interested. I'm really not sure about the 'smart' aspect still, but everything else about these plugins looks and sounds amazing. It's not that I know better than their algorithms, it's more that I am still learning and don't want to rely on plugins that will make it too easy not to learn how to do things. Plus, I am looking to mix some less usual forms of music and soundscapes, so unusual EQ (etc,.) might be needed. Anyway: Merry Christmas Wytse! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and perspective. I wish you the happiest of years to come.
My free update from Smart Eq 3 is complete now, too. Very nice Plugin. I love it ❤🔥 Love your Videos too.
free update? I think the gift was 29 usd instead of one hundred and something.
@@Overxpossed correct. It's 129€ without already owning smart:EQ 3 and 29€ if you do.
I received a coupon code from sonible by email and didn’t have to pay anything for the update as the owner of the smart eq 3.
@@thomasschlachter299 Ah, maybe it's because you recently bought it or something? Because I didn't get the coupon (and own smart:EQ 3).
@@thomasschlachter299 Maybe that depends on the elapsed time since you bought EQ3.
i love smart eq. I first use analog emulation plugins like some of the acustica stuff or plugin alliance, but then use smart eq on my busses or sometimes individual elements to help with the final tonal shaping and balance. The new version looks like some great additions, i will be picking it up. Also, for those who were wondering what song he's using in the video, its Sandstorm, by Darude. A rare funk remix!
pretty great upgrade deal. Most plugin companies want to kill ya with fees! $29... Great review! Thanks!
Been a huge fan of both smart and Q3 after trying out a number of them, and despite the fact that I bought a FabFilter plugin bundle
and learned/loved/use them for mixing mastering, smart quickly become my favorite EQ of all time.
Only other EQ tool I own.
I'm so happy you didn't miss the adaptive function.
The opposite changes i think are more to hear what you're fixing
Audio Engineering and video editing is a hefty workload omg
one of my fav eq, great job sonible.
I'm very happy with it's price tag. I was shocked to see that it's only $89. I figured it would be up there closer to what Fab Filter Pro Q 3 costs.
Audio Plugin Deals is offering loyalty customers at $65 for this. I may pick it up myself.
Some actual active and bypass comparisons would have been nice 😁
this is why we demo first :)
I'm glad you can now adjust the track and group correction amounts separately. Though I'm not sure why this wasn't included from the beginning tbh, it's pretty obvious that you might want to use the group correction for unmasking without necessarily employing the suggested track correction, but at least it's there now.
Maybe like a lot of products... If they give you everything straight away then how can they easily justify charging you for the next version with 'X' newly added feature which they could have given you in the beginning.
you could always leave EQ window at 0 and group EQ would still work
I want to know if it could work in a live setting. Like on Waves Super-rack Performer that supports all VST3 now or Live Professor.
5:00 Yes I can relate. Sometimes I want to purchase a program for Windows customization...just to reduce 1 or 2 clicks lol
If I create an EQ setting through learn and then want to only make it subtractive and not adding. How do I get rid of the boosted or set the boosted frequencies to 0 db gain only while leaving the subtracted frequencies alone?
Serious question:
How far away are we from full AI mix and mastering on a level that is competitive to human engineers? Like, open your project, select parameters/references, AI takes it from there?
Cant be far away, all the individual elements of the process are already in place, just needs someone to bring them all together.
This would be part of someone’s faster mixing tools if they are on Fiverr and trying to do things fast and with less workflow time.
You ask him like he's some kind of expert when it comes to artificial intelligence.
I apologize for yelling, “HI-ERR-ARK-IK-CULL!” at you this morning. I’m pretty sure that i cannot pronounce 95% of the Dutch vocabulary. :) Happy holidays! This plugin is so good.
Thank you for being objective and showing the advantages and disadvantages of the plugins you present in a fun and definitely informative way. More and more often I notice that I look forward to newly released versions of well-known and used plugins being presented by you, and you are definitely one of the first people I turn to in such situations. Keep it up and collect the positive energy from the thoughts of those watching your page :)
Can you make a video about Revoice pro 5? I would love to hear your opinion about it!
does it have side-chain dynamic eq??
Will this work in Luna? They don't list Luna in their compatible daw list.
Yes it does work in Luna. Been using it for quite a while. Love it. Using M1 Mac.
I am absolutely upgrading from Smart eq 3
I have an instance of Smart EQ 4 on every track in Studio One but when I want to load an instance in Smart EQ 4 there are none on the right side of the Smart EQ 4's GUI ?
Am I missing something ?
So with the group feature you can make it behave like a more complex Trackspacer? Or am I missing something?
In other words, is there any reason to buy Trackspacer, Fuser or Unmask if you have this EQ?
*We are looking forward to your review of realphones 2.0*
What's with the nail polish??? Just curious.
Fun
@@Whiteseastudio OK, lol. Great videos, by the way.
Looks like a very intuitive and easy to use interface with a lot of possibilities. Reading the manual now. Sonible and Izotope, are they the leaders in AI assisted equalization?
Sonible throws much better results and it's much better/quick for me to get amazing results than with iZotope. It's easier to understand too.
How would you compare it with Neutron 4?
Does the Smart EQ 4 have the same feature as the Fabfilter EQ where you can see the frequencies where two tracks/instruments are clashing?
I'd love to hear when and why you would change the M/S section one way or another. I have been trying to go full on 100% S for hard panned guitars, and 100% M for bass, vocals, and kick. Am I doing that right or should I always keep it at the 50/50 setting? Thanks for all your videos!
best eq on the market rn
Better than proq3 ?
I have been looking forward to this one! And for the update price it's a no brainer
I'm not sure the default instrument results are very useful. To my ears the EQ is over reacting to what it hears, even when setting it to listen to a whole minute. I was finding that it sounded OK at one point of the song, but completely messed up another part, emphasizing problematic areas (especially around 200 and 500Hz). I ended up running it in tandem with a dynamic EQ and that worked quite well, but I honestly think the dynamic EQ on its own would probably do as good a job.
How does the CPU usage compare to FabFilter?
Any performance improvements? I often run into CPU overloads when running several instances of V3.
You can save power if you freeze the singletracks with the EQ on it. I must do this all the time. Only the grouptracks runs the SMEQ3 without freeze. Sometimes i bounce ready mixed singletracks out of the DAW, remove all the plugins on this channel and import the file back to the DAW. Same you can do with every Group.
I feel like every time I try to use an AI EQ plugin like this I rarely like the results... so either these plugins profiles are too broad or I just suck at mixing
Just been trying this out as well as comp 2. So far got better results with playing around on pro-Q3 on the vocals of a song I've been spending some time on. I guess it is too early to say but so far I have the impression that the AI bit is still novice. It sounded thin and nasal on a 9 sec. attempt and a 30s one. I also tried different orders with compression and EQ and raw signal. I do like their limiter and the compressor so far seems pretty decent. Might have to give it a year before the results match the marketing at least for AI.
We are so lucky to live in this day and age. To get such an advanced tool for a fair introduction price , that’s fantastic. 🎉 Of course at Black Friday you might get it for half the price, but come on, I don’t see why I should blame Sonible for releasing it now. I mean they don’t charge $300 for it…
The upgrade costs just €29, I was pleasantly surprised with this friendly price
So, how about a Vs between a human and an AI mix and master? Using the sonible comp and EQ. No tweaks allowed. Be interesting to see how far apart they end up and if you would actually 'send it out the door'.
Is it safe to say this is like a super stripped down neutron 4?
no.
Do you know if it will automatically open in projects that I used version 3 on with the same settings?
Great video as always! A question please. For a kick consisting of 4 or 5 different kicks, should I individually EQ each one and then group them, or should I simply route all of them to one bus and apply EQ there?
try applying subtle EQ to each kick, to bring out each individual kick character . then bus them to an EQ that shapes what the kicks represent in the context of the overall track. I think subtlety is key(when using 2 EQS) and intentionally boosting/cutting frequencies on individual tracks eq, differently compared to the drum/kick bus eq can bring different types of depth to the overall mix.
Obviously this work depends on what sounds You are trying to achieve 🤷♂️
Already upgraded, love all the Sonible stuff, your channel as well, but that review was a bit weak - would have love to hear more music and less talk, especially the group impact and so on - but will figure it out now for myself 😁
Merry Christmas Wytse!
Tapping my fingers waiting for pro Q4. Smart EQ is still great though. :)
They just have to be adding AI. what else could they add that would make us look away from these new AI features. Will be a great day when they do.
Exactly people are gonna be sorry when pro q4 drops...
This plugin is awesome!
This solves lot of things but, one dude when u put individual smarteq4 in each track, and u use a "mastering" smarteq4. Do you need analize individual tracks before and then send to mastering smarteq4 and "re analize"?
Or the mastering smarteq4 analizes all and solves everything?
I don t know if i m explainig well...sorry 4 my english
do not confuse mix with mastering, and never do those two tasks in the same projects. Different worlds. Get the mix good first.
@@kvalsoniclab9152 so how will u use smarteq4?...sorry...many questions...
The lack of attack, release on dynamic eq in ProQ3 really hurts when the eq band sidechained - there poor release timing can be really noticeable.
I keep trying to update my Smart eq 3 today but their site is getting the hug of death! 😄 Hopefully it will calm down so I can try this out!
Same. They must be panicking. People literally queuing up to give them money and they can't do it.
My order finally went through and all good! This is a great update and the update price is so worth it! @@tez4792
So if you sidechain a vocal into the reverse que going down...seems like you'd basically have Soothe.
I use Win 7 64 bit- all my Sonible plugins work BUT Smart EQ4 DOES NOT. I just wasted $29 to upgrade from EQ3. Beware, use the demo first to see.
Win 7 😂
So it's izotope neutron mixed with pro q3.
Is the upgrade price just promotional or is it going to stay the same for the next 30-60 days?
Loyalty deal ends on January 20., 2024 - according to the e-mail I received from sonible.
@@Fastvoice Thank you so much for that information! At least I'll be able to keep food on the table without going out of my way to try and get that great introduction price!
@@GTSongwriter So Christmas with turkey seems to be secured. 😁
@@Fastvoice And the kids can keep thier toys!
Fab Q3 is a great tool but when comparing the sound to the Pulsar 8200 you realize that the Fab collapses thesoundstage, it has some phase issues like all the vst eq
Seems legit
You mean a phase shift like every eq ever if it’s not a digital linear phase eq, the phase shift your pulsar 8200 and the analog eq the plug-in is modeled after creates every single time you use it? I don’t what causes your perceived collapse of your sound stage but it’s 100% not the phase shift of your Pro Q3. And even tho phase issues are always caused by phase shift, phase shifts causing phase issues is very rare.
@@tobimontana61 people with indiscriminate ears love to make bold claims and use terms like “collapse the soundstage” so it seems like they know what they’re talking about. Just about every world class engineer uses pro-q and don’t notice it, lucky for us we have the one guy in the world who can hear it RUINING any audio running through it
Hello can it replace soothe 2?
I would say that Soothe 2 has a different purpose, although Smart EQ's group function can be replicated to a degree through Soothe's sidechain feature. But that works only with cutting, not with boosting. Still, to me, Soothe 2 is king and I haven't found a better sounding plugin to automatically resolve frequency masking. Have Smart EQ3, haven't tested 4 yet.
probably not. I have soothe 2, and never even consider using smarteq where I need soothe. However, the best advice is to never need soothe. When I need Soothe, I know there is a problem to begin with, which I ought to have avoided. However, I often receive files/recordings for mixing, so then sometimes I have no other option.
I trust your reviews...
Track+Group curve is kinda weird, I mean, for a proper mix project one should definitely have groups/busses to have independent control, in such scenario you'd have separate Track EQ and Group EQ, both available to tweak anyway
I just bought #3 a month ago. Is there a discount for people like me?
yes
Yes. I own all ob sonible plugins and I'm just paying 30$ for every new one.
If you bought 3 very recently then you should get an email with a code to get the update to 4 for free, though I'm not sure if this only applies if you bought direct from Sonible. I bought the Smart bundle just over a month ago and have got the update for free. Otherwise the update is $29.
I bought 3 last weekend. The upgrade to 4 was free for me
@@thenextinsect free?? Was this a goodwill of them? 🤔
Just watched several Smart EQ4 videos, and outside of the videos from the manufacturer, you were the only person who actually seemed to know what's going on with this plugin. Seems like there were a lot of other people with video channels who were in a rush to video out, and they were totally clueless. I don't know why they even attempted to make a video.
I got a loyalty offer from Sonible on this, so it's really not an expensive plug-in for me. I'm on the fence about it, though. Using it on multiple tracks, it looks like it quickly becomes a game of three dimension chess. Yeah, it has presets for a lot of different instruments and genres, but how do I know if their presets really apply to what I'm working with at the moment? You look at the videos of it in use on a bunch of tracks, and it's doing a lot of things to a lot of things. Are those really things I want done? I know I can overrule and override the AI, but how do I know that I wouldn't have been better off making those decisions, myself, from the start?
Seems like a really slippery slope to me. Once we get used to these things being around, we might fall into thinking "AI knows best" in situations where it really doesn't.
Watching you grapple with "hierarchical" was amusing. I look forward to you using it often in coming videos. Now, you need to move on to onomatopoeia, sesquipedalian and Worcestershire. ;)
I use smarteq3, but sparingly. Will purchase 4 now, but continue to use it sparingly. If using these kind of tools, I personally think the best way to do it is sparingly. If you let the "AI" take over, there's not much left of your own personal taste, is there? In most cases, I use smarteq as a challenge to my own eq - which I bypass, then check out smart's suggestions. I often end up with a blend. Never 100% smarteq.
this or fab filter pro q3? I ams searching for a new plugin. im new to software
Kirchoff EQ is better than both of those two😊
Use your DAW's stock EQ until you outgrow it.
The moment I saw the title, I went and got it xD now im watching the video hahah
I'm starting to hate Sonible! This is the second plugin I own that crashes. The other they fixed. Smart EQ 4 crashes when it gets results in my Reaper DAW. Then when I reopen the project, it crashes the DAW again on opening the project! I had to revert to backup files and lost a lot of work!
I had to go back to Smart EQ 3, cause I can't trust version 4 to run stable!
What a trip!
I’m such a simp for Sonible man. 🤣👌
Tried it because of your video. This plug is insane. Huge time saver.
thank you 🤘🏼
I want soothe2 but now I want this one too 😅
What mic is he using?
Lewitt LCT1040
Its actually the Lewitt Puretube
Oh... They just look very similar@@Whiteseastudio
My first impression after watching this vid is that it's a bit intimidating.
It can do so much and for me it's only the first minutes of a session where I have "fresh ears".
It's easy to lose track of up/down and left/right if you know what I mean.
I have to stop like every 10 minutes and then go back and re-listen to see if it got better or worse - and if it's closer to what I wanted it to be.
I'll have to watch more reviews of this and Pure EQ to see which one is right for me.
(I try to have as few demos installed as possible to keep my system unclotted)
The group thing makes this killer if you are mixing yourself
@@JakeyWakey :)
I just bought it at a discounted price.
And you are right - the group thing is a very powerfull tool.
But I'm so stubborn and unwise that I started using it to try to fix the - for me - perfect snare sound.
And I'm annoyingly picky how it should sound :D
Combine that stubbornness with limited know-how, unwillingness to read manuals and impatience to watch the tutors I should - and the end result becomes extremely unsatisfying.
But I will not give up. I will watch more tutorials, and I will use it on less challenging sound sources to get the grips of how to use it properly :)
After more than 3 decades of composing on the computer I still go about it like someone who tries to design a car without knowing what a wheel looks like or how a motor works :D
Will I never learn??
The Bundle for Limiter, Comp., and EQ is $99 right now for Black Friday
Important: If you upgrade from smart:EQ 3 to smart:EQ 4 you don't pay 129 € - you pay 29 €.
Annoying: You can only see the prices once you added the product to your cart and view your cart. Obviously, you need to be logged in to see your upgrade-discount price.
If you already have other sonible plugins (and no smart:EQ3) it's 65 Euros.
so geil!!
It lacks the ability to learn the eq of a track and imprint to another, which Fab Filter has. This is extremely handy bc you can imprint the exact cuts say from kick and bass or whole mix to lead vocal and it sits perfectly. Perhaps its doing this in group mode automatically if you put them in the same lane or sidechain?
But where do you get high quality mixed stems? Also, the whole eq match function can be a failure if you reference track are in another key I think.
Is it just me, or does Sonible not offer upgrade discounts?
It's just you. The update for anyone who owns Smart:EQ 3 is only $29 (or even free if you bought 3 recently).
@@sburton84 I see that on v4 - but nothing different for any previous bundle purchases. Same for everybody, even if you bought a bundle in the past. Que lastima. at least their very useful and in my opinion, pay for themselves in frequency of use
@@sburton84 ... and 65 Euros if you already own other sonible plugins.
can i get this upgrade for free or do i need to pay for it???
It was free for me… But I bought EQ 3 last weekend. I believe 4 is $29 if you’ve had 3 for a while
@@thenextinsect great, i buy version 3.0, then not get 4.0. ok what is this scummy practices,
I have tried EQ4, relaxed applied to my mix, however, its still an eq :-) nothing more, nothing less. i personally do not see any advantage over ProQ3.
This thig does wonders... Tested and wow
The upgrade for 29 euro is very reasonable to me.
It'd be great, it it worked! In the trial version, I click "learn", and the big green wheel never stops spinning. The "get result" button either stays grayed out forever, or it becomes active but clicking the button has no effect - the main screen stays faded, the wheel keeps on spinning, and I am locked out of the plugin features no matter what else I do (or undo). This happens as soon as I add a second instance of the plugin to a project in Bitwig.
If I add a few instances on different tracks to a group, it only "learns" the first track, the others remain "unlearned" after any number of attempts. Which, to be honest, just about confirms my opinion of any piece of technology that gets called "smart" or "AI" these days :-) Was this release even beta-tested? Pure snake oil from my experience.
Too bad, because I suck at mixing and this is exactly the kind of assistance I could use.
Too bad they still haven't added sidechain input on those dynamic bands but can't wait to pick this up anyways. (Correct me if I'm wrong?) Will be using the FREE Nova EQ for that meanwhile...
I was wondering about this as well
You better have MAutoDynamicEQ and Scaler EQ in the pipeline!!! I heard from a renowned mastering engineer in musical Key eq boosts/cuts have been a stable “secret” of pros. Used to be a tedious process now so many widows are open
Scaler Eq? I am very interested in it but it brings some Phase issues.
I use MAutoDynamicEQ as often as smarteq. Mostly for lowering the impact / cluttering of resonances. Lovely.
If you don't believe Smart EQ4 is useless try this. Take a track, e.g. just some pink noise. Now use the same track as your reference in EQ4. If this worked as it should your reference should not change the track that is the same at itself? However, whatever I try bass is lowered by about 3 dB and treble increassed about the same. This is why make my mixes sound thin with EQ4.
Killer Plugin. All Sonible Plugs are very good
Tell them add stereo control /imaging
Not sure most people are aware. Smart EQ also sounds marginally BETTER (more analog) than FF also
snake oil comment
Snake oil?
Now they should make Smart:Voice that has De ess, Gate, de verb, and Comp, and EQ into 1 just focus on voices