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Sonible Smart:EQ3

By the way... FYI

Get the entropy:EQ+ ($99 value) linear-phase equalizer plugin by Sonible for FREE when you start a Loopcloud trial.
 
I've used Smart EQ3 on a couple of tracks now.
But whether I use it on a drum, bass or synth bus, I always seem to get a curve that boosts from 0 - 2-500 HZ and cuts from 500-10khz.
Even on some huge 808 basses it wants to increase everything below 200 hz. Really odd.
Are you guys seeing similar behaviour?
 
R. Soul said:
I've used Smart EQ3 on a couple of tracks now.
But whether I use it on a drum, bass or synth bus, I always seem to get a curve that boosts from 0 - 2-500 HZ and cuts from 500-10khz.
Even on some huge 808 basses it wants to increase everything below 200 hz. Really odd.
Are you guys seeing similar behaviour?
Click to expand...
Not on a bus but on a synth track it wanted to boost around 0-200 about 2db, then some cuts 200-550 of about 2-3 db. On the universal setting same track it wants to cut around 4 db all the way to around 550hz.
 
I had high hopes on this but I doubt it will replace SmartEQ 2 as my main track EQ after first try. I put it now on 6 channels (maximum you could use) and I cant hear any improvement to the 6 balanced solo versions of SmartEQ2 I had on the tracks before. And I miss all the easy to setup things from EQ2 (for example cutting low/high end with just adding that left/right node). And of course as already said its strange that a new version cutted down the available presets. A clarinet preset was not really a flute but better then nothing. So far I am not really convinced that this is an improvement really.
 
R. Soul said:
I've used Smart EQ3 on a couple of tracks now.
But whether I use it on a drum, bass or synth bus, I always seem to get a curve that boosts from 0 - 2-500 HZ and cuts from 500-10khz.
Even on some huge 808 basses it wants to increase everything below 200 hz. Really odd.
Are you guys seeing similar behaviour?
Click to expand...

Is that using the universal profile or a instrument specific profile?
 
Apart from that it seems it just killed my Mixcraft 9 Pro project completely, cant load, only backup before SmartEQ3 :sad:
 
R. Soul said:
Instrument specific ones.
Click to expand...

Will email them tomorrow and ask the question about how it's referencing profiles to work out the tonal balance. Had to pack equipment down for a house move so can't play with it anymore :(

Could be it's a teething issue and needs a patch.
 
X-Bassist said:
Really sad to find my Sonible account empty after purchasing Frei:raum, SmartEQLive, SmartEQ2, and Smart Comp. So I can't even take advantage of the upgrade until it's sorted out. Thank you Sonible.

I understand if they change systems, but why does the customer always have to go through the hassle of contact, searching for emails that prove the purchase, just to correct a lack of migration of information? And what happens if I can't find the emails? I'm out of luck?

I have to admit, I never worry if Fabfilter or SoundToys suddenly dump all my products out of my account, it would be a nightmare. At least they keep me updated. I've searched through my sonible emails, can't find one about this new account or migrating my products, and I've made 4 major purchases. Not a good sign.

I'm beginning to think the risk with these smaller companies is these kinds of basic mistakes that quickly get you disconnected and unable to upgrade. It's bad enough they don't do any updates on their products, like iZotope they just add a few things at a time then every year announce a "whole new product!" with a number incriment... really... The difference between RX4,RX5, RX6,and RX7 was not that great, yet here I am at RX8 because I work in film (oh, there's an RX9... great.)

I expect SmartEQ9 to be out soon and by the time it is, it will be a $300 upgrade (over the many small upgrades) from Smart EQ2... what a deal! Unfortunately I constantly use Fabfilter Q3 for the dynamic EQ functions, so I'm still interested in this... :shocked:
Click to expand...
Not sure what / why that happened. I've just logged into my Sonible account and all my old purchases are still there. It sounds like there might have been a glitch with your account.
Have tried to contact them at:

Contact | sonible

If you have any questions regarding our products or our projects, please let us know. Contact us via the web-form or send us an email to [email protected]
www.sonible.com www.sonible.com
 
tack said:
Nice, thanks for that tip. Purchased and license key registered on my Sonible account without hassle.

I actually learned about the existence of the new version from this thread, as I simply had to unsubscribe from the Sonible mailing list after I bought smart:EQ2 last year due to the sheer volume of email they were sending out.
Click to expand...
rudi said:
Not sure what / why that happened. I've just logged into my Sonible account and all my old purchases are still there. It sounds like there might have been a glitch with your account.
Have tried to contact them at:

Contact | sonible

If you have any questions regarding our products or our projects, please let us know. Contact us via the web-form or send us an email to [email protected]
www.sonible.com www.sonible.com
Click to expand...
Yes thanks. I found an old support ticket and wrote them, plus contacted them on the website. The only response was That I can try “reregistering the keys”. Like I said, now I have to look for emails and keys and see if it works...

Thanks for the help Sonible! Not.

Update: of course I found every key except the one for SmartEQ2. I even found the email for the upgrade from smart EQ2 to smartEQ3 so they know I own it. But without the key email looks like I’m screwed. 😞

I’ve emailed them back, but I don’t expect an answer. I really hate how these screwups are all on the customer.

Update2: so after a few hours of searching emails I’ve found the key under the cog in the smartEQ2 plugin, but it doesn’t copy/paste and the font is so strange that I can’t tell zeros from “O”’s or what half the digits are. Of course my many tries just brings up “key is invalid” in my account. I’ve contacted support with screenshots and details, but it seems to take them at least 24hrs to respond, so every email is another day of waiting....

What I don’t understand is their marketing department obviously knows I own it, I’m getting all the “upgrade your SmartEQ2 to smartEQ3!” Emails, but they can’t add it to my account without me finding the key and adding it myself?

What a crapfest.
 
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X-Bassist said:
Like I said, now I have to look for emails and keys and see if it works...

Thanks for the help Sonible! Not.
Click to expand...

If you don't already, use the search function of your email and type Sonible, it'll find any Sonible emails instantly. Saves lots of scrolling, paging and mainly, getting frustrated.

If you didn't purchase the products from Sonible directly, you will need to add the serial to your account.

If you purchased products from Sonible a long time ago, they did update the website and back-end which effected some accounts.

I had to re-create my account and enter serial keys. No big deal though, all got sorted in the end.
 
The weak link of Smart EQ has always been the profiles (or lack thereof). This is why I rarely ever use it on individual tracks. I mean, do I want my 20s sounding ragtime upright to have the sonic profile of whatever studio grand piano they used to create the "Piano" profile? Of course not.

It is precisely the tonal imbalances that give most instruments their character. And any seasoned mix engineer knows that while these tonal imbalances may not sound so good solo'd up, they are essential for providing a well rounded, interesting mix when combined with other instruments.

Having said that, Smart EQ has really saved my ass over the last year. Due to circumstances, I've been forced to mix projects in my home studio. My home studio was designed to be a creative space, not a laboratory quality control room. The only acoustical treatment its received is my lava lamps and a big Route 66 sign on the wall.

So naturally, my home mixes have always had translation problems. Which was fine for rough drafts and such. But now I have to send these mixes to clients, so I was looking at a huge investment in upgrading my studio, monitors etc.

Smart EQ saved me all that. Just using it on the master buss with the standard profile, it effectively did my room correction for me, after the fact. Now my home mixes translate well to every device I've tried. Cars, home stereos, blasters, etc.

So I'm a big fan. But I really thought it was a no-brainer that Sonible's move forward would be expanding their profile catalog and even allowing users to capture their own profiles by importing recorded material, analyzing it, then extracting a profile from it. How fun it would be to apply the tonal contour of a mandolin to a high-strung acoustic guitar.

Tonal sampling is the future. I hope that Sonible is part of that future.
 
MarcusD said:
If you don't already, use the search function of your email and type Sonible, it'll find any Sonible emails instantly. Saves lots of scrolling, paging and mainly, getting frustrated.

If you didn't purchase the products from Sonible directly, you will need to add the serial to your account.

If you purchased products from Sonible a long time ago, they did update the website and back-end which effected some accounts.

I had to re-create my account and enter serial keys. No big deal though, all got sorted in the end.
Click to expand...
Yup I had this issue a while back when I tried to add some older Sonible products to my account that had been purchased elsewhere (Plugin Boutique for instance). I discovered that I had to temporarily change the email address on my account a couple of times to get it to accept the keys for some of them as it seems they are bound to the original email address they were purchased with.

It wasn't too much bother though and I actually prefer the account system they have now.
 
Paul Owen said:
Can't understand why there are fewer profiles than before? EQ2 was great in that respect (I would have liked more) but EQ3 is even more basic.
Click to expand...
Really sad. I don’t think they realize how important the profiles are or how many people would like to use this for orchestral instruments. Only having pop and rock instruments is really sad.
 
I've done some side by side comparison to smart eq 2 and I like 3 better in terms of sound. I haven't played with the grouping yet.

Generally speaking when I run the smart eq 2 and then the smart eq 3 I think the version 3 sounds better. Couple things I noticed in terms of differences.

I attached a few files to try and show this. I tried to line of the lines on both eq but it wasn't exact.

First, without presets. You will notice when I applied the eq to the BBC trumpets smart eq 2 really boosts certain sections especially the base by like 6 db. I've found that this is typical of smart eq2 on instruments that don't go the full range without presets. It tries to overly compensate on missing frequencies. Usually what I do on smart eq 2 is just bring the bar in so it doens't blow up the bass. Smart 2 applies the eq a lot heavier in terms of amount of db applied so what I found myself doing a lot is just bring the strength down on smart eq 2. Looks like smart 3 applies it in lesser amounts which I like better.


I also have a screen shot of smart eq 2 with the trumpet preset which smart eq 3 lacks. You can see that the preset brings smart eq more in line, not so dramatic. You can also see that smart 3 was a lot closer to the smart 2 preset (with no preset available) than what smart eq 2 did with no preset. The trumpet preset on smart 2 pulls down the bass a little which makes sense and seems to boost a little on the very highs and a range on the mids. Smart 3 with no preset is pretty similar but a little different on the mids.

My eq cheat sheet suggests boost a little 10-20k and cut a little 1 k on trumpets (of course depends on the trumpet) You can see that smart eq both versions boost 10-20k and cut 1k a little.

It's too bad version 3 doeesn't have more presets that would be nice. It's definitely better though even without presets.


Also another big thing (excluding the mix group which I have not tried) is the fact you can just add a node and eq it. Smart 2 had those eq nodes in it but they were clunky and hard to adjust. If I wanted to do a little more eq on it I'd pull up a different one. Smart 3 seems usable.

In the pics smart 2 is the top one and smart 3 is the bottom one.
 

Attachments

  • Sonible standard no preset.png
    Sonible standard no preset.png
    96.9 KB · Views: 23
  • Sonible with trumpet preset.png
    Sonible with trumpet preset.png
    102 KB · Views: 23
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