If you have spent any time in professional mixing circles lately, you have undoubtedly heard of Soothe 2 by oeksound. It has become a industry standard, almost "cheat-code" style plugin that has replaced hours of surgical EQ work for top-tier engineers. But what exactly does it do, and why should you care?

Unlike a standard equalizer that cuts a frequency and leaves it cut, Soothe 2 is a dynamic resonance suppressor. It scans your audio in real-time, identifies unpleasant resonances (those "whistling" or "honky" frequencies), and pulls them down—but only when they are actually causing a problem. In this guide, we are going to look at the practical ways to use Soothe 2 to get pro results.

1. The Core Philosophy: Depth vs. Sharpness

The biggest mistake beginners make with Soothe 2 is treating it like a volume knob. The most important control in Soothe 2 is the Depth slider. This determines how much suppression is happening across the entire spectrum.

The Sharpness and Selectivity knobs are the "brain" of the plugin. Sharpness controls how narrow the suppression filters are (surgical vs. broad), while Selectivity tells the plugin how much it should focus only on the most prominent peaks. For most vocals, a medium Sharpness and high Selectivity will keep the voice sounding natural while removing that harsh 2kHz-4kHz edge.

2. Fixing Harsh Vocals (The #1 Use Case)

Modern "pop" vocals are often recorded with bright condenser microphones that can sound piercing in the high-mids (3kHz - 7kHz). Using a standard EQ to dip these frequencies can make the vocal sound "muffled" or "dark."

Pro Workflow: Place Soothe 2 after your main compressor but before your creative reverb. Engage the high-mid band and push the Depth until the harshness disappears. Use the "Delta" button (the headphones icon) to listen only to what the plugin is removing. If you hear actual "music" or "words" in the Delta signal, you are pushing it too hard.

3. The Secret Weapon: Sidechain Mode

This is where Soothe 2 becomes legendary. Imagine your synth lead is fighting with your vocal for space in the 1kHz range. Usually, you would use a sidechain compressor to duck the whole synth, but that makes it "pump" and lose energy.

The Fix: Put Soothe 2 on the synth track. Route your vocal into Soothe 2's sidechain input. Now, Soothe 2 will only suppress the frequencies in the synth that are present in the vocal at that exact moment. The result? The vocal cuts through perfectly, but the synth stays loud and powerful. This is much more transparent than any dynamic EQ or sidechain compressor.

4. Taming Acoustic Guitars and Cymbals

Acoustic guitars often have "boxiness" around 200Hz - 400Hz that changes depending on the chord being played. Soothe 2 in "Soft" mode is perfect here. It will catch those resonant low-mid build-ups without making the guitar sound thin during the quiet parts.

Similarly, for overheads or "harsh" drum rooms, use Soothe 2 to target the resonance of the snare or the "clack" of the cymbals. It allows you to keep the brightness of the drums without the ear-piercing pain.

5. Soothe 2 on the Master Bus?

Yes, but proceed with extreme caution. Professional mastering engineers often use Soothe 2 to target "digital harshness" or "buildup" in the high frequencies. However, on a master bus, you should rarely see more than 1dB - 2dB of gain reduction.

Settings: Use the "Soft" algorithm, low Sharpness, and keep the Mix at around 30% - 50%. This creates a subtle "smoothing" effect across the whole mix that makes the track feel more like a record and less like a computer file.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Over-processing: If you use Soothe 2 on every track, your mix will start to sound "lifeless" and "dull." Some resonances are part of the character of the instrument.
• Ignoring the Envelope: The Attack and Release knobs matter. A fast attack is great for transients (like a snare), but a slower release is better for smooth vocals.
• Setting and Forgetting: Always A/B your changes. Sometimes the "harshness" you think you hear is actually providing the "presence" needed to cut through a dense rock mix.

Summary

Soothe 2 is not a replacement for good recording techniques or basic EQ. However, it is the best tool on the market for handling the "imperfections" of modern digital audio. Master the Depth and Selectivity knobs, utilize the sidechain feature for mix clarity, and you will find that your mixes sound significantly more polished and professional.