A number of automatic resonance reduction plugins have come to market recently and most engineers have found them useful. That said, sometimes you don’t need help across the entire frequency spectrum. The Sonnox Soften harshness reduction plugin from Focusrite only concentrates on the mid and high frequency areas, and is specialized for just three applications, but for many engineers that’s going to be more than enough.
Soften was originally a feature of the Sonnox Voca plugin, but the company received so much feedback about how useful it was that the feature eventually became its own stand-alone product.
A unique feature about the plugin is that it’s only intended to be used in three applications: on Guitar, Vocals, and the Mix Bus. Other than selecting the mode, there’s only an Amount control that controls the depth of the adjustment.
The display shows approximately which frequencies are being changed and by how much, but they’re not delineated by frequency markings as you’d expect. For Vocals the display reads Harshness on the left and Esses on the right. Guitars read Nasal and Shrill, and Mix Bus reads Boxy and Fatiguing.
Just because these modes are meant for these three mix applications doesn’t mean you can’t try it on others, but these three attack the majority of problems that a mixer might have after the proper low-end balance is determined.
Sonnox recommends that Soften be used in the first insert space on a channel, which makes sense since you don’t want to recorrect something that’s already been corrected.
The best part is that Soften is free until September 16th. Click here to download, and find out more in the video below.
