What are your thoughts on the subject? I already own Smart:EQ 3. Is there an improvement in the AI algorithm or is it just the same plugin in simplified form?

 

I've tried .. it's a simplified SmartEQ3 .. i'd rather stick with SmartEQ3 .. unless you dont want to tweak too many knobs

 

Thanks for the reply. I really love not to tweak knobs. As a customer, I'm getting a £16 offer, which is appealing, but if it's just a slimmed-down version of Smart:EQ3, then I can pass on it.

Thank you.

 

I think Pure:EQ is basically a single "smart filter" from Smart:EQ 3, without any further functionality.

In Smart:EQ, you can split the smart filter into two, you can create groups of instances that interact with each other, and you can also insert regular EQ bands. There are probably more features in Smart:EQ that I'm forgetting, but yes: Pure:EQ is just a lite version of Smart:EQ.

 

Ozone 11 Clarity module beats everything. I compared it with Smart EQ & Wavesfactory Equalizer and Clarity just a step ahead and it's effective af. It gives 0 harshness while doing its thing, super impressive. I used it too much this week and had to freeze some tracks because of its high latency but that thing changed my life. I use it on track in conjunction with a LPF/High Shelf on busses (Fuse Audio Labs 258/259A) to tame back the high end and ended up with super smooth high end, crystal clear with no harshness even better than using Soothe, faster too. It excels on guitar like no other plugin ever. I even use it on DI track before hitting the Amp Sim and get better result on the amped sound.

The best part of it is, if the track already have enough clarity, you wont hear much of a difference, tendency to overdo is low. Have to be careful because too much clarity can be a bad thing sometimes in context of a full mix.

The mix improved a lot since I've been using it instead of and traditional high-shelf or EQing the Air. I think it's the best auto/dynamic EQ for now. Try that one first before considering Pure EQ which I believe just a simplified version of Smart EQ. It can do similar thing to Clarity by narrowing the "range" to just effecting the high-end, but result wise, nowhere near effectiveness of Ozone 11 Clarity. Even worse, it needs 4 times more latency (4096samples) compared to Clarity (1056samples).

 

Last edited: Sep 13, 2023

I have been trying Pure:EQ against SmartEQ3 in vocals recently, and I think it's a good plugin if you don't want SmartEQ3 to be your main EQ. I approach it similarly to how I approach soothe2, it helps me set up an initial balance, and then I can build from there with further EQing to get the tone I want.

And just for fun, I decided to compare it to Ozone's Stabilizer (which I already used before) and the new Clarity module. Honestly, I can't really tell the difference between both modules, except from the controls that feels like one plugin split into two. I have no idea why Izotope has two modules, even the manual descriptions are similar:

• [...] is an adaptive mastering equalizer that reacts to the incoming audio and applies frequency corrections to tonally balance a signal or tame resonances.
• [...] uses hundreds of bands to maximize the spectral power of your audio. This is achieved by adaptively contouring the spectrum towards flat noise. [module] will tame resonances and unmask background content. This can effectively “pull the blanket off” dull mixes without sounding harsh.

You can guess which one is which. I believe that since those modules are mastering tools, they expect a reasonably well mixed sound going into it, because the claims of "without sounding harsh" didn't feel true for a single vocal track. Ozone was boosting where Sonible was cutting. That said, I've used Stabilizer a lot in a recent record. It was good when a whole mix went into it.

Can't really say there's a clear winner, I would say that Ozone's more like Gullfoss in a sense, but with much clearer controls. Pure:EQ/SmartEQ3 seems to work better if you just want to balance the sound and then shape it.

As for the question "Pure:EQ or SmartEQ3?", my takeaway is that Pure:EQ fits my workflow better. The AI can do half of the work of taming and balancing, and then I can do the rest. SmartEQ3 feels bloated when that's all I need from it, it works much better if that's your only EQ.

 

In my opinion, Ozone 11 as a whole turned out very well. Even the Master Assistant module has received a solid upgrade

 

Not really my cup-o-tea since I wish to have more control over what happens than this plugin allows...

 

This lack of control is exactly why I put an eye on it. The less I tweak the more I hear. Sometimes changing plugins, gain, adapting to AI decisions, changing arrangements, re-recording, all of that is more preferable to me than wearing myself out over parameters.

But paying money for a plugin I already own, not happening. Smart:EQ3 does the job, and a lot of times I don't even use it. I got the Focusrite Fast Plugins for that anyway. BTW, rent to own was a great move on their part.

Thank you all for your insight. This is truly the best place online ever. Period.

 

I have to agree. I'm way more impressed with Clarity than i thought i'd be. I thought it was gonna be another Gulfoss copy, but it seems to do something a bit different. It's almost as if it unmasks the instruments within a master, without having access to the individual instruments.
I reckon they should've called it "Unmask" instead of Clarity. The name Clarity doesn't really do it justice.

I heard a guy from izotope talk about it on The Attack and Release Show podcast. I can't remember exactly what he said off the top of my head but it was very intriguing. Something to do with this: It reads the frequencies that are next to the resonant peaks and pulls them down. Something like that, i could be wrong. And there are 250 bands, so it's very detailed.

I don't agree that it's hard to over-do. Above like 30 on a master sounds a bit unnatural to me.
But yeah, i really like it.

That, combined with transient/sustain separation functionality on most modules, the upward compression in the Maximizer module, and the stem separation, Ozone 11 is really good.
And i agree with above, the assistant has been really good for me so far. I used it on a master the other night and it sounded so good and ticked off all my notes that i felt like i didn't need to do anything more. I had in my notes "bring the punch of the kick out, add more weight/girth to overall song, make it pop out of the speakers more", and it did just that plus more (loudness + cleaner).
It made me feel a bit insecure as a mastering engineer because it's the first time i've felt like the artist could've probably just done the master himself.
Crazy to think where the Assistant could be in 5 years...