Oeksound Soothe3 – The Benchmark For Resonance Suppression

Oeksound released the original Soothe back in 2016 and it quickly became one of the most referenced tools for resonance suppression in modern music production. That reputation hasn’t faded since.

I’ve been using Oeksound plugins for years. Soothe2 and Spiff have both become a permanent part of my workflow. Spiff, especially when I’m programming drum loops, but either way, they’re just always there.

Soothe2 also played an important role during the creation of the sound library for D16 PunchBox, especially when working on layered kicks, percussion, and more complex sound design material.

I’m not a traditional mixing or mastering engineer, and that’s worth mentioning upfront. Most of my work revolves around sound design, sample creation, and field recordings. A different context, with its own specific challenges.
With field recordings in particular, unwanted resonances and harsh frequency buildup are constant issues. Fixing them manually with static EQ moves takes time, and the result rarely feels truly natural. Soothe2 was one of the few plugins that solved this in a fast and intelligent way.

It also became extremely useful for layering sounds. Complex percussion, atmospheres, or textures can easily create unpleasant overlaps and masking issues, and Soothe often handled these situations far more elegantly than conventional EQ processing. That’s why I was genuinely excited to see Soothe3 finally arrive.

What Is Soothe3?

Soothe3 is a dynamic resonance suppressor that automatically detects and reduces harsh resonances, frequency buildups and unpleasant peaks in real time.

Instead of applying static EQ cuts, the processing constantly adapts to the incoming signal and only reacts when necessary. This allows problematic frequencies to be controlled without heavily affecting the natural character of the source material.

Typical applications include:

• Harsh vocals
• Muddy low mids
• Sharp cymbals
• Resonant synths
• Piercing sibilance
• Problematic field recordings
• Layered sound design
• Kick and bass sidechain processing

The Biggest Difference Compared To Soothe2

The biggest improvement for me is clearly the workflow.

Soothe2 already sounded fantastic, but some controls felt a bit technical to dial in properly. The combination of “Sharpness” and “Selectivity” in particular wasn’t always immediately intuitive.

In Soothe3, both were replaced by a single “Detail” control. It sounds like a small change, but in practice it makes the plugin noticeably faster and more intuitive to dial in. One of those updates where you immediately feel the difference.

Oeksound also redesigned the underlying algorithm. The new Soft Mode now reacts relative to the overall frequency balance instead of simply targeting loud peaks. In practice, this results in more natural and musical behavior, especially on dynamic material. The result feels noticeably smoother and more transparent than before.

Hard Mode is still available for more aggressive processing and remains excellent for sidechain applications and creative sound shaping. I like to switch to this mode when I want to steer the signal in a completely different direction.

Sidechaining

One of the strongest aspects of Soothe has always been sidechain processing.

Using a kick drum to dynamically create space inside a bassline, or feeding vocals into dense instrumentals, works extremely well and often feels smoother than static EQ ducking approaches. Especially in electronic music productions with dense layering, this can become a very powerful tool.

Linear Phase & Creative Sound Design

One thing that genuinely caught me off guard while working with Soothe3 was its creative potential for sound design.

Combining Linear Phase with Ultra quality settings, aggressive Hard Mode and sidechain processing can produce fascinating metallic textures and resonant artifacts. In some cases the processed signal starts to take on a character that’s almost unrecognizable from the original, which depending on what you’re going for, is exactly what you want.

These kinds of sounds work extremely well as additional layers for impacts, drones, percussion or experimental textures. This is clearly not what Soothe3 was designed for, but for sound designers it opens up a surprisingly deep rabbit hole worth exploring.

Faster & More Streamlined

Soothe3 simply feels more modern overall. The interface is cleaner, fully scalable and easier to navigate. The updated node workflow is more intuitive, and the new tilt controls make it possible to shape the behavior differently for low and high frequencies without overcomplicating things.

Another important addition is the new low latency mode, which allows Soothe3 to be used while tracking or in live situations with near-zero latency.

Soothe3 also now supports multichannel and immersive audio formats up to Dolby Atmos configurations. Personally, that’s not something I need in my day-to-day work, but for music producers working in film, TV or post production, this is going to be a genuinely useful addition.

Do Soothe2 Users Need The Upgrade?

In my opinion: yes, especially if you use Soothe as a core part of your workflow and not just here and there.

Soothe2 is still an excellent plugin and absolutely capable of professional results. Oeksound didn’t reinvent the core idea with Soothe3. Instead, they refined and modernized it in very meaningful ways.

The biggest improvement isn’t a single headline feature. It’s the overall experience of using the plugin. The redesigned Detail control makes dialing in settings much faster, the new Soft Mode sounds more natural on dynamic material, and the workflow simply feels more refined and polished throughout.

I also noticed that Soothe3 allows more aggressive settings while still sounding surprisingly controlled and transparent.

Of course, if you only use Soothe occasionally for basic vocal cleanup, Soothe2 will remain a fantastic tool for years to come. But for anyone working with it regularly, in dense productions, sound design, modern electronic music or professional mixing environments, the upgrade is absolutely worth it. And if you’re working in multichannel or immersive audio, it’s an even easier decision.

Verdict & Summary

Soothe was the first plugin of its kind and, even years later, it still feels ahead of much of the competition.

With Soothe3, Oeksound refined the concept in exactly the right areas: better workflow, improved usability, more flexibility and a more polished overall experience.

Soothe3 isn’t cheap, no point glossing over that. But considering how much time it saves across production, mixing and sound design work, the price starts to feel justified pretty quickly.

Oeksound also offers a fully featured 20-day trial, and I highly recommend checking out the great audio demos on their website. Just make sure you’re on proper monitors or good headphones to really hear the difference in transparency and detail.

If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, the trial is the easiest way to convince yourself. Once you hear it on your own material, the decision tends to make itself.

For me, Soothe3 absolutely deserves the Sounds of Revolution Award.

Visit my BLOG for other vst recommendations, production tips and more!

Cheers,
Oliver Schmitt aka Sounds of Revolution (SOR)