Oeksound Soothe 3 vs Soundtheory Gullfoss

If you post a mix online asking how to fix mud or harshness, within ten minutes someone will tell you to buy Soothe 3 or Gullfoss. Because both plugins react dynamically to audio without using static EQ curves, bedroom producers often confuse them for the exact same tool.

They are not the same tool. I use both on every commercial mix I deliver, and treating them as interchangeable will actively ruin your tracks. One is built to cut out harsh resonances; the other is built to lift the blanket off a dull mix. Throwing Gullfoss on a track when you actually need Soothe will pull up room noise and bizarre artifacts. Using Soothe when you actually need Gullfoss will suck the life out of your mixbus.

Quick Comparison: Soothe 3 vs Gullfoss

1. Oeksound Soothe 3 — The Problem Solver

Soothe 3 is a dynamic resonance suppressor. It does not analyze your audio to figure out how to make it sound “better”; it looks at your audio strictly to find frequencies that are out of control. It acts like thousands of tiny, automated notch filters attacking only the exact frequencies that ring out too loudly. It is strictly subtractive.

If you track in untreated rooms or with bright condenser mics, Soothe is basically mandatory. The V3 engine was completely rebuilt to be more transparent than previous versions. The Soft mode uses a redesigned adaptive threshold that handles dynamic vocals perfectly, and the single Detail parameter (which replaced Sharpness and Selectivity from V2) lets you decide whether the plugin grabs wide chunks of boxy mud or thin, surgical whistling spikes.

Best for: Fixing vocal recordings. Taming brittle drum overheads and hi-hats. Tucking away piercing synth resonances. It excels anywhere a static dynamic EQ would fail because the offensive frequency changes with the pitch of the note.

Where it falls short: Tonal shaping. If your mix lacks top-end air or low-end punch, Soothe cannot give it to you. It only takes away. If you put it on your master bus and crank the Depth, your mix will sound hollow and lifeless.

Pricing: $259 USD for a new license. If you own Soothe 1 or Soothe 2, the upgrade is $55 (though oeksound ran a grace period through May 19, 2026).

2. Soundtheory Gullfoss — The Clarity Engine

Gullfoss is not a resonance suppressor. It is an intelligent equalizer built on a proprietary model of human auditory perception. It analyzes the incoming signal over 300 times per second, effectively asking the algorithm: “What frequencies are preventing the human brain from hearing this mix clearly?”

To fix frequency masking, Gullfoss works additively and subtractively. The Recover parameter boosts frequencies that are currently being hidden by louder elements in the mix. The Tame parameter cuts dominant frequencies that are cluttering up the space. The result is usually a wider, cleaner track without the severe phase smearing you get from pushing a master EQ too hard.

Best for: The Master Bus and dense instrument groups (like stacked rhythm guitars or drum buses). Throwing Gullfoss Master (the high-precision version included with your purchase) on the 2-bus and dialing in 15% Recover and 15% Tame will instantly make a dense mix sound expensive.

Where it falls short: Isolated tracks, especially lead vocals. Because Gullfoss attempts to balance the frequency spectrum to match human hearing, putting it on a soloed vocal will often aggressively boost breath noises, lip smacks, and the sound of the tracking room just to "fill out" the missing data.

Pricing: $199 USD one-time. The license includes standard Gullfoss, Gullfoss Live (under 2ms latency for tracking), and Gullfoss Master (highest precision, highest CPU).

Head-to-Head Mix Scenarios

1. The Vocal Chain

Winner: Soothe 3.
This is not close. Soothe 3 was explicitly built for vocals. By dragging its EQ curve to focus heavily on the 3 kHz to 7 kHz range, you can use Soothe to completely eliminate the harshness of a bad room or a cheap mic while preserving the intimacy of the performance. Gullfoss on an isolated vocal will actively fight you by dragging up background noise.

2. The Master Bus

Winner: Gullfoss.
Gullfoss needs dense, complex material to actually work, which is why it thrives on the mix bus. It excels at unmasking elements across the entire frequency spectrum. Soothe 3 on the master bus is risky—pushing Depth past 10% usually kills the snare transient and hollows out the guitars. If you want a deep dive into Master Bus strategies, read our guide on Soothe 3 on the Master Bus.

3. Drum Overheads

Winner: Tie (Depends on Intent).
If your cymbals are piercing, brittle, and hurting your ears, drop Soothe 3 on the track in Hard mode with a fast attack to notch out the harsh rings while keeping the stick definition. But if your overheads sound muffled and are getting buried by distorted guitars, use Gullfoss to beautifully lift the high-frequency air and suppress the midrange mud.

Final Verdict: Which Should You Buy?

In reality, working engineers own both. We use Soothe early in the mix to fix bad recordings, and Gullfoss at the very end of the chain to open up the master bus. If you have to choose one:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Gullfoss a dynamic EQ?

Yes and no. Gullfoss functions dynamically, but it does not use traditional thresholds or crossovers. It uses a proprietary auditory perception model that continuously updates its EQ curve over 300 times per second based on what the human ear is being masked from hearing.

Should I use Soothe or Gullfoss on the master bus?

Use Gullfoss on the master bus to unmask elements, improve clarity, and widen the mix. Use Soothe 3 on the master bus very sparingly (under 10% Depth) and only if the entire mix suffers from digital glare or harshness that you cannot fix in the multitracks.

Do Soothe 3 and Gullfoss do the same thing?

No. Soothe 3 is strictly a subtractive resonance suppressor—it only cuts harshness. Gullfoss is an automated equalizer that both boosts masked frequencies and cuts masking frequencies to improve overall tonal balance.

Which is better for vocals: Soothe 3 or Gullfoss?

Soothe 3 is the industry standard for vocals. Its Soft mode and Detail parameter specifically target moving resonances and sibilance without dulling the take. Gullfoss on an individual vocal can be unpredictable, often boosting breath noises and room reflections to “recover” them.

Need a Second Opinion on Your Mix?

If you are still struggling to decide whether a track needs resonance suppression or broad unmasking, you don't have to guess. MixingGPT is an in-DAW AI assistant that listens to your stems in real-time and tells you exactly what your mix needs. Drop a screenshot of your Soothe 3 or Gullfoss settings, and the AI will analyze your parameters and suggest improvements without ever leaving your DAW. Join the MixingGPT waitlist for early access.

Related Deep Dives in This Series

If you are building out your modern plugin template, dive into the rest of our intelligent EQ and resonance suppression coverage:

Pricing, versions, and feature claims verified May 28, 2026 against official oeksound and Soundtheory manuals.