https://plugin-alliance.com/en/2014summersale.html

"Exeted"? Spell-check suggests "Excerted", "Excited" and "Excreted". None of which seem to apply.

 

bitflipper
"Exeted"? Spell-check suggests "Excerted", "Excited" and "Excreted". None of which seem to apply.

 
Ooops....fixed!

At this price point, I heard that De-Verb is pretty good!!

Mesh
At this price point, I heard that De-Verb is pretty good!!

Mesh
At this price point, I heard that De-Verb is pretty good!!

De-Verb IS pretty good.  Check this vid, where it holds its own against much pricier competition:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0bw_Eno534
 
Another PA plugin I've been checking out is bx_refinement.  It's billed as a "de-harsher" that smooths out the sound of digital recordings.  Does it work?  On many sources and mixes, I've really liked its effect.  It does indeed make things sound less harsh, when used sparingly.  Overdo it and things sound dull and muddy, but that's easy to avoid.
 
One thing bx_refinement does is alter the EQ of a signal, cutting a notch around 3kHz.  But there must be something else going on under the hood, because I captured the EQ effect with Q-clone and then tried to match the sound of the plugin but couldn't quite get there. 
 
Anybody else tried  this plug?  Any attempts to match it with other tools?  Would be interested to hear any comments.
 
Cheers,
Eddie

I'm always skeptical whenever the vendor is deliberately obtuse about what the product actually does.
 
Here's the vendor's summary:
 

Harshness control allows you to eliminate unpleasant high frequencies from complex signals and mixes. The intuitive controls of bx_refinement let you adjust various aspects of the sound with ease. Based on M/S (Mid/Side) processing, it imparts a tube-like analog smoothness and is a boon for mix engineers looking to tame unpleasant digital hardness on individual tracks.

 
I have questions.
 
1. What frequencies, exactly, are the "unpleasant" ones? It would appear that they've determined 3.3 KHz to be the center of unpleasantness. Sure, that's smack in the middle of where our ears are most sensitive, so excessive amplitude in the band might very well be judged as "harsh". But can you assume every mix needs a reduction at that frequency?
 
2. What is "digital hardness"? This strikes me as total marketing B.S. There simply is no such thing. 
 
3. What is "tube-like smoothness"? Tubes do distort differently from transistors, and in a more pleasant way. But tubes by themselves don't encourage "smoothness", whatever that word means. They are more likely to add harmonic distortion, noise and hum. These are not characteristics I associate with "smooth". They can be overdriven for effect, but this is promoted as a mastering tool.
 
Reading further in the product description, they seem to be describing a fixed-frequency dynamic filter with a harmonic exciter. I'm a big fan of dynamic equalization. But my dynamic EQs are fully parametric, not hard-wired, and if I add distortion I want full control over it, too.
 
So I'm skeptical. However, all reviews I've seen have been either positive or at worst, neutral. Nothing bad. I'd love to try it out, if only to figure out what it really does. Eddie, how about running white noise through it and see what a spectrum analyzer shows on the other side of bx_refinement? Then run a sine wave through it and see what kind and how much harmonic distortion is being added (and check for aliasing while you're at it).
 
 

For bx refinement try using a MB EQ & saturation, with a little work you'll get the same basic results.

bitflipper
Eddie, how about running white noise through it and see what a spectrum analyzer shows on the other side of bx_refinement? Then run a sine wave through it and see what kind and how much harmonic distortion is being added (and check for aliasing while you're at it).

 
I checked the output with a spectral analyzer -- the "Damping" knob adjusts how much signal is cut from the 3kHz area, and the "Presence" control seems to be a shelving EQ above that frequency.  There's also a Saturation knob that adds a bit of ... well, saturation.  So maybe this plug could be replicated with simple EQ and saturation plugs, but I've yet to figure out exactly how.  I must say, it does have a pleasant effect on many sources.
 
As you may know, it's a pretty easy process to download and activate a PA plug in demo mode, so if you decide to do that, please let us know your thoughts! 
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 
 

Thanks, Eddie! That's pretty much what I'd understood it to be: a 3.3KHz dynamic cut filter followed by a high shelf, and optional harmonic distortion. Seems like that would be very easy to replicate with MDynamicEQ.