Balancer. Free AI plug-in by Sonible and Focusrite.

[Daniel Grenier]

Recording is difficult to me. I need all the help I can get and this free plug-in does improve my recordings in a positive and pleasing way (to me) so maybe it's something you may want to know about if you don't already?

From the website: "Automatic corrections within seconds. Balancer was developed by Focusrite and sonible. While listening to any audio material for a couple of seconds, the plug-in gathers detailed information crucial for the mixing task at hand. By combining and interpreting this information using A.I. technology, deficiencies in the signal (e.g. regarding the spectral balance) are detected and automatically corrected."

Download at: https://www.sonible.com/balancer/

Demo using Reaper: https://youtu.be/1vMhmWqGWmM

[MikeBmusic]

Like all recording 'AI' plug-ins, how does it 'learn' what is wanted? Recording is NOT 'one size fits all', as witnessed by AI things like LANDR mastering - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't..

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

Recording is difficult to me. I need all the help I can get and this free plug-in does improve my recordings in a positive and pleasing way (to me) so maybe it's something you may want to know about if you don't already?

The plugin looks as if it operates like a greatly scaled back version of the Sonible:SmartEQ. It won't solve all the problems of a mix but it can get someoneto a better starting point than where the raw tracks have left them if those tracks are problematic.

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

Like all recording 'AI' plug-ins, how does it 'learn' what is wanted? Recording is NOT 'one size fits all', as witnessed by AI things like LANDR mastering - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't..

Very true, though plugins like these can get someone closer to where they'd like to be, and if the tracks are poor to start with, that will happen nearly every time.

Plugins like this work by generalization. They've been fed eq curves for various instruments and they adjust tracks accordingly. This plugin doesn't appear to let the user select a genre, so that makes the eq curves even more generalized but it still can do the initial broad eq work and then the user can adjust from there. However, it appears that to make further adjustments, the user will have to bring in a different eq plugin.

I think plugins like these are useful tools so long as the user doesn't assume the plugin is leaving them in the best possible place. Tracks will almost always still need work after applying this.

[TBman]

I tried the Balancer out.

Here's the before plugin clip:




and the after using "Warm":


It sounds better without the plugin to my ears.