“A powerful mix tool that does a lot to justify its ‘pro’ price point”: Oeksound Bloom review

Following the widely-loved Soothe, we ask if Oeksound’s latest might become another must-have

  • £169
  • €199
  • $209
Reviews
Oeksound Bloom
(Image: © Oeksound)

MusicRadar Verdict

An easy-to-use and undeniably effective plugin, Bloom is a powerful mix tool that does a lot to justify its ‘pro’ price point.

Pros

  • +

    Easy-to-use interface.

  • +

    Effective and flattering, particularly on bus and master channels.

  • +

    Can be both clean and characterful.

Cons

  • -

    Expensive.

  • -

    Can be a little opaque about what exactly is going on under the hood.

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Oeksound Bloom: What is it?

Oeksound’s ‘dynamic resonance suppressor’ Soothe has become something of a must-have for mix engineers, and has earned its creator a deserved reputation as one of the most interesting developers in the audio plugin realm, despite having just a handful of products to its name. 

With Bloom, Oeksound is aiming to further bolster that reputation. Described as an “adaptive tone shaper”, Bloom is another dynamic plugin that responds to the frequencies of incoming audio and applies varying forms of processing depending on its analysis. Here, that involves a combination of dynamic EQ and multiband compression, that latter element kicking in when the plugin’s Amount control is cranked beyond 70%.

Oeksound Bloom

(Image credit: Oeksound)

Oeksound Bloom: Performance and verdict

Controls offered by the UI are fairly simple, and much like Oeksound’s other plugins, much of the more complex stuff is hidden behind the scenes and handled by the plugin itself. There are four frequency bands that can be targeted with boosts or cuts, which can be applied in linked, stereo split and mid-side modes. Attack and release controls adjust the timing of the processing. Finally, a Processing Graph can target the overall range of the processing and apply low or high-pass filters to the output, as well as offering real-time visual feedback on what Bloom is doing.

Bloom is simple to get to grips with. Even if you’re never exactly sure what’s going on under the hood, it’s the sort of plugin that makes it very easy to quickly make a track sound better particularly when placed across a bus, master channel or applied to complex, frequency-rich audio. It can be colourful and creative, but even when pushed to extremes it’s incredibly flattering to whatever input signal you feed it.

At £170, Bloom isn’t cheap, in a price range closer to some full DAWs than many rival EQs. Oeksound is clearly aiming for the pro market here though, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Bloom may quickly become another ‘must own’.

MusicRadar verdict: An easy-to-use and undeniably effective plugin, Bloom is a powerful mix tool that does a lot to justify its ‘pro’ price point.

Oeksound Bloom: The web says

"Its intuitive design, coupled with a comprehensive set of features, makes it an essential plugin for anyone looking to enhance the clarity, presence, and overall Mixandmastermysong.com

Oeksound Bloom: Hands-on demos

oeksound

White Sea Studio

SonicScoop

White Noise Studio

Oeksound Bloom: Specifications

  • KEY FEATURES: Adaptive tone-shaping plugin capable of working in stereo and mid-side modes. 
  • FORMAT: PC/Mac, AAX/AU/VST.
  • CONTACT: Oeksound
Si Truss

I'm the Managing Editor of Music Technology at MusicRadar and former Editor-in-Chief of Future Music, Computer Music and Electronic Musician. I've been messing around with music tech in various forms for over two decades. I've also spent the last 10 years forgetting how to play guitar. Find me in the chillout room at raves complaining that it's past my bedtime.