Which Plug-ins?

C

Copenhagen

Guest
Hey Ballers and Ballerinas ;)

As some of you know, I am rewiring Reason to ProTools. I use ProTools to mix and record vocals/instruments.
Now I have been trying out some RTAS and VST to use when mixing, and was just curious to know which plug-ins you guys would recommend, if I want one really good all-round EQ, Compressor, Reverb and Delay. Preferably the best at the cheapest price ;)

Also, are there any other plug-ins that I haven't mentioned above, which you think would be essential?

Peace...
 

Formant024

Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
They're semi cheap. just not the cheapest but PSP has a mastering package and a mix package which bring forth some serious damage or quality, whatever you fancy. I dunno if they have any demo's online but I would certainly give them a go. So far I've worked with the Vintage warmer which will go for allround channelstrip single or multi band compressor. The kit also includes the MasterQ, quality parametric equalizer, perfect for mastering!. Haven't tried it yet but looking at the quality of the vintage warmer eq, things can only get better, I definitly put my money on it.

The mixpack has four plugs which arent the usual utilities but so friggin' nice, I've tried most of em, especialy the mixtreble and the mixpressor. The mixpressor is capable of making the set violently alive for what dynamics concern, i've put this bay to work on some techno and breaks and it's outcome is simply stunning. I've used the mixtreble to balance out the trebles frequencies, the plugs enables altering hiss, transcients, frequency widening and spatial enhancing. This can make a dull mono sounding source into a hifi stereo signal.

The other two are a mixsaturator and a mix bass which I haven't really tried but are definitly a good addition to the mixpack.

Every plug supports resolutions up to 196kHz and plug format includes RTAS.

Go check the demos ( RTAS also ) they should convince you by simply playing with the presets, the kits are relativly cheap if would compare it to other " high end "mastering/mixing packages when it comes to quality/efficieny or simply practical use. To my opinion best best in the cheapest price range anyway.

http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/mix.html

For reverb or delay I would say check out the same thing, there's also a free pianoreverb for download also in RTAS I believe which is very good already. They also made a pretty good emulation on the lexicon pcm42 which is a common studiopimp artefact, called the PSP 42 ( PSP 84 for a blown up version, definitly sickening ) I had been using it for quite some time with great pleasure untill I got aquinted with the logic tape delay and IK multimedia Amplitube which has a stomp box with good warm sounding (spring or not) reverb, delay, wah, chorus and overdrive. It gives it much more a harmonic blend than most clinicly correct reverbs which just sound to sterile to blend with the rest ( but you can use the mixtreble to balance this out ).

Other Reverbs I've really liked are the 480L ( another emulation from Lexicon ) which is simply breathtaking, they definitly got the algorhtymns right on this baby. Another one but certainly not the least ( I've been using this one the longest in my vst experience ) is the Studioverb plugin which comes with the DSPFX package. I dont know the whole story behind the package but it's suppossed to be sold with a certain soundcard and contains everything you need except a compressor. The downside about it for what concerns you is that it's only DX ( 1.0 ) or standalone, which isnt a problem in my case since fx go through auxilaries to avoid latency issues and my daw's handle DX. I dunno about this on pro tools. But to give you an idea of what you get and with great quality;

StudioVerb, AcousticVerb, Optimizer, Aural Activator, Parametric EQ, Flanger, Chorus, Multi-Tap Delay, Pitch Shifter, Auto-Panner, Tremolo, and Widener.

and that for $149, you can pm me on some more info. They're also asking $99 for the 6.2 update but there no info on what the update really is about. So that sucks.
 
C

Copenhagen

Guest
Thanks Formant, I already tried or already use some of those you mentioned, but will certainly look into all the others.
 
J

Jay George

Guest
WAVES Diamond. T-Racks Mastering Suite, and Lexicon Delays.
 

nas2000xl

The Ripper
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
try wavearts track plug. its composed of a compressor, para eq, gate, and limiter. along with wavearts masterverb, it sounds pretty nice. or ones that i use frequently are the ultrafunk bundle.
it has a compressor, para eq, graphic eq, limiter, reverbs, delays, ect. if you can still find.
 
C

Copenhagen

Guest
Thanks. I'm looking into Waves, Blue Tubes, WaveArts, Amplitube, Lexicon etc
 

nas2000xl

The Ripper
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
i have all of them. i forgot about blue tubes though, man you can`t go wrong there. Blue Tubes 2.0 are fantastic, and combined with Waves awesome. I use Amplitube also, although i would`nt use as a mix effect. only to add effect to guitar or bass. now Lexicon i have not used very much yet but it does have some great delays. over all you can`t go wrong with any of these.
 

Architect

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 3
All Around EQ
Try Voxengo GlissEQ - CurveEQ http://www.voxengo.com/
Try Sonalksis - SV-517 EQ http://www.sonalksis.com/
Try Waves Q10 or Renaissance EQ http://www.waves.com/

Compressor
Try Waves again Renaissance Compressor and also the C4
Try Sonalksis SV-315 Compressor recently came out
Voxengo also has some good Compressors

Reverb & Delay
Waves IR-1 Impulse Responses, Trueverb, RVerb

Some tools you should have:
Steinberg Mastering Edition includes Freefilter, Spectrograph, and others...
Waves L1 one of the best plugin software Limiters your going to get
Sonic Timeworks Mastering Suite
Antares filter & Microphone Modeler
UAD 1 PC Card (when your ready for the next level of Top quality plugins $800)

There are plenty more plugins that may be cheaper but you get what you pay for!
 
C

Copenhagen

Guest
I originally looked into the UAD studio project, but the money isn't there right know, and I have other priorities...but I'm sure it's nice.
I have tried most of the stuff you refer too, and I have a good idea of what I want to add to my existing line up of plug-ins.
Thanks for all your answers.
 

Formant024

Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
hey, you can also buy the emu 0404 and use it merely as a dsp fx processor. Friggin cheap and works as vst for 99 bucks. half the progs cant beat that since they dont come dsp equiped.

Also a lot of stuff mentioned here aren't really that cheap or are single utlities.
 

Evil Scientist

Beatmaker
ill o.g.
Just thought I'd add my 2 penneth worth and mention the excellent plug-ins by Kjaerhus: Golden Compressor, EQ and Modulator.

I have to admit i'm no expert on compression but the level of control aand power of these plug-ins is undeniable
 
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