Gain boost plugin?

[whitedamp]

While tweaking for a good bass tone on Gearbox plugin I´ve found that the distortion sounds much better when I use an aggressive compressor (Waves SSL G-Comp on my case) on the DI track before apply the Gearbox plugin (I don´t like the Gearbox built in compressor). The problem is that the DI track is too quiet to hit the SSL compressor, so I have to put a gain booster plugin before it (just drop the threshold on the comp to the minimun value isn´t working).

I know that I could just clean boost the gain on the track without a plugin, or boost it using any plugin with input/output level (like SSL channel strip or SSL EQ), but I would like to know if it would be better to use a specific plugin for this boost (a tube emulators plugin for example). Thanks.

 

[Unavailable]

TSS. Best one out there (AFAIK).

 

[whitedamp]

Oh, I don´t mean "boost" like using a Tube Screamer to boost an amp. I want just to add more dBs, like volume level, but I know that there are some plugins around that can add some good color while doing this, like Vintage Warmer. Nuendo also has a built in plugin called DaTube, but I don´t know if there are better options or even a "go to" plugin to it.

 

[Unavailable]

Oh hah, well I know voxengo has some kind of tube emulator. Check their site. It's free too.