Must-have Plugins?

[-Loco-]

I was just wondering what good free/good for value plugins you guys might recommend? It's really hard for me to make use of good VST's because i'm on a mac and hardly any work. I can recommend LAconvolver for impulses in logic - seems to be the only free impulse loader I can find.

maybe this can be sticky'd depending on how much response this gets. But maybe if you presented it like:

Plug-in name
O.S
Brief description
Why it works well for you

cheers

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

Massey L2007. $90. Nice limiter ala L2. It's just a good sounding well designed plug in.

 

[Rex Rocker]

apTrigga

I think it's available for Mac and PC

Very good cheap drum replacement plug-in!

 

[gabriel g.]

Drumagog->rescued a lot of projects with shitty drummers!!!!!!!
good compressor
good eq
good limiter
good gate

the compressor of logic 8 is GREAT!!!!
someone at gearslutz posted very nice settings emulating the waves ssl comp
and a setup for very nice de-essing.

the logic 8 adaptive limiter is also nice.
If you getting too hot with your muster it doesnt pump (like waves L3 multi)

The best gate I ever used was the waves ssl channelstrip gate

 

[brianhood]

gclip
windows(maybe mac too?)
clips crap

it makes my mixes loud without killing the snare drum
and its free

 

[-Loco-]

gclip
windows(maybe mac too?)
clips crap

it makes my mixes loud without killing the snare drum
and its free

yeah this was recommended to me in another thread because of the state of one of my mixes, unfortunately it doesn't come in a mac version. Could you recommend an alternative? also what kind of plug-in is it..i.e compressor/limiter i'll see if i can find something else like it!

keep these coming guys!

 

[Metaltastic]

VOXENGO ELEPHANT



...damn

 

[Erkan]

good compressor
good eq
good limiter
good gate

After reading that thread Ermz posted (hope I'm right), I would not be too sure if it's worth spending a lot of money on a "good" EQ? They're all basically the same, I know for one that I will be using stock EQs in any DAW I choose to work in, in the future (probably Reaper). If not, I'll just go with free EQs from KVR, try the one I like best. People recommend the Electri-Q or what it's called, a freeware EQ.

 

[Metaltastic]

Honestly, I used Electri-Q for awhile, but when I opened some sessions where I had used ReaEQ instead, I found it to be much more transparent sounding, so bye-bye Electri-Q!

 

[RiF]

I found these freebies useful:

• Jeroen Breebaart Ferox (tape saturation)
• Voxengo SPAN (RMS meter and frequency analyzer)
• Digitalfishphones Endorphin (2-band buss compressor)
• Bootsy Tessla (saturation)
• George Yohng W1 (limiter, Waves L1 clone)
• Piotr Pyrzanowski keFIR (convolution, 0 latency for cab impulses)
• Voxengo Boogex (convolution, 96 samples latency)
• SIR v1 (convolution reverb)
• You Wa Shock (original text from the website: "You Wa Shock ! is VST/Winamp effect for brighten up and maximize any truck you hand him.". Whatever that means exactly, it's able to beef up stuff)

And I use these a lot (good value for money):

• IK Multimedia T-Racks Standard (I like the compressor)
• IK Multimedia CSR Reverb (got both for EUR 99,- together)
• Massey CT4 (compressor, RTAS only)
• Massey Tapehead (saturator, RTAS only)
• Stillwell VibeEQ (great Pultec-style EQ plus saturator)
• Stillwell Event Horizon+ (best limiter I've heard)

These are all-time greats (no matter what they cost):

• UAD Plate 140 (great reverb)
• UAD 1176LN (compressor)
• UAD LA-2A (best vocal compressor)
• UAD Pultec-Pro (EQ)
• UAD CE-2 (chorus, the only modulation effect I would ever reach for)

 

[Erkan]

Honestly, I used Electri-Q for awhile, but when I opened some sessions where I had used ReaEQ instead, I found it to be much more transparent sounding, so bye-bye Electri-Q!

Yeah, I'm only gonna stick with stock Reaper plugs anyway... atleast for compressor and EQ. I've heard good things about Reaper's compressor, it seems to be quite versatile.

 

[-Loco-]

Btw while we're on the topic of things to download, could one of you guys tell me how I can access the ftp with all the impulses/drum samples on here? i tried doing it in an ftp client and it kept failing to connect..think i did something wrong. Oh and thanks a bunch guys! ill be trying out all the mac vers of these plugins

 

[RiF]

Yeah, I'm only gonna stick with stock Reaper plugs anyway... atleast for compressor and EQ. I've heard good things about Reaper's compressor, it seems to be quite versatile.

I hate Reaper's EQ...

 

[beyond dead]

liquid mix!!!! picked mine up new for 350 skins!!! has amazing compression and eq. like so good i want to gizz in my pants when I put the focusright red compressor on vocal tracks and smash the fuck out of them! If i want transparent eq i use logics linear phase eq.

Battery 3 is killer!

event horizon: best 50 skin yachts I ever spent!

logic space designer is cool for impulses and reverb!

my girlfriends box is my favorite plug in by far though. I could plug into it all day!

 

[Erkan]

I hate Reaper's EQ...

I have had a quick go at it but not enough to say what's wrong with it.

So, what's wrong with ReaEQ? :O

 

[sash poask]

liquid mix!!!! picked mine up new for 350

my girlfriends box is my favorite plug in by far though. I could plug into it all day!

+1

(my girlfriend that is not yours )

 

[Erkan]

my girlfriends box is my favorite plug in by far though. I could plug into it all day!

+1

(my girlfriend that is not yours )

+1

(both of your girlfriends that is, because I don't have one)

Sorry!

 

[ahjteam]

Pretty sure alot of people have heard of the Freeamp3: http://frettedsynth.home.att.net/ I started using those Fredman impulses loaded it (with no cab used on the Freeamp3) instead of the wagner preamp (cant get a good tone with it using DiMarzios on a cheap Ibanez) and it sounds pretty good, the low end of heavy guits is a bit clearer but there's still a wee bit of sizzle on the high end, and I like a warm cab sound with a bit of mid range sweet spot similar to Entombed or mid era Katatonia.

Freeamp is good, but there is a bug in the program and that is why I don't use it anymore; If you have more than one instance of it and you have a dualcore computer, it crashes your project the next time you open it.

 

[Sean in Silence]

All of the free Reaper plugins are pretty sick
They've always done what I needed them to do and have done it well

 

[gabriel g.]

no a lot of eq sound different!!!!
they do change the phase of the sound (by using the different bands)
And this makes a quit different sound...