While my wallet judiciously awaits an announcement for the desktop version of the OB-X8, I thought perhaps a side thread to discuss software plug-ins might be a useful addition to the forum.
I originally cut my "synth teeth" back in the late 80s on a combination of synths and the Atari ST (brilliant built-in MIDI ports), so for me hardware and software are forever intertwined, and while I completely understand those who want to go DAWless, I doubt it will ever happen for me, there is simply too much that can be accomplished with a computer.
My hopes is that this thread could be, as the title suggests, an ongoing dump of feedback about plugins you would find hard to replace.. the ones you keep going back to. Not necessarily the new and shiny ones, new releases always have that. But the ones that seem to provide value either equal to the hardware that you own, or that supplement the hardware you own, or that adequately replace hardware for you.
So I will start off with a few that have really wow'd me in no particular order.. please feel free to to do the same... FX, softsynths, it doesn't matter. I will try to occasionally add to the thread when I think of additional ones.
- FabFilter Volcano3: Amazing interface, do pretty much everything with a filter you wanted to do on hardware but ran into limitations and ended up settling for a happy accident
- CableGuys MidiShaper: Gives me so much modulation control over my hardware synths, it's amazing what adding a subtle sine wave to this or that MIDI cc can do.
- Soundtoys EchoBoy Jr: I think it's the simplicity of it that makes me keep reaching for it. I like plugins that do something specific and do it well.
- Native Instruments Raum: I believe they even were or maybe are giving this away free, very nice reverb
- Plogue Chipsynth OPS7: For fans of the original DX7, this is the first softsynth that, to my ears really sounded like a DX7... I believe the magic is in the DAC emulation
.... I will cut the list short for now, as I could go on. Want to encourage others to chime in on what they consider "the good stuff"!