Indispensible DAW Plugins

LPF83

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Indispensible DAW Plugins
« on: October 15, 2022, 03:16:18 PM »
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"!



Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Korg Minilogue XDm, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

chysn

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2022, 06:11:24 AM »
This is a good idea for a topic.

Mine would be

Serum, which is the best way to create Pro 3 wave tables.

Pianoteq, a great-sounding modeled acoustic piano.
Prophet 5 Rev 4 #2711

MPC One+ ∙ MuseScore 4

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he/him/his

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2022, 08:03:41 PM »
I am interested in the Pianoteq plugin. I have downloaded the demo and played with it some. And I just now ran the demo with a song I am currently writing, and it does sound pretty nice. Related to that, I will mention a plugin I quite like: Synthogy Ivory. I bought that plugin in 2009? and got a lot of use out of it. A couple of years after that, I ended up not doing anything with DAWs, plugins, recording, etc. due to "life". It has a way of doing that to us sometimes. It turned into a nearly 10 year hiatus. A couple of years ago, I got back into recording and dug out my Synthogy Ivory boxes of DVDs and ... installed them and got it all working again. I bought that plugin when I was using Windows 7? with Sonar Cakewalk. Now I am using a Mac and Logic Pro X. Yeah - it is a plugin and should just work. But I was pleasantly surprised to find it working with the exact same DVDs (and a few downloads). All that to say, I have to consider it a "go to" plugin for me. I am able to coax a sound out if it that makes me happy. Example: https://soundcloud.com/markwilkins/heaven-came-down

I have recently been using Spectrasonics Keyscape and am finding that to be very nice. I love the Rhodes samples especially. And I am starting to think that the piano (a Yamaha sample) is going to be a go-to for me and perhaps will be used more than the Synthogy library.

The other plugin that I would currently consider "indispensable" is iZotope Ozone. I bought v9 about 18 months ago and use it on every track. I suspect that people who are good at mixing/mastering don't need tools like this. But I am not that person; this plugin helps me and I love it. And, interestingly, after I bought it 18 months ago I figured out from my records that I had purchased/used Ozone (v4) prior to my 10 year hiatus. So it seems I have found this plugin to be indispensable a couple of times now.

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2022, 08:17:15 PM »
I'm pretty sure it was chysn who first brought Pianoteq to my attention and I can certainly say it's been pretty vital to me since I started using it. Besides the Steinway grands, the U4 Upright collection is my go-to. All of the pianos I've owned in "real life" have been modest creatures. I've played my share of grands at gigs or in studios, but the it's the sound of a slightly out-of-tune upright that most of my songs relate to most. Pianoteq *feels* like what my ears wants to hear. Lovely instrument.

LPF83

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2023, 04:26:46 PM »
I just thought of this thread recently..  When I wrote the first post, I remembered telling myself to limit my recommendations to those that stood the test of time, and not just post new and shiny plug-ins when I was influenced by the thrill of their newness.

I've been using these for a couple of years now, so I now consider them "staple" plugins and would be one of the first ones I install on a new system:  AudioThing Type A and Type B  (harmonic exciters)

They are one of the first FX I reach for whenever a soft synth plugin disappoints my ears in comparison with my hardware, and I just want instant suspension of disbelief with regard to the difference between plugins and hardware synths.  These are two of my favorite exciter plugins, and the first ones I reach for when I want to tease the harmonics of a sound.  Honestly I can put them onto just about any instrument and get a much better sounding result with relatively few tweaks.

I do find that once I treat a powerful software synth with this and other FX, it can consume quite a bit of CPU, so there is that.  My music PC is now 10 years old, so a worthy analog modeling softsynth plus this and a couple of other plugins on the track can consume significant CPU.  Those of you with newer processors might find this to be a non-issue.  I have been able to get softsynth clones to sound impressively close to their hardware counterparts using these, even if the hands-on experience isn't the same.

Sometimes I do add them even to tracks with hardware synths, simply as a tone modifier, they are good at that as well.  I have tried other exciters but none get as much use as these two.

Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Korg Minilogue XDm, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2023, 06:17:47 PM »
I just thought of this thread recently..  When I wrote the first post, I remembered telling myself to limit my recommendations to those that stood the test of time, and not just post new and shiny plug-ins when I was influenced by the thrill of their newness.

I've been using these for a couple of years now, so I now consider them "staple" plugins and would be one of the first ones I install on a new system:  AudioThing Type A and Type B  (harmonic exciters)

They are one of the first FX I reach for whenever a soft synth plugin disappoints my ears in comparison with my hardware, and I just want instant suspension of disbelief with regard to the difference between plugins and hardware synths.  These are two of my favorite exciter plugins, and the first ones I reach for when I want to tease the harmonics of a sound.  Honestly I can put them onto just about any instrument and get a much better sounding result with relatively few tweaks.

I do find that once I treat a powerful software synth with this and other FX, it can consume quite a bit of CPU, so there is that.  My music PC is now 10 years old, so a worthy analog modeling softsynth plus this and a couple of other plugins on the track can consume significant CPU.  Those of you with newer processors might find this to be a non-issue.  I have been able to get softsynth clones to sound impressively close to their hardware counterparts using these, even if the hands-on experience isn't the same.

Sometimes I do add them even to tracks with hardware synths, simply as a tone modifier, they are good at that as well.  I have tried other exciters but none get as much use as these two.

Do you ever find that too much Exciter is... too much? I remember the studio days when the Aphex Aural Exciter was THE new thing, and it was put on every track anybody could find! After about six months, nobody could breathe for all the Excitement in the air and the Aphex became a cursed enemy! I mean, these days, I put Soothe on nearly most of my tracks, so I'm not coming at this from a "there's only one way to tell the truth" point of view, mind!

LPF83

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2023, 06:48:57 PM »
Do you ever find that too much Exciter is... too much? I remember the studio days when the Aphex Aural Exciter was THE new thing, and it was put on every track anybody could find! After about six months, nobody could breathe for all the Excitement in the air and the Aphex became a cursed enemy! I mean, these days, I put Soothe on nearly most of my tracks, so I'm not coming at this from a "there's only one way to tell the truth" point of view, mind!

Absolutely, and maybe I should have mentioned that.. best results are achieved with very subtle use.  And it really depends on what you're doing with the track itself, if adding vocals I can see how an exciter can be a liability as it's going to add highs that can interfere.  Where I find these most valuable is when using a softsynth, where the overall sound you want is there, but it sounds a bit too dull or virtual and you want some of the sparkle of the hardware.

They are plug-ins best used with a specific purpose and with extremely subtle settings.  Otherwise it's easy to end up with something grating sounding in the mix.
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Korg Minilogue XDm, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2023, 07:20:01 PM »
Do you ever find that too much Exciter is... too much? I remember the studio days when the Aphex Aural Exciter was THE new thing, and it was put on every track anybody could find! After about six months, nobody could breathe for all the Excitement in the air and the Aphex became a cursed enemy! I mean, these days, I put Soothe on nearly most of my tracks, so I'm not coming at this from a "there's only one way to tell the truth" point of view, mind!

Absolutely, and maybe I should have mentioned that.. best results are achieved with very subtle use.  And it really depends on what you're doing with the track itself, if adding vocals I can see how an exciter can be a liability as it's going to add highs that can interfere.  Where I find these most valuable is when using a softsynth, where the overall sound you want is there, but it sounds a bit too dull or virtual and you want some of the sparkle of the hardware.

They are plug-ins best used with a specific purpose and with extremely subtle settings.  Otherwise it's easy to end up with something grating sounding in the mix.

Now, see, my approach would be to add Exciter to everything, and then wear away the effects of the Exciter with Soothe! I always like to get my money's worth from plugins!

Your approach to using the Exciter on softsynths makes sense. I only have Logic's own exciter, which I've barely played with, but I'll dig it out and see where it lands...

Shaw

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2023, 11:28:09 PM »

I've been using these for a couple of years now, so I now consider them "staple" plugins and would be one of the first ones I install on a new system:  AudioThing Type A and Type B  (harmonic exciters)

Have you tried u-he’s Satin?  It does the Dolby A/B Compander thing very well in a great tape plugin.  One advantage if that it has several encoding and decoding algorithms that can be mixed and matched (for example, Type A in, Type B out).  Lots of other cool features in the plugin as well.

Other “indispensable” plugins…

Acustica Audio channel strips, EQs and Compressors.  Instead of “modeling” components, they use a technique more akin to Sampling / Convolution Impulse Responses of various stages of a piece of gear.  Computer resource use can be a little heavier, but results sound fantastic.

Oeksound Soothe 2 — best described as an intelligent dynamic EQ.  Works wonders on everything you put through it.

Eventide’s Omnipressor — powerful compressor / expander. 
"Classical musicians go to the conservatories, rock´n roll musicians go to the garages." --- Frank Zappa
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LPF83

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #9 on: May 28, 2023, 05:28:15 AM »

I've been using these for a couple of years now, so I now consider them "staple" plugins and would be one of the first ones I install on a new system:  AudioThing Type A and Type B  (harmonic exciters)

Have you tried u-he’s Satin?  It does the Dolby A/B Compander thing very well in a great tape plugin.  One advantage if that it has several encoding and decoding algorithms that can be mixed and matched (for example, Type A in, Type B out).  Lots of other cool features in the plugin as well.

Other “indispensable” plugins…

Acustica Audio channel strips, EQs and Compressors.  Instead of “modeling” components, they use a technique more akin to Sampling / Convolution Impulse Responses of various stages of a piece of gear.  Computer resource use can be a little heavier, but results sound fantastic.

Oeksound Soothe 2 — best described as an intelligent dynamic EQ.  Works wonders on everything you put through it.

Eventide’s Omnipressor — powerful compressor / expander.

I have not yet tried u-He Satin, Soothe 2 is one of those I've been meaning to pick up on a sale but haven't yet.  For compression my go-to has been Solid State Logic Bus Compressor 2 and Channel Strip 2 (the actual SSL native ones rather than some of the other variants).  These I highly recommend too but they haven't made the list here because the regular price is nearly $500 for just those two plug-ins.  There was a sale on them (both for $50) through Sweetwater about a year ago and if they are ever available for that price again then they definitely make the "indispensible" recommendation list. 
In general I try to never pay full price for plugins.
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Korg Minilogue XDm, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

LPF83

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #10 on: May 28, 2023, 05:32:28 AM »
Your approach to using the Exciter on softsynths makes sense. I only have Logic's own exciter, which I've barely played with, but I'll dig it out and see where it lands...

I have a few other exciters that I've tried that don't appeal to me as much.  There's something about the range of settings (color/drive/tune etc) with the AudioThing plugins that always seems to end up with a result I decide to keep.
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Korg Minilogue XDm, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #11 on: May 28, 2023, 08:06:41 AM »
Your approach to using the Exciter on softsynths makes sense. I only have Logic's own exciter, which I've barely played with, but I'll dig it out and see where it lands...

I have a few other exciters that I've tried that don't appeal to me as much.  There's something about the range of settings (color/drive/tune etc) with the AudioThing plugins that always seems to end up with a result I decide to keep.

At the risk of turning this into "a list of plugins I own and companies I've heard of and also, how many times I fed the cats yesterday" thread, I do love AudioThing. I wasn't aware of their Type A and B plugs, though... only so many hours in the day/dollars in the wallet etc. But most plugs I do have from AudioThing get very frequent use. Wires, Springs and Bubbles getting the bulk of the action. I've got various free stuff from them as well, like their Tilt EQ (now Flip, I think...) Anyway, a great company making lots of weirdo plugs that are very musically... uh, exciting!

Soothe is indeed an "indispensable" plug for me... along with Fab Filter's Pro-Q. Both vital basics for me now.

LPF83

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Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #12 on: May 28, 2023, 01:48:55 PM »
Your approach to using the Exciter on softsynths makes sense. I only have Logic's own exciter, which I've barely played with, but I'll dig it out and see where it lands...

I have a few other exciters that I've tried that don't appeal to me as much.  There's something about the range of settings (color/drive/tune etc) with the AudioThing plugins that always seems to end up with a result I decide to keep.

At the risk of turning this into "a list of plugins I own and companies I've heard of and also, how many times I fed the cats yesterday" thread, I do love AudioThing. I wasn't aware of their Type A and B plugs, though... only so many hours in the day/dollars in the wallet etc. But most plugs I do have from AudioThing get very frequent use. Wires, Springs and Bubbles getting the bulk of the action. I've got various free stuff from them as well, like their Tilt EQ (now Flip, I think...) Anyway, a great company making lots of weirdo plugs that are very musically... uh, exciting!

Soothe is indeed an "indispensable" plug for me... along with Fab Filter's Pro-Q. Both vital basics for me now.

I use Pro-Q3 all the time and love Fab Filters UI (I mentioned Volcano 3 in an earlier post, another winner).., I think the dynamic EQ features are one reason I've held off on Soothe for so long, as it can accomplish the same thing only not quite as "automagically".  But since I prefer to spend the bulk of my time on composition and not mixing, Soothe is probably a worthwhile investment.  I sometimes feel guility with tools like Pro-Q3 that are so powerful and yet I usually end up using 20% of their functionality.  From what I can tell Soothe's brilliance is in what it brings to the speed of workflow, which for me is huge since I don't like to spend a lot of time mixing.  And yeah annoying resonant peaks that I only hear in the final master are a recurring issue that sends me back to the drawing board to solve fairly regularly.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2023, 01:51:24 PM by LPF83 »
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Korg Minilogue XDm, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2023, 01:49:45 PM »

558

Re: Indispensible DAW Plugins
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2023, 05:00:36 PM »
You can use only unvigilantly guarded plugins.  That is if you value your time only free plugins.  If you are going to deal with companies whose security preempts your own program and template loading time, you may as well throw caution to the wind completely and start making music other people would want to steal....

That said, I have some 900 plugins at last count, that are all quick to load or cause crashes.  Some are not exactly free and are really nice to have on hand and do in a pinch.  These often come with midi controllers or interfaces or other equipment.  One set of plugins I like a lot is the AIR Creative FX collection PLUS (has 7 more plugins than the basic AIR Creative FX collection).  Air > Dead duck.

I use the Studio One plugins for anything else.  I used to use those Waves plugins, (now the Analog Obsession free line looks much smoother and minimalist > than the Waves line). 

Oh I have Abbey Road, and wish I could include it in templates, like I once did but I refuse to put up with Waves plugin behaviors. I actually have that Aphex Exciter plugin.  It is on hand if I want to make something really exciting.  It's not the only exciter available though I think Studio 1 has something like that in their plugins. 

Prophet 10, 0692
Ryzen 3900XT 12/24
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iPhone 5s Moog Model D via bluetooths of Reface Looper or Xkeys, Arturia Beatstep Pro w/Roland System 1m, Roland JP08, Roland TD17s as drums &->Prophet 10, Oxygen 8v2->Prophet, Akai Adv 25 or Launchey arps->Prophet10 or any all VSTs.