Hi,
 
Anybody have VST recommendations for adding shine to tracks, in particular things like distorted guitars?  Something maybe in the vein of a BBE Sonic Maximer, Aural Exciter or similar harmonic enhancer?  Preferably freeware or trial.
 
Thanks,
 
      Sonic 

Although this isn't free, the Scheps Omni Channel is fantastic. I use it on practically everything (especially distorted guitars) which just makes everything (drums, bass, synth, keys etc...) sound better. Not sure if it's still on sale, but totally worth that $40 (give or take) price tag.

Maybe
https://kilohearts.com/products/disperser
has a 10 day fully functional trial and is on sale till the 16th.

I recommend using an EQ plugin.

TheSteven
Maybe
https://kilohearts.com/products/disperser
has a 10 day fully functional trial and is on sale till the 16th.

+1

Thanks guys.   I just found this link....anybody have experience with any of these?
 
http://www.best-free-vst.com/plugins/effects/exciter-maximizer-enhancer-01.php
 
The description for the Modern Exciter and FericTDS seem particularly interesting....
 
I can try them on my own obviously, but anybody who's used these kinds of plugs before knows they can be deceiving.  Some are just plain bad but others sound good at first - until you start using them in a mix, stacked or whatever...often times it takes a while to get a solid grasp on whether the plug in is truly good or not.  That's part of why I was fishing for suggestions...
 
Sonic

What you want is a harmonic exciter. Some are called tube, preamp or console emulators, but they all do essentially the same thing: generate gentle harmonic distortion.
 
There are many to choose from, ranging from free to cheap to fairly expensive. Some are one-trick ponies, some are quite versatile. Here's one that's both inexpensive and fairly versatile.
 
My personal favorite is rather pricey, and that's the standalone exciter module bundled with Ozone Advanced. Second-favorite (and second in price) would be FabFilter's Saturn. Those two account for 95% of my distortion-lite needs.
 
P.S. Don't waste your money on the BBE Sonic Crapifier.

Thanks bitflipper.  So far I've already got the Voxengo Warmifier and CurvEQ (which has a selection of harmonic variations to choose from).   Do you happen to have any experience with Warmifier or CurvEQ that might offer an idea as to how they rate against some of the more expensive ones you prefer?   I only need something for distorted guitars so I can dial the gain back, and then add some harmonic saturation back in during mix.  The idea being to get a glassy, saturated tone that is still meaty (rather than too gainy/preampy sounding).   We used to do this back in the day by slamming the tape.  Or sometimes by using expensive outboard tube preamps, or even occasionally an Aural Exciter.  But I'm working 100% "in the box" these days and am struggling to figure out how to achieve a similar end result when it comes to distorted guitars.

Sonic

Add this to acoustic tracks gives it a little extra sparkle.
 
https://valhalladsp.com/s...verb/valhalla-shimmer/

Kush Clariphonic mkII is exellent and versatyle ...we re talking here parallel eq s so it s natural , waves vitamin also ...