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2017/04/18 01:22:55
space_cowboy
Paraphrasing a terrible commercial...Just curious - what plugins do you use most?
 
Over the years, I have been an admitted plug in junkie.  There were few things I saw advertised that I could not somehow justify buying.  
 
After rebuilding the various directories with the purchase of this most recent PC, I have found that there are lots of plugins I just do not use.  
 
BUT...
There are the indispensable ones.
UAD stuff - both as compressors, channel strips, eqs, amp sims...
THe Arturia bundle
AND
The Sound Toys bundle.
 
Curious - what are your go-to plugins?
 
 
2017/04/18 02:37:25
bitflipper
Fabfilter for single-band compression, EQ, harmonic excitation and individual-track limiting. ValhallaDSP for reverbs. Tritik tkDelay for most delay needs, Timeless2 for the fancy stuff. iZotope Ozone for mastering. Meldaproduction for dynamic EQ and transient design. 
 
I have plenty of alternatives to all of these, and lots of special-case processors, but the above comprise the first-string team. I ceased being a collector maybe three years ago, when I realized I already had everything I need. Actually, three or five of everything I need.
 
2017/04/18 02:52:23
space_cowboy
Agreed bit...mastering a few is better than being a novice at many.

That said I really enjoy arturia recreations of vintage instruments. Being a child of late 60s and early 70s music, their keys are great at capturing that vibe. The uad classics seem to work well with that era of instruments too. Or maybe it's because things like an LA2A are so simple a cave man can use them.
2017/04/18 02:54:22
space_cowboy
I do like the multi band stuff in the melda collection-like a delay on only the mid to upper frequencies. Ditto on chorus and the likes.
2017/04/18 06:18:09
biodiode
I hear what you are saying, as I used to be a bit of a gear junkie myself. My main go to items are Spectrasonics Omnisphere, Trillan and StylusRMX with a touch of ReFX Nexus now and again. For effects its straight down to Softube and UAD with some of the Cakewalk ProChannel modules. I do have one plugin that I just couldn't live without and that is Sonarworks Headphone Calibration plugin.
 
Forgot to add that I am in the process of reinstalling my operating system as I have made several hardware changes that has confused the O/S and will probably clear out my plugin folders to just those listed above.
2017/04/18 08:19:21
Sanderxpander
EQ:FabFilter Pro Q2 and sometimes the Waves Pultecs for flavor. I don't think I've had another EQ open in a year now that I think of it.

Compression: FabFilter Pro C2, Waves RVox, Waves Fairchild, Cakewalk CA2A(!), Waves Kramer Pie, Native Instruments Solid Series bus comp (SSL type). I experiment with those a lot more.

Reverb: ValhallaDSP, Waves IR1, recently FabFilter Pro R. Sometimes something like RVerb or the reverb from the BlueTubes bundle when I need something lo fi sounding.

Delay: I guess I'm pretty basic with delays, I really like Waves H Delay and sometimes SuperTap. Was interested to hear about Tritik tkdelay, I'll check that out. Have used and liked Sound toys Echoboy, but I can't bring myself to get into the iLok thing. I used Sonitus a lot before H Delay and it did great for me, just really annoying to automate because you can't do left and right simultaneously (link is ignored when automating).

Modulation: I'll usually try lots because they can sound so different on different material. The BlueTubes chorus can be quite nice, I also try all pedals from my amp sims. Waves Enigma and MetaFlanger are cool.

Distortion/Saturation: Klanghelm SDRR often hits the spot, I recommend it. I love FabFilter Saturn. Recently got Trash 2 in a bundle and managed to find a use for it straight away. Waves Kramer Master Tape sometimes. And Waves NLS. I honestly don't really use it religiously like a console where I insert it on every track and bus, but it can give a nice interesting flavor on individual tracks and some of the variations between the modeled channel strips are actually quite big, it's worth stepping through them. I haven't had it for very long but I've found it much more useful than the Cake included console sims so far.

Multiband: FabFilter Pro MB takes care of most stuff. I guess Saturn counts as multiband. Sometimes Waves Vitamin if a source is really lacking something. Often I find I have to dial it back after I've set it though.

Guitar: SGear 2 mostly. I have a bunch of others but I guess the point of the thread is "where do you usually find yourself" and I often start and end up there.

Bass: Waves CLA Bass. I can't figure out what it does all the time but it often does exactly what I didn't know I needed. I'm not a fan of "black box" plugins but I'll admit I often struggle with bass so it really helps. Waves Bass Rider is a staple too.

Mastering: Ozone and Waves L2 for quick.

Special: Waves S1, Vocal Rider, Melodyne

If anything this thread shows that you can get decent results almost regardless of the tools.
But it might also end up as a shopping list :)

Honestly I don't look at it as wasted money, having way more plugins than I use most of the time. For me, I learn a lot for instance about the sound and functionality of "compressor A" because I also have "B through Z" to compare to. It makes me a lot surer that I picked the right one, and it helps me decide the next time which one might work well for a given source. And sometimes something you almost never use turns out to be the solution to a specific thing.
2017/04/18 09:31:38
tenfoot
Aside from the family favourites already listed, I think Waves SSL 4000 deserves mention. It's compression is still the plugin I believe behaves most like an analogue compressor. Love that thing:)
2017/04/18 12:49:46
Slugbaby
I tend to use the BReverb that came with Cakewalk.
Other than that, my go-to's are the T-Racks Classic Series and Waves' Eddie Kramer effects.  And for vocals, Waves' Vocal Rider gets used every time.  
2017/04/18 15:20:19
savoy
sonitus & tonebooster fx
2017/04/18 15:24:57
bapu
Soon to be on every song I produce, but not necessarily a plug-in per se, is Mixbus 32c V4. I call this my "console".
 
But, before that, I'd say my recording/production go-to plugs are:
Fabfilter Q2, L and C.
Sonitus Compressor
UAD (top tier is Helios, SSL)
BOZ Manic Compressor
Slate VMR
Slate's VerbSuite
ReLab's LX-480
Kontakt
 
Mastering:
Ozone 7 Advanced (for the pop oriented stuff)
IK's Lurrsen Mastering Console (for the hard rock stuff)
Slate's FG-X (for the metal stuff)
 
Like you Maurice I have a boat load of stuff that I use from time to time but the above list is generally on most every project somewhere.
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