Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

[mojobone]

If you already know where to stick the mike, odds are the only plugins you need are EQ, compression and reverb, maybe a gate, and to save time-versus singing on pitch in the first place, maybe Autotune/Melodyne, but what about the audio ninja stuff that doesn't quite fit those categories? What are your favorite 'impossible' processors? Here are some of my latest discoveries:


Waves' Vitamin is a phase-aligned, zero-latency multiband exciter/de-esser with control over width and punch for each band. That doesn't sound very exciting, 'til you hear what it can do, and it can do a lot, in both corrective and creative applications, subtly or otherwise, using the mix knob. You can fix nearly any recording mistake or make your mix punch through walls like the Kool-Ade man, which also goes for this next bit of wizardry:

Sonnox' Envolution is an evolution of the transient processing that began with SPL's now-legendary Transient Designer, from the folks that brought you the TransMod plugin; this version has envelope control, (hence, 'envolution') and it's a game changer. Great for transforming/mangling drum loops, but the "difference" button allows you to send say, just the transients from a bass track to a reverb processor, so you get the effect without any 'mud' whatsoever. It can also 'de-reverberate' with finer control than SPL's De-Verb. Miked your acoustic guitar too close? Banish that weird pick attack forever! Turn that picked passage into fingerpicking! No bottom mic on the snare? No problemo! A skilled user can change the apparent mic distance of a recorded track after the fact. I have this one, and it's my new favorite.

Noveltech's Character seems to do a similar thing, though their site is cagey about how they're doing it exactly; (time-variant filtration, saturation and transient shaping would be my guess) with three algorithms and two knobs, it might be the simplest to operate.

Sonnox' Inflator has been around a while; all it does is make your mix sound louder without altering the crest factor, which you gotta admit is still a pretty neat trick. I love that they named it 'Inflator', cuz that's exactly what too much of this process sounds like: a balloon, about to pop. It's easy to overdo and it can be finicky to adjust, but in the right hands, it's indistinguishable from magic.

[hummingbird]

Cheers for these!!

[Len911]

The Sonnox plugins are all supr! The supressor is a linear phase dynamic eq, so it's a lot more than just a de-esser. Right now they are having a sale on the bundles through dealers. If you sign up for forum on dontcrack, you can get the private deal zone specials for the lowest prices.
http://forums.plugivery.com/index.php?showtopic=142176

SurferEq2, is another, unique tool, pitch tracking eq, again on sale, $116 for pdz members.
http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info ... ts_id=1311

Proximity,free, for modulating depth, sort of like a pan does left and right, fore and aft.
http://www.tokyodawn.net/proximity/

Melda Productions has a lot of those "odd-ball categories", powerful tools, not always clearly presented, though comparable to many higher-end plugins.
https://www.meldaproduction.com/

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

SurferEq2, is another, unique tool, pitch tracking eq, again on sale, $116 for pdz members.
http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info ... ts_id=1311

Proximity,free, for modulating depth, sort of like a pan does left and right, fore and aft.
http://www.tokyodawn.net/proximity/

Melda Productions has a lot of those "odd-ball categories", powerful tools, not always clearly presented, though comparable to many higher-end plugins.
https://www.meldaproduction.com/

Agree so heavily with these. SurferEQ is very awesome. I love using it on vocals and bass, cuz it follows the notes so well. And Melda has some AMAZING plugs. I wrote a post on the new MTurboComp which I now use as my GoTo comp for everything.

Although my secret weapon plugin is definitely Acustica Audio Nebula. http://www.acustica-audio.com/index.php ... Itemid=306 .

Honorable mentions to iZotope Stutter Edit, and MannyM Triple D. Stutter edit cuts up and mangles audio and can be set across the keyboard for unlimited potential.. Triple D is a multiband comp that I use for vocals and it just works. .... FabFilter Saturn also for Saturation...


....EDIT - wanted to give a quick mention to Infected Mushroom Pusher (on sale for $29 right now). Tried it on a few things recently and actually really like what it offers.. It's basically a multiband sonic enhancer that's really nice for Electronic and Hip-Hop

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

Waves' Vitamin is a phase-aligned, zero-latency multiband exciter/de-esser with control over width and punch for each band. That doesn't sound very exciting, 'til you hear what it can do, and it can do a lot, in both corrective and creative applications, subtly or otherwise, using the mix knob. You can fix nearly any recording mistake or make your mix punch through walls like the Kool-Ade man, which also goes for this next bit of wizardry:

Thanks for this Mojo. Checking out some Vitamin vids now. Heard of it, but never saw it in action. Me likey. Looks schweet!

[mojobone]

Yup, Nebula and Reaktor are amazing tools, but I think of them almost as instruments, rather than audio processors; Reaktor is an FX environment and Nebula can be configured to do almost anything of a tranformational nature, but you are definitely gonna hear them working, and Nebula in particular has a rather steep learning curve. they're comparable to Melda's MXXX in terms of complexity and routing. I'm looking at/for processors that don't call attention to themselves and offer something more than the standard-issue DAW tools.

Good call on Tokyo Dawn's "Proximity"; I was gonna add it, but it slipped my mind, while I was rounding up the links.

Melda's new MBassador would certainly qualify, as the casual listener won't know you've used it; it expands on Waves' MaxxBass by generating subharmonics and saturation as well as upper harmonics that help bass frequencies read on smaller speakers/earbuds.

Melda's MPhatic probably belongs in this category as well, employing standard processing in a new and unique configuration.

Melda's MRhythmizer doesn't really fit the category, but it does a lot more than iZotope's StutterEdit for a lot less. If you're doing EDM, you probably need this.

[Len911]

Although my secret weapon plugin is definitely Acustica Audio Nebula. http://www.acustica-audio.com/index.php ... Itemid=306 .

I had the version 2 a while back, with a few 3rd party vendor stuff, never re-installed it after hard drive crash. I used it a lot before, though I never noticed anything that great about it, such subtle changes and questionable if it was any better or worse.

Now that I think about it, uh-oh, I think they tried to capture the non-linearity of the equipment like tape, tubes, consoles, outboard equipment with class A circuitry, etc., but what you don't get is the actual amplification or compression that those circuits actually produce. It's like throwing out the baby and keeping the bath water.

For example, the gain curve and when a tape or tube goes into saturation, but if your daw signal doesn't approach that level, if one could really hear the difference, then it should sound odd saturating at such a low level. More artistic than realistic?

https://www.acustica-audio.com/index.ph ... Itemid=247

Okay, so I have even less faith after reading. It's only a non-linear convolution algorithm versus a linear regular convolution.

I don't know, the impulse response from a static hall versus the electrical response from a circuit doesn't seem to be anything the same. It seems the voltage and frequency are going to affect a circuit. You'd have to somehow use a lot of varying voltages and frequencies in multiple signals you used as the impulse responses for a circuit unlike a static one-off impulse used for a space. We're not measuring the acoustics inside a wire or a tube!

[lesmac]

+1 for Vitamin but I haven't worked out how to use it as a de- esser. I kinda don't think it is ...but..........

It's great for brightening up my cruddy old guitar strings and treating vocals or anything else including a whole mix. Not that I have used it on the mix but I think Yoad Nevo might in his tutorials.

When doing guitar vocal demos I can't go past CLA Vocals and Unplugged.

[Cruciform]

I'm going to add..

BBE Sonic Maximizer is excellent for making an instrument stand out in a very dense mix. I only use it sparsely and lightly, and it can really sharpen a sound without affecting eq or level balances. It's easy to overdo.

Waves JJP Vocals is my secret sauce for trailer brass. In a busy brass section I'll run an instance on each instrument. Where the brass lines are simpler and typically chord or octave based I will use one on the brass bus.

[ochaim]

FYI waves' weekend sale includes Vitamin that Mojobone recommended.

http://www.waves.com/plugins/vitamin