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Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 6:48 am
by 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.

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 8:27 am
by hummingbird
Cheers for these!!

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 8:47 pm
by 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/

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:15 am
by WeWillWriteUaSong
Len911 wrote:
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

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:14 am
by WeWillWriteUaSong
mojobone wrote:
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! :idea:

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:02 am
by 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.

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:41 am
by 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, :lol: 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. :shock:

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! :?

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 2:50 pm
by 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.

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:30 pm
by 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.

Re: Those 'Secret Weapon' Plugins

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 8:06 am
by ochaim
FYI waves' weekend sale includes Vitamin that Mojobone recommended.

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