Your go-to plugins?

[RodB]

Reverb: Valhalla Room

MS decoding: Voxengo MSED

Ozone 9 for everything else in small doses...

I use Izotope RX sometimes but separately not as a plug-in.

I have deliberately limited my choices having spent too much time experimenting, then reverting to what I liked in the first place

[catdaddy]

The plugins below are the ones I use on every project. I use other plugins selectively on occasion as needs arise, but not consistently.

Mastering- iZotope Ozone 8

Metering- Youlean Loudness Meter 2

Everything else- Logic stock plugins

[min7b5]

Top of my list for sure is Fabfilter Pro Q3 It's always in my template
I also always have Fabfilter's Pro C2 for compression, and Pro L2s for a limiter if I'm not sending off to mastering.
Reverb is LiquidSonics's Seventh Heaven of late, but I use Pro R a lot too. I have Valhalla Room as well.
For M/S decoding I like Goodhertz' MidSide
And lately I've been playing around with Kush Audio BLYSS, which is a very cool mastering eq with saturation
I have Softtube Tape that I use once in a while.
I use Logic's Multimeter.
Lastly I have Izotope RX 9, but haven't taken the time to play with it yet.
Mainly it's the Fabfilter stuff that I wouldn't want to work without.

[TBman]

My short list:

Rx 7/8 for editing, noise reduction, fades, etc. as a stand alone.

In Reaper:
Ozone 8
Waves F6-RTA
Boz Digital Labs Width knob

Reverb:
TR5 Classik Studio Reverb

[FrankHudson]

I'll reply, as I'm recording a lot, even though I'm not as accomplished or as good at it as some others.

I use the built in Logic Pro X plug ins a lot, and other than mastering I think I could "desert island" with just the stuff they give you. The compressors and the DeEsser2 work well for me, the Logic IR based reverb too. The built in bass amps are as good as anything I've tried, particularly the one that is graphically portrayed as like the Avalon preamp (though I've never used the real hardware). The Logic Leslie speaker sim can be used lots of ways.

For Mastering, Izotope Ozone 9. Insight is included in my level of Ozone and it's the best tool I have for validating levels when mastering.

I'll sometimes use Izotope Nectar and Neutron on tracks too when mixing. Lots of power there but I don't really have as good handle on how to use them and unnecessary for simple acoustic guitar tracks.

Amplitube for electric guitar amp sims, though I'll sometimes use the Logic X ones too. I picked Amplitube because I find their Fender amp sims fit my tastes.

Modulation effects (other than Leslie) I tend to use hardware (pedals) still.

Virtual Instruments. Don't get me started. I use a bunch of them, too many to go into.

[rick-slo]

Have a number of different plug-ins but theses days I would mostly likely go first to:

Voxengo Sound Delay (if needed)

Compression: none

Equalization: FabFilter Pro-Q

Reverb: Waves IR (especially with Samplicity's impulse responses)
or Lexicon PCM Native

Dither: none

[Aimelie]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Have a number of different plug-ins but theses days I would mostly likely go first to:

Voxengo Sound Delay (if needed)

Compression: none

Equalization: FabFilter Pro-Q

Reverb: Waves IR (especially with Samplicity's impulse responses)
or Lexicon PCM Native

Dither: none

Is this the one, because it’s on sale this weekend at 80% off?

https://www.waves.com/plugins/ir-l-convolution-reverb

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Aimelie

Is this the one, because it’s on sale this weekend at 80% off?

Just so folks know, Waves plugins are almost always on sale for $29.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Aimelie

Is this the one, because it’s on sale this weekend at 80% off?

https://www.waves.com/plugins/ir-l-convolution-reverb

Yes and at that price it's a no brainer to get it. I paid several times that amount several years ago. However I would suggest the IR1
version than the IR-L version for having more options.
https://www.waves.com/plugins/ir1-convolution-reverb


The Waves IR and IR-L plugins are somewhat warmer and thicker sounding than my other reverbs (Waves own impulse responses come
with it (download them online) and others are available elsewhere).

I use reverb for fatter and warmer sounding notes when possible rather than obvious slow decaying reverb tails. A clip of one of my
recordings doing some of that: http://dcoombsguitar.com/CDFive/WhereToDemo.mp3

[Aimelie]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Yes and at that price it's a no brainer to get it. I paid several times that amount several years ago. However I would suggest the IR1
version than the IR-L version for having more options.
https://www.waves.com/plugins/ir1-convolution-reverb


The Waves IR and IR-L plugins are somewhat warmer and thicker sounding than my other reverbs (Waves own impulse responses come
with it (download them online) and others are available elsewhere).

I use reverb for fatter and warmer sounding notes when possible rather than obvious slow decaying reverb tails. A clip of one of my
recordings doing some of that: http://dcoombsguitar.com/CDFive/WhereToDemo.mp3

Thank you!

Yes, fatter and warmer is exactly what I’m hearing there. What a lovely tone!

Did you base this on one of their presets (or can you think of any you might recommend)? I went ahead and bought it. Looking forward to trying it out.

[Brent Hahn]

In ensemble recordings, delay tails are a lot harder to detect because there's usually some other instrument there to hide them. In solo recordings, delay tails can be pretty exposed. Dialing in a low-pass filter (extreme, maybe) can help the delays be less obvious.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Aimelie

Thank you!

Yes, fatter and warmer is exactly what I’m hearing there. What a lovely tone!

Did you base this on one of their presets (or can you think of any you might recommend)? I went ahead and bought it. Looking forward to trying it out.

Mainly find and load the impulse response you like.
Then it's mainly the wet/dry ratio, duration and pre delay, and Direct on or off.

On the recording example I gave I used IR-L, RVerb, and Lexicon Hall as pictured in the this link:

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Temp/Reverbs.jpg

The IR-L was short reverb. The others added more of a tail.

The Waves IR1 and IR-L being convolution reverbs are highly dependent on the impulse response loaded.

[Aimelie]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Mainly find and load the impulse response you like.
Then it's mainly the wet/dry ratio, duration and pre delay, and Direct on or off.

On the recording example I gave I used IR-L, RVerb, and Lexicon Hall as pictured in the this link:

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Temp/Reverbs.jpg

The IR-L was short reverb. The others added more of a tail.

The Waves IR1 and IR-L being convolution reverbs are highly dependent on the impulse response loaded.

That’s wonderful. I really appreciate that you took the time to make some screen cap’s and post them.

Thank you!

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Virtual Instruments. Don't get me started. I use a bunch of them, too many to go into.

No need for virtual instruments; the intent of the thread was more for processing plugins. And if you think the processing plugins can be expensive....

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Tips & Tricks to getting better discounts

I don't think there are any "tricks" to getting a better discount on plugins but the best tip is to be patient and wait for the best sale.

So, you ask, when does any company run their best sale?

You can almost always count on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend for companies to run their best sales. Some will also run equally or nearly as good sales in June or July, so those are also good months for shopping.

For deals on interfaces and outboard gear, ask the salesman for a better price. Sometimes there's wiggle room and they'll work with you and give you a deal. But the best long term strategy is to develop a relationship with a salesman. I've been buying from one guy at Vintage King for years and whenever possible he gives me a great deal (sometimes as much as 20% depending on the product). He's even taken care of friends that I've sent his way. I know Kevwind has a similar relationship with a guy at Wind Over The Earth in Colorado. Those relationships can pay really off once established.