Are there any plugins left that are must haves?

[Ray Lyon]

Get FabFilter Q3 for sure!


Also...

Mastering the Mix RESO and/or Oeksound Soothe 2... great for reducing resonances, ringing, shrill, etc.


Acon Restoration Suite is great for general noise reduction and pops n clicks

[uptheoctave]

McDSP M8000 is my favourite master bus limiter.
I put it on almost every mix/project.

Other must haves for me:

SSL 4K E, FabFilter Pro Q, UA Distressor OR Empirical Labs Arouser (or both), Seventh Heaven and Cinematic Rooms.

I see the new Relab Maselec EQ and Eventide Blackhole Immersive becoming essential soon too.

[basslik]

No decapitator fans here?

[FunkzzaJ]

My hidden gem in the plugin bonanza is the SlickEQ-M (notably the M version) for its way to handle mid-side, grit, and wonderfully sounding especially when set to the 'insane' level.

For reverbs I gravitate toward Inspirata from Inspired Acoustics (free inner-circle gift). Wonderful sound imo. And also Acusticas Silver, a bad behaving one here on my system, but sounds like a charm. Add-on packs sounds really good.

And on my whish-list I have the Unisum, and perhaps Liquid sonics. Let's see what santa brings this year.

/T

[inspire]

Thanks for this Unisum hint!

[Electronic1982]

On the subject of must haves:

I'm selling 104 Waves Plug-ins for $299, see here: https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=426758

I think it's a must have offer

[JFreak]

Waves has only two "must have" plugins (C6 and L3LL) and even that assumes you tolerate Waves.

L3LL has alternatives, but C6 is unique. That is the only Waves plugin I kind of miss, but can just as well live without.

[BScout]

Originally Posted by JFreak

but C6 is unique. That is the only Waves plugin I kind of miss, but can just as well live without.

Have C6 but it was easily replaced for the better by FF MB. I didn't even bother dealing with Waves to move that to Apple ARM. (This after the Waves subscription fiasco)
Waves SoundShifter (often the best choice over Pitch n Time and elastiqueAAX) and IR-1/360 (still one of the rare convolution reverbs that doesn't over-dampen the top end) are the only ones I still regularly use.

[Eric Lambert]

I haven't touched a waves plugin in 10 years and haven't missed them once. The plugin market is vast, riddled with excellent products -- there's no reason to be seduced by their marketing.

[originalscottyg]

Anybody tried the new QuantX plugin from Relab? It's a clone of the Quantec Room Simulator. It definitely seems to do things that other reverb plugins don't, especially with the early reflections with Enhance turned on.

https://relabdevelopment.com/quantx/