What plugins can I not live without...

[mamacita]

Sorry for the newbie question, hopefully this hasn't been done to death already I have around $500 to spend on plugs and was wondering what will give me the most bang for my buck. I've been eyeing the Waves Renaissance Maxx collection and Mc DSP Filterbank as it they seem to have some nice features and don't cost an arm and a leg. I have the PSP Vintage Warmer and love it, but I still need some eq's and other plugs to enhance my otherwise stock setup. I don't need crazy lo-fi or flange fx etc., just eq and compression. The boring stuff Thanks in advance!

[MidnightFlyer]

You'll definitely get a lot of opinions on this one. You're well on your way with the Vintage Warmer. I would also include Metric Halos' Channelstrip for eq. (It has some great presets) and Bombfactory's LA-2A, or 1176 for compression.
I use these all the time. They bring the sounds right up front. Another great plugin is DaD Valve.

[pk_hat]

Originally posted by mamacita:
I don't need crazy lo-fi or flange fx etc., just eq and compression. The boring stuff Thanks in advance!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">In my opinion it would be a unanimous vote for Waves Rennaissance. Between that and the PSP VW, I think your bases for good processing are covered.

[J. Guerrero]

I'll keep posting this until it's obsolete:
Antares Tube.

[nedorama]

PSP vintagewarmer
BF Classic compressors 48K version (saves money, and you can upgrade later if you need 96k)
BF Pultec EQ

[WorldOfWiz]

I can't even start my mix without McDSP's Analog Channel. It helps the tracks fit better.

Read up on the Charles Dye Mixing Revealed Archives in Digizine. You will get a great idea where to start.

Alot of the plug ins have demos. Try them out

Wiz

[Fourtsian]

Those plug-ins are all good, but I really can't live without Altiverb since I do electonic music a lot.
It really makes tracks with synth, electronic drums sounds together.

[marcoustic]

I couldn´t live without my waves ren collection and my new absolute favourite amplitube. They´re worth every buck.
And if you need any filter for free, try the frohmage by ohmforce or northpole by prosoniq, really cool stuff.

Greets Markus

[jeronimo]

Waves Renn... and all McDsp stuff

[mamacita]

Cool, thanks for the input everyone! I'll be sure to look into those suggestions.