If you were starting from scratch what plugs would you buy?

[itsjustmeee123]

That’s an interesting question and one I thought about from time to time. I guess the answer is really more dependent on what you use your studio for. Coming more from the producer, songwriter, home studio side, I would probably choose different ones. Like Native Instruments Komplete with Kontakt. I’ve been using Kontakt since version 2 for the last 17 years and it’s something I could not do without.

[massivekerry]

Depends.

- FabFilter Pro-Q 3 (definitely the best all-rounder EQ tool)
- Avid's included plugins.
- Probably go with the $15/month Plugin Alliance subscription (I know. Subscriptions. But for $180/year, you're getting a ton of GREAT plugins that cover just about everything in dynamics, saturation, some EQ, color, M/S processing, and you get to choose 3 plugins to "keep" for each year of subscription, which should cover the price of the sub)
- Oh, and Ozone 10 Advanced.

If you make music

- NI Kontakt
- Whatever Neural DSP amp models sound best to you
- Superior Drummer (or EZ Drummer)
- maybe the Arturia VI Bundle

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

Oh, and Empirical Labs Arousor.

+ million. I wish I had the hardware.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Hmmm, for me, I could do what I do with the Slate bundle and maybe a dozen or so Waves singles and Melodyne

Nowadays I can do 100% without Waves or Slate.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by glasswing

Record the parts right in the first place with good mic

This. Best plugin ever.

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by thin ice

Fabfilter Pro Q3 and Sonnox Dynamics would be the first.

The problem with buying loads of plugins, is that they will be littered over old sessions you have to occasionally open. Then you'll be paying for updates on plugins you no longer use regularly. I know from my own experience!

Agreed. Great post.

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Nowadays I can do 100% without Waves or Slate.

I also agree with this.

[MLaudio]

Toneboosters, Kilohearts (almost all free), Valhalla and some of Izotope (particularly Ozone and RX).

Toneboosters and Kilohearts have great installers with no limitations. They sound great, look great, are priced great, and cover almost everything. And best of all, the communication and implementation from the developers is the best i have personally experienced.

RX for post is a must and i have used Ozone since version 4, so it stays. Kilohearts is surprisingly great for post game work as well (which i do for a living).

Waves RVOX, RCOMP, and MV2 are 3 in particular from Waves I would want to keep. They are my go to for vocals.

[Carl Lie]

I'll toss in my vote for Fabfilter Q3 and Saturn. I like Volcano as well but it more of a niche thing.

No Slate but still use a few Waves.

C

[grayter1]

SSL UC1/channel strips as primary EQ/Comp, FF Pro-Q3 (surgical), Soundtoys 5 bundle for color and the Valhalla stuff. Melodyne and VocAlign make life easier and Komplete 13 and V-Collection 9 serve as VI's.

If I can't do it with that, then I shouldn't be doing it. Admittedly, all of the above could be considered overkill. I've dropped Waves, Slate and PA. The subscriptions were no longer worth it to me.

It's amazing how close I get to a finished sound with just the SSL channel strip. The rest is sweeting/color options. I'll add that the Arturia FX Collection plugs are starting to show up more and more in my sessions.

tg