$1000 worth of basic native mixing plug-ins - your choice?

[b3groover]

Hi folks,

It's been a long time since I last posted here. I've been touring a lot and not recording much but I have a new album in the works from my jazz trio (Hammond / guitar / drums) that I decided to mix myself this time around. I tracked our last album four years ago in my home studio but didn't feel confident enough to mix it. This time I'm taking the plunge.

In that light, I need to invest in some native mixing plugins. I run Cubase 6 and I don't own any third party plug-ins except for a copy of the now defunct Kjaerhus MPL-1 limiter.

I think I'm going to go with the Elephant limiter from Voxengo. I downloaded the demo and it is incredibly transparent, clean, and detailed.

I also downloaded the demo of the new Yamaha Vintage Plug-In Collection. The compressors are very good. The EQ is okay. The tape saturation plug-in is pointless. But I do like the compressors. I have a feeling there are better options out there for the money.

I'm looking at Sonnox, Fab Filter, DMG, Softtube, Brainworx, Voxengo, and the SSL bundle from Waves. I'd like to stay away from iLok stuff if possible but if I have to go that route, it's fine. I'm not completely anti-dongle (I can't be with Cubase after all) but one less dongle would be nice.

I really just need bus and mix compressors both clean and "vintage" sounding, EQs (both precision and colored), and a limiter. Maybe a "warmer" or "inflator" like the Sonnox. The transient modifier in Cubase is actually really good.

My budget is around $1000. I might qualify for some educational discounts.

Hit me!
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[John Jeffers]

First thing I'd look at would be the Waves Gold bundle. That'll get you a good selection of compressors and EQs, a couple of other nice-to-have plugins, and Waves doesn't require an iLok anymore.

Then, I'd add the CLA Classic Compressors bundle, 'cause those are great to have for your LA-2A and 1176 emulations.

You'd spend just under $1,000 for both bundles, no iLok required.

(Since this is already on your radar, I'll also add that I love the SSL bundle, and I use the SSL buss compressor on every mix.)
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[dfuruta]

I'd buy the plugins I needed from Stillwell and from Tone Boosters, and spend the rest of the money on something else.

[mrpicholas]

I own the Waves Gold Bundle and agree that it's a "do all" mix of plugs, but the plugs I end up using most of the time are from Nomad Factory

http://www.nomadfactory.com/products/isp/index.html

I got this pack when it was at a ridiculous bargain and use a lot of the plugs on almost every project.

[mrpicholas]

I own the Waves Gold Bundle and agree that it's a "do all" mix of plugs, but the plugs I end up using most of the time are from Nomad Factory

http://www.nomadfactory.com/products/isp/index.html

I got this pack when it was at a ridiculous bargain and use a lot of the plugs on almost every project.

[crow]

+1 for Stillwell. PSP Audioware is really good too. My favorites from them are Vintage Warmer and Mixpressor. Valhalla DSP makes a great affordable reverb called ValhallaRoom, and last but not least, Genuine Soundware makes a great spring reverb emulation called Type 4 (very convincing, tons of flavor!) and a really good Space Echo copy called GS-201.

Last year I migrated from Cubase to Reaper, and use a lot of the plugins that come with it. Several of them are available for free here

http://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/

but only for Windows. ReaComp is so configurable it's a little intimidating, but once you get comfortable with it, there's not much it can't do. ReaFir is a fascinating and often extremely useful plugin, and fairly hard to describe.

[digitaldrummer]

try some of the free stuff too.

http://www.dontcrack.com/

they usually have links to free plugs and sometimes run deals (like the one previously mentioned on the Nomad Factory plugins)
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[Nick Sevilla]

PSP has some good plug-ins.
And their whole lot is only a little over 1K USD. their Vintage Warmer is the cat's meow here on the TapeOp forum.

I have all the Nomad Factory plug-ins. They are great too.
Try buying the Blue Tubes series, or the Vintage series.

Waves. I also have all their plug ina (Mercury Bundle) They are stellar, if you can afford them. Now their plug-ins are affordable, so maybe try a few of theirs too.

As to what you need, all these offer pretty much what you need.

The trick here, is to know what you NEED to get the mix sounding the way you want.

I have found the hardware compressors still do better than the plug-ins, when it comes to the mix buss. I'm using the Tonelux 500 series as of a month ago, and am loving it.

Now, if you are really brave, you can ask someone to mix the album for you, who may already have the tools to do so, and is within a reasonable budget. Sometimes an outsider has a more objective and fast way to get the mixes there. You might end up spending too much time in "indecision" land.

Cheers
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[Brett Siler]

Metric Halo Channel Strip. I love it. Everything on it sounds great, the comp, the EQ the gate. It's probably not clinical enough to master with but it is great for mixing. A plug in that actually has tone, works great and is versatile.
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[kingtoad]

I would definitely recommend DMG Audio Equality. I think it costs about $100 and it sounds awesome. There are several modes - minimum phase, analog phase etc and they all have a different sound. It's one of only 2 digital EQs that I regularly use for mastering.

I am also a massive fan of the Elysia Mpressor - my favourite compressor for individual tracks in a mix by far.
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[b3groover]

These are great suggestions, folks. I appreciate it!

I usually do let someone else mix the stuff for me or at the very least give him stems to work from. This time I just feel like flying solo, to see if I can do it. It is tough to know when to say "Enough is enough!" and I always have the nagging thought in the back of my mind of whether my friend (who has a professional studio and every great analog piece of gear you'd want) could do it better.

I downloaded some Fab Filter demos last night. The limiter is pretty amazing. Can't decide if it's better than the Voxengo or just different.

I'm going to try their EQ next and then download the DMG EQ. I think I've got the mix sounding pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. I think one advantage to doing it myself is that I can take far more time to get it just right than someone on the clock only because I'm a not commercial studio and I don't have other projects hanging around my neck.
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[CedarSound]

I would also recommend the DMG Equality EQ. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and have really been enjoying the results I have been getting with it on a project I am currently mixing. Also, you may want to consider Cytomic The Glue as a mix bus and mastering compressor..really liking that one.
I can vouch for Voxengo Elephant and Vahalla Room as well.. It's pretty amazing how many really great and affordable plug ins are out there nowadays.
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[chorga1]

I love all of my Sonnox plugs. Dynamics finds itself on almost every track, the EQ is super-smooth, and their reverb sounds really good to my ears. I was scared by Transmod at first, but now find it crazy useful for percussion/drums


I do prefer Voxengo Elephant for a limiter.

[b3groover]

I've been playing with the Fab Filter stuff. Wow. The limiter is very good. It's hard to choose between that and the Voxengo Elephant.

The Pro C compressor is really great. A huge range of different tones available.

The Pro EQ is probably my favorite. Very easy to use and extremely powerful.
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organissimo - Dedicated (new CD)
"This shitty room is making your next hit record, bitch!"

[percussion boy]

Couple thoughts:

1. For additional options, you might also check out the Acoustica (Acustica?) Nebula plugin set--basically many different eqs/comps/verbs modeled from various hardware.

I've used the giveaway version in COMPUTER MUSIC, and it was noticeably better than a lot of other plugs. There are third parties doing tape simulation, etc. that people like. Nebula is not expensive although I've heard it can be cpu-intensive.

2. If you end up going with Waves, be sure you understand their deal with tech support before you buy. Without buying a support plan, you may get no support at all -- no e-mail, no phone. At least that was my recent experience buying a single Waves plug, maybe the bundles have better terms.

Hope this helps.
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