Hot Sh@t Plug-Ins!

[coolbreezes]

Hello, After spending thousands of dollars in the studio I decided I was going to buy a computer and teach myself Pro Tools. I went out and bought a Digi002 and some plug-ins: TRACKS, Amplitube, and Sampletank 2. All of my friends called me stupid for actually purchasing the plug-ins because apparently you can download them for free off filesharing programs. There is an ethical debate towards doing this but I don't know how you would even be able to operate these programs or plug-ins if you were not registered? So, therefore can anyone give some advice on which plug-ins to purchase? I downloaded a demo of Prosonic's Orange Vocorder and thought it was quite delightful. I am going to purchase Antares Auto Tune 3 and was considering purchasing some Universal Audio compressor plug-ins. Are there any other's that I should check out? Thanks for your help!

While you're at it. Check out me band.
http://www.lightfmrockband.com

[pk]

www.pspaudioware.com

The have the Vintage Warmer, the Mix Pack, Master Q and the Lexicon delay emulations. All their plugs are of great quality and when used properly, can take a good mix to the next level.

[kdarr]

Hello, After spending thousands of dollars in the studio I decided I was going to buy a computer and teach myself Pro Tools. I went out and bought a Digi002 and some plug-ins: TRACKS, Amplitube, and Sampletank 2. All of my friends called me stupid for actually purchasing the plug-ins because apparently you can download them for free off filesharing programs. There is an ethical debate towards doing this but I don't know how you would even be able to operate these programs or plug-ins if you were not registered? So, therefore can anyone give some advice on which plug-ins to purchase? I downloaded a demo of Prosonic's Orange Vocorder and thought it was quite delightful. I am going to purchase Antares Auto Tune 3 and was considering purchasing some Universal Audio compressor plug-ins. Are there any other's that I should check out? Thanks for your help!

While you're at it. Check out me band.
http://www.lightfmrockband.com

My recommendation would be to go easy with the plugins. If you've got money to spend, outboard gear is a smarter investment. It has resale and trade value that can help you upgrade your studio in cycles rather than having to start over with new plugins all the time. A $200 FMR "Really Nice Compressor" will get you way more mileage and everyday use than any fancy "virtual vintage" compressor plugin, and it can be sold later when you upgrade. A plugin's used value is nil.

That said, the Waves stuff is pretty hard to fault and can be found at basically any professional digital studio. As close to "industry standard" as a group of plugins can be. If you drop the coin for the "gold bundle" you'll be set for a while.

I'm ALL about digital, so this is not some judgement call. I'm just learning that outboard gear really does get you more for your money. And as a recovering software pirate, when you actually BUY the stuff, it ALWAYS works better. And if it doesn't, you can get support, which is not to be underestimated. And let's not forget the manual, so you can actually use it properly. I've seen so many people just get PILES of plugins, and never really learn what any of them do, and their recordings suffer.

Now, to throw in a judgement call - Auto-Tune is the devil. Either learn how to sing for real, or just go ahead and be out of tune. It's not always a bad thing.

|<|>|

[chickenbop]

Sorry for the spam but I'm selling half the stuff you're looking for in the buy/sell section.But I agree,autotune sucks-even though I'm trying to sell it.

[audiogeek1]

As far as plugins I use these I think are the most important if you are working in pro tools. this is my opinion.

Waves Platinum bundle
Auto Tune
Sound Replacer (great for adding tambo to snare hits etc..)
Sans Amp PSA 1
Fairchild 660
BF 1176
BF LA3A

Also if you are running panther they just anounced a wrapper so that you can use the UAD1 card with pro tools and add those plugins to your arsenal.

Mike

[kcrusher]

I commend you on being honest and supporting the manufacturers of these cool plug-ins. Without people that pay for them, they wouldn't exist at all. Your 'friends' should be ashamed of themselves.

As for auto-tune 'sucking' - it's a fucking tool, people. Get over it. If you don't like it, don't use it. If you don't like when it's used, don't listen to those songs.

Personally, I think it's a great tool used in moderation.

[lukakis]

If you check out digidesign's website, in the plug-ins section of the online catalog, they have several BF plug-ins for absolutely free, including the aforementioned 1176. I couldn't believe it when I saw it- absolutely no strings attached!

[mjau]

I agree on the PSP stuff...the vintage warmer comp is a dangerous comp and can really add some color. I use their MasterQ parametric eq too, and I really like that.
There's a lot of crap out there, but PSP is quality. Check out Sonalksis too.

[housepig]

you should also check KVR-VST - tons of plugins, searchable by type and format (TDM, VST, etc.), and many are free.

[kdarr]

I commend you on being honest and supporting the manufacturers of these cool plug-ins. Without people that pay for them, they wouldn't exist at all. Your 'friends' should be ashamed of themselves.

As for auto-tune 'sucking' - it's a fucking tool, people. Get over it. If you don't like it, don't use it. If you don't like when it's used, don't listen to those songs.

Personally, I think it's a great tool used in moderation.

I never said that Auto-Tune sucked... It doesn't. It functions quite well.

What I said was, that it was the devil.

And I was being semi-facetious.

|<|>|

[Shawn Simmons]

My recommendation would be to go easy with the plugins. If you've got money to spend, outboard gear is a smarter investment. It has resale and trade value that can help you upgrade your studio in cycles rather than having to start over with new plugins all the time. A $200 FMR "Really Nice Compressor" will get you way more mileage and everyday use than any fancy "virtual vintage" compressor plugin, and it can be sold later when you upgrade. A plugin's used value is nil.

That said, the Waves stuff is pretty hard to fault and can be found at basically any professional digital studio. As close to "industry standard" as a group of plugins can be. If you drop the coin for the "gold bundle" you'll be set for a while.

I second the outboard idea. The resale value of plugins is zilch. And if you buy outboard gear wisely, you can sometimes make money!

I use plug-ins sparingly. The ones I like include the Waves stuff, Echo Farm, Reverb-One, Soundreplacer (definitely a must, although it doesn't work as well as it should) and yes, AutoTune (a necessary evil I admit). The Waves stuff is expensive but it has a lot to offer. The EQ's and compressors are good, I use the de-esser all the time. Trueverb sucks as do most of the effect-y type plugins they offer. The Masters stuff is great, though it eats up DSP like Jared at a Subway. You'd have a hard time running the Masters stuff on an 002.

You should've got a bunch of plugins for free when you bought the 002. And I think you can download the Bombfactory stuff for free if you're a registered user on the Digi site. Their 1176 plugin isn't bad.

shawn

[stillafool]

The waves renaissance stuff sounds great and is alot of fun. I've got SIR, the free convolution reverb, running in Pro tools using the fxpansion vst-rtas adapter (although I personally think the D-Verb that comes bundled with Pro Tools Le is a good enough reverb for almost any task). PSP vintage warmer has a somewhat counterintuitve interface, but it does some magic on certain sounds (especially drums and vocals). As far as virtual instruments, Fxpansion's BFD drum module looks very interesting, although I haven't tried it.

[lukakis]

(although I personally think the D-Verb that comes bundled with Pro Tools Le is a good enough reverb for almost any task)

I'm gonna have to.. ah.. go ahead and.. disagree with you there. I find D-Verb to be one of the most dismally horrible-sounding verbs i've used. Just listen to the reverb tails.. it sounds like some kind of poorly constructed loop.

[dokushoka]

http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.p ... &subItem=5

Cooler than the bomb factory crap...

[syrupcore]

amen on the fishfillets. they completely rule my shit.

There are some amazing amazing plugins around for free. by free I mean freeware, not stolen. most of the freeware plugs out are in VST format. I dont use protools any more but if I did, I'd invest in the 100 dollar VST->RTAS adapter from http://fxpansion.com/. then i'd visit http://kvr-vst.com and see the many free plugins on offer.

Some of my favorites:
baxxpander (who needs Maxxbass?)
the mda plugs
ellotronix XL
anything from smartelectronix.com

damn, there's so many. not to mention synths... go look around before you drop tons of cash on RTAS plugs. That said, I totally agree about the quality of the waves plug-ins. I wish you could just get one or two at a time....

by the way, I hear that the vst adapter will allow you to use the Mackie UAD-1 with protools. the kvr site has a very active fxpansion forum.

good luck,
Will