This week we’re quizzing our audio pro Wes to find out his desert island list of plugins – if he could survive with a handful, what would he choose?
1. Fab Filter plugins Pro L2 and Pro C2
I’m going to start off with a combo and something I never leave my mix bus without and it’s been this way for a few years now. The Fab Filter compressor and limiter have been the ultimate one-two punch for bringing my mixes to life on many occasions. They’re simple, intuitive with a vast amount of settings to tweak and factory defaults to take advantage of. Their Youtube channel always proves to be one of the best when it comes to explaining what their plugins are capable of and why they could suit your mixing needs. Huge thumbs up for these two. You’ll find these endorsed and used by some of the best mixing engineers out there.
2. Izotope RX7 Advanced (Kind of cheating because it’s a bundle…)
Ok, this one really does come at a price but we think the investment is worth its weight in gold for what it can fix for you (I will also link their de-noise plugin separately as this is what I started with and it’s worth every penny). The saying goes, ‘You can’t polish a turd’, and it’s 100% true. But let’s just say that this pack can get a stinking mess of an audio error as shiny as can be and has also saved our bottoms on numerous occasions. You can’t always predict audio in the wild, but with this pack at least you can ease away those horrid mouth sounds, decibel hungry pops, clicks, and unwanted noise. When you can afford it, purchase the Izotope RX 7 bundle for your soundie, he or she will love you forever.
This pack contains:
- Breath Control
- De-click
- De-clip
- De-crackle
- De-ess
- De-hum
- De-plosive
- De-reverb
- Monitor
- Mouth De-click
- Spectral De-Noise
- Voice De-noise (If I were to only be allowed one, I would grab this one! It’s part of the affordable RX Elements bundle)
3. Slate Digital Verbsuite Classics
Slate Digital has been bossing the market right now with an absurd amount of premium plugins and from what I have used so far, I love the Verbsuite Classics the best. Virtual versions of some of the best reverbs there ever was, made digitally.
4. Fab Filter Pro Q3 (I promise you we are not affiliated by any means, we just love Fab Filter)
I don’t need to boost their ego any more than I have, but this Fab Filter Pro Q3 eq is probably the most simple, dynamic, and sonically pleasing that I’ve ever used. I haven’t touched another since I installed it.
5. Soundtoys Little AlterBoy
This is probably used more for sound design but I can’t help but put it on my list because of how much fun it can be. Even if you don’t end up using it, wind down your working day by making someone sound like your favourite Sci-Fi droid. Grab the Little Alterboy in one of its many sales throughout the year. Worth every penny.
Seriously important note – Don’t go purchasing these plugins at full price. There is an insane amount of sales for each one of these companies each year for Cyber Monday etc. I managed to grab the sound toys bundle for under £100! Keep those eyes open.
Wes
