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Hello, im kinda looking for some christmas presents for my self. and i was wondering if it is adviceable to invest in some new plugins. like eq compressor /reverb delay etc. or anything else fancy. i mainly use fl studio. i havent really tried any "end game" plugins like uad oxford waves etc. so would it make a sound difference? is it possible to achive better results with them than my basic fl studio plugins? btw im not looking for any synths. unless it can generate more in depth wovels than massive/razer any help would be much apreaciated. and marry christmas guys =)

Lots of the big plugin vendors are having big sales - try D16, PSP, Cakewalk - all brands doing sales atm. Don't just go willy-nilly though. Only get some plugins you feel you need, which should only be necessary if you've noticed the limitations of your current setup. If you haven't found those limitations, save your cash for now

I suggest only buy one at a time, and mastering it fully before buying more

When i started out i downloaded every piece of freeware i could find lol
but now iv deleted them all except the essentials ...

Repost

great advice guys. yeah im not gonna buy 30 plugins just cause i want to. ive learned from that mistake.but i really dont know what other plugins are like. never tried anything but the native ones in most daws. i must say that i really like the sound more from the cubase reverbs than the fl studio one. i guess il look at something that can emulate noise. that i really miss. like bad quality audio for some gritty mean sounds. hmm this was helpfull! thnx! i see things clearer now:P tho i would like to know what an uad quality compressor could do that the fl studio compressor cant:/

I would recommend to check if there are some demo versions so you can compare them to the plugins you are using already.

i would suggest to check for EQ and Compressor plugins because the can really make a difference in your mix

some good plugins makers are: PSP, Soft Tube, URS, Stillwellaudio, Waves, Ik Multimedia, Fabfilter ...... im sure i'm forgetting some, maybe someone can add some more

ty mate you all have been really helpfull. hope someone else can benefit from this too ^^

the only filter I would buy is sugar bytes wow. otherwise, good suggestions so far in here. D16, fab filter, psp, waves, ik, are basically all excellent.

http://www.waves.com/Content.aspx?id=260

A bit steep, but you wont come across a better master buss/channel strip bundle. The EQ in this bundle is the cleanest, warmest analogue sounding digital EQ i've ever come across. Worth a look into believe me, check out some reviews if you're interested.

If you can see if you can grab the channel strip/EQ as stand alone because Compassion ( http://dmgaudio.com/products_compassion.php ) is INSANE in terms of a compression unit, pretty new on the market in terms of compression units and one of ( if not THE ) most detailed compression unit out there. Failing that, PRO-C by Fabfilter ( http://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-c.php ) is very tasty as far as compressors goes.

If you can, also check out Volcano by fab filter which is an AMAZING stand alone filter with a metric crap ton of possibility. Not to mention their fabulous Timeless 2 which is a delay unit capable of all sorts of insane modulation possibilities.

For mastering and general help if you're a visual learner/thinker make sure to check out IXL analysis suite ( http://www.rndigital.com/inspectorXL.html )

Before I go I'll direct you here: http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/m ... ic-nov-11/

Its Novembers issue of Computer Music Magazine, if you already have this then ignore this bit BUT, that issue's give away DVD involves Z3TA+, usually costing $99, in this issue, they're giving it away free, yep, the full verson! God dam thats worth grabbing if nothing else is, deals like that come along very very rarely, its a powerhouse of EDM music and getting it legitly FOR FREE (of course paying the £6 odd for the magazine is nothing on top of that deal IMO) is a no brainer.

Hope this helped!

Cyaneyed wrote:Hello, im kinda looking for some christmas presents for my self.

i know how u feel i never get any christmas presents

thank you so much Turnipish Thoughts =) i will. only reason i stayed away from waves was casue u really need that donlge:( i hate usb sticks. but il read some more and listen to some more demos to fiugre out what i want. thnx alot all of you =)

D16, fab filter, psp, waves, ik, are basically all excellent

fab filter is an amazing 1 osc synth. i fuckin use it every day for sub-bass

elyhess wrote:

D16, fab filter, psp, waves, ik, are basically all excellent

fab filter is an amazing 1 osc synth. i fuckin use it every day for sub-bass

i dont actually need anymore synths. learned the hard way. dont just go purchasing everything cause it looks or sounds cool. same with production tools. i got ableton live fl studio cubase logic pro and reason. yes it was stupid to purchase all of them. i found out the hard way. now im back with fl studio and trying to work faster with ableton live. sometimes what you need to open your eyes is not the easy way:/ learning my tools and some theory has payed more of than whatever money i have spend on ridicioulus stuff. in the end it all comes down to how many hours you have spent on your current softwares.. so now story has reached the present day and im still a software/gear head. not much to do bout it but learn and have fun with my experiences and im actually starting to doubt that i can have use of any more plugins. the one thing i would like to know more about is if there is any real difference that matters between plugins like compressors and and eq. i find the native effects from cubase 5 sounding better than my fl effects.(exept from the eq and compressor i think they sound pretty un-natural in a way) i dont know why but it just sound unreal in a way. il spend the next few days after my exam to learn more. im feeling really blue and poetical today, whats the meaning of life?

im sry i get emotional when i watch movies/series and i really dident like supernatural season 6s ending. anyways good night guys much love from norway<3

" the one thing i would like to know more about is if there is any real difference that matters between plugins like compressors and and eq. "

tbh it really doesn't matter. ya some plugins "sound better" but if you're unable 2 create a knockin mix with just the plug-ins FL is bundled with then u would be better off buying the fl studio bible and some books on basic audio engineering. really it all comes down to knowing ur tools; a compressor is a compressor and that's what it is, sometimes there will be fancy displays n shit and somtimes itll be like 'analog-modelled' (wtfe that means) but at the end of the day its just an automatic volume knob, basically. the only thing i wud invest in wud be a graphical eq, but since youve got fl studio that also means you already have a great one with the eq2.

as far as processing effects go, there r a lot more plug-ins that r worth the cash. d16 decimort is an okay bitcrusher but its a fuckin amazing overdrive. i find myself using lots of fabfilter shit, especially timeless and volcano because they can just warp sounds completely. i do like to put the waves ssl comp on my master channel sometimes, but beyond that, u shud be good with what youve already got dog

I personally friggin hate fl'studio's multiband compressor. I use Wave's Rcomp and that's really nice. If you're looking for some nasty distortion get izotope trash. That plugin is second to none as far as mangling sounds. Camel audio is having a sale where you get both camel space and camel phat for 75 USD. I use camel phat and camel space on pretty much everysound I make. Camel phat has some great distortion and a nice comb filter, and camel space has a great exciter, gate, and some decent reverb and flange. Also look into NI's Kontakt. It has almost limitless modulation options and is incredibly useful in resampling and making patches.

coogcoo wrote:" the one thing i would like to know more about is if there is any real difference that matters between plugins like compressors and and eq. "

tbh it really doesn't matter. ya some plugins "sound better" but if you're unable 2 create a knockin mix with just the plug-ins FL is bundled with then u would be better off buying the fl studio bible and some books on basic audio engineering. really it all comes down to knowing ur tools; a compressor is a compressor and that's what it is, sometimes there will be fancy displays n shit and somtimes itll be like 'analog-modelled' (wtfe that means) but at the end of the day its just an automatic volume knob, basically. the only thing i wud invest in wud be a graphical eq, but since youve got fl studio that also means you already have a great one with the eq2.

as far as processing effects go, there r a lot more plug-ins that r worth the cash. d16 decimort is an okay bitcrusher but its a fuckin amazing overdrive. i find myself using lots of fabfilter shit, especially timeless and volcano because they can just warp sounds completely. i do like to put the waves ssl comp on my master channel sometimes, but beyond that, u shud be good with what youve already got dog

Different plug-ins do sound very different from each other if you listen very carefully. Each and every different unit, in the digital world, is coded differently so it processes the digital information (the 'bits' that replicate an analogue waveform in the digital domain) differently. For example a linear phase EQ will sound different to an EQ that doesn't deal with how an EQ alters the phasing of a waveform, so on and so forth. Different compressors sound differently for the same reason (differences in coding ~ digital processing).

"Analogue modelled" means that the 'VST' is modelled to 'sound' like a specific analogue (hardware) unit, the actual physical units used in studios rather than a VST used in the box. Same again, different analogue models sound different because the hardware inside the unit (transistors, chip boards e.t.c.) are different components from different manufacturers.

The rule of thumb is that the more complicated and 'customizable' the sound is from any given effects unit, the less 'clean' the end result because there is a mutually exclusive trade-off between the amount of different possibilities and the hard/software being able to cope well with that amount of possibility. In general, the more 'simple' and defined a unit, the better the actual sound quality/transparency of the unit.

This is why the world class engineers have a select few units for any given job and know which unit to turn to when a certain textural quality is desired. They cross the boundary between possibility and quality by relying on a number of specifically defined units and turn to the correct one when needed rather than relying on one 'fits all' unit with a lower quality ceiling overall.

The level of 'listening' I'm talking about is beyond most of us on here, but its still true and quite a well known thing about units in general.

Making a 'knocking mix' with the FL native plug-ins will not sound as good as if you put the stems through exactly the same processing but with more expensive and defined gear. It seriously will just sound better, crisper, more defined. The big thing about analogue modelled units is that there is a certain tonal quality to analogue units that is very hard to replicate within digital units, as i mentioned previously, if you can, check out the SSL (solid state logic) modelled VST EQ, Compressor and channel strip from Waves, you can only tell what I'm talking about if you hear the difference for yourself. Compared to the usual compressors/eqs these sound.... lush, to say the least.

There is a reason Waves are so expensive, they're (still) some of the best made units in the world, its not just a brand you're paying for, its the quality of the product.

@Turnipish Thoughts. nice post =)

cyanide and camel crusher make their way into every mix i do, always. they're free.

also used in every mix are various stillwell audio plugs (very affordable), and the sonalksis creative suite ($150 for 3 plugs).

if you want to some spend $, soundtoys decimator and echo boy are fun ones.

Turnipish Thoughts wrote:

coogcoo wrote:" the one thing i would like to know more about is if there is any real difference that matters between plugins like compressors and and eq. "

tbh it really doesn't matter. ya some plugins "sound better" but if you're unable 2 create a knockin mix with just the plug-ins FL is bundled with then u would be better off buying the fl studio bible and some books on basic audio engineering. really it all comes down to knowing ur tools; a compressor is a compressor and that's what it is, sometimes there will be fancy displays n shit and somtimes itll be like 'analog-modelled' (wtfe that means) but at the end of the day its just an automatic volume knob, basically. the only thing i wud invest in wud be a graphical eq, but since youve got fl studio that also means you already have a great one with the eq2.

as far as processing effects go, there r a lot more plug-ins that r worth the cash. d16 decimort is an okay bitcrusher but its a fuckin amazing overdrive. i find myself using lots of fabfilter shit, especially timeless and volcano because they can just warp sounds completely. i do like to put the waves ssl comp on my master channel sometimes, but beyond that, u shud be good with what youve already got dog

Different plug-ins do sound very different from each other if you listen very carefully. Each and every different unit, in the digital world, is coded differently so it processes the digital information (the 'bits' that replicate an analogue waveform in the digital domain) differently. For example a linear phase EQ will sound different to an EQ that doesn't deal with how an EQ alters the phasing of a waveform, so on and so forth. Different compressors sound differently for the same reason (differences in coding ~ digital processing).

"Analogue modelled" means that the 'VST' is modelled to 'sound' like a specific analogue (hardware) unit, the actual physical units used in studios rather than a VST used in the box. Same again, different analogue models sound different because the hardware inside the unit (transistors, chip boards e.t.c.) are different components from different manufacturers.

The rule of thumb is that the more complicated and 'customizable' the sound is from any given effects unit, the less 'clean' the end result because there is a mutually exclusive trade-off between the amount of different possibilities and the hard/software being able to cope well with that amount of possibility. In general, the more 'simple' and defined a unit, the better the actual sound quality/transparency of the unit.

This is why the world class engineers have a select few units for any given job and know which unit to turn to when a certain textural quality is desired. They cross the boundary between possibility and quality by relying on a number of specifically defined units and turn to the correct one when needed rather than relying on one 'fits all' unit with a lower quality ceiling overall.

The level of 'listening' I'm talking about is beyond most of us on here, but its still true and quite a well known thing about units in general.

Making a 'knocking mix' with the FL native plug-ins will not sound as good as if you put the stems through exactly the same processing but with more expensive and defined gear. It seriously will just sound better, crisper, more defined. The big thing about analogue modelled units is that there is a certain tonal quality to analogue units that is very hard to replicate within digital units, as i mentioned previously, if you can, check out the SSL (solid state logic) modelled VST EQ, Compressor and channel strip from Waves, you can only tell what I'm talking about if you hear the difference for yourself. Compared to the usual compressors/eqs these sound.... lush, to say the least.

There is a reason Waves are so expensive, they're (still) some of the best made units in the world, its not just a brand you're paying for, its the quality of the product.

dude i know what analog gear is. plz dont patronize me okay?? it was a tongue-in-cheek jibe at the sort of language that software companies use 2 hype their insanely overpriced products. what i was trying to say is that a compressor is a compressor is a compressor (and im not talking multiband or optical and shit) and it will get the job done. waves is NOT worth the money. i have used the SSL series, and really liked the channel strip A LOT, but it's really not worth the huge wad to someone who is producing music as a hobby. i think uad's ssl collection is much better anyways def worth the cash

coogcoo wrote:what i was trying to say is that a compressor is a compressor is a compressor...and it will get the job done.

Yes, and some people use a compressor 'to get the job done', whereas some people use a specific compressor because it applies a specific sound.