Best Vst Plugins For Mixing

[Novella Poinsett]

Itend to review a lot of mixing plugins every year, but I would say only about 20 to 30 percent show up on my mixing and mastering sessions after the review. So today, I want to discuss the ten plugins that get the job done in my DAW daily. So without further ado, here are the best mixing plugins ever that you can use to take your music production to the next level. (In my humble opinion)

FabFilter Pro Q3 stands as one of the very best in the realm of equalization. Its intuitive interface and powerful features make it a staple in my mixing process. The plugin offers everything from basic EQ adjustments to complex dynamic processing, making it incredibly versatile for any mixing scenario.

Harshness and resonance can be the bane of any mix, and Soothe 2 is my solution. This dynamic resonance suppressor is adept at taming harsh high frequencies and smoothing out uneven tonal balance.

iZotope Ozone 11 is a comprehensive mastering suite that I find indispensable. Its array of modules, from EQ to maximizer, offers everything needed to take a mix from good to great.(Check out my full review here)

When it comes to vocal processing, CLA Vocals by Waves is a plugin that I find incredibly useful. Despite some mixed opinions in the industry, its versatility and ease of use make it a valuable tool in my arsenal.( See my 10 Favorite Waves Plugins)

The Softube Console 1 Core Mix Suite is a comprehensive channel strip that has revolutionized my mixing workflow. It combines EQ, compression, and saturation in one intuitive package.

My Usage: I find the Console 1 indispensable for quickly shaping the tone and dynamics of individual tracks. Its analog warmth and character are a significant part of my signature sound.

In the final stages of mixing and mastering, accurate metering is crucial. Decibel by Process Audio has become an essential tool in my setup for its detailed and accurate visual feedback.

The human voice is at the center of most popular music productions. No instrument matches the feeling, the vulnerability or the power of the voice. Obviously, the ability to communicate emotions through lyrics kind of stacks the deck in the favor of the voice, but I digress.

Before I break into this roundup of my top plugins for mixing vocals, I want to be clear that there is absolutely no substitute for proper singing technique, correct microphone choice & placement, and using a high-quality signal chain including a microphone preamplifier is a necessity. Working in a well-treated room is important, too. Beautiful, emotive vocal performances existed long before all of the latest and greatest plugins.

Place the 1176 first and set the input (which also has control over the threshold) so that the compressor is working hardest (think 2-5 dB of gain reduction) during the loudest passages of the vocal track. Next, set the LA2A to be applying a pretty consistent level of gain reduction (1-3 dB generally is what I shoot for) throughout. The point here is that the faster and more aggressive 1176 does the heavy lifting on the loudest passages, allowing the LA2A to work in a less drastic way. The resulting sound is smooth, natural and helps the vocals sit well among the rest of the arrangement. You can use more drastic settings (like higher ratios and faster attack times on the 1176 and more gain reduction on the LA2A) for more aggressive sounding vocals, or more tame settings to retain the natural dynamics of the original performance. Figuring out this technique many years ago was a game changer for me when it comes to mixing vocals, so I suggest you go try it out for yourself.

When it comes to equalization, the Pro-Q 3 can do it all. I use it for so many tasks: hunting down unwanted resonances, cleaning out headroom, eating low frequency rumble, subtle de-essing and even adding transparent boosts here and there.

I use soothe2, which was designed by Helsinki, Finland-based plugin makers Oeksound all over my mixes: individual tracks, subgroups and even the stereo buss can benefit from just a smidge of this lovely dynamic resonance suppressor. That said, it really shines on vocals. soothe2 only applies reduction when and where you want it to. If your vocal is boomy, muddy, honky, harsh or sizzly, it does its thing in a transparent and natural-sounding way.

I encourage you to place soothe2 wherever it works best for you in your signal chain, but I find it most effective when used very close to the end of mine. My bare-bones vocal chain usually consists of de-essing, compression, equalization, some kind of saturation and then soothe2 to tame any harshness that somehow made it through (or was added by) my other processors. It truly adds a great Finnish-ing touch.

Not only is EchoBoy a world-class delay plugin, but the onboard saturation is also top-notch as well. This comes in handy especially when I am trying to achieve a vocal delay sound that is prominent and cutting. Utilize the saturation to give your repeats more attitude.

VMR from Slate Digital is a great Swiss Army knife plugin set, offering a variety of colorful utilities for shaping the tone and dynamics of any sound source, including vocals. Emulations found within VMR include equalizers by SSL and Neve, Distressor & 1176 compressors and other useful tools for fine tuning the sounds of singers.

Decapitator can do several types of saturation really well. The 5 different style buttons located towards the bottom of the GUI give you access to the sonic characteristics of several esteemed hardware units. It works great If you want to add subtle warmth and clarity to a vocal; simply turn the drive button to a value between 2-5. The low-cut, high-cut, and tone controls are also fantastic for shaping the timbre of a vocalist.

Dopamine harkens back to techniques originally used in early forms of magnetic tape noise reduction, where the tape was encoded by dynamically brightening the signal. Then, while playing back, the tape was decoded by removing the extra brightness and as a result reducing the the tape hiss. Engineers fell in love with the lively harmonic excitement that this process imparted onto all sorts of signals, even entire mixes. Dopamine comes with 2 modules (the 180 and 361), both of which emulate the characteristics of actual units. This plugin shines on individual drums, acoustic guitar, piano, subgroups and is particularly useful for adding life and a high fidelity feel to vocals.

Fun fact: the founders of Soundtoys were part of the team that created the legendary Eventide H3000, arguably the greatest hardware pitch shifting and harmonization unit ever. So you can trust that the team created a top notch pitch shifting plugin here. For vocals that are clearly meant to sound tuned, Little Alterboy is a fun option, with some added features that can completely transform your vocal recordings.

The three different modes (transpose, quantize, and robot) all do their own unique thing, with quantize tuning the vocal to the nearest chromatic semitone as quickly as possible. This results in a hard-tuned effect, which is popular in some styles of pop and hip-hop. Robot locks the vocal to a single pitch, which can then be controlled via the pitch knob (more on that later). Rounding out the controls are drive which adds a nice bit of tube-style saturation, and a mix knob which can be dialed back when creating harmonies.

You see, knowledge and skill can only take you so far and then at that point the only thing that can help you grow is something outside of your control. Like anything else, you never stop learning how to mix music but there is only so much that a stock EQ is going to do for you.

In my opinion the DAW manufacturers are not that interested in making stand out plugins that come with their software. The main reason is because the sale of their software depends more on stability and functionality and not so much on the quality of the plugins.

Most pro engineers are lucky enough to have every tool at their disposal to find the plugins that they love the most. But imagine, take away their best plugins, their analog summing and their analog consoles and set them up with just a DAW and some stock plugins.

At this point you need to demo some new tools and see if they are impacting your mixes in the way you would have hoped or expected. You really will be surprised at how much better your mixes can sound with one REALLY high quality tool.

The real trick in getting mixes loud is to do the compression and limiting conservatively in several stages as opposed to trying to make a single compressor/limiter do all the work in a single stage. Although my set up includes analog gear on the stereo bus the principles are the same for mixing in the box.

The first step in my stereo bus chain is running the mix through my Vertigo Sound VSM-2 mix satellite. (The vertigo is available as a plugin as the VSM-3). The VSM-2 is used as a harmonic generator that adds true analog characteristic to otherwise digital sounding tracks. However, it is not used in any way to add gain to the mix.

If there is any stereo bus EQ necessary, I will insert one of my mastering grade plugins on the mix bus fed from the Lavry. My go to is either the UAD Precision EQ or Brainworx bx_digital V2. That decision is based on how surgical this EQ stage needs to be and whether or not I want to do any M/S processing. If so, the Brainworx is the choice. I often will do a little bit of stereo widening with the V2.

I remastered my track with the Hitsville Mastering EQ from UA, I also used the LA-3A Audio Leveler and LA2 compressor. I think these plugins are far superior to Waves plugins. Maybe I was lucky but it sounds incredible I think, its airy, clear, frsch, alot of punsch. I usually am not very happy with my mixing/mastering but this was really nice. I have a trial for the UA-plugins its just a few usd/month, I have not tested them all but also the synts are exciting. Its pro-gear, or what are your opinions? -hhUzoYH0?si=grEmron26jVhWLVB

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