I have several VST effects from the sister site, infact far, far too many, infact when it comes to choosing an effect its usually a total dilema. Soooo... I would like to uninstall everything and start again with 3 top effects, ie reverb, delay and modulation and would like the recomendations of you guys of VSTs available from our sister site, with the intent of actually buying them, Im looking for flexibility and reliabilty. Any help???? Im currently running Studio One 6

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2023

if I wanted to cover everything with the absolute least amount of plugins, it would look sort of like this short list. it's not what I use necessarily. I just think they would cover the most ground.

1. reverb - Valhalla
2. delay - FF Timeless 2
3. modulation - Shaperbox
4. Saturation - FF Saturn 2
5. Compressor - FF Pro-C2, bus Presswerk
6. Limiter -FF Pro-L2
7. Restoration - Acon Digital Resto
8. De-Esser - FF Pro-DS
9. Multi-Band Limiter - FF Pro-MB
10. Filter - UVI Shade
11. EQ - Kirchhoff, FF Pro-q3

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2023

FabFilter Total Bundle: With this bundle, you get our professional EQ, reverb, compressor, multiband dynamics, limiter, de-esser and gate/expander, creative multiband distortion, delay, filter and synthesizer plug-ins.

 

You're working for FF?

 

Oh caught - and who pays you?

 

I can recommend these:

Nomad Factory - Program Equalizer EQP-4
FabFilter - Pro Q2 - Equalizer
Maag Audio - EQ4 - Equalizer
Millennia - NSEQ-2 - Equalizer
FabFilter - Timeless 2 - Delay
Sonalksis - StereoTools - Imager
FabFilter - Pro-R - Reverb
Brainworx - VSC-2 - VCA Compressor
SSL - Bus Compressor
Brainworx - BX Masterdesk - Mix

 

the list will be pretty useless to me, because I work differently. I'm just doing it for fun and who knows if it will be useful to you or anyone else.

1. Reverb
- just general reverb - Valhalla VintageVerb
- general reverb but IR based - Slate Digital Verbsuite Classic
2. Delay
- basic, quick delay - Waves H-Delay
- character is kinda needed - Valhalla Delay
- I like to spend 2 hours tweaking delay - u-He MFM2
3. Modulation
- everything all in one - Cableguy Shaperbox 3
- bro, I have all the time in the world - Kiloheart multipass, Devious Machine Infiltrator
4. Saturation
- quick but can never go wrong - Soundtoys Decapitator
- I like to control everything - FabFilter Saturn 2
- I'm old school no such thing as saturation without compression - PSP VintageWarmer 2
- Posh - Blackbox HG2MS
5a. Track Compressor
- an FET - Waves CLA 76, Purple Audio 76
- wide range of vintage style, all in one - DMGAudio TrackComp2
- wide range, clean and I like to see the compression visual - FabFilter Pro-C2
5b. Bus Comp
- SSL Bus Comp 2 because everyone need one.
- I need it to make my stuff sound better whatever that means - Vertigo VSC-2, Pulsar Mu, Arturia COMP-Diode
- I need it clean, super transparent but a lot controls too - Izotope Ozone 10
6. Limiter
- FabFilter Pro-L2 because every normal person use it, let's not be an idiot.
- I need limiter for track, those 808 is crazy af - IK Multimedia Stealth Limiter
- these cymbals always jump out when I limit the track - TDR Limiter No. 6 GE (the HF limiter is a godsend)
- I limit because i want more volume! - UrsaDSP Boost Rev. B
7. Restoration
- Izotope RX8!
8. De-Esser
- FabFilter Pro-DS is a must
- latency is none of my concern - Oeksound Soothe 2
9. Multi-Band Compressor
- FabFilter Pro-MB - for that Dynamic Phase mode alone it beats every multi-band compressor ever.
- I'm too cool for normal multiband compressor, I want it in parallel - Leapwing Audio DYNONE
10. Filter
- this is kinda tricky but maybe FabFilter Volcano 3 but it's not that cool, so keep 10 of other filter plugins for cool points.
- my personal favourite - u-He Runciter
11. EQ
- all in one but I want it quick but also mastering grade - Kirchhoff, FabFilter Pro-Q3
- I can actually hear the transient of the snare goes first then the body comes after 0.01sec - DMGAudio Equilibrium
- I want magic vintage style EQ that makes my track cooler without doing anything too obvious - Pulsar Massive
12. Transient Shaper
- quick, good sounding and a little more controls than others - elysia nvelope
- time is my domain! - Oeksound spiff, Eventide SplitEQ, and my new favourite JMG Sound NanoPulse
- I've got 99 problems but latency isn't one - ADPTR Audio Sculpt
13. Stereo Imaging
- simple, effective, 80% of the world population use it - Ozone Imager
- I want the track to be 800% wider, how ? - DMGAudio Dualism
- wide is one thing but I'm all about the depth - Matthew Lane DrMS
14. Misc that I don't know when will I need it, but I need it now!
- Xfer OTT, Xfer LFOTool
- Oeksound Soothe 2
- Newfangled Audio Bundle.

and will still end up with 100 plugins. I guess it can't be helped.

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2023

eh this is always an ungrateful thing to do on your own,
what I'd always suggest is:
1) print list of all the plugins from your DAW, grab a pencil and cross out all the plugins you don't know and all the plugins you don't remember using past year
2) since you mentioned having Studio One 6 DAW, then perhaps use included plugins, and completely resist the urge of installing any third-party plugins unless you really reach the point of not being able to do what you need using stock plugins

speaking of further purchases, perhaps start with free stuff, Analog Obsession is amazing, TDR plugins are free and offer GE editions for few bucks to get way more functionality, Klanghelm plugins have free and paid versions of their compressors,
Fabfilter plugins are great, but even those aren't mandatory, they are visual catchers so you can easily get drowned in the friendly UI instead of doing audio work, they rarely have bundle discounts so definitely wait for those if you wanna splash cash on FX Bundle,
anything iLok-protected or subscription is a NO-GO for me, streamlines choices ALOT xD

 

Here's a list of my Swiss-army-knife like plugins. I'll try to be as minimalistic as possible:

Compressor: Softube Drawmer S73
Dynamic EQ: TDR Nova GE
EQ: Sonible Smart EQ3
Limiter: Sonible Smart Limiter, Steven Slate FG-X
De-esser: Lindell 902
channel Strip: STL Tones Control Hub
Delay: Soundtoys Echoboy Jr
Reverb: Valhalla Vintage Verb, Sonible SmartReverb, Eventide 2016
Pitch and Time Stretch: SynchroArts RE-pitch and Vocalign Project 5
"Live" Drumkit VI: Steven Slate Drums Free 5.5
Electronic Drums: Sitala
Synth: Omnisphere, Xpand2
Saturation: Avid SansAmp, Softube Saturation Knob
Metering and Referencing: ADPTR Metric AB

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2023

Studio One 6 has already very descent plugins so since you want to keep the minimum installed I would stick with the included plugins only.

Just MHO

 

It's you who needs to make most out of those tools, so it's you who needs to actually find value in them, spend few days actually demo-ing and erasing them, dunno, if you are trying to go legit, than look up at prices and ask yourself are you willing to pay that much for that, it will make your job little easier, also are you okay with protection, iLok, online authorizations and all that.

Use tools that you can actually make results with, even if the tools are simple, but if that is working for you, that is your tool, one that you can pull out and get the job done, don't get caught up in most flexible or closest sounding to something, it's irrelevant if you can't take advantage of that.

Thing is, try to learn those tools, so you can take advantage of them, I can recommend you my favorite plugins, but still you need to make those moves to suit your thing, if you are unsure what you need, than spend the time trying to find out, there's no other way.

 

Start with your daw stock plugins and check what is missing.
Then add some free quality ones if possible (in my case TDR Nova free is one of the first I always install). Check Tal, TDR, Klanghelm, Voxengo, Blue cat free bundle, Voxengo, Variety of Sound, Melda free bundle, Airwindows, etc. for quality free stuf.
Stock + some free additions to complement. Only then look for payware to cover what is missing. You will be surprised how you can be almost totally covered with stock plus free stuff only (at least when it comes to FX).

My 2 cents.

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2023

The whole rest of the devs.

 

Reverb - Valhalla VintageVerb, Shimmer
Delay/Echo - Valhalla Delay, U-he Colour Copy
Modulation - probably Shaperbox, but I just use DAW tools
MIDI Stuff - PluginBoutique Scaler 2, AudioModern Riffer, CableGuys Midishaper
Saturation/Distortion - New Fangled Audio Saturate, Sound Toys Decapitator, Softube Saturation Knob
EQ - FabFilter Pro-Q3
Compressor - Fabfilter Pro-C2
Limiter - Sonible smart:limit, FabFilter Pro-L2
Channel Strip - PSP Infinistrip
Meters/Reference: Voxengo Span, Sonible true:balance, true:limit
Transient Design - its technically a filter, but Kilohearts Disperser

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2023

Thanks for all your replies, I guess I was using the best of the bunch. Ive recently uninstalled all my VST's, and will slowly introduce my personal favourites, which from your comments, Ive already been using, but hey its almost spring here in the UK, and spring cleaning is a good thing. now where's me "Fab Filter bundle" Thanks once again.

 

I end up with folders with my favs , Favs 2021, 2022, etc... and if Im using another "hit plugin" from another year I copy inside the folder, you can say Im doing a playlist of greates hits plus the new ones and try and see if they fit my workflow

 

if you put back only what you need in existing projects, you end up with only the things you actually use.

 

as @aitken said, you can backup your plugins WITHOUT uninstalling them (just move the plugin file).
So if you need it back, just put it back in the plugin folder.

It will "clean" your workflow, without needing reinstall if needed.

I second opinions here : start with stock Studio One (very good AND integrated into DAW)

 

Baah.. after spending god knows how much time with keeping track of the "best" effects their updates, missing vsts in older projects and having them cluttered my projects, i went back to stock plugins (S1). Only in some very special case would i need anything else. Its all the same just different interfaces.