Over the last year, some of these plugins have become regulars in my mix template. They sound great and the workflow has been amazing. So I was wondering who else uses them and how. Please share.

My favorites -
FAL RS-W2395C - Lately using a pre-mix process to get tracks part of the way there before starting the mix. This is the tool of choice. Can get tracks shaped the way I want in very little time.
FAL VCS-1 - Default channel strip for all tracks. Don't use the Drive on this that much any more, but it's still real good. Versatile EQ bands and great sounding compressor.
BRA VEQ-1P - Pultec of choice
FAL VPRE-2C / VPRE-376 and BRA VPRE-73 - Preamps of choice, depending on what color tone I'm looking for. The 2C sounds good on virtually everything. 376 is mainly used with vocals, 73 with vocals, drums and bass.
FAL VCL-373 / VLC-25A / VCL-4 - Compressors of choice. The opto leveler is money on vocals, especially when used with the 373 in front of the chain. The 25 is great for parallel drums and also my main mix bus comp, with Release set to fastest and Mix at about 70%.
BRA VLA-FET / VLA-2A / VLA-3A - When a project needs those compression flavors, these are some of the best IMO. Got good results using the FET on a crush bus, the 2A on vocals/guitars and the 3A on bass.
BRA Magnetite - Just a little bit on the mix bus.
FAL VQP-258A - Use it on vocals, and as a mastering EQ.
FAL VREV-140 and BRA RO-GOLD - Go-to reverbs. Still need other plugins for a good room emulation and a clean digital reverb for general use.
FAL Dozer Drive and BRA Cypress TT-15 - Money on guitars, especially clean or low-gain stuff

Can't wait to hear from you guys!

 

FAL bucket 500 is a stand out, from what I remember.

 

Both this and Arturia's are my go-to for a quick BBD sound, it may be a little thin but the tone of the saturation is beautiful.

I find Flywheel to be quite useful when I need a simple, subtler-than-average tape glue on mix channels.

I've deleted most of the other FAL/BRA plugins as I kinda like them but I don't find them to be that unique, but I'm always thinking about trying those preamps again, everyone seems to love them.

 

Last edited: Jun 20, 2024

Black Rooster has some solid plugins overall and they get a lot of use, but Fuse Audio Labs are all over my mixes and are mainstays in every one of my templates. So I don't clog up the thread, I've spoiler-ed the rest of my comments and breakdown.

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Spoiler

Black Rooster's most used would have to be the KH or OmniTec plugins, with the KH compressor being savagely useful once you wrap your head around it, and both of the Omnitec plugins adding a nice touch of flavor to sterile sources.
Their Black/Blueface compressor/limiters are solid and have a nice... warmth? to them.
The VEQ collection is always in the running for Pultec EQs, though I've been using Kiive's Warmy a lot lately.
The only plugin of theirs that I can say that I never really touch is their... I forget the name, the Edelweiss (sp?) ... whatever their blinding silver channel strip is called; I could never make it work with me. In fairness tho, there's very few companies that make channel strips that feel natural to me (which is odd as I'm no stranger to actual consoles.)
Fuse... I could just say all of them.
Easily Flywheel, because it's in all my default channel chains, not for color, but for cohesion and control.
Which VPRE fully depends on the mix, but they're everywhere, and only ever get replaced by Kazrog or Sonimus, but the VPRE-31A is what I usually find fits my music. They're it for me because their cumulative effect never muddies up any part of my mix, low, mid, or high.
If there's a Fuse plugin that seems misunderstood, it's the VQA-154, which I *think is based off a 1540 EQ (the company escapes me,) and is unique in that its an EQ that wants to be pushed; the farther you push it the better it sounds. Don't be shy with this one on busses.
The VREV series is ridiculously under-appreciated and they're always contenders when I need a reverb, though the VREV-305 is my favorite, which is strange since I'm not a huge Spring reverb guy, but it's kinda... not a Spring? but it is? —it's versatile.
That bucket-500-whatever is warm and perfect for thinner sounding EPs, like Wurlys or on single horn lines or damn-near anything.
Their amps are amazing; I've pushed some weird pedal chains, using single or double coil through them, and they still sound great.
The channel strip has got the least amount of attention from me, but again, I'm not a big channel strip guy, but it's intuitive, and it's one of the only channel strips that feels like you could create a solid, modern mix with it alone (short of reverb, etc.)
Every compressor is top-notch. The VCL-4 is my go-to opto-leveler and it always amazes me how good it sounds on everything, especially busses. And despite what the "professionals" list as the best Vari-Mu comps, the VCL-25A has to be in the top of the list. Also, the new DBX comp is the DBX comp I've wanted for years, because it sounds like an old DBX, not how people think a DBX is supposed to sound.
The only ones I don't often use are the Dozer Drive cuz I'm not a big overdrive guy, I usually want clean or distortion, and the drums sx one that I've just never really had a burning need to use. Oh, and the the Tascam... whatever tape/EQ plugin is too colored for anything but sound design for me, but I do know others who use it as a channel topper, and is a nice plugin.

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Fuse Audio :

F-59 is on my default guitar chain. Also, VREV-63 is definitely the best guitar-amp-with-spring-reverb plugin out there. It doesn't offer a wide variety of tones, but what it does offer is just perfect.

Dozer Drive is great. I like it better when it's subtle, but it does a great job when pushed to extremes too.

Black Rooster :

Cypress TT-15 is also quite nice. I don't use it often cause the tone is very peculiar, but when I need that overdriven Orange tone, nothing comes close. Ok, Kuassa's Orange does come close.

Magnetite is my go-to tape plugin. Simple, efficient. If I want to go deeper I use Satin, and if I want to get quirkier I use Cassette (by Wavesfactory).

I seldom use analog preamp emulations, but when I do, VPRE-73 is almost always my first choice. My second choice is usually whatever Fuse Audio preamp I feel like at the moment.

I don't go for any LA-2A emulations other than Black Rooster. I also use their LA-3A quite a lot.


Overall verdict :

Both companies are among my favorites. With Kush, they form my holy analog trinity.

 

KH-COMP1 is in my opinion the most underrated compressor plugin out there, simply because of its Hilbert detector implementation.

For those that don't know what it is, it is a way of calculating the signal envelope just like this :



So rather than calculating the gain reduction based on raw voltage values (peak) or an average over time (RMS), it follows the natural dynamics of the sound. It has the advantage of being as fast as peak detectors, while compressing the overall loudness as good as an RMS detector, if not better.

In more musical terms, it's an extremely natural sounding compressor, that is versatile and behaves well on everything, from drums to vocals. My only complaint with KH-COMP1 is that I would've liked quicker attack times. The minimum is 0.5ms, so you don't really get a good 1176-like crushing sound.

 

Fuse/Black Rooster make a lot of quality plugins. Their TCS-68, is one I find myself using a lot. It's perfect for that subtle (or extreme) channel overload distortion. The EQ also works well to shape sounds you run though it.
https://www.fuseaudiolabs.de/#/pages/product?id=300811205


And although I'm more of a LA-3A guy in real life, thier LA-4A emu VCL-4 is real good:
https://www.fuseaudiolabs.de/#/pages/product?id=300799857

 

Now I have to try the Bucket-500!

 

I like Fuse DrumsSSX. It's just a little multiband drums splitter thing, like MB-7. I like the Fuse plugins, Black Rooster, and I would even put the Pulsar Modular plugins in about the same "style category". Even Nomad Factory also. I do not really use any of them as my default go-to plugins for stuff, but they all have their places when I want that kind of sound.

 

This...

 

FAL: VCL-25A, mostly as a mixbus compressor on some material.
BRA: the omnitec stuff, for some eq/comp things.

 

Are the NoiseAsh plugins somehow related to these?

 

Fuse VCS-1 is by far the best analog console style channel strip I own. It just offers so much more control than API, SSL or Neve style channel strips while being able to achieve similar tones and shaping.

The compressor is pretty snappy and is closer to SSL or API than Neve (imo) but it also has great features like stereo unlink, parallel mix and a huge range of attack and release times. *Also Fuse licencing is GREAT. No internet connection needed. Unlimited activations.

If I had to have one analog style strip it would be VCS-1 but if I could only have 1 channel strip it would probably have to be Neutron 3 or 4 just because it can do so much more and is more flexible.

Edit: if the VCS-1 had FB/FF options for the compressor it would be even more versatile. Don't think the dev would ever add that tho.

 

Last edited: Jun 21, 2024

No. Black Rooster is Andre Kirchner, and Fuse Audio is Reimund Dratwa. They both used to work for Brainworx/Plugin Alliance, and then went and started their respective companies, though Reimund has lent his skills to at least some of the Black rooster plugins. I noted some years ago that some of my favorite Plugin Alliance plugins are scripted by them, Andre having his name on the Vertigo VSC-2, and Reimund the ACME Opticom XLA-3 and the Vertigo VSM-3, though I'm not sure what else. Reimund is also one third of the NEOLD team.

 

The RO-140, RO-SPR, VREV-140 and VREV-305 are my favorite reverbs! The SPR, especially, is so vivid and organic. I wonder how it does what it does. I also love FAL's chorus pedal.

I'm a fan of their attention to detail, but end up using Overloud and Pulsar Audio more.

 

Sooo... if you say "Fuse Audio Labs" three times, a Summer Sale appears?