First of all, congratulations to AudioUtopia for cracking what many thought impossible. I believe this blow to iLok is a good thing, but I hope people will continue to support developers if they are able to. It's up to us to show developers that piracy isn't completely evil.

If you can't afford the software you like, (and who can?) we can at least share our opinions on what is worth saving up for.

So judging by the amount of requests for moar that I've seen, many have thoroughly tested and mastered all of the plugins in the last few days. Are there any that really impressed you, or perhaps did not live up to the hype?

I've always liked the Tube-Tech CL1B compressor. I like it's simple interface and the harmonics it adds to a signal. It works nice for pumping sidechain too. For newbies, I recommend looking at it (and other) compressors through an FFT analyzer like Voxengo Span/FabFilter stuff to see what's going on when you run a sine wave tone through it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Eiosis AirEQ. A beautiful GUI and the sound is fantastic. I'm no connoisseur of EQs but I really like what it did to the stuff I put through it.

Wave Arts Tube Saturator 2 is really nice. The CPU usage is reasonable and it adds some nice tube saturation without a lot of knobs to fiddle with. Extra points for a simple, but useful EQ built in.

For fun, I included a poll. Don't take it too seriously.

 

I like Lexicon - best reverb

Also like SSL channel - very easy and good sound

I try softube but not 4 me - 2 many cpu use

I thanks 2 AudioUtopia 4 this crismas prezent

 

I'm curious how people compare Lexicon to Valhalla. I've heard lots of good things about it.

 

i like the slate stuff personally. just got my hands on teh vmr and love it

 

I also like Valhalla

4 me valhalla sound can hear reverb affect - Lexicon reverb more natureal - less like affect

both val and lex very good reverb

 

You forgot to include the company that makes rhe voice pro and vocal align Pro

 

Got it, thanks.

 

First off, thank you AudioUTOPIA!!!!! Thank you for all the great plugins.

I voted for Slate. I wouldn't say I can't live without them, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them.

 

Didn't realize Slate was so popular. It's interesting to see your opinions, guys I thought the SSL plugins would have some votes by now too. Is it because people use the Waves versions instead?

 

Well, I for one absolutely cannot live without these... Channel strip is just so good and fast to dial in, making it easy to flatter almost any source material. X- Verb is simply my 'go to'. Love the PCM's but actually own the SSL so...

X- Sat gets used as much as SDRR which is really saying something. Finally the X-Valve is the most f*ck off algo compressor I have used thus far. It puts massive stink on everything and often it gives me the sound and thump I want by simply instantiating it on the track. It's literally an outrage. Trying to keep it all to myself though lol

BTW, I don't think the Waves versions compare that well - they can sound nice but they seem to lack the gracefull results of the SSL plugs. I find them harsh and a little clumsy - almost like a pastiche of the real thing

 

UAD Plugins !!!

 

sound toys for the fucking win! add sound toys!

 

sound toys

 

The discussion/poll is really about existing AudioUtopia releases because I don't want it to turn into another request thread. It's basically to appreciate and discuss what's available for testing. If there was a Soundtoys release, I'd not only add it.. I'd vote for it

 

Kush from the list.
Soundtoys otherwise. Have it legally, 0 regrets.

 

Eventide are prolly the ones we've been mostly missing and they do totally worth every penny for what they do.

 

Voted for Slate. I didn't expect that they are so god damn good.

 

No SOundtoys??.. also thought it was weird that Audio Utopia didnt do that one...

 

yep... Soundtoys as fuck... I own them.. but unfortunately... this is real fucked up, I am selling the native fx on kvr soon, cuz I have to pay for next semester... I absolutely love radiator, and devil-loc tho... and they are staying (not part of Native FX bundle :P)... but of all the native fx, Echo=Boy is in-fucking-sane... and I will be buying that with proceeds from sale of native fx (and rest to school)... but Decapitator is the only other one that I will buy separately also...all the other shit though, the crystal, phaser, filter freak... all I can do with out... also thought it was weird that Audio Utopia didnt do S'TOys,..
But echo-boy?... I mean there is sooooo fucking much you can do with that thing... it is unbelievable... just purely unbelievable.

yeah the Valve... It has a 3db boost when you turn-on a default instance...I own a lot of SSL though,,, The verb, ssl channel strip, bus comp, valve.. i did want that x-sat... but I already had ssdr, and had already spent more than I wanted to last year... but valve is great... love that thing.

 

Last edited: Dec 22, 2015

Lexicon\Softube for me. They both are a must have for me.