Hello Guys!

Have been away from producing for some time and now I am looking for your Recommendations of (recent) State-of-the-Art Plug-Ins and Tools that either do something unique, sound unique, or can replace multiple other Plug-Ins. I´m looking to have as little Plug-Ins/Tools/Sound Generators as possible while having as many options for Sound Manipulation/Creation as there are...
Better to learn a few powerful Tools in Depth that can fulfill many tasks instead of having many Plug-Ins installed that only get used once in a blue Moon.

For Example, a Tool that can split Frequencies for all of my existing Plugins instead of having Multiband Variations for every Use case. Or something like Reaktor, or Kilohearts, where you can build your own Chains, optimally also with other Plugins. Also, Usability goes before Sound Quality, for example, I´d prefer to have one Compressor-kinda Tool (working with Impulse Responses for example?) that emulates some of the Classics instead of having each Compressor as a Stand-Alone Plugin that sounds 5% better than an Allrounder Plug-In. One Multi-FX Beast instead of a myriad of Delays, Chorus and so. You get the Idea (I hope)

Nevertheless, I´d like to have every "Principle/Approach" of Sound Manipulation/Generation (eg. Granular, Wavetable, Additive, Physical Modeling...) that's out there in my Arsenal ....so I´d be very happy for some recommendations for a Folder Structure and general Categories I could/should organize my Plug-Ins/Instruments in so I have some overview and also don't miss any "Principle/Category" of Sound Manipulation that´s possibly out there...

Regards

 

Some free synths worth checking:

Wavetable suggestion = Vital, Surge
FM = Dexed
Subtractive = Tyrell, Noisemaker

Vital has free (fully functional) and paid versions (more wavetables, presets and text-to-wave).

 

Cramit has replaced OTT for me. The flexible distortion is a great addition and offers more than what can be found in many synths.

MODO Bass 2.0 has replaced all other basses for me.

Phrasebox has become my arp of choice. It's still not perfect, but definitely more comfortable than what I used before (BlueArp).

FirComp has replaced my other compressor plugins.

I think the kilohearts suite is pretty good, even if much of it is pretty barebones.

 

These are my personal favorites

For synth sounds: UVI Falcon
Its a rompler, sampler, synth... covers anything from vintage to modern synth sounds and a sound designers dream

For eq, chorus, phaser, flange and even dynamic eq and compression: UVI Shade
This plugin in particular has replaced 80% of my previous fx vsts

For delay: UVI Relayer and U-he MFM2
Any delay needs I have are covered by these two plugins but MFM2 would be my desert island delay vst

For reverb: UVI Sparkverb / UVI Plate
Both cover a large range of reverb needs but if I had to choose one it would be Sparkverb by far

 

That's more or less the same, if they sound unique but don't appear as doing something unique it's still done in the backend, the algorithm.
Soothe is very unique apparently, DSEQ uses a different approach but can give similar results.
Pretty much all decent imager plugins are or at least sound quite unique, same for Algorithmic Reverbs
There are also unique EQ plugins like Kush Clariphonic, but generally speaking all EQs do more or less the same but have different sounds due to different implementations of said theorems.

Izotope Stutter edit, Melda MXXX, PSP N2O, Kilohearts Snap Heap...
there are thousands of plugins like that

 

muti-band Splitters and Joiners JSFX in Reaper, absolutely gorgeous utilities to separate frequency bands into channels for individual processing of my choice,

I'm still searching for proper (multichannel) transient splitter plugin - no EQ or comp, just transient splitter;

speaking of most unique plugins, as much as I hate iZotope, the Music Rebalance in RX 10 is lit af

 

You have some specific types of tools you are looking for. Do not mind my disorganized little list here. These are 90% of the software I use and I am sure you will find some you really like, because they are all pretty great.


Free Virus DSP56300 emulator. https://dsp56300.wordpress.com. or from Sistersite with ROMS and then the thousands of good TI patches that run inside it

Bluecat Audio Patchwork and others. Free Bundle includes Plug and Script and Connector. You will find many uses for their plugins.

Other stuff: UVI Falcon2, Drum Replacer, and Shade, Punch2/Kick2, FAW Sublab, Phaseplant, FM8, Kontakt, Cthulu/Blue Arps, XLN DS-10 and RC-20, Plugins that Knock Knock, Adaptr Sculpt, Nomad Drum Tools, NoiseAsh Action Filter, Minimal Audio Rift (and now v2). Devious Machines Infiltrator, Black Rooster FET compressor and the VHL-3C. The latest Rob Papen FX plugins are a little sleepers, very cool fx. Oh, D-16 also. Decimort and Antresol, mostly. Klevgrand Squashit! multiband disto.


Still 95% Fabfilter everything else. Sometimes Stealth Limiter.

 

Last edited: Sep 16, 2022

In terms of uniqueness, Unfiltered Audio is second only to Zynaptiq.

 

By far the most versatile is Nebula by Acustica. TimP and AlexB libraries are out of this world amazing

 

Antares autotune. State-of-the-Art plug-ins and tools to do something "JOIN THE CHOIR!" unique, sound "Boing!" unique.

 

i agree too this ....what are the best pianos and guitars on the UVI Falcon?

 

Best ever https://www.kvraudio.com/product/neon-by-steinberg/details

 

FabFilter Trio:
Saturn can be a guitar amp, but also a bitcrusher, but also a multiband compressor, but also a tape machine, but also a modulated monstrosity of sound mangling.
Volcano can be a clean EQ, a characterful EQ with a ton of different flavours, a fairly complex autofilter, or anything in-between.
Timeless can be a chorus, a phaser, a reverb, a pitch shifter and yes, a delay too, up to going crazy with multitap.
And they all are MIDI-controlled, among other things!
You can mix with just these three.

 

Last edited: Sep 17, 2022

Which ones are stand out - I get lost trying to chose - looking for mix bus compressors & eq's?

 

Volcano can even be a synth, although not the most versatile one.

 

In fact you're looking for the most diversity in the least number of plugins, right?
But at the same time you want them to be easy to use plugins. There's a contradiction there, because a plugin that does as much as possible will necessarily be a complex plugin to use.
You're necessarily going to have to aim for modular synths. That's the only way to get as much as possible in as few plugins as possible. But here is the problem... you will have to struggle with the number of modules. And in my opinion, in your case the best is not to use old-style vintage modular synths, but to use modern-style modular synths, using blocks.

In my opinion the first choice is Reaktor 6 (not the player but the full edition). Or you can take KarmaFX. It is easier to use but its possibilities of different synthesis types are just as impressive. Or Tracktion Hyperion. Check with attention their huge numbers of features, especially their great number of different types of synthesis... and their huge number of filters and huge number of FX modules.

With these only three plugins you are happy, you have all the existing synthesis (even granular synthesis) and you have all the existing effects. You don't need anything else. Except your imagination and a good DAW.

 

There isn't a tool I would remove from the full bundle. Twin is a very under-mentioned synthesizer. Maybe it's just a secret

 

Or just VCV Rack

 

Never said that, I even said "better to learn something in Depth" ... other than that, thanks for your suggestions, I will check those out

 

It still needs sound source. Doesn't self-oscillate out of a thin air.
But yeah, you can filter white noise with it so hard it becomes a flute. Or a snare drum.