I have to admit I'm a lover of all kind of lists.
Here is one I'm really interested in. Imagine having only 5 plugins on a desert island. No VSTi's. No stock plugin's on top of that. What is the minimalistic digital rig of your dreams?


1. Kirchhoff EQ: I like the workflow of these graphical eq's and the Kirchhoff is the one I like the most. I don't need my eq to sound "coloured", because I think the tonal balancing is an act of colouring itself. If I need saturation I usually look somewhere else.

2. Tone Projects Kelvin: Speaking of saturation ... this is my absolute favourite plugin. If EQ wasn't such a crucial mixing task, this would be the first plugin in my list. The tone shaping possibilities of this beauty are incredible versatile. From (very) subtle saturation to distorted sounds and everything in between. There are so many cased this is useful to me, it's some kind of magic. There are other saturation plugins I like and use, for example Black Box HG-2, FF Saturn, some tape emulations. But this is the one for the desert island, for sure.

3. PSP Impressor: to pick one compressor is a very difficult task for me. They are acting so differently and the features vary a lot. Right now I still haven't found one, which is my definitive go to comp, the PSP Impressor is the closest, I guess. I like it for different tasks, where I want a sound compressed, sidechaining included and I like it's general sound characteristics. Soundwise I would have picked the Purafied VU Compressor, which is very limited (no attack/release, only four different modes). One of these four settings usually sounds gorgeous on the drum bus. Goodhertz Vulf Compressor and Tone Projects Unisum. Totally different beats, again.

4. Cableguys Shaperbox 3: I'd pick this mostly for it's workflow capabilities. There are many different tasks, it is useful: sidechain pumping, cut out certain hits of a drum loop without actually cutting, shaping (kick) drum sounds, filtering/panning movements and so on. Could do some crazy stuff, too, if you want. The filter section could sound better to my ears, though. All in all it is a great tool, simple but unique.

5. Altiverb 7: this is even harder to pick than the compressor. I am some kind of aficionado when it comes to delay/reverb sounds. Altiverb is just a makeshift solution, because I can't think of a plugin which is the allaround combination of delay and reverb. Do you know one? There are some great guitar pedals like Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run or Disaster Transport Sr, which I use on a daily basis. Why no plugins like that? Right now I use many nice and different reverb and delay plugins, still haven't found my desert island choice though.

 

probably:

1 - Pro-Q 3
2 - TrackComp
3 - Kclip 3
4 - Boost
5 - Valhalla Vintage Verb

 

• Sonnox Claro
• Sonnox Oxford Dynamics
• Softube Harmonics
• McDSP EC-300
• Lexicon PCM Native

 

Waves CLA Epic

My List is:
Red Rock API 560 free and MTurboReverb.

Under normal production conditions I do not need more.

 

Last edited: Jun 26, 2023

Very good list. All really solid plugins!

For my list I'm excluding plugins that I don't normally like using. This means a lot of very powerful plugins with an unintuitive UI, or that I otherwise dislike, aren't here, such as U-he Filterscape or DMG Compassion. I'd rather have fun making music that sounds like shit than toil with plugins I dislike and make potentially better sounding music.

1. TDR SlickEQ M: My preferred EQ for mastering. The fact I don't choose Pro-Q 3 or Kirchhoff (which are objectively more versatile aside from the non-linearities) shows how much I love SlickEQ M.

2. Sixth Sample F(l)atter: Despite the dumb sounding name, it is among my favorite saturation plugins. Lots of options, like linear/minimum phase modes, good oversampling, adjustable crossover steepness, well-implemented dynamic saturation & a clean UI that leads to a fluid workflow. I choose this over Saturn because I simply don't like how Saturn sounds. It can also act as a multiband phase rotator or a soft clipper, which can act as my mastering limiter.

3. TDR Molot GE: Very versatile compressor whilst having a more intuitive UI than something such as DMG Compassion or Klanghelm DC8C. Can be as smooth as a tube compressor or very snappy like a VCA or standard digital compressor. Only downside is that there's no lookahead option but it is what it is.

4. Cableguys Shaperbox 3: Also a fan of this plugin. I'm putting this here because I can't think of anything else, but you can't really go wrong with this pick. The UI is, imo, by far the best for a multi-FX plugin

5. Valhalla Vintageverb: Not much to say that hasn't already been said. A well known reverb plugin with a lot of modes to choose from & high/lowpass filters, which are crucial for me in a reverb.

 

Elysia Alpha Comp
DMG EQuilibrium
FabFilter Pro-C2 (or DMG TrackComp2)
Lexicon PCM
Ozone

With this you could pretty much do anything,
also top tier stuff..

 

Fabfilter Pro-Q3
Fabfilter Pro-C2
Cradle - The God Particle
UVI Shade
Fabfilter Pro-R

This is not my favorite 5 plugins.

 

- TDR Molotok: I'm picking this over the paid Molot GE and older Molot because the old Molot is hard to make sound clean/modern and Molot GE has so many possible variations that I'd never get anything done. The 10 compression styles Molotok offers are plenty for my needs.

- Valhalla Space Modulator: I didn't like this much when it came out, but it has since become my favourite chorus/flanger and even reverb at times.

- Any Fairchild 670 emu: As close to 'magic fairy dust' as it comes to my ears. Doesn't even need to compress.

- Any SSL style channel EQ: I need a broad strokes EQ or I'll end up with option paralyses.

- Melda MAutoDynamicEQ: For when I need a precision EQ / dynamic EQ / resonance finder / spectrum matching EQ.

 

1. Pro Q3
2. Claro
3. Raum
4. NI Transient Master
5. Decapitator

 

dSONIQ Realphones
iZotope Ozone 10
Cradle The God Particle
Dada Life Endless Smile
FabFilter Simplon

 

-Izotope ozone 10 (some would call it cheating because it is)
-slate digital VMR with all the modules (some would also call it cheating but it's not it totally is)
-Altiverb
-Valhalla delay
-Arturia dimension D

Not necessarily my favourites, but i think that covers the basics if there is no native plugins to go with.

 

How are you going to get all these plugins working on a desert island without any power?

 

With a true power gen provided by the witch of course

 

If I'm on a desert island, there is probably a lot of sand and salt water. I squeeze my buttocks so tightly that the sand in between is heated to 2000°C by the pressure to produce solar panels from the resulting silicon. I then use the salt water for lithium extraction for my battery so that I can make music even at night.

 

Easy

 

Interesting question because it makes you think of the essential tasks as well as the plugins that provide heaps of versatility and possibilities...

For mixing I'd need
-EQ...
It's gotta be something that can do dynamic EQ as well, probably Pro-Q or Kirchhoff. Expansion is also a must. Pro-Q feels a bit nicer to use for some reason, but if i'm trapped on a desert island mixing music for the rest of my life then i'll probably want the extra customizability that Kirchoff provides or i'll go crazy.
-Compression...
Probably DMG TrackComp2 because it models basically every compressor action i'd ever need, and it does it well. Other options include Melda MTurboComp and McDSP 6030 Ultimate Compressor, for the sheer versatility x quality combo. Maybe Unisum just cos it has such deep editing options that it'd keep you busy on an island. Think TrackComp probably gets the edge
-Colour box...
It needs to be something that i can pair with the EQ or compression to give it an analog feel if i need. But it also needs to be able to be crushed to hell. First instinct is Kelvin, but Saturn2 is probably more versatile with the dynamic editing options. Wavesfactory Spectre is another option. Ploytec Aroma is another.
-Reverb...
Something super versatile, maybe Reverberate or Slate Verbasuite, but the winner is probably TC Electronic VSS4.
-Delay...
For the delay it'd have to be something i can tinker with to create all kinds of cool "3D" effects and stereo trickery as well as delay. Maybe u-He ColourCopy. Maybe McDSP EC-300. Maybe one of the Eventide Dual Harmonizers or the H3000.

If it's 5 desert island plugins for a mastering context then it's the same as above but swap the reverb and delay out for 2 limiters. First one is definitely DMG Limitless cos that thing sounds amazing when dialled in right, and you can kinda EQ balance with it as well as clip. 2nd one is a toss up between Pro-L for the various "modes" or TDR Limiter No6 for the various modules (nice to have the extras).

These aren't my favourite plugins per se but they would serve me most if i had nothing else.

There's probably key plugins i'm forgetting so i may revisit this list later

Yeahhh those are cheating haha. ;) Might as well put the SoundToys Effects Rack in there too then

 

Last edited: Jun 27, 2023

Boost is an incredible processor. It's like sticking your sounds under a microscope. It can completely change your texture, dynamics, color... I don't see it get mentioned much, but it's one of those tools that made my jaw drop. This post actually reminded me to use it more, thank you. It brings things to life in a way I haven't quite heard before.

 

I need to give Boost another try then. I'd tried using it in a mastering context once but it gave me artefacts, sort of a fluttery sound.

Leapwing DynOne has become my go-to for low-level upwards compression now, there's no artefacts with that thing, but i'm keen to give Boost another test

 

That's rather weird, I've tested Boost multiple times on Plugin Doctor (was really impressed the first time I used it), have a dozen of tracks using it, it's the cleanest limiter I've ever used in my life. Fircomp 2 is the only one that gets close but Boost is one of those miraculous tools that feels like cheating. It might not be ideal for every case, sometimes you want that lil distortion going on but when you need something like Boost... it delivers.

 

Fabfilter Pro-Q 3
iZotope Ozone 10
Analog Obsession SSQ
oeksound Soothe2
Valhalla Plate