They used to be cream of the crop - 20 years ago .
There are Quality wise better EQ and dynamics plugins nowadays but they are super ergonomical and efficient even today and great for dumb reach.
Two years ago I've bought Inflator and limiter for 88 $ total( Inflator was 31$ and 57$ for Limiter) , now it's more then 2x cheaper ...

 

Oxford Limiter still does better for some source material as the main limiter than newer limiters for me, can work very well on drum bus too, typically for me on higher bpm rock subgenre (punk, metal) tracks.

Drum Gate is very effective, and can do the job better than alternatives in certain cases, does tend to shave off the very very very first edge of the transient but that may be + or - depending on situation. MIDI output accuracy is quite good, comparable to Slate Trigger. It won for me vs a couple others recently on a free jazz track on a kick with insane bleed and dynamics. Also the Learn Matched/Remove Matched function makes tedious detection a lot less of a pain.

Inflator is still good in my opinion. The code has been cracked and there several alternatives obviously, but the sound and parameters are familiar to me... When I want that sound.

Probably going to grab Envolution and perhaps TransMod. Demoing Envolution now, it does seem to hold its place in the transient category over here. A transient shaper is only as good as its detector, this one is good.

 

I guess they will come with new versions in the upcoming months, with a lot of improvements via IA coding, I suppose.

 

I use Claro as my regular channel EQ if I need anything beyond the stock Logic EQ, and short of needing Pro-Q4, splitEQ or whatever else. It's light and on most channels I do not even need much more than the Produce tab, which is basically just a 3 band but with some very helpful additions to one. On most regular channels, when I check my results using just the Produce tab going to the Tweak page; I barely have to change anything because it's already what I want. Another purpose I really like it for is using it for Complementary EQing in the Mix page. I got it on a prior 90% off sale, and I would say it is maybe the best $12 worth of plugin I have ever spent. It is transparent, light on CPU, visual, fast, but you can get in-depth when you need to. https://toolbox.sonnox.com/Claro/Quick Start.html

 

THANKYOU20 gives you an extra 20% off the final price

 

I just started demoing Envolution, and I have to say despite it's dated age, it's still a very nice plugin for transient and sustain shaping.
And for less than 20 Bucks with that extra code, I'll definitely buy it.
On a side note, I still use some other Sonnox plugins in my productions.
For example, I use the Limiter as the first limiter in my double limiter setup, the Enhance function gives a nice little final push.
Dynamics is used mostly for drums and Vocals.
And Claro lives on most of my tracks.
I own Inflator too, but don't use it as much anymore.


tl;dr

My recommended Sonnox plugins are
Claro, Dynamics, Envolution & Limiter.
Inflator only, if you want the „original“, there are equally good substitutes.

 

thank you, sonnox is great!

 

I checked the Claro. It looks really cool.
There is also a function like in Pro-Q4 to have all tracks in one place and to compare or to "demask" but claro looks easier

 

Awesome. Thanks!

 

Last edited: Jul 16, 2025

At one point they probably were, but not really anymore from the ones I've used. Drum Gate might be the exception. Inflator was special for a while, but there are multiple identical clones now that null with the original.

 

i bought the ones i want at this price however wont use them until on the sister site. ilok is cumbersome

 

This is what I mean by Complementary EQ. quick example, with the same audio file on two channels. on the left side, you can see where the remaining energy is left after your eq's effected output to the channels you instantiate it on. Sure Sonible Smarteq4 and others can do this, but not many with a legit copy for ~20 bucks. The original price of $100 might be pushing it a little bit. But it is as transparent as any other eq I have used. You can have it on way more channels, but only 2 at a time in this view on the right.

The least mentioned plugin from Sonnox (here anyway), but generally regarded as the best available is SuprEsser. At these prices it would be hard to go wrong if it is on sale.

 

Last edited: Jul 21, 2025

Btw, it's on sale at JRR Shop too.

Even cheaper than on their website , and you can use the code „FORUM“ at checkout, you'll get some extra percent off.

https://www.jrrshop.com/sonnox?dir=desc&order=special_from_date