TOP 10 BEST PLUGINS FOR MIXING

1. UAD Manley Massive Passive

The Manley Labs Massive Passive is a favorite tool of high end studios and mastering engineers for its ability to open out and when needed color a mix.   For those that do not know; the Massive Passive is a 2 channel 4 band passive tube EQ.  It’s a complex beast and one that takes a long time to learn all its tricks and subtleties and comes with a price tag to reflect its complexity and quality.   Up until recently that meant that it was out of the reach of many engineers.   That was until the folks at Universal Audio spent the time modelling it so now you can run a bunch of them at once in a mix.

So that brings up the often asked question "How does it stack up to the real thing?”.

The Massive Passive is often referred to as a ‘Pultec on steroids’, but what does that really mean unless you can hear it for yourself (and compare it to an actual Pultec)?

So here is a couple of tests we’ve set up of the analog Massive Passive vs the UAD emulation and a vintage Pultec from 1971 so you can compare and decide for yourself.

2. Ozone 8 (EQ, Dynamic EQ & Vintage EQ)

This is an absolutely feature-packed series of equalizers.

The EQ is surgical and transparent, the Vintage EQ is for color, and the Dynamic EQ allows for a more musical approach to processing different frequency ranges than a traditional EQ. I may reach for one of the aforementioned equalizers for color, but if I need a quick, all-in-one solution, iZotope’s Ozone 7 can’t be beat.

Unique feature: Matching EQ. This allows you to identify and capture the frequency spectrum of a chosen mix or master, and then apply it to your own material. At the very least, for analyzing what the professionals are doing, it’s a fascinating and educational tool.

3. FabFilter Pro-Q2

The Ultimate Utility EQ Plugin

FabFilter Pro-Q 2 is the gold standard in clean EQ plugins. Whether you want to add a simple high-pass filter to a track (and mind you, this has everything from 6dB to 96db/oct), or you're doing surgical moves to a master in Linear Phase mode, this thing can do it all. CPU usage is low, the user interface is gorgeous, and once you learn them, the gestures make workflow extremely fast.

I've been blown away by the simplicity of use and speed of operation that Pro-Q 2 offers. Compared to similar EQs from other big-name plugin companies, this one is just too fast and easy to pass up. If you're not confident in dropping $ for a plugin "sight unseen," grab the 30-day demo from the FabFilter website. Trust me, you'll be convinced.

4. UAD Chandler Curve Bender

This emulates the classic EMI TG12345 desk from Abbey Road Studios, so anything within six degrees of separation from my beloved Beatles is a must-own.

The functionality is similar to the Massive Passive: four bands allowing for shelving or bell, high and low-pass filters, and the ability to unlink channels. However, I do find the Curve Bender feels more vintage, vibey and colorful. If I need something to feel more expressive, or pronounced in the upper-mids or highs, I’ll definitely choose the Curve Bender.

Unique feature: It works in mid-side mode. All of the color and tone of the TG12345 available to process content in the center independently from the sides.

5. Pultec EQP-1A Emulations

There are a lot of emulations of this classic equalizer, and several of them are really great.

I have my preferences, but my suggestion is to go and demo as many as you can to find the one that works best for you and fits your budget (links below). Though this is traditionally more of a mix buss EQ, if a master needs clarity or low end weight, the Pultec does a fantastic job, and very quickly …

• Universal Audio
• Waves
• IK Multimedia
• Softube (technically this is a Tube Tech emulation)

Unique feature: Technically you can boost and attenuate at the same exact frequency, which seems counterintuitive, but because the boost and attenuation curves are different, the resulting curve has its own distinct Pultec flavor. Great for adding weight or sparkle to your material.

6. T-Rack Classic Equalizer Metering Suite

IK Multimedia has released T-RackS Custom Shop, a customizable mixing & mastering plugin suite which includes two completely free tools.

T-RackS Custom Shop is available for free download via IK Multimedia (32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/RTAS plugin format for Windows & Mac). You’ll need to be logged in to your IK Multimedia user account in order to download the installer.

The free version of T-RackS Custom Shop includes the T-RackS Classic Equalizer (a 6-band parametric mastering equalizer) and T-RackS Metering Suite (a metering utility with peak and RMS meters, a spectrum analyzer, etc.). Both tools can be used as plugins or in standalone mode.

IK Multimedia has also released five brand new plugins, which are available in commercial versions of the T-RackS Custom Shop. All commercial plugins can be tested for two days before purchase.

your material.

7. VertigoVSM-3

• Vertigo VSM-3 by Brainworx/Plugin Alliance (also on the UAD platform) is definitely one of my favorites, and it seems that it’s not that well known for some reason. It’s modeled after a hardware unit but the software version is very subtly powerful if that makes sense. — Justin Perkins, Mystery Room Mastering
• Vertigo Sound VSM-3 from UA is awesome! It is one of the “best secrets” of mastering. The harmonic distortion is tasty! I use it in DP for mastering in the box. — Gabriel Alvarez Franchi, GabrielAlvarezFranchi.com
• Vertigo VSM-3 is extremely useful for “a little something extra” on a mix if you need added mojo and excitement. I like it’s ability to enrich low end and add a little “hair” to an electric guitar. The mid-side functionality is about as good as you’ll find in a plugin. I use mine in Pro Tools 11 on a parallel mix send “as needed”. — Dan Coutant, Sun Room Audio

8. CLA (Chris Lord Alge)

Not all of us can afford to have our tracks mixed by Chris Lord‑Alge. But Waves' latest plug‑in bundle might just be the next best thing...

Over the last couple of years, Waves have persuaded a number of big‑name engineers and producers to have their favourite effects and processing chains turned into Artist series plug‑ins. The biggest of all these scalps is arguably Chris Lord‑Alge — the superstar mix engineer who, along with his brother Tom, has perhaps done more than anyone else to shape the sound of modern rock records.

If there's one adjective that is widely associated with the Lord‑Alge sound, it's 'compressed', and Waves have already released a bundle called CLA Classic Compressors, containing faithful emulations of some of Chris Lord‑Alge's favoured spanking devices. The new Artist Series collection, by contrast, models the entire signal chain that Chris Lord‑Alge favours for various named instruments. (The equipment that goes to make up this chain is not always specified, but to learn more about his mix techniques and gear, take a look at Paul Tingen's Inside Track feature from May 2007: /sos/may07/articles/cla.htm.)

The CLA Artist Signature Collection consists of six plug‑ins: CLA Drums, CLA Bass, CLA Guitars, CLA Effects, CLA Unplugged and CLA Vocals. All share a similar user interface, which somewhat resembles the LARC fader controllers for Lexicon reverbs. Five or six faders control different components of the overall effect, while illuminated buttons above them switch between different styles of that process. So, for example, several of the plug‑ins feature a delay: the slider controls the amount of delay added to the signal, while the associated button switches the delay time between slap, eighth and quarter notes. An additional slider at the left adjusts input sensitivity — naturally, all the plug‑ins include a healthy amount of dynamics processing, so this is important — and in some cases there are extra controls above this. In general, I liked the no‑nonsense interface a lot more than that of some of the other Artist‑series plug‑ins.

9.SSLBundle

SSL is pretty famous for their consoles. Because of that, Waves has modeled all kinds of things after the SSL series. With this plugin, they just modeled the famous SSL G series EQ292. They have more versatility than the E series, and they also have a different curve going on. This has the famous pre-boost dip an dprecut rise, as well as an extremely broad Q for all kinds of unique EQing. Some people found the EQ in the E series to be a bit limiting, so this was made to help combat any issues that those people were having.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Waves plugins are some of the best out there, bar none. For one, they're cross platform. For a Mac user, that means the world. I'm always trying to support companies that support Mac, and Waves has been pretty good about that since the whole Intel switch. I've used these in Logic without any problems. Although they're 32 bit plugins, Logic will add a bridge to allow you to use them in a 64 bit environment as to not limit you to the amount of ram you can utilize. On top of that, these things are rock solid. I've never had a crash with Waves plugins at all.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a great EQ, but I don't find myself using it as much as I do the overall E and G channels. However, the plugin sounds great. The few times I did use it, it sounded awesome. One really cool thing you can do is enable both the G channel and the G EQ. That'll give you some crazy extreme EQing that nobody could imagine back in the day. However, if you going to try these out, please don't pirate them. If people keep pirating Waves' stuff, they won't make any more plugins for us.

10.DUY Analog Bundle

Big, Fat Plug-in Pack!

The simplest way to breath life into your sonic creations, DUY plug-ins are made for the creative musician in you, not the computer technician. DUY plug-ins gives you the power and flexibility to shape your sonic landscape the way you see fit. These plug-ins leave you in charge of creating music rather than limiting what you can do. And the DUY plug-ins' analog flavor always sounds sweet to the ear! All these plug-ins sound superb, and bring their own unique vibe to practically every possible application.

Everpack provides 5 excellent plug-ins: Valve, Shape, Wide, Max, and a cool new reverb called the DUY Z-Room.

Valve - simulation of classic valve sound, with its legendary warmth, within the digital domain, and with characteristics and control impossible to achieve in conventional valve systems. Optimized responses for the 38 most common families of acoustic and electronic musical instruments. Also suitable for the processing of any kind of sound: music, effects and voices.

Shape - revolutionary sound enhancment based on the exclusive FDWS algorithm. High quality analogue sound filters using modelling technology. It features three independent user defined Shapers with virtually infinite resolution and accuracy. Each shaper has eight different Shaper curve types including Linear, Log and Cosine functions; linear expand function to optimize dynamics; a set of 5 factory presets for typical applications; and simultaneous Input and Output plasma-like meters.

Wide - stereo enhancment

Max - sound level maximizing based on the exclusive ILO algorithm. It offers seamless level maximizing, zero harmonic distortion even at low frequencies, release-free operation avoiding unwanted pumping effect, and maximum resolution peak level meters with hold and shift function

Z-Room - high quality reverb. Main features include total control over parameters with a friendly and intuitive user interface. Three modes: Deluxe, Economy and Earlies. The second allows to free processing time, and the third focuses the strength of the algorithm on the processing of Early Reflections. Plus an exclusive Rehearsal Mode allows you to set the parameters while hearing the real impulse response of the reverb. This is one of the finest tools to evaluate the quality of the reverb.