Best mixing plugins in 2016? Soundtoys/Waves/Softube..?

varun213

New member
I want to upgrade my mixing plugins from compressors/Saturators/EQ's and I was trying to see what the Future producer community feels about some great plugin companies out there to look at?

I heard Soundtoys are awesome and they have a great deal for 500$

I am the type that only likes to buy a very small amount of plugins from one company and use those for years till I feel I need to upgrade. Its better than being overwhelmed by buying all kinds. What do you guys feel is really good out there nowadays?
 
TWO WORDS: Universal Audio

Nothing else compares as far as plug-ins go.
Not saying there are no other great plug-ins on the market but as for sound, UA is the way to go.
I have every pug in by Soundtoy, the Waves Gold package and 20 other plugins by Waves and just about any other plug in you can think of.

If you can't afford the UA plug ins Id say go with Waves. I don't like all of their plug-ins but they make some super cool innovative plug-ins that can help bring out your creativity and help with your workflow.
 
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TWO WORDS: Universal Audio


Nothing else compares as far as plug-ins go.
Not saying there are no other great plug-ins on the market but as for sound, UA is the way to go.
I have every pug in by Soundtoy, the Waves Gold package and 20 other plugins by Waves and just about any other plug in you can think of.

If you can't afford the UA plug ins Id say go with Waves. I don't like all of their plug-ins but they make some super cool innovative plug-ins that can help bring out your creativity and help with your workflow.


I'd love to use UAD but in order to use UAD plugins isn't it mandatory to have a UAD interface?

I use the Steinberg UR44 interface currently
 
I'd love to use UAD but in order to use UAD plugins isn't it mandatory to have a UAD interface?

I use the Steinberg UR44 interface currently

You could buy the UAD Satellite. Either way you'd still have to by their equipment to run the plug-ins.
Another way top go which I sometimes still use in certain mixes is using Reason and the SSL that comes with it..
Some people don't like Reason but I love using it to mix with, its perfect to me.

I use Ableton and Maschine to start my tracks, then I port them over to Logic to record the vocals....
Then each track has that sound I like from whatever flavor I put on them.
When its time to do a mix I sometimes port everything over to Reason to polish it up.
 
thats pretty sick, do you get really nice results going that way?

What equipment would you need to run UAD plug ins at the minimum?
 
thats pretty sick, do you get really nice results going that way?

What equipment would you need to run UAD plug ins at the minimum?

Either the PCIe cards or one of the Satellite variants (which come in USB, FW & TB flavours). Or one of the interfaces.

The UAD plugins are great, but I frankly don't think they're quite so far in their own league as they once were - there's so much native processing power available nowadays that the gap's getting smaller, and getting into UAD is a hefty investment compared to, well, everything else. They're still very much among the best, though. Not that you can't make great mixes with anything else.
 
thats pretty sick, do you get really nice results going that way?

What equipment would you need to run UAD plug ins at the minimum?

I get great results with it. When I port my tracks into Reason to mix, everything is done very lightly because each track already has the sound I want on it.
The SSL in Reason isn't a plug in its integrated into the software so you can have as many tracks as you want without having to worry about CPU issues and Reason has an infinite amount of ways you can route different devices and add more flavor to your tracks.


Now with the UAD plug-ins, they just sound so so good. For instance one of my favorites is the EP-34 tape Echo. OMG thats makes anything sound beautiful!!!
It has a bright and beautiful tone to it. Or the AKG BX 20 reverb, whenever Im making a song and it has a "dark" tone to it. I use that spring reverb as a return and sprinkle it all over the track. It blends in so good.

Another one of my favorites is "The Voice of GOD"!! You want extra thump on those drums or a little more extra richness to your bass then dial that up.

Oh and if you have a guitar sound then run it through the Fender '55 vintage Amp. You won't find another Amp plug-in that sounds as good that.

Now Waves has some really good innovative plug-ins too. Especially if you need short cuts to some mixing techniques. Plug-ins like their Greg Wells mix centric is great for those who aren't advanced in mixing or just needing a quick fix to keep the workflow moving. Their H reverb and Delay are really good. Also the Chris Lord Angl series is really nice too.

But my first choice is always UA for plug-ins they just sound better
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I get great results with it. When I port my tracks into Reason to mix, everything is done very lightly because each track already has the sound I want on it.
The SSL in Reason isn't a plug in its integrated into the software so you can have as many tracks as you want without having to worry about CPU issues and Reason has an infinite amount of ways you can route different devices and add more flavor to your tracks.


Now with the UAD plug-ins, they just sound so so good. For instance one of my favorites is the EP-34 tape Echo. OMG thats makes anything sound beautiful!!!
It has a bright and beautiful tone to it. Or the AKG BX 20 reverb, whenever Im making a song and it has a "dark" tone to it. I use that spring reverb as a return and sprinkle it all over the track. It blends in so good.

Another one of my favorites is "The Voice of GOD"!! You want extra thump on those drums or a little more extra richness to your bass then dial that up.

Oh and if you have a guitar sound then run it through the Fender '55 vintage Amp. You won't find another Amp plug-in that sounds as good that.

Now Waves has some really good innovative plug-ins too. Especially if you need short cuts to some mixing techniques. Plug-ins like their Greg Wells mix centric is great for those who aren't advanced in mixing or just needing a quick fix to keep the workflow moving. Their H reverb and Delay are really good. Also the Chris Lord Angl series is really nice too.

But my first choice is always UA for plug-ins they just sound better

thanks for your input, id love to get into UAD i want to get a budget going for that soon. The LA2A that UAD makes is probably really nice as well?
 
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