Which plugins to get for mixing/mastering?

[updog]

Hey guys,

I was thinking of getting some more plugins to make my mixes sound better, so here's the case:

I'm on Logic Pro 9, and I therefore have the integrated plugins at my disposal. I was though, thinking about getting T-racks3 or Ozone or something in the vein to use with some newer projects, like the one I'm currently working on for my own band.

Would you think I'm well off with the Logic's integrated plugins, or should I get something more to get the best possible results? Now I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to mixing and mastering, but there seems to be some tempting features in the two plugin sets I placed as examples.

Is the T-Racks 3 standard a set of all the "T-Racks singles" plugins? Is it any good?

Which of the two you'd think would be more vital for me to use, since I already have the tools of Logic Pro? The Ozone seems to be more like a set of great tools as opposed to the T-Racks, that has the emulated classic compressors, etc.

There's a pretty neat offer at Thomann about the T-Racks, I'd get it for it's regular price with Sampletank 2 and some watered down version of Amplitube 2.

So what would you guys say? Ozone (somewhere in the future more than likely), T-Racks 3 or "save some money and learn to use them plugins you fool"?

Thanks.

 

[Everybody]

Ive heard that T-racks isnt that great at all, but havent had personal experience with it.

Ozone is fantastic though!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Ive heard that T-racks isnt that great at all, but havent had personal experience with it.

Ozone is fantastic though!

I beg to differ. I got some T-Racks plugins from the group buy offer a while back. They are definitely not your go-to plugins to use on every single channel, but for flavour they work really well. I'm especially loving the Pultec, Fairchild and opto emulations. I wouldn't necessarily pay their normal price for them, but look at some Waves bundles instead.

 

[mick thompson]

t-racks is an excellent pack - i have it and i use it almost all the time for my mixes

 

[Damian B]

Voxengo Elephant is great and fairly inexpensive.

 

[Metaltastic]

Voxengo Elephant is great and fairly inexpensive.

Yup, personally I'm happy with Reaper's stock plugs, GClip, and Elephant! (though I'm probably gonna give some other compressor demos a try for the hell of it)

 

[updog]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm not sure about the T-racks - it seems you have to load up the whole thing everytime (like Amplitube 2, where you load different shit on your signal path) and can't just load the plugins as standalone, making it eat a lot of the computer's resources. There are lots of different features that would seem great though, like the compressors.

Damian and Tastic also got me thinking, maybe I don't need a whole new suite of plugins, but just a few good single ones. Never heard anything bad about Voxengo, either. Could also grab the VariSaturator, if I'll end up purchasing Elephant.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm not sure about the T-racks - it seems you have to load up the whole thing everytime (like Amplitube 2, where you load different shit on your signal path) and can't just load the plugins as standalone, making it eat a lot of the computer's resources. There are lots of different features that would seem great though, like the compressors.

Damian and Tastic also got me thinking, maybe I don't need a whole new suite of plugins, but just a few good single ones. Never heard anything bad about Voxengo, either. Could also grab the VariSaturator, if I'll end up purchasing Elephant.

You can get the T-Racks singles, like I did: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/trsingles/features/

 

[updog]

You can get the T-Racks singles, like I did: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/trsingles/features/

I know, but you can get the T-Racks 3 Standard for the price of like two of those. Doesn't the T-Racks 3 have all of those plugins also sold as singles? That's the impression I got, but I might be wrong... (edit. Apparently not. the Singles are in the Deluxe version and can be bought separately to expand the Standard version. Fuck.)

Wish there was another 3x1 giveaway for the T-Racks singles, should've taken the chance when it was given.

 

[Ermz]

Individual plug-ins are usually the way to go because developers invariably hit and miss from time to time.

If you want a cheap 1176 style plug-in, get the Stillwell Rocket.

If you want a cheap and punchy bus comp, get Cytomic's The Glue.

If you want a pretty nice free bus comp try Bootsy's Density Mk II.

If you want a decent, clean, minimum phase EQ you can try just about anything. Most devs use 'off the shelf' algos and don't bother tweaking them much. ddmf comes up a lot when budget is an issue.

Stillwell CMX for stereo widening.

Soundtoys Echoboy for best delay ever.

Softube CL1B for the most convincing analogue emulation of a tube compressor I've ever heard.

PSP MixSaturator 2 for saturation. Either that, SPL TwinTube or URS Saturation. In fact everyone seems to have a different preference here.

Only way to be sure is demo these plugs for yourself.

 

[updog]

Thanks a lot Ermz, I'm going to check those out! Just downloaded a couple of demos...

 

[Rex Rocker]

I like Izotope Ozone quite a lot, but I'm not a pro, honestly.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

A buddy of mine loves t-racks...i havent messed with it much yet but ozone3 is really good too havent messed with 4 yet though but like ermz said your best bet is just demo the stuff and see which one u feel u get along with better

 

[Scott Horner]

Personally, I've never been a fan of the all-in-one stuff like Ozone. They sound OK when you first start to use them but you quickly realize that it often makes everything sound very processed and brittle. I tend to stay away from processing tools where you can select a preset "suite" to cover everything. I would recommend something like a Waves bundle.

 

[updog]

Thanks for all the comments!

Yeah, maybe I'll just get the plugs separately. I guess you could think a suite of plugins like a multieffect - chances are it isn't strong in every aspect, especially if it doesn't cost a fortune. I'd gladly use a Waves bundle but those are way over my budget... I'll think about it again in a few years or so

I could use Elephant, demoed it and it seems useful. Maybe some vintage modeled compressors at some point also.

Right now I'm waiting for my payment to reach Apulsoft so they'll send my s/n for aptrigga2

 

[Machinated]

logic plugs are pretty good to start with and have most of your bases covered. the stock compressor has all different modes (VCA/FET/opto etc).

id get either metric halo CS or URS CSP for some different EQ/compression and redline reverb for a better algorithmic reverb.

 

[clarbaden]

whatever you do, do not get izotope osone 3, it sucks the big one

 

[AEL89]

^you've been using it wrong then, I'd say the limiter/clipper alone is worth the price of ozone, I almost always choose it over the Massey limiter - and the massey stuff is amazing! The eq is also really useful in digital mode. Not overly impressed by the rest of the features though.

 

[updog]

logic plugs are pretty good to start with and have most of your bases covered. the stock compressor has all different modes (VCA/FET/opto etc).

id get either metric halo CS or URS CSP for some different EQ/compression and redline reverb for a better algorithmic reverb.

Those seem to be a bit out of my league

Anyways, you're right I'm pretty well off with the stock plugs of Logic. I'll probably end up buying one or two from Voxengo or such though