PLUGINS that I reviewed .. Do I ACTUALLY use them?? (part 1 / 2021)
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- PLUGINS that I reviewed .. Did I ACTUALLY use them?? (2021)
My name is Paul Third and I am a Scottish youtuber / audio engineer / mixing engineer / audio geek. I mostly cover audio engineering related content ranging from audio plugin shootouts / plugin comparisons (acustica audio plugins, universal audio etc etc) to actual analog vs digital / gear vs plugins plugin tests via access analog and mix analog. I even include ddmf plugindoctor tutorials in my plugin reviews so you can be your very own plugin tester and experiment and understand whats actually going on under the hood. I also discuss digital music distribution from time to time and like to give my viewpoint on online music distributors such as onerpm and distrokid.
All of my audio blind tests involving music production software are conducted in avid pro tools 2021 which is my main daw and I also use HOFA blind test 4U as my blind test software. In terms of my audio interface I record and monitor through a universal audio apollo x6 through topping dx7 pro+ dac/amp and use an se dynacaster for all of my voice overs.
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🏷️GEAR I USE
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Topping DX7 PRO+
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Moondrop Aria Snow IEM's
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Topping L30 mk2
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Hifiman Sundara planar headphones
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• MY DEBUT ALBUM JOURNEY
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📖 CHAPTERS
0:00 intro
0:26 TimP Vari level 2
0:53 acustica plugins
2:35 neold big al
3:18 sonimus britson
4:20 dibiquadro virgo (fender twin plugin)
4:36 sonible smart eq
5:35 soundtheory gulfoss
7:42 arturia comp diode (neve 33609 plugin)
9:20 oeksound spiff
11:06 waves plugins
13:22 reso (mastering the mix)
14:12 oeksound soothe 2
14:45 bassroom and mixroom (mastering the mix)
15:26 eventide split eq
16:41 waves kramer pie
17:18 sonible smart limit
18:08 arboreal pimax
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Email: paulthird.taysound@gmail.com
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Website: www.paulthird.com 
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If there are any plugins that I looked at during 2021 that I didn't talk about here then feel free to ask 🤓
Great! I really enjoy your channel! You talk with out being coy and I appretierte that! Keep it that way bro!
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Thinking of getting Sonimous console A to replace Waves NLS. Tested NLS for aliasing tonight and even working at 88.2 it did alias. As usual running at low levels and shaving excess HF where possible before non linear processing helps.
Thanks mate, been using inflator inside metaplug for the oversampling. Been looking for something similar and a bit more up to date to replace it. So I headed over to your review video of PiMAX and am about to purchase. The price! what's not to like! Cheers for the golden nugget! :-)
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I enjoyed this, love those Sonible plugins too!
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love it. and thanks for the timestamped chapters
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I quit the hobby of mixing 3 years ago after being on it for 12 years.
I have used so many saturators.
The two that I like in my memory are :
Sonimus Britson
CDSoundmaster R2R Nebula tapes
I still remember their sound very well. And I remember the sound difference between satson and britson
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Interesting overview and thoughts. I have made similar observations about some tools because my mixes, decision making and ears got better as well over the last 2-3 years.
Gullfoss get´s nearly no use anymore. I used it in a template for some time because I saw it in a template of a famous mixing engineer. He used it only on music groups because he doesn´t like what it´s doing to the transients on drums. He´s right about it but I figured out that this is also true for the transients on non percussive elements. It looses some natural and pleasing quality even though it might not been balanced that great without Gullfoss sometimes.
SmartEQ - The tonal changes it suggests are sometimes great BUT if you replicate the suggestions with a simpler approach (even with SmartEQ) and not with the weird AI curves it sounds way better and not so much fucked up (phase due too many curves?)
In general I found that SmartEQ as a basic eq preserves transients better as Pro-Q3 which made me wonder as they both are "just" digital eqs.
RESO - great, I often prefer the result over Soothe2, especially on vocals.
SPIFF - just amazing on so many things (and in delta mode as well)
Acustica AUdio - well... some sound cool but it´s not the magic it seemed to be. Also you still can´t trust the plugins all the time which make you reach for different tools that sound great as well (or get the job done)
SplitEQ has a great interface and workflow but other similar tools sound better and not so processed like with SplitEQ.
You don´t use tools from Tone Projects and Leapwing Audio?
What is your pre mixing exactly? Setting up the project, cleaning resonances, basic balance and so on?
I use stage one in every mix but the signature stuff is really cpu intensive
My 96k premixing session is organising, comping, editing, cleanup, drum sampling, compression, soothe, some smart eq on instruments.
Printed then exported as 48k stems (that's what it's called in studio one) to go into my 48k mix template
Awrite bud, I sas pishing myself laughing at this video.. Been loving the podcast tae.. I'm a big fan and I've been wae ye fae the start.. Looking forward to the crazy AI plugins that will no doubt appear.. Hope your well mate. 👍🏻
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Can you please make a video about doing a pre mix and then a mix. Do you use your pre mix to get rid of harsh stuff and resonances, and then do the rest in a separate mix session? Is your pre mix more of a production template? How do you approach those sessions differently? Can you breakdown templates/plugins a bit?
Something I’ve heard you mention a few times now and I’ve never really understood what you meant by a pre mix. Keep up the good work x
Its not anything to overthink. It's just the session where I organise everything, clean up, edit and compress. Combine mono files to stereo files where possible, add in drum samples etc.
I do the premixing specifically at 96khz so I don't get the eq cramping in the high end when using smart eq and also so the Tim Petherick comps are working at their highest possible sample rate. This means I can use his clippers without worrying about aliasing as much. It's just me being OTT.
I also do the premixing on in ears and the topping dx1 through my laptop just so I can premix anywhere and it gives me another reference point before going into my 'hifi' setup. It forces to me take a break and come at mixing with proper fresh ears.
Then when everything is cleaned up, organised, compressed and printed then I export them to 48khz files so I can mix them in my 48khz mix session.
I treat the whole process like most professional mixers do. They pay assistants to do all the premixing for them so when they rock up to the session all they need to do is feed tracks through their template and use their ears to and experience to get the rough sounding like a pro mix in good time. Good time being absolutely crucial.
When you do clean up and organising alongside mixing I find it can get pretty messy and disorganised where if you seperate it then mentally you can have your critical brain and your artistic brain not clashing.
When your critical brain is listening out purely for dynamics, imbalance and harshness then you'll end up with a critical end result.
That leaves your artistic brain to get creative and 'hear' the mix. Instead of fixing problems you are focusing on painting on the canvas that's been prepped for you to essentially (this sounds cheesy) create a masterpiece.
Its all a psychology thing for me which I need because I get so consumed in stuff and struggle to take breaks and dissociate myself from things
@@PaulThird cool. Thanks for breaking that down. I end up doing a similar thing with my workflow, but it’s more from taking a full production, bouncing to stems and doing a cleanup before a proper mix. I imagine if i was purely mixing something instead of producing it as well I’d do more like your approach. Separating creative mixing and critical mixing has for sure made a big difference in my end results. Thanks again for such a detailed breakdown, that defo makes more sense now. Cheers
ADPTR can actually replace Waves MV2 and can do even more; I even have a preset that does what soothes, but in a much more subtle way.
Have you ever tried DSEQ3 and have an opinion of it? Compared to Soothe or Reso?
Very quick trial but didn't find it very intuitive so just gave up.
YOU made me buy Verona Tube Console by London Acustica, still the best eq ever. So thanks. By the way, Analog Obsession makes the best transient stuff, very usable!! :)
Still use verona on pianos
thank you for your candor..🤓
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Hi Paul great post good to hear....
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you got me hooked on Acustica, Paul...now they make up 75% of my mixing plugins. Nothing comes close! I want to try the Tim P stuff, but the Nebula interface is too expensive for me right now.
I still like the sound of a lot of acustica stuff but workflow wise it's just not for me anymore. Mixes took me too long the old way I used to do it. Workflow is king for me now HOWEVER TimP compressors still play a big role in all of my mixes. Tim's the king when it comes to convolution and doing it properly. Acustica are still playing catch up..
@@PaulThird I hear you. The thing is, I dont use templates when I mix. I like to start from scratch and swap out various AA plugins depending on the style of music I'm working on. They dont always work on everything across the music spectrum. I work on everything from alternative, to metal, to country, and pop, etc. So my stable is FULL of AA plugins I can try out.
Plugins I bought that you also talk about in this video:
- Sonimus Britson, - Smart EQ, - MV2 -Split EQ. Can you believe the discipline? I'm amazed by myself right now.
Spiff and Soothe I didn't buy (yet?). With Split EQ, Kirchhoff EQ and Transient designers I don't feel like I need Spiff. Soothe is something I'd probably buy, if I was primarily a mixing engineer (I'd have to mix more vocals then and to me soothe is a vocal fixer), but for now I still feel like I'm learning more by trying to get a smooth result without soothe. I'm a stubborn SOB. I try not to use Split EQ too much too btw. - but sometimes I can't resist, because it just solves so much so easy, that would take me so much more time otherwise. Especially when I'm not sure where the problem is Split EQ helps me figure it out real quick.
PS: Gulfoss never clicked with me for mixing. I can see it in mastering in SOME instances (that's where I used it, when I demoed it). But I believe it's severely overhyped.
PPS 2: You scrolled across the TBProAudio MVMeter 2. I use it all the time for gainstaging now. Love it! I put it on my second screen so whenever I go to a track the meter for the track pops up. Makes life easier with analog emulations.
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I like The vu meter trick do You ensure that it pops up automatically? How in what daw?
In studio one you can do it where the vu sits on top of every track
@@jesperborgstrm3385 This is in Ableton Live - nothing you need to do, except not close the plugin. All plugins that were open get reopened (in the same spot they were previously open) when you select a track. Very, very handy in production in combination with a second screen! One of the many reasons I produce in Ableton Live.
But when I master my instrumentals in Pro Tools afterwards (change of scene is change of ears and mindset - it works, trust me) I also put the meter on my second monitor next to a more complex Meter, my Limiter and my Maximizer. In this case they are always up on the second monitor (I'm sure you know how to toggle on or off that plugins stay open in Pro Tools - red button in the top right of the plugin). I can switch the spot where the MVmeter is in order to check for the gain before different plugins. So for instance, if I put a Saturator, an EQ and a multiband or omnipressor on (before the Maximizer, Limiter and Big Meter) I leave a slot free before each. This way I can move the MVmeter around real quickly to check when I retweak things.
But that's just my workflow. Different strokes for different folks! Took me years and it's still changing occasionally.
Hey, I’m curious about when you reach for spiff vs split EQ? I understand you feel like they work well together, but I have held off on spiff because I have split EQ… what’s different about them in terms of how they sound for transient shaping? thanks 🙏
Spiff is a transient designer, split eq is an eq that splits attack and sustain.
SplitEQ is useful for all kinds of stuff, but absolutely phenomenal for processing drums, especially if you don't have the multitracks or you're working with a sample. You know how there will often be all kinds of pillowy mush in the 200-600Hz range, and you want to put an eq cut somewhere in there to control it? The trouble with that is that the real heft of the snare bottom or the kick upper transient is in that area too. You could use a dynamic EQ to duck the area and keep some of the punch, but that is unlikely to sound good.
SplitEQ takes time out of the equation and lets you say, "Keep the percussive knock and reduce the bloom." It's not the only case where that can apply, of course. You can shape messy cymbals better, you can make acoustic and electric guitars control better, anything that has some kind of hard attack. Since the transients are generally the trigger of compressors, you can get fine control over how your compressors are working if you have SplitEQ somewhere in front of them.
I process a lot of classic drum break samples from the original sources, and this was a total gamechanger for that ("Amen Brother" in particular).
@@joechapman8208hey I'm a break chopper as well, would you mind going a bit more in depth about what you do with the Amen? Also do you have anything you've done online I could hear as an example?
@@joechapman8208thanks for the response! ❤🙏
@@PaulThird EQ’ing the attack with split EQ feels a bit like transient designing to me, but demoing Spiff I can hear it sounds different. 🙏
PIMAX! WOOOHOOOO!!😁👍
I started using it right after seeing your video on it, and I've never looked back. There are still times when I may find a use for the Inflator. Mainly because it just has a sound....but that's why I love PIMax so much. It doesn't have a sound really....it's just more transparent, and for mix buss use that's a good thing!.
I'm curious what significance you find between symmetric and asymmetric. I just stay on the symmetric setting. It works for me with no fuss.
SmartEQ is interesting. When I reach a point where I'm feeling good about a mix, I'll put it on just to see what it says. There's a lot of times when I don't like what it suggests. This may be because my room is not fully treated, and I'm not hearing what it's suggesting. It's still a very useful tool though.
Split Eq can be a life saver, especially when using drum loops.
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whats that plugin you use in conjunction with spiff? kinda teased it
Split eq?
If I may ask another question(s).. do you have compressor workhorse plugins? Like TimP 2A, Softtube CL 1B for Opto situations? Or KotelnikovGE, TrackComp, Unisum, Lindell SBC as versatile allrounders? Or other ones you like to use all the time for all kind of situations? Trying to get rid of too many options.. And the same question for premade curved EQs, like Rule-Tec, Bettermaker, Titanium or CoffeePun.. would love to hear your opinion on these thoughts!
I limited my options a long time ago. On vocals I always use the 3 same compressors. Bass I always use double tap. I try to only use compression if I feel its really needed. On drums it's mostly clipping with exception to overheads and rooms, that's always compressed with the same compressors.
I have my go to's and I don't overthink anything now
@@PaulThird Sounds very healthy. Congratulations on reaching the next level of existence.😂 - and Thank you :)
Also hearing this from you will help me a lot as l used to analyze plugins like crazy.. but it seems to be true that in a mixing scenario, it really doesn't matter if you choose option a, b or c.. whatever works. I think this hyperlevel of nerdynes is better spend while in the sounddesign stadium.. recording everything as fat and as good as possible.
I wouldn't say that. The plugins I've stuck with have came from all my geeky tests. I don't use any old compressor, all of my tools have been very meticulously chosen.
Reso - mine only samples a few seconds of audio, how do you make it sample the whole track?
Have the gui open, let it listen to the track then press calculate. You need to let reso learn the track.
Gullfoss can be more trouble than it’s worth. Fantastic referencing tool, rarely print with it on tho
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Yeah i had the same experience with Gulfoss, that's interesting. I used to like it but I'm off it now. I don't know what it is either, but i don't love what it does to the mix. I don't like the weird movement it creates.
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Paul, do you still use a cement mixer?
Never used one haha
Dagnabit, I guess I'm gonna have to buy the PiMax & Spiff now! I seriously need to win the lotto...
Salutations from astonishingly grey but mild Ireland! ☘☮🤘🏽🤠👍🏽☮☘
Least pimax is cheap haha
love u paul!!
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In the right hands can’t smartcomp2 be an end all be all?
I played about with it for quite a while and it wasn't for me. Best use I got out of it was acoustic guitars but I still had to tweak it quite a bit
U got me into acustica, i dont use them as much now. Kinda wish I hadn’t got them ha
I do use virgo in my live show rig and it is v nice
I think the Acustica thing was a big rabbit hole for me but my acustica experience was akin to an analog guy discovering that he doesn't need 100k worth of gear to do a quality mix. I was using a lot of it because I felt I had to where now it's just a taste thing. I still believe that was a reason why my mixes took so long cause I was dabbling in so many processes
@@PaulThird definitely , makes ur ear better long term cause u have tried it but it is also a rabbit whole
I use the God Particle with Gullfoss on most of my mixes
So was I but when I was level matching and A/Bing I just felt I wasn't really getting that much benefit out of Gulfoss, especially the low end
Subjective though
@@PaulThird I hear ya
I’m an Acustica guy. I just have the ones the I def use. I know what sound I’m getting and yea.. that’s all I care about
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Split EQ is still the biggest agame changer for me since release
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Why did you get upset with Acustica? You used to be an AA‘s spokesperson
Was never their spokesperson, just took an interest in them and liked the plugins and technology.
Got bored, wasn't interested in any of their new releases and after learning a few things and digging deeper, learned to take their marketing with a pinch of salt
Just matured a bit as an engineer and started to smell the coffee a bit
Nice gui. Otherwise...poor coding.
@@hr2186man..the CPU hogging and lagging when trying to use the interface. They are not good technology
@@buckycore 🤣 quick boost...not so fast though
@@PaulThirdTheir marketing is sure inflated as sh_t and they take criticism poorly. This is what you get when your CEO is your news anchor. I did drink the Sunray juice and can finally run Silver properly through Audiogridder, but most of their newer products did not convince me at all. I'm more intrigued by their Hyper thing being put into their older stuff and what that can do.
I respectfully have to disagree with you about Gullfoss. I use Gulfoss on EVERY mix and master I do and as you know I'm mixing/mastering professionally and I'm very successful at it doing it full time. I use it on my mixbus during the mix and it's in my mastering chain too. Maybe it's because when I discovered Gulfoss I was already mixing professionally and happy with very happy with my mixes. I use them both quite subtly but I have found they really really have a way of bringing everything together that I just LOVE! I don't turn Gulfoss on till my final mix and I use the mastering version on my masters. Like I said it's always very subtle but I absolutely love what they do to the sound and I don't think they were ever intended to be used as a crutch altho I see how they could be used that way.
Hope you are doing well bud, thanks for the video!
My experience was really wierd where one day I was pissed off with the cpu and tried an A/B and I didn't really feel there was much benefit in what it was adding and I definitely didn't like the low end smeariness I was hearing.
Could be multiple reasons to what it is happening but I just know that the way i mix now, Gulfoss doesn't really give me anything I like anymore and you gotta trust your ears and your gut
Different horses for different courses
@@PaulThird Yep, that's right! It's all subjective. That's one of the best things about art! We all mix differently too. I'm an old horse, stuck in my ways hahaha!!
Rx de-breath is awesome
Got it and is too inconsistent for a podcast and voice over
AYAIC ??
Never reviewed them in 2021
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Remember to check out my autism channel if you want to learn more about my life 🤓🤓
I kinda like using gulfoss on individual instruments sometimes.
Yeah Ive seen it put on good use on vocals 🤓
The question is not whether you used Plugins you reviewed, it is if I used the plugins I bought.
Be a pretty short video then 🤣
@@PaulThird 😁
Yeah gullfoss works wonders on shit material and on the mixbus of shit mixes. But on good material and on the mixbus of good mixes.... it just isn't always necessary.
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where's the other two thirds?
???
@@PaulThird if you are a third then where are the other 2/3 rds? haha! just kidding ... love your vids ... especially these kinda ones that look back at plugins to see if the review still stands up :)
Makes way more sense now haha the other two thirds are part of my split personality 😅
Never know which one is replying to you 🤣
@@PaulThird 😅🤣🤣
well , Inflator is not that expensive anymore
£130 from what I'm seeing 👀👀
@@PaulThird was £29 mid July summer sales!
Those sales be gone now haha but I get your point. When it's on sale, it's cheap
N-CONSOLE!
I've been thinking about it but I really didn't like the api console they did which was using the new algorithm. Didn't work anywhere near as good as Briston to my ears so I'm a little bit unsure whether to upgrade to n-console haha
@@PaulThird You can't get Britson anymore unfortunately.
KVR still sell it I'm sure. The N console might just be Britson with a face-lift and new features so you can probably buy N-console and get the same sound but I'm just being a bit OTT
@@PaulThird Consider a review if they supply you a version. I'm wanting to buy it if if is as good as Britson.
Stop this soothe madness. DSEQ is the one and the only - more precise, more controllable.
Wasn't for me. I prefer the workflow and presets of soothe. Always gives me a great starting point that I can tweak slightly. Not saying dseq is a bad plugin, I just prefer the sound and ease of use of soothe
Interesting. I still can't make any sense out of why you'd still use god particle but not some of the other plugins.
God particle can be reverse engineered and made with an FX chain where you can use macro knobs to fine tune the way you want, did you ever consider doing something like this?
Ngl it's always hard to tell for me where my creativity stops and my overthinking autism starts 😆
Yeah that's top much work man. I just want to go into it and mix haha
You sound like a Melda MXXX user too. I'm enjoying the journey down the rabbit hole.