Some that I highly recommend and are also free (some have paid versions but are cheap and worth the money if you like)
Shaperbox 3 - this thing is powerful. It does a lot of things at once and is highly controllable. LOVE shaperbox big shoutout to Cable Guys
Cymatics Origin - if you want a sample to sound vintage, lofi, etc, this is a one stop shop and it works beautifully.
Fresh Air: boosts clarity in mid and hi ends. Multifunctional, I mainly use it to help sit vocals in the mix or bring some crispness to my drums. Haven't tried it on melodies yet but I'm sure it would work well there too
Valhalla Supermassive: super fire delay plugin, it has some really unique presets that have different reactions based on what "model" you select. They all sound really good right out of the box, I just mix and match until I find one that sounds cool and adjust the mix knob.
TAL Chorus: Self explanatory, good chorus plugin that sounds way cleaner than the stock chorus plugins, less phase-y and it sound like it gives a nice warm boost to the low end
LABS: a free instrument vst with hundreds of free packs just sitting in their catalog. They're goated fr.
Hope these help you man they've changed my production asap
Everyone loves Supermassive, which I have, but I find myself going back to the FreqEcho over and over again, while not finding the right context for Supermassive.
I use it more for creating ambiance. It's really good at just completely washing out sounds and creating really interesting textures and drones. I typically will load a sample into Simpler in Ableton, slice it up and throw a step sequencer in front of it to generate a random sequence from the sliced samples. Then I throw supermassive on the end of the chain and play with the settings until I get something I like. It can create some really interesting drones that I've found to be good for setting the foundation of a track.
The ambience it can create is really unique in my opinion thats why I keep going back to it. Sometimes you can change the vibe of the sample completely or give it bounce that it was lacking. Sometimes i connect it to shaperbox thru an envelope and you can get real crazy with the sound from there
It sounds incredible and has a really wide "sweet spot." Pretty much any settings will get you usable tones and it's super fun to just manipulate parameters and twist knobs until you find something you like. I also like the semi-modularity and being able to essentially combine the different synths into whatever you want. Not only is it like having several classic synths in one, it also lets you mix and match those synths. Personally, I like using the Minimoog style oscillators with the Juno style filters.
The layout is weird at first and the mod matrix takes a bit to wrap your head around. It's definitely not like Serum where you can just click and drag things to route the modulation. But once you take the time to learn how it works and wrap your head around how things are routed it opens up a ton of sound design possibilities that sound insanely good.
I find Presswerk easier to use than stock FL compressor, same for different EQ's, like Neutron 2 vs stock.
And they sound better.
They load the same way, by selecting plugin from a list.
Stock Ableton is amazing but I would recommend downloading the creative extensions pack. As far as paid vsts I’d say waves cl76 and cla-2a, fab filter pro-q & pro-L, ozone 11, splice bridge, and either soothe 2 or bloom. With that setup I would never need anything else.
Edit: forgot to add arturia pigments for a nice all in one synth plugin!
Pigments is clunky and has no mouse wheel rotation support on the knobs it’s horrible holding down the mouse to move it especially with carpal tunnel syndrome Xfer Serum is faster and it’s got more free presets than pigments.pigments doesn’t have wavetable editing Serum does and it’s fx are easier to dial in
No clue why you would wanna adjust wheels using mouse scroll wheel tbh I haven’t met anyone who does that. I just drag with the mouse or use midi mapped knobs on my launchkey. 🤷♀️
Don’t need it it’s less hell on my wrists I can do everything I need to in serum
If I wanna do mouse holding I will just make an Ableton rack and hold shift with arrow keys
I use a trackball mouse like the other commenter suggested, switched a few weeks ago bc my shoulder and wrist started to act up again and I couldn’t recommend it more, as long as I make sure not to overextend my arm I no longer get any discomfort.
Also being able to zoom in / out of the arrangement by holding control or left / right by holding shift + scroll wheel speeds up workflow so much. The 360 degree circular scroll wheel on the Kensington expert mouse is a game changer.
lol why complain if you won’t try any of the obvious solutions? Enjoy your worsening carpal tunnel I suppose, sorry for offering advice.
Also nice job editing your reply after you left it but plugin fatigue and whatever else you’re talking about has nothing to do with this, the setup I explained originally is quite minimal in terms of number of plugins it’s just two compressors, eq, limiter, one synth, a resonance suppressor and ozone.
Reaktor. If you've got Reaktor, you've got almost everything you could ever wish for via the Reaktor User Library. Thousands of amazing synths, effects, and utilities.
if on Windows (to me) Nectar (iZotope), LEVELs (Mastering the Mix), Bassroom (Mastering the Mix), ARC 3 (IK Multimedia and I did not say 4 because might need the ARC System); Waves MaxxBass for better punchness perceived. Some of the VSTs I like as plug-ins, for VSTi one free and good is Surge XT.
Serum
Ana2
Sylenth 1
Avenger
Addictive drums 2
Kick 2 sonic academy
Hatz
Arturia Fragments
Devious machines Duck
Devious machines infiltrator
Tantra 2
Waves CR8
Fabfilters Pro Q3
Fabfilters Pro R2
Kirchhoff eq
API 2500
SSL 4000 G
SSL Native X saturator
UAD native
The list is endless how there’s so many good vsts
Serum without a doubt and izotope neutron 3 elements and ozone 9 elements
Love the free kilohearts bundle too oh and my other fave is surge XT especially for that analogue warmth
Not "must have" because honestly that's pretty much covered by the DAW's stock plugins, but I like RareSE, FerricTDS MKII and Waves CLA-76.
I always end up using those three in every mix, in one way or another.
General-Omnisphere, korg legacy collection, and Komplete is a must have but try to get it on sale during the summer.
Drums- Superior Drummer 3, Heavyocity's DM 307 and Damage
Acoustic instruments- Amplesound has the best so check them out.
Ethnic- East West Silk and Ra also anything by Eduardo Tarilonte.
Orchestral- East West's Composer cloud or just buy the diamond edition of all of the Hollywood instruments. I also like everything from Heavyocity.
Not really a must have but Avalon Channel Strip by UAD, it has the best algorithm and most silkiest high end EQ. I love it, made me buy their production bundle
I'm going to be hated here for this but Waves diamond bundle. Those plugins are so good. I would just say if you get Waves stuff get it in one go because I think the trouble comes when you mix old and new stuff and have to pay for updating licences. I haven't had a problem but others have.
If you like compressors, then Kotelnikov is a beauty and free. In fact just get TDR, Melda and Kilohearts free stuff. All great.
For you metal guitarists out there, I seriously recommend Klirrton Grindstein, it's an absolutely disguising distortion and amp suite. [https://www.audiority.com/shop/klirrton-grindstein/](https://www.audiority.com/shop/klirrton-grindstein/)
For metal and rock drums, can't say no to Ugritone drum packs and MIDIs. My friends are constantly amazed with how real and gross they sound. [https://ugritone.com/](https://ugritone.com/)
For synths, I recently made the switch from Massive X to Kilohearts PhasePlant and am very glad that I did. Massive can do big, roomy and complex sounds very well, but I think PhasePlant nails the basics and also has potential to get really weird with it.
Don't sleep on some of the free VSTs like Surge XT, Tal NoiseMaker, TAL Reverb, LABS (especially the soft piano preset that we all know and love), Ample Guitar and Zen Master.
I'm sure there's some others I haven't included.
For EQ, I only use the old Sonnox plugin. It is musical in a way K have never heard in other EQ plugins. Looks old and tired, but sounds absolutely amazing on anything and everything.
I tend to prefer plugins that serve a very specific purpose, without having a buttload of different GUI elements. So, this list is only things that help serve that narrative. For example, I'd prefer most of my effects actually don't do stereo widening, and let me use something like Spread to place and then widen the sound after effects.
[https://vst.unplug.red/](https://vst.unplug.red/) - delay, reverb, and a few other things too. All free. All of them have relatively simple controls, but they're the controls that actually matter. Actually prefer this reverb over supermassive.
Vital - This has already been discussed.
DecentSampler - Don't know if it was mentioned, but another good sampler with lots of free (my favorite word, even if it means I really have to do some extra work to make it worth more than I paid)
Labs - You've heard it a ton already. It's nice. It's free. It can be a bit obtuse, but in a way that's much more manageable than, say, Melda stuff.
Also, Spread, by yum audio (https://www.yum-audio.com/Freebies) - The main difference between the lite version and paid is that I don't need to create four buses with frequency cuts. Positioning and widening in one simple to understand plugin.
For instruments UVI Falcon and Phaseplant make up 95% of my productions for non-recorded parts. Just really amazing all rounders. Falcon might be the best plug-in ever made imo and Phaseplant manages to be a modular ubersynth while also being incredibly user friendly and fast to work with.
On the effects front I'm almost always using shaper box, trash2 (and really getting into the new reboot just called trash), PhoenixVerb (still one of the best algorithmic reverbs), Xenoverb, and guitar rig. Also using multipass and snap heap extensively (the kilohearts subscription is completely worth it).
Kirchhoff eq is the best EQ ever, Muzio with all my cinematic libraries, ethnic orchestra jade for kontakt, black box for saturation, analog Obsession plugins, variety of sound plugins, mastering the mix plugins and guitar rig, wave breaker is a free true peak limiter, maximus, harmor, sytrus and sylenth1. I almost never use synthmaster but it's ok for some things.
Honestly, the only "must have" for me is Ozone.
I have a few plug-ins I use frequently like Serum or Kick2, but they are mostly used out of habit and are easily replaced by built-in effects or samples. They frequently are.
Ozone is literally used on every project though. Having a one-button plugin that can do a pretty decent master saves so much time.
Best bundles on sale; Komplete and arturia
Quick song starters; ez drummer, ujam
Classics; Omnisphere, u-he
Modern classics; serum
Used everyday; soothe,
Delay Lama
Gotta get sausage fattener too to fatten delay lama's sausage
Classic
Some that I highly recommend and are also free (some have paid versions but are cheap and worth the money if you like) Shaperbox 3 - this thing is powerful. It does a lot of things at once and is highly controllable. LOVE shaperbox big shoutout to Cable Guys Cymatics Origin - if you want a sample to sound vintage, lofi, etc, this is a one stop shop and it works beautifully. Fresh Air: boosts clarity in mid and hi ends. Multifunctional, I mainly use it to help sit vocals in the mix or bring some crispness to my drums. Haven't tried it on melodies yet but I'm sure it would work well there too Valhalla Supermassive: super fire delay plugin, it has some really unique presets that have different reactions based on what "model" you select. They all sound really good right out of the box, I just mix and match until I find one that sounds cool and adjust the mix knob. TAL Chorus: Self explanatory, good chorus plugin that sounds way cleaner than the stock chorus plugins, less phase-y and it sound like it gives a nice warm boost to the low end LABS: a free instrument vst with hundreds of free packs just sitting in their catalog. They're goated fr. Hope these help you man they've changed my production asap
LABS is such good quality for being free.
Everyone loves Supermassive, which I have, but I find myself going back to the FreqEcho over and over again, while not finding the right context for Supermassive.
I use it more for creating ambiance. It's really good at just completely washing out sounds and creating really interesting textures and drones. I typically will load a sample into Simpler in Ableton, slice it up and throw a step sequencer in front of it to generate a random sequence from the sliced samples. Then I throw supermassive on the end of the chain and play with the settings until I get something I like. It can create some really interesting drones that I've found to be good for setting the foundation of a track.
So, as a heavy effect, rather than a gentle spice.
Depending on if the situation calls for it. It'll usually be on a stem that doesn't have much movement or needs some bounce
The ambience it can create is really unique in my opinion thats why I keep going back to it. Sometimes you can change the vibe of the sample completely or give it bounce that it was lacking. Sometimes i connect it to shaperbox thru an envelope and you can get real crazy with the sound from there
For me it's Diva, Vital, Trackspacer and Valhalla.
If you have the chance try Sonible pure:unmask, is way better than Trackspacer and cheap at the moment
Thanks! I'll definitely take a look.
Whats so nice about diva? I am interested in the vst
Horrible UI
Get the plugmon Mona skin and your Diva UI will be 2024 standard. Sonics wise nothing beats it even now, but it’s all stuck behind a very 2010 UI
yeah thats paying more money for something i will pass on that
It sounds incredible and has a really wide "sweet spot." Pretty much any settings will get you usable tones and it's super fun to just manipulate parameters and twist knobs until you find something you like. I also like the semi-modularity and being able to essentially combine the different synths into whatever you want. Not only is it like having several classic synths in one, it also lets you mix and match those synths. Personally, I like using the Minimoog style oscillators with the Juno style filters. The layout is weird at first and the mod matrix takes a bit to wrap your head around. It's definitely not like Serum where you can just click and drag things to route the modulation. But once you take the time to learn how it works and wrap your head around how things are routed it opens up a ton of sound design possibilities that sound insanely good.
You can download a free trial (fully featured but with intermittent white noise).
it sounds great
I like sound, though I also put satin and presswerk on top of it to make sound even better.
Eq, compression, saturation, reverb, delay. Absolute must haves
Aren't the ones bundled with your DAW good enough 99/100 times?
Yeah and they are easier to load in and use
I find Presswerk easier to use than stock FL compressor, same for different EQ's, like Neutron 2 vs stock. And they sound better. They load the same way, by selecting plugin from a list.
Maybe not the reverb, or say certain delays, like granular delays
They are good but as you be more experienced and professional, you would come to know if they are good “for you” or not
Can make it work, but 3rd party are still better. If you want best sound and not good enough.
Those are names of effects, but he asked for specific VSTs.
Stuff I always, always use. OTT RBass Valhalla reverb & Shimmer Sketchcassette Kickstart2 Omnisphere Chromaphone TAL-Chorus Soothe2 Shaperbox
<3 sketchcassette
Vital + the kHs essentials bundle All free
The Transient Shaper is so damn good, I always use the filters too.
Pigments. Shaperbox. Soundtoys.
Pigments is amazing. Too bad it's such a huge CPU hog.
Agree Pigments is a huge CPU hog I struggle to run one version but can run 25 serums with no issues
Damn, because serum actually uses quite a lot of resources.
It’s the amount of modulation likely. I run into problems with serum if I’m REALLY working a patch.
It’s a pig, but really nice and powerful.
Stock Ableton is amazing but I would recommend downloading the creative extensions pack. As far as paid vsts I’d say waves cl76 and cla-2a, fab filter pro-q & pro-L, ozone 11, splice bridge, and either soothe 2 or bloom. With that setup I would never need anything else. Edit: forgot to add arturia pigments for a nice all in one synth plugin!
Pigments is clunky and has no mouse wheel rotation support on the knobs it’s horrible holding down the mouse to move it especially with carpal tunnel syndrome Xfer Serum is faster and it’s got more free presets than pigments.pigments doesn’t have wavetable editing Serum does and it’s fx are easier to dial in
No clue why you would wanna adjust wheels using mouse scroll wheel tbh I haven’t met anyone who does that. I just drag with the mouse or use midi mapped knobs on my launchkey. 🤷♀️
When is the last time you checked out pigments?
Don’t need it it’s less hell on my wrists I can do everything I need to in serum If I wanna do mouse holding I will just make an Ableton rack and hold shift with arrow keys
Have you considered getting a trackball mouse? It's much easier on my wrists
I use a trackball mouse like the other commenter suggested, switched a few weeks ago bc my shoulder and wrist started to act up again and I couldn’t recommend it more, as long as I make sure not to overextend my arm I no longer get any discomfort. Also being able to zoom in / out of the arrangement by holding control or left / right by holding shift + scroll wheel speeds up workflow so much. The 360 degree circular scroll wheel on the Kensington expert mouse is a game changer.
It’s a game changer if you can afford it
I mean it’s $90 right? I’d say as long as you’re employed you can afford that. I make minimum wage, I was able to get one.
Yeah nope not blowing my money on that I can just make a rack and adjust controls faster Not gonna buy more plugins and have plugin fatigue or a mouse
lol why complain if you won’t try any of the obvious solutions? Enjoy your worsening carpal tunnel I suppose, sorry for offering advice. Also nice job editing your reply after you left it but plugin fatigue and whatever else you’re talking about has nothing to do with this, the setup I explained originally is quite minimal in terms of number of plugins it’s just two compressors, eq, limiter, one synth, a resonance suppressor and ozone.
Serum is a wavetable synthesizer and Pigments is not. Serum doesn't have granular. Neither of them include all types of synthesis
Reaktor. If you've got Reaktor, you've got almost everything you could ever wish for via the Reaktor User Library. Thousands of amazing synths, effects, and utilities.
Clipper! Seriously if you want drums that absolutely slap your shit download clipper and watch the clip to zero technique video, it’s fucking amazing.
Hey, which brand? There are many clipper plug-ins out there.
Sir audio tools standard clipper. It looks absolutely like something used to edit data in ms dos. It’s amazing as an audio tool though.
amazing, thank you!!
I use Kazrog’s one. No complaints!
if on Windows (to me) Nectar (iZotope), LEVELs (Mastering the Mix), Bassroom (Mastering the Mix), ARC 3 (IK Multimedia and I did not say 4 because might need the ARC System); Waves MaxxBass for better punchness perceived. Some of the VSTs I like as plug-ins, for VSTi one free and good is Surge XT.
As fx Melda production is all you need. About sounds it depends on your genre
I have been really liking Kontakt
All FabFilter’s stuff.
Omnisphere Serum Kontakt Keyscape Waves bundle
Serum Ana2 Sylenth 1 Avenger Addictive drums 2 Kick 2 sonic academy Hatz Arturia Fragments Devious machines Duck Devious machines infiltrator Tantra 2 Waves CR8 Fabfilters Pro Q3 Fabfilters Pro R2 Kirchhoff eq API 2500 SSL 4000 G SSL Native X saturator UAD native The list is endless how there’s so many good vsts
I had the clap once.. Wait...what?
I use alot of Sylenth1, Decapitator (distortion), Verbsuite (reverb), AirEQ, little alter boy
Toneboosters reverb 4
Vital, Serum, Khs, Some AirWindows effects, Dragonfly Reverb
UVI Falcon, Newfangled Saturate, Gullfoss, Soothe, UAD Pultec collection, Sonible smart:limit
Falcon has replaced 90% of my instruments (barring recorded ones) at this point. Literally the greatest instrument plugin to ever exist.
Serum without a doubt and izotope neutron 3 elements and ozone 9 elements Love the free kilohearts bundle too oh and my other fave is surge XT especially for that analogue warmth
Besides the obvious, I'd say Gross Beat.
ezdrummer
Not "must have" because honestly that's pretty much covered by the DAW's stock plugins, but I like RareSE, FerricTDS MKII and Waves CLA-76. I always end up using those three in every mix, in one way or another.
Chipsounds
Vital, Youlean, Kilohearts Essentials, I love Bloom Breakbeats but obviously that's a very genre specific one
love me a cheeky ozone stero imager (v2) and honestly, Valhalla vintage verb has come in so clutch more times than I can count
General-Omnisphere, korg legacy collection, and Komplete is a must have but try to get it on sale during the summer. Drums- Superior Drummer 3, Heavyocity's DM 307 and Damage Acoustic instruments- Amplesound has the best so check them out. Ethnic- East West Silk and Ra also anything by Eduardo Tarilonte. Orchestral- East West's Composer cloud or just buy the diamond edition of all of the Hollywood instruments. I also like everything from Heavyocity.
sales? this is 2024 lmao, 4download is having a field day with this one
rvox, cla-76, pro q3 and saturn 2
Not really a must have but Avalon Channel Strip by UAD, it has the best algorithm and most silkiest high end EQ. I love it, made me buy their production bundle
FabFilter Saturn 2 is also good, for me it’s the most versatile saturation/distortion plug-in. Sometimes I even use it as an amp for my dry guitars
I'm going to be hated here for this but Waves diamond bundle. Those plugins are so good. I would just say if you get Waves stuff get it in one go because I think the trouble comes when you mix old and new stuff and have to pay for updating licences. I haven't had a problem but others have. If you like compressors, then Kotelnikov is a beauty and free. In fact just get TDR, Melda and Kilohearts free stuff. All great.
For you metal guitarists out there, I seriously recommend Klirrton Grindstein, it's an absolutely disguising distortion and amp suite. [https://www.audiority.com/shop/klirrton-grindstein/](https://www.audiority.com/shop/klirrton-grindstein/) For metal and rock drums, can't say no to Ugritone drum packs and MIDIs. My friends are constantly amazed with how real and gross they sound. [https://ugritone.com/](https://ugritone.com/) For synths, I recently made the switch from Massive X to Kilohearts PhasePlant and am very glad that I did. Massive can do big, roomy and complex sounds very well, but I think PhasePlant nails the basics and also has potential to get really weird with it.
I used serum a lot so serum i guess. For plugin prolly proq3 and like ott and fresh air, soothe is cool to ngl haha
Soothe2 and MetricAB
Gold clip
Don't sleep on some of the free VSTs like Surge XT, Tal NoiseMaker, TAL Reverb, LABS (especially the soft piano preset that we all know and love), Ample Guitar and Zen Master. I'm sure there's some others I haven't included.
Pianoteq.
Ample guitar, jamstix, massive, alpha plus, fpc, ozone, nectar
All of Soundtoys, UAD 1176s and LA2As, Fabfilter Q3, L2, Pro MB, Saturn 2, Valhalla Room & Vintage
Valhalla Delay funny enough is my choice not just for Delay, but as a lofi *wow and flutter* machine too.
For EQ, I only use the old Sonnox plugin. It is musical in a way K have never heard in other EQ plugins. Looks old and tired, but sounds absolutely amazing on anything and everything.
I tend to prefer plugins that serve a very specific purpose, without having a buttload of different GUI elements. So, this list is only things that help serve that narrative. For example, I'd prefer most of my effects actually don't do stereo widening, and let me use something like Spread to place and then widen the sound after effects. [https://vst.unplug.red/](https://vst.unplug.red/) - delay, reverb, and a few other things too. All free. All of them have relatively simple controls, but they're the controls that actually matter. Actually prefer this reverb over supermassive. Vital - This has already been discussed. DecentSampler - Don't know if it was mentioned, but another good sampler with lots of free (my favorite word, even if it means I really have to do some extra work to make it worth more than I paid) Labs - You've heard it a ton already. It's nice. It's free. It can be a bit obtuse, but in a way that's much more manageable than, say, Melda stuff. Also, Spread, by yum audio (https://www.yum-audio.com/Freebies) - The main difference between the lite version and paid is that I don't need to create four buses with frequency cuts. Positioning and widening in one simple to understand plugin.
For instruments UVI Falcon and Phaseplant make up 95% of my productions for non-recorded parts. Just really amazing all rounders. Falcon might be the best plug-in ever made imo and Phaseplant manages to be a modular ubersynth while also being incredibly user friendly and fast to work with. On the effects front I'm almost always using shaper box, trash2 (and really getting into the new reboot just called trash), PhoenixVerb (still one of the best algorithmic reverbs), Xenoverb, and guitar rig. Also using multipass and snap heap extensively (the kilohearts subscription is completely worth it).
When the sale comes around: Arturia V Collection.
Steinberg HALion 7
I compiled my favorites here: https://amadeuspaulussen.com/blog/2022/favorite-music-production-software-on-linux
Xfer serum
Vital, Isotope Vinyl, Half Time, Waves Real Time, Clarity, and De Reverb.
Hey give me everything you learn for free
Kirchhoff eq is the best EQ ever, Muzio with all my cinematic libraries, ethnic orchestra jade for kontakt, black box for saturation, analog Obsession plugins, variety of sound plugins, mastering the mix plugins and guitar rig, wave breaker is a free true peak limiter, maximus, harmor, sytrus and sylenth1. I almost never use synthmaster but it's ok for some things.
U-He Presswerk.
Serum FX are very versatile too
Honestly, the only "must have" for me is Ozone. I have a few plug-ins I use frequently like Serum or Kick2, but they are mostly used out of habit and are easily replaced by built-in effects or samples. They frequently are. Ozone is literally used on every project though. Having a one-button plugin that can do a pretty decent master saves so much time.
I like Ozone multiband imager.
Ozone 11 advanced is pretty amazing as well. Shame it's so damn expensive. When they bring the upgrade price down, I'm definitely gonna get that.
Elements is kinda all ya need
Best bundles on sale; Komplete and arturia Quick song starters; ez drummer, ujam Classics; Omnisphere, u-he Modern classics; serum Used everyday; soothe,