Professional Analog Mastering.
Professional Analog Mastering.
226K+ subscribers
Released in 2007, this plugin is just as relevant today as it was nearly 20 years ago. Its premise is simple, but at the time, how it achieved loudness was incredibly unique.
Instead of pushing the signal into a ceiling, it prioritized quieter signals and amplified those and those alone.
The result is subtle wave shaping from the noise floor up, resulting in a detailed and nuanced sound, while retaining peaks.
Observing the dynamics, we’ll notice how the signal is amplified from the noise floor up, meaning everything that was being masked by peaks and louder signals is a lot easier to hear.
By increasing the loudness of this range, the overall signal becomes louder without peak attenuation.
If you want to shape peaks, you can also enable the soft-clip function.
The positive value results in greater low-level amplification, and harmonic distortion, while negative is solely harmonic distortion, with a blend between the 2 to find the right balance for the signal.
If you don’t want to download the original, there’s now a free remake called JS Inflator, which can be downloaded from GitHub.
Let’s take a quick listen since I’m sure you’ve heard this one before.
Watch the video to learn more >
The original Vintage Warmer came out to great reception in 2002, but the follow-up, Vintage Warmer 2 is considered a perfect encapsulation of the often sought-after “analog warmth.”
It serves as a limiter when using the drive dial, an upward processor similar to the Oxford inflator when adjusting the knee function, and a multi-band or single-band saturation plugin.
Aside from the versatility, what stands out about this plugin are the harmonics.
Whereas most introduce very orderly harmonics, ascending in frequency while descending in amplitude, Vintage Warmer 2 seems to introduce as many overtones and harmonics as possible.
This results in an incredibly dense sound; when paired with the tone-shaping 2-Band EQ, variable release times for each band, and variable saturation amounts for each band, PSP might be the only analog emulation plugin you need.
And of course, oversampling helps retain the high range by avoiding aliasing.
Its my personal favorite on this list, but I want to know what you all think and use it for.
Let’s hear it on a drum bus, and notice how it brings so much forward while creating a super dense sound.
Watch the video to learn more >
Limiter No.6 is a free compressor, multi-band limiter, and clipper released under Tokyo Dawn Labs.
When all of these functions are combined, it’s easily one of the best-sounding limiters available.
The highlights include the variable limiting modes, speeds, release and attack shapes, and how these feed into the high-frequency limiter and clipper.
The result is an aggressive and punchy sound, one that may be too aggressive for most genres if not carefully controlled.
The limiter shapes peaks a fair amount, resulting in a good deal of distortion, but again, if it sounds good it’s really not too concerning.
Lastly, the linear phase mode mixed with oversampling can help tame of the aggressive, so I’d still definitely recommend this one to anybody who hasn’t tried it yet.
Let’s listen to it - I’m going to push it pretty hard so we can hear how it distorts the signal, but not in an unpleasant way.
Watch the video to learn more >
It’s hard to believe that Presswerk is over 10 years old - its design and sound both feel modern.
Meanwhile, the compressor’s features are still the most comprehensive I’ve seen in a plugin - so much so that it's still the only plugin I know of that offers analog-emulated non-linearity.
That’s the output of the compressor after the threshold has been crossed.Some additional features include pre and post-compression saturation, duel phase rotation which uses phase cancellation to subtly attenuate high frequencies, RMS detection and adaptive release.
The variable views make it easier to get started - each one combining the best features of the plugin for a particular purpose, such as drum bus, vocals, and so on.
But by far my favorite feature of the plugin is de-linked mid-side compression - making it a fantastic tool for stereo expansion.
Either I can compress the mid but not the side, or compress the side and then add auto makeup gain to achieve a dynamically wide and impressive image.
Let’s take a listen to it.
Watch the video to learn more >
The plugin was released a few years ago; however, the code it uses is a 1:1 copy of the original digital unit, which was released in 2008, with 2 versions coming before it.
At the time, the processing was too complex for a consumer computer to handle, meaning it needed an independent processor to run it, hence the physical unit.
Now it can be recreated, using the same code, but with a computer while running other processing.
Although this compressor is considered clean sounding, it’s actually far from it. The processing heavily distorts the signal; not in a bad way, but in a manner that has a distinct timbre.
It’s perfect for de-essing, parallel compression, mid-side compression, and of course mastering.
Let’s listen to it on a stereo mix, with a few dB of attenuation and some makeup gain.
Watch the video to learn more >
Originally the Sony Oxford Reverb, this plugin is probably the most overlooked reverb plugin out there.
It’s understandable why, it’s a 20-year-old plugin that’s still over $300.
But if you can get it on sale I’d absolutely recommend it.
Its design is dated, but its sound is as close to hardware units from the 80s and 90s that I’ve heard, even beating out impulse responses of those units.
Whereas other popular algorithmic reverbs focus on ease of use, this one adds as many features as possible and expects the user to take the time to figure it out.
If you get a demo of this one, start with the presets. I haven’t been able to find better room emulation - since the control of early reflections, an often overlooked aspect of reverb plugins is incredibly comprehensive.
Let’s take a listen to a couple of presets ranging from short to long decay times.
Watch the video to learn more >
This is the best limiter plugin available today - and it’s been that way since the mid-2000s when it was released.
Well-known for their free plugins like Span and MSED, Voxengo has always been an outlier in audio production. On the surface, they seem like another small developer, but their plugins are truly something special.
Elephant is perhaps the best example of this; whereas FabFilter’s Pro L popularized limiting algorithms in the 2010s, Voxengo had perfected it 10 years earlier.
Not only could users select the best algorithm for the source material, they could fine-tube every aspect of the attenuation.
The results range from purposefully distorted and wave-shaped transients, to incredibly transparent attenuation without audible pumping.
Let’s take a listen to some of the algorithms. I’ll introduce aggressive limiting, and notice how well it retains the original timbre.