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Everyone has their set of tools that they can’t live without, today in this blog post i’ll discuss some of the Mastering Plugins that are always a part of my signal chain. They vary from different kinds of EQs to compressors to Saturators.
This post could be helpful for people who are looking for new tools to add to their signal chai and try to explore new sounds with this. That being said, it is also important to note that these tools are only one way of approaching the end result you may have in your head, these plugins will not instantly make you a better Mastering Engineer, constant practice and a quick learning/feedback system are the only ways that you can achieve this.
Step no. 1
Manley Massive Passive
I’m personally a sucker for all things Manley, they make great hardware and off late UAD has brought some really good plugin emulations of these hardware devices to the fold. This mastering plugins is something I use for a generalized broad brush eqing, that I primarily used to add either sheen or bottom end to a mix.
Step no. 2
Manley Vari MU
We’ve been lucky to own a hardware unit of the Vari Mu, a go mix buss/Master compressor on almost all of our records. This compressor is mild, but has a very specific character and tone that it adds that works wonders across various genres and styles
Step no. 3
Brainworx M/S digital V3
This plugin has been a godsend, the capability to EQ both the Mids and Side parallelly leads to a cleaner workflow. This mastering plugins also has great features like the Monomaker and Dynamic Compression/Expansion for a specific frequency range, which comes handy in a lot of scenarios.
Step no. 4
TDR 6 GE
This plugin offers a Compressor, HF Compressor Soft Clipper and a Peak Limiter all tied into one neat and clean interface that makes for a great general tool. If you wanna loud Masters, this is the one.
Step no. 5
Fabfilter L2
The modern day limiter in my opinion that no other can come even remotely close to, I rarely find myself using another limiter. This comes with a handy LUFS Meter as well different modes for limiting that can breathe a whole lot of life into your mixes.
Step no. 6
Fabfilter Pro C
Another plugin from fabfilter that comes with a whole plethora of features. A mild compressor that comes with compression mode for mastering as well as features like internal side change, variable knee, Mid/Side Compression and more.
Step no. 7
Eiosis Air Eq
This mastering plugins is a part of the Slate All Access pass and is a generalized EQ that has various changeable “Q” ranging from “Water” to “Fire” which stand for broad and narrow Qs. This tool lets you cut out some really nasty resonances in your mixes and also has the functionality to add a section with a very mild Q to avoid any artifacts that it may cause.
Step no. 8
FabFilter Pro MB
This is a Multi Band Compressor that has so many features that it may get a little overwhelming at times, but the capacity to Compress and Expand a given frequency range with all the functionality of a compressor as well as the capacity to EQ the mids and side bands separately is what makes this Multi Band Compressor stand out.
Step no. 9
Sonnox Inflator
A great saturator which has very specific High Mid Range saturation, it can take any mix and bring up its perceived loudness in no time. Its extremely simple and intuitive to use.
Step no. 10
TRS Saturator X
This plugin has become one of my favorite plugins in the recent past, it comes with various saturation modes that can impart a very specific sound and character to the mix. If you’re looking for something drastic or something mild, this plugin has it all once you know how to use it.
Get in touch!
If you guys have another other questions you would like to shoot at me, just shoot me a mail at ronak@gray-spark.com.
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