Top 8 VST Plugins For Music Producers (Part 2)

Yesterday we reviewed some of the top VST plugins used in the industry today. In Part 2 we’ll take a look at a few more plugins that round out my studio essentials.

DubStation

The characteristics of a dub delay have been one of my favorite sounds in music production since I was a kid. I remember listening to dub music when I was in high school and would marvel at the way this unique delay sounded. Later, I learned that the style of delay that I was so fascinated with is called “Bucket Brigade.” This is a type of delay created by using a set of analog capacitors. This style of delay really wasn’t accurately rendered digitally until the DubStation. With this unique plugin, you can alter the delay’s tuning, length and blend, creating effects that you cannot get from any other device. After playing with this plugin, you will realize how much this is used in popular music today.

Price: $39

Sylenth1

In my humble opinion, Sylenth1 is the best sounding soft-synth on the market today. The quality of sound that comes out of this amazing synth is unrivaled. This four-oscillator synth is capable of producing eight unison voices from each of the four oscillators for a combination of up to 64 unique sound sources. Paired with its robust effects section, creating unique sounds is never a difficult task. When I am crafting a synth noise, I often bring in external effects to help give the sound a characteristic all its own. With Sylenth1, I use the reverbs and delays found in the plugin, thus reducing processor strain. It truly is a remarkable synth and could find a home in just about any type of studio.

Price: $189

iZotope Ozone 5

Plugin developer iZotope has been doing a great job of putting a huge amount of mastering power at your fingertips. Ozone 5 is the latest version of their suite of mastering plugins. Because the art of mastering is as convoluted as archaic alchemy, the developers at iZotope designed a product which gave users a wide variety of mastering presets to finalize their music. The EQs, compressors and limiters found in this plugin are all very high quality and have settings aimed at ease of use rather than surgical precision. Some mastering engineers really sneer at this product, but privately admit that plugins like this do such a good job, they could be taking business out of their pockets.

Price: $999 (Ozone Advanced)

SubBoomBass

This plugin has been rocking dance floors for the last several years. What it does really well is make low, low bass. Most likely, this is the plugin that has fueled some of your favorite trap, booty or hip-hop songs. SubBoomBass is notorious for being paired with just about any other synth out there to add warm low-end. Just tabbing through the presets will take you down memory lane, bringing back thoughts of your favorite DJ Magic Mike bass CD. Equipped with two effects slots, it allows each patch to be easily modified to create sounds unique to your composition. A really amazing tool for creating bass that people will never forget.