oeksound soothe2 - Remove harshness from any sound source. I use this plugin on all sorts of tracks to transparently deal with nasty resonances or harshness without having to use heavy handed EQ moves, but where this plug-in really shines is the Sidechain. We've all sidechained our kick to our bass to duck it out when the kick hits. And maybe you've used a multi-band compressor to only duck out only the low end and make the effect a little more transparent, but with oeksound soothe2, you can carve out only the particular frequencies that the kick is made up of.
Coupled with the sharpness, selectivity, attack, and release controls, this makes for some seriously powerful, yet transparent signal processing for your mix. The only downside is that it can be a little power hungry, so watch that CPU usage or delay compensation. You may have to freeze or commit your tracks at times if you're using many instances of this plug-in. (which you probably will!)
Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate - Precise and transparent drum gating. If you often feel like gating just mangles your sound or destroys the cohesion of your drum sound, Oxford Drum Gate is here to help. It's by far the best drum gate I've used. I find myself using it on toms almost every mix, and it's fantastic on kick and snare too. It all depends on how much gating you want to do, but this thing just works.
If you're tired of fussing with gates and still getting a blast of hi-hat every time your snare gate opens, or hearing the cymbals in the tom mics, I definitely recommend this plug-in. No plug-in is perfect, and I do find that I have to go back through and "teach it" where some of the hits are, especially on build ups, but it makes it fairly easy to do so with its learn function.
There are other features too like a built in Leveller that helps to make the performance more consistent, as well as midi functionality that I haven't personally gotten into yet. But I can easily recommend this one even if all you got was the gate function.
FabFilter - You really can't go wrong with any of FabFilter's offerings. That's why I just linked to their main page! I personally use Pro-Q3 on just about every track. I feel like most people know about this plug-in, but if you're just getting started or finally looking for a premium, go-to EQ, look no further.
I just bought Pro-MB which is their multi-band compressor and like any FabFilter plug-in, it's loaded with functionality and sounds great. Others I'm interested in and have either used demo versions of or just heard great things would be Pro-L 2 and their De-Esser Pro-DS. I actually really liked their Pro-DS because I expected it to be premium, but boring because of what it is. I found it to be anything but! It is a very intelligent and intuitive tool and is a great one to have in your pocket for when you need to control a sibilant vocal, calm some harsh overheads, and more.
I can safely recommend any FabFilter plug-in because they're all the best of the best and very well thought out. It's possible you will find other plug-ins that simply suit your taste more, but there's not lack in quality when it comes to any of FabFilter's products.
Thanks for reading! I just wanted to say this post is not sponsored in any way and these opinions are all my own. I have been texting my friends about the sales going on and decided it would be easier just to make a post here and share it with links!
I would never recommend stuff that I didn't personally think was amazing and the only sponsorships I would accept would have to align with my values and allow me to tell the truth. If you enjoy articles like this, please consider supporting me by pledging a few dollars a month on my Patreon linked here: patreon.com/samchoate