Best Mastering Plugin Vst
Best Mastering VST Plugins The Definitive List 2020 1. Fabfilter Mastering Bundle. Starting our list of options, the Mastering Bundle comprises FabFilter's essential. Waves – Abbey Road TG. Moving right along, here comes the Waves-Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain. In the simplest terms. One of the best VST plugin delays on the market, this analog inspired delay is super versatile and can be used to effectively fill up your mix with top-notch delay throws. Its fully MIDI mappable for maximum control, and the integrated dry and wet knob opens you up to the possibility of parallel processing. . The best VST reverb plugins 2020: amazing ambience processors But what about the gear involved? Well, happily, you really are spoilt for choice in that department, as there are plenty of wholly viable software mastering tools available as stand-ins for the fancy boutique hardware enjoyed by the big boys and girls in their big studios. “What are the best limiter VST plugins out there in 2020?” Limiters are incredibly simple yet powerful tools used for a range of mixing and mastering functions. They act as a type of compressor, but instead of smoothing the peaks of a waveform, they instead completely clip any audio signal above a certain threshold.
- Best Mastering Plugin Vst
- Best Mastering Plugin Vst Free
- Best Mastering Plugin Vst Download
- Best Free Mastering Vst Plugins
It’s true that you can mix your music using stock plugins, but mastering engineers require specialized tools. Part of the reason for this is that they’re usually working with mixes that have been sent to them as a stereo track. Instead of opening up a mix session to turn a kick down 2 dB, they need to resort to other methods that will not only fix the issue but preserve the quality of the overall track.
Every plugin company mentioned in this list has had sales in the past, some offering over 80% off their products. Be patient and keep an eye out for sale announcements on the social media pages of these plugin manufacturers; you should be able to pick up a majority of these mastering tools at a heavily discounted price. Check out 'The Ultimate List of Plugin Companies' to see which plugin manufacturers are worth keeping an eye on.
8. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 ($179)
I mostly use stock or analog-modeled EQs while mixing, since I’m either looking for convenience or color at that stage in the production process. Things change a little bit once I get around to mastering either my own music or the music of others. At a mastering level, I want a digital EQ full of features, with the ability to perform surgical processing; this is where the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 steps in.
This EQ offers up to 24 bands, 9 different filter types, linear phase, zero latency, and natural phase modes, the ability to toggle bands into dynamic mode, per-band mid/side processing, full surround support (up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2), the ability to solo bands, optional auto gain, a customizable spectrum analyzer, and a resizable GUI.
There’s a feature called Spectrum Grab included with the Pro-Q 3 that automatically identifies peaks for you and allows you to create new bands at resonant frequencies. I find this to come in handy quite often since it prevents the need to go frequency fishing. FabFilter’s Pro-Q 3 offers plenty of surgical processing options, making it ideal for mastering purposes.
7. Oeksound Soothe (149 €)
Soothe is a spectral processor for suppressing resonances in the mid to high-frequency range of mixes. When the different elements of a song sum together when they reach your stereo bus, specific harmonics can sum together to create resonant frequencies that unpleasantly stick out of the mix. Soothe offers a solution to this common mastering problem, and also has several useful mixing applications.
This plugin can tame vocal sibilance, fretboard noise on acoustic guitar, whistling from cymbals, and overly bright electric guitar and piano tracks. I’ve had soothe rescue many recordings that not many other tools could have saved. This is absolutely a specialty plugin, but one with a wide range of applications. Whether you’re a mixing or mastering engineer, soothe will provide tremendous value, on top of an easy-to-use interface.
Soothe made its way into “4 Essential EQ Techniques to Get Clean Mixes,” which touches on some mastering EQ tips as well. Read the full article for more information on cleaning up your mixes and masters.
6. UAD SSL 4000 G Bus ($299)
The UAD SSL 4000 G Bus compressor offers a lot of punch and does a great job of preserving the transient information of mixes, while effectively gluing together the components that make up the song you’re working on. Most of the characteristic sound that the SSL 4000 G Bus offers is due to the feedback-style approach to compression that its analog counterpart takes.
In his article on “Feedback Vs. Feed-Forward Compression: The Differences You Need to Know,” Rick Slater of SonicScoop explains that “The SSL bus compressor is designed so that faster attack release times will deliver smaller amounts of reduction while slower settings provide lots more, making for more even gain reduction as you cycle through the attack settings.” The SSL 4000 G Bus is perfect for Pop, Country, and Folk songs; it does a great job of maintaining the articulation and clarity of tracks.
If you’re looking for a bit more color, a strong alternative to the SSL 4000 G Bus is the Vertigo VSC-2 ($299). Like the SSL 4000 G Bus, the Vertigo VSC-2 is a VCA (voltage controlled amplifier) compressor, but instead of providing crisp compression, it adds an often-desirable thump and roundness to mixes. I particularly like the sound of this compressor on Hip-Hop and grungy EDM tracks.
Mastering is the final process of producing a song.
The purpose of mastering is to make your track sound more commercial by processing it further with EQs, compressors, limiters, and other tools.
While you once had to own expensive hardware to do mastering, now you can complete the entire process with software.
Most engineers have made the transition to software. There’s a lot of different tools that are being used to get the job done, but we’ll be going over 4 of my top choices.
If you are not 100% clear on how to master a song. I’d recommend you check out my ‘How To Master a Song’ article to get a much better understanding.
Make sure to check out our Best VST Effects article for even more choices! Oberheim vst plugin.
iZotope Ozone 6
iZotope Ozone 6 is a wide-known mastering plugin that has gained its popularity through its intuitive interface, powerful tools, and ease-of-use.
Within Ozone, you’ll get all of your essential mastering tools.
Best Mastering Plugin Vst
Ozone’s Includes:
– Equalizer
– Post-equalizer
– Dynamics (compressor)
– Maximizer
– Exciter (subtle multi-band distortion)
– Imager (multi-band stereo widener)
A great feature in Ozone is that it provides great visuals of your sound. A good example of this is in the imager. It shows how your sound is being spread through its very handy vectorscope.
iZotope supplies you with a ton of handy presets that were pre-produced by professional sound engineers. If you need to quickly create a rough-master to test your track out on different speakers, Ozone makes that easier than ever.
Keep in mind that there are two different versions of iZotope: Ozone and Ozone Advanced.
In most cases, you will want to go with the Advanced version. It is packed with much more features that the basic version doesn’t offer.
An awesome feature about iZotope is how you can either use each tool as a separate plugin, OR you can access all of the tools in one single plugin.
For example, if you want to use the iZotope reverb, but don’t want the CPU drag of having all of the plugins loaded, you can drag in the single reverb plugin instead of the entire suite.
Overall, iZotope Ozone is my favorite mastering tool. It comes with everything you need to master your own tracks.
Steinberg WaveLab 8.5
Best Mastering Plugin Vst Free
WaveLab is a piece of software (not an audio plugin) that has been a go-to mastering tool for years.
Before Ableton, Cubase, and FL Studio, WaveLab was your top option for mastering songs. Although a lot of what is accomplished in WaveLabs can be done in most DAWs when paired with audio plugins, there are still some features that are worth using WaveLab for.
WaveLab is able to handle tracks up to 384kHz and 24-bit, A lot of great tools are included. Even iZotope’s MBIT+ dithering is included!
Overall, WaveLab is still a very powerful piece of software with a great workflow and useful features that will save you time.
Har-Bal
Har-Bal got its name because it uses a technique called harmonic balancing. Its essentially a complex EQ that can be used to balance out your mixes.
Har-Bal is a standalone program that works on both Mac and PC. Its 3 main features are matching loudness, loudness compensation and its IntuitMatch/IntuitQ.
In all honesty, there are parts of Har-Bal that I don’t like. There’s a lot of “auto-pilot“ features that I would’ve appreciated having more control over.
So who is Har-Bal for? I would recommend this software for anyone who wants to get their tracks sounding commercial without a huge learning curve or a lot of practice.
I can also picture Har-Bal as a learning tool of sorts. It helps you train your ears to recognize what a well-balanced mix should sound like.
Har-Bal’s loudness-matching feature can be quite useful when you want your track at a similar level to other similar songs. It allows you to match your track’s perceived loudness to a commercial recording of your choice.
Its loudness compensation feature makes it so your track won’t gain volume or start clipping when you are adjusting the EQ. It will automatically adjust the volume to keep your track at its original volume.
T-Racks Grand
T-Racks, similarly to iZotope, operates right in your DAW as VST plugins.
In this plugin collection, you’ll get some great T-Racks plugins such as their Classic Compressor, Classic Multiband Limiter, Classic Clipper, Classic Equalizer, Brickwall Limiter, and much, much more.
T-Racks is a single plugin in which you can load up to 12 chains at a time. In each chain, you can use a T-Racks plugin of your choice.
Overall, this is an amazing option for anyone looking to master their own music. Its simple to get the hang of and has a great visual display of your sound.
If you are looking for a tool to professionally master music, T-Racks Grand does an exceptional job.
Waves Grand Masters Collection
The last mastering plugin we’ll be talking about on this list is Waves Grand Masters Collection.
If you are familiar with audio plugins, there’s a good chance you have heard of a plugin company called Waves.
Best Mastering Plugin Vst Download
They make amazing tools that accomplish a wide array of tasks. Almost every well-established producer has at least 1 Waves plugin.
There is an assortment of different collections you can buy from Waves. The Grand Masters Collection contains all of their top plugins for mastering tracks.
Inside are a collection of maximizers, stereo-wideners, EQs, and compressors that will be perfect for mastering any possible musical style you could possibly want.
I have never seen a plugin from Waves that was low quality. All-in-all, this plugin is a great pick for anyone who needs a great plugins collection for mastering and is a fan of Waves.
Summary:
No matter what mastering plugin/software you choose to get, you’ll be able to get your tracks to a commercial level with a bit of practice.
Out of all these plugins, I’d have to save iZotope Ozone is my favorite. Its a very natural plugin to get the hang of and is packed with a ton of very useful features.
If you enjoyed this article and are ready to take your music production game to the next level, signup for my email list down below!
Previous: