Uncover the best-kept secrets in the realm of producer plugins with the Boombox Podcast! Our experienced trio, Noize, MusicByLukas, and HelpMeDevvon, explore the most powerful tools from top-tier companies like Waves, UAD, and others in this episode.
If you’re a budding music producer or a seasoned audio engineer, this conversation will provide invaluable insights into the world of music production, mixing, and mastering. Our experts discuss their hands-on experiences with cutting-edge plugins, including dynamic EQs, advanced compressors, lush reverbs, and versatile modulation effects.
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Video Transcript: Ranking the Best Producer Plug-Ins w/ Help Me Devvon – Boomcast Ep.11
00:00:00:01 – 00:00:03:19
Fabio
Welcome to Boomcast – the official podcast from Boombox.io
00:00:03:21 – 00:00:04:06
Lukas
I’m @MusicbyLukas
00:00:04:06 – 00:00:05:28
Fabio
And I’m Fabio from Noize.
00:00:08:14 – 00:00:14:12
Lukas
Store, organize and collaborate like never before. Boombox.io is the new home of music collaboration.
00:00:14:15 – 00:00:38:12
Fabio
Also, don’t forget that Boombox.io is giving away $500 in gift cards so that you can purchase more studio gear every single month. And what we want to know from you today is what is your favorite plugin software company? Is it Waves? Is it Universal Audio, Sound Toys, Fab Filter…? And this is something we’re going to be covering today with our very special guest.
00:00:38:12 – 00:00:51:26
Fabio
So today we’d like to introduce a very special guest, singer, songwriter, producer, mixing engineer and YouTuber Devvon, also known as HelpMeDevvon, welcome Devvon. We’re so excited to have you on our podcast.
00:00:52:13 – 00:00:57:29
Devvon
Thank you for having me. I’m super, super excited to be here. Finally, we’ve been trying to get this together for a while, actually.
00:00:57:29 – 00:01:27:00
Lukas
It’s really cool. And today we get to discuss something really cool as well. Which are your favorite producer plugins from every company, which I think a lot of producers will find super helpful because let’s be honest there are so many plugin companies out there and they all sound amazing. So it’s hard for, I think a lot of producers, especially beginner producers, to be able to know not only who to trust, but like where to put their money if they’re on a budget, or which mastering plugins to get, you know, should they get the giant bundle, should they get, you know, a specific plugin?
00:01:27:00 – 00:01:43:16
Lukas
Like it’s almost similar to sample packs or albums. It’s like sometimes there’s just one good song or one good sample in a pack. And so sometimes you get like that bundle deal that’s 60% off. But should you get it? So I think all this kind of stuff would be super helpful with someone like yourself who’s really worked with everything before.
00:01:45:02 – 00:01:50:18
Devvon
Heck yeah. Heck yeah. Producer plugins are my thing. I’m like a super nerd when it comes to plugins, man.
00:01:50:27 – 00:02:13:26
Fabio
I wanted to set some limitations. Obviously, some of the bigger plugin companies have a very, very wide selection range. Too much, as Lukas is pointing out, that’s obvious. Let’s start with – I’m going to tell you my top three as well after you. So to see if some are the same, but let’s start with Waves.
00:02:14:03 – 00:02:20:00
Fabio
If you have to choose 3 producer plugins from Waves that you would know about, which would they be and why?
00:02:20:01 – 00:02:45:28
Devvon
So no no one is probably going to be the CLA76 for sure. CLA76 is number one. Number two is going to be R-Comp for sure. And then three…This is tough, thinking about it from a producer standpoint, right? Because Waves has really started to create more creative stuff lately that I’ve been diving into as opposed to just like more tools.
00:02:46:05 – 00:02:54:04
Devvon
So it would have to be between the CR8 and COSMOS, or the Waves BB Magma Tubes.
00:02:54:10 – 00:03:01:03
Lukas
Could you say what each of those plugins does as well, just for anyone who doesn’t know and is just hearing a bunch of numbers and letters.
00:03:01:11 – 00:03:21:20
Devvon
So obviously the CLA76 is modeled off of an original 1176 from Chris Lord Algae, famous mix engineer, and that 1176, especially the Black because there’s the Black side and in the blue side, the black side just does something to vocals that I just can’t. It’s amazing.
00:03:22:22 – 00:03:46:09
Devvon
It’s so great there’s a little bit of like brightness that it adds to, but also the compression feels very transparent to me. So it’s usually my starting compressor in my chain like when I start to compress and stuff, that’s usually the first compressor that I reach for to kind of bring out like the nuances of the vocals and things of that nature and for instruments and stuff like that.
00:03:46:10 – 00:04:08:13
Devvon
And you know, it has that ‘all function’ where you can smash things to do parallel compression. So that is my baby, that’s my child. Like 1176, it’s not going anywhere. The other one was R-Comp. I feel like the R-Comp is the most like, “I am a compressor and that’s it.” You know what I mean?
00:04:08:13 – 00:04:29:12
Devvon
Kind of like, like you just can’t go wrong. I just feel like it’s such a genuine general compressor. So I just love it for what it is because it just does what it needs to do and that’s it. And then the last thing, which is a newer plugin from them is the Magma Tubes. The Waves BB Magma Tubes – the saturation it adds is insane.
00:04:29:12 – 00:04:39:14
Devvon
Like, it’s insane. Like, I can’t even really explain it as far as the harmonics. It adds to my signal, but it is insane. So those are my top three within Waves that I choose.
00:04:40:04 – 00:04:56:00
Fabio
I can’t with the Magma Tubes. Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t know if I’m throwing shade right now, I think it’s a good plugin, but I just don’t know if its my favorite saturation plugin. But I do like it and I do use it because I’m trying to get used to it. Anyway….
00:04:56:00 – 00:04:58:20
Lukas
I haven’t tried it yet. Honestly.
00:04:59:10 – 00:05:04:13
Fabio
I would go right on to the go to compressors. Second for me would be Sound Shifter.
00:05:04:16 – 00:05:05:07
Devvon
Okay.
00:05:05:29 – 00:05:22:19
Fabio
Which is another good pitch shifter in my opinion. I don’t know. In ProTools, maybe you have a good native sound shifter, but of course like, I think that’s probably one of the best. And then the third would be…Hmm, oh, that’s really tricky. R-bass. R-bass.
00:05:22:19 – 00:05:27:18
Devvon
Oh, that’s okay. That’s good. That’s a good one. That’s a really good one. Classic.
00:05:27:18 – 00:05:29:15
Lukas
You just feel as top yeah.
00:05:29:16 – 00:05:49:06
Devvon
CLA is top stuff, right? And that’s why it’s so separate. R-bass, I will say when it comes to like me adding – trying to get like bass to cut down on speakers, like I reach for R-Bass in order to give me some harmonics like in that like, you know, 80 hertz range, 100 hertz just to kind of… Bro, R-Bass still to this day works.
00:05:49:11 – 00:05:55:13
Devvon
Isn’t it amazing that those old plugins still work? Like they still work so well.
00:05:55:26 – 00:06:10:28
Lukas
Yeah, there’s, there’s also some simple producer plugins on there like Center by Waves is really cool. I don’t know if you ever tried that on before. Yeah. And then there’s, I don’t know the name of it, but I can’t remember…But it’s some kind of clarity plugin for vocals and it basically removes room noise and stuff just with one knob.
00:06:10:28 – 00:06:12:26
Devvon
Clarity VX?
00:06:12:28 – 00:06:28:21
Lukas
Yeah, that’s the one. I love that because we were doing a lot of radio shows on the road and you just… I was like, I putting myself under blankets, like going in closets, like trying to get the nice vocals. And then I just got the clarity and I’m like, I don’t care where I am. I’m just going to turn this knob and it fixes all the problems.
00:06:29:00 – 00:06:42:00
Devvon
Bro. All my tutorials, as far as like… because I use a boom mic. So all my tutorials, Clarity VX to just remove all the room noise and it’s bro, it’s good. It is scary how good it is. It’s really good. I like that plugin too.
00:06:42:00 – 00:06:45:06
Fabio
I think we’re just going to have to do Universal Audio.
00:06:46:04 – 00:07:08:03
Devvon
Uh oh, so this is, this is where I’m not going to shine. So I recently just got their stuff recently. I am fresh, I’m brand new to the UAD world obviously because now you don’t need the hardware. They just announce that and stuff. So I literally, um, I’ve heard all the great things, but I never use any UAD stuff, as far as plugins.
00:07:08:04 – 00:07:10:04
Lukas
Okay, Fabio, what are you going to recommend then?
00:07:10:11 – 00:07:31:28
Fabio
Well, if its stuff that you want to use… Because I think this is awesome: you’re coming in from the point of view, as someone who’s maybe he’s considering the UAD Suite, or Spark, you know that monthly subscriptions… There’s something, because obviously you did get it for a reason. So there must have been something that caught your eye in the first place.
00:07:33:03 – 00:07:45:06
Devvon
So I’ll be totally transparent. To be totally honest with you. They watched the podcast. They heard me always talking about it. And then they said, listen, let’s, let’s get you some UAD stuff.
00:07:45:07 – 00:07:46:04
Lukas
Right. Exactly.
00:07:46:23 – 00:08:03:26
Devvon
Yeah. So now I’m jumping into it now. But like I said, I’ve always wanted to try stuff. Some of my favorite mix engineers have this stuff. Of course, people like yourself use it. Like, I see all of you guys use it. So I’ve always wanted to just… Like, okay, something’s here, obviously. So yeah. So I’m just a fresh and new guy.
00:08:03:26 – 00:08:08:14
Devvon
So I definitely want to hear what you guys recommend because that’ll help me out a lot.
00:08:08:20 – 00:08:30:11
Lukas
Well, I have a question for you actually, too, which is that a lot of these plugin companies – and they’re all incredible – have like a compressor or they have a limiter or they have a saturation plugin or they have a reverb plugin. What is it that you think helps you decide? Like if let’s say, for example, there’s probably brands where you have a reverb plugin from like ten or 15 different brands.
What makes you want to use a specific one? Is it just that you know how to use it, or do you think that there’s actually ones that are better than others? Or is it just that they’re better at specific tasks? Like they’re better for certain genres or style of vocals, like what do you think is the difference maker?
00:08:47:23 – 00:09:08:06
Devvon
So, you know, for me, personally, I usually switch out. There’s one particular compressor within my, you know, compression chain as far as vocals or anything, that typically switches out. So I like to do serial compression. So let’s say for instance, I use three compressors to get the job done. Let’s say I go CLA76.
It’s not going nowhere, It’s just what I’m going to use. Then the middle compressor is usually my color. Like, whatever that middle compression, it’s like, what do I want as far as a color from the vocal, from the bass, from the kick or whatever. And then the third compressor is usually always I don’t want to say always, but usually the R Comp because the R-Comp is like clean up.
So it just basically tightens things up and I get it to fit. So that middle compressor tends to switch out a lot and that’s where I start to experiment with things. Maybe it’s a PuigChild, maybe it’s a Kramer PIE. Yea, like there’s a bunch of different compressors that I like to switch it out. So for me it’s color.
Like that’s what I’m looking for right now, as far as when I’m looking for compressors like oh, this one adds a really nice color to the entire sound.
00:09:55:01 – 00:09:55:28
Fabio
Yeah, definitely.
00:09:56:12 – 00:09:57:13
Lukas
Yeah, nice.
00:09:57:20 – 00:10:20:08
Fabio
I like using compressors to color things and use them as tone boxes rather than compressors. I’m not really interested in controlling the dynamic range, but on that, the first UAD plugin I was going to mention, it was the was the Fairchild 670, which, if you don’t know what that is, it’s an old tube compressor. I believe it’s DCA.
Oh, no, no, no. It’s Vari-MU, which I don’t actually know the exact science behind it, but.
00:10:25:20 – 00:10:27:24
Devvon
It’s yes, it is confusing. I know.
00:10:28:29 – 00:10:59:25
Fabio
But what it does, for anyone looking to maybe get it, it’s not part of Spark, so you do still have to have the hardware to obtain it, but it has this nice roll off. So it’s got like a low core at about 40 hertz because of the transformer that they’ve modeled. And it’s always, for me, the perfect thing to add to something that has a bit too much sample, has a bit too much low end in it, and I put that compressor on and what it does is it rolls off the low end in this really natural way that you can’t do, and it adds harmonic.
So it adds, it gives more attention to the mid range, to the midrange frequencies so like an 808, which might feel really boomy and big. And of course we want to maintain that character. If you roll off some of the lows, it’s going to give you a bit more headroom. But if you add some more mids back, it’s going to sound like it’s louder, right?
And then and then the listeners engaging with the 808 more because they can actually hear more of it rather than just feel the low end. So it’s a bit of a trick.
00:11:26:16 – 00:11:27:00
Devvon
Right.
00:11:27:21 – 00:11:51:00
Fabio
And it’s something that I use quite frequently. But I will say that the annoying thing about it is that you do have to have the hardware for some of the producer plugins still. So I’ve mentioned Spark plugins here, but for those of you looking to sign up to the monthly membership, they just put Oxide Tape on there so this is a very simple tape saturator.
00:11:51:25 – 00:12:05:29
Fabio
What I would use that for is clipping transients. So driving, like if you have like a really punchy kick or snare and you want to retain the character, but you don’t want to limit that, you want to compress it because that can always sound a bit weird.
00:12:06:02 – 00:12:19:23
Fabio
And third and foremost, I think I’d probably go with the… I’m going to say it’s another version of the CLA 76. It’s the classic. It’s Rev A, which is actually the blue-e.
00:12:20:21 – 00:12:22:01
Devvon
Okay.
00:12:22:11 – 00:12:55:17
Fabio
Separate anyway. So similar to the CLA76. But I find the Rev-A does something to vocals too, which is very magical. It adds these mids in the high mid harmonics that no other compression I’ve ever heard does. If you’re looking to get the spot UAD Spark suite, definitely try that on vocals and if you, if you, if you really got the Waves or you got the CLA76, take Devvon’s advice and use and use the black version on vocals. If you have both, try them out, see how you feel about it and then DM us and we’ll start a poll.
00:12:56:07 – 00:13:01:05
Devvon
Yeah I like that. I actually like that. I actually really want to know what people think.
00:13:01:14 – 00:13:12:09
Fabio
So let’s move on. The next plugin company is Fab Filter and you can only choose two from this suite because it’s a smaller suite.
00:13:12:19 – 00:13:15:08
Devvon
Okay, so you want me to go first? Yeah.
00:13:15:20 – 00:13:17:20
Lukas
Yeah, yeah. You go in first. You’re in the hot seat.
00:13:18:10 – 00:13:22:18
Devvon
Okay, so I’m going to go with… Oh, this is so hard.
00:13:23:15 – 00:13:27:26
Lukas
We just copy your answers, so we just wait for you to say stuff, and then we go, yeah, yeah. I agree with that.
00:13:28:20 – 00:13:52:26
Devvon
Right. So I’m going to go with the Fab Filter Saturn 2 because I mean, know, I just can’t like, I just can’t. And then to be honest with you, it would be between pro-R and pro Q3, but I’m going to go with pro Q3 because pro Q3 is the most, to me, it is the most functional, “I do everything you could possibly want” EQ there is around and it’s fun. The interface is great. It’s just a fun EQ to use and it just does, it just does everything.
00:14:09:10 – 00:14:10:15
Lukas
Saturn is so good. You’re right.
00:14:11:01 – 00:14:11:13
Devvon
Oh yeah.
00:14:11:14 – 00:14:23:12
Lukas
That’s true, actually. Yeah. And Saturn even on vocals, sounds really cool, sometimes I’ve heard some really cool distortion on vocals, but yeah, pro-Q 3, it’s like endless learning. Like, there’s just so many different things you can do.
00:14:23:21 – 00:14:47:28
Devvon
Yeah, yeah. I just got on to the…I just did a tutorial on it too, like the collision feature where basically you can show like, okay, you can put the, put the pro-Q3 to your, your bass, put the proQ3 on your kick, and basically it’ll listen to the bass on the analyzer of the kick and it’ll say, “Hey, these are the frequencies that are clashing.” I just found that out.
Like, that blew my mind. That changed everything. I’m not going to lie. That was a game changer for me, mixing wise, that collision feature is insane.
00:14:54:09 – 00:15:10:13
Fabio
Very smart. I like how all the plugins, to try and to go to Lukas’s point about it being fun. I think it’s such an accurate way of describing it because I think each user owns their process for so many people, but the user error of that EQ makes you want to issue it.
00:15:10:13 – 00:15:11:04
Devvon
So yes.
00:15:11:15 – 00:15:12:01
Lukas
Yeah, that’s true.
00:15:12:09 – 00:15:36:07
Fabio
So smooth and you can drag up and down with two fingers on your mouse or whatever and make things more narrow and wider. So it feels very, in a way, it’s very tactile. So you feel the analog there’s an analog touch to even though it’s avery digital EQ. And it is just the GOAT. Anyone who is thinking of spending any money on any plugin ever, start with that one.
00:15:36:24 – 00:15:39:03
Devvon
Yeah, I say that I second.
00:15:39:03 – 00:15:42:16
Fabio
That I’m going to go with Saturn. Okay.
00:15:42:17 – 00:15:43:12
Lukas
I love Saturn. Yeah.
00:15:43:27 – 00:16:10:23
Fabio
Saturn, in a funny way, you can also use like an EQ. And I’m just saying that because in most DAWs, you do have a good EQ, but you don’t always have a great saturator, and not a multi band that’s great. Which is very unique and there aren’t very many multi band saturators out there and then the second plugin I’m going to go, I use Simple – which is their filter – all the time.
00:16:10:24 – 00:16:45:00
Fabio
I’m going to tell you why. And people are always like, “Dude, why don’t you just use an EQ?” Their filter starts on the high end, at 70,000 hertz okay? Well you can’t hear 70,000 hertz but as soon as you apply filters there’s a bit of roll off, right. And within each you’re only at 20,000 hertz. As soon as you turn that high on, it’s already cut into your sound, but you might have some frequencies there, but this filter opens so far forward, so far to the right, that when you turn it on it doesn’t affect the signal in any way whatsoever.
00:16:45:20 – 00:16:46:28
Devvon
Mm. Okay.
00:16:47:21 – 00:17:04:09
Fabio
Right. And I like to do things like before drops or before choruses, I like to tail off some of the high frequency so people don’t really realize that it’s happening. Yeah, you usually try that too, right? And then in the chorus you just go about you got a tiny little bit more high frequencies and people.
00:17:05:11 – 00:17:08:07
Devvon
Whoa. So yeah. And Right.
00:17:08:15 – 00:17:13:14
Fabio
No plugin does it quite like Simple. It is the cleanest filter I’ve ever, ever, ever used.
00:17:13:23 – 00:17:37:09
Devvon
That’s very, very interesting. That trick that you’re talking about, I use it a lot where I’ll like, I’ll do it in iZotope, in Ozone EQ or basically I’ll just do like on-the-side information on like, you know, you can change the EQ from mid to side. I’ll change it to side and then of course I’ll engage it, and boost like a DB of side information on the chorus and stuff like that.
But the fact that you’re saying that, you made a good point where you said you can’t hear nothing up there as far as 70,000. But the funny thing about it, and what I’ve realized is that’s those frequencies up there, I feel them. Like when I apply, I used like a T-Rax, like I used to use like the T-Rax 5-32 EQ and it had like 20, I think it was up to 25,000 hertz.
And when I apply some of that 25,000, you don’t really hear it, but I feel it. Like I go, “Oh there’s a feeling it has on it.” And I used up, I used to crank 25,000 to my signal like on my masters. So I know what you mean, and if you’re telling me it’s going up there I’m like, oh I want to play with that a little, you know, see what it sounds like.
00:18:18:24 – 00:18:28:13
Fabio
I started a lot of arguments on my Instagram comments section when I started posting about that plugin because people are like, “You can’t hear 70,000hz.” I was like, you’re missing the point.
00:18:28:21 – 00:18:28:28
Devvon
Right?
00:18:30:18 – 00:18:47:27
Lukas
Every podcast right around this time we like to ask a random question or out of the box question. We also want to thank Boombox.io, which is the channel you are watching this on. It is the home of music collaboration. Go check it out. Start collabing. There’s so many features on there and you can sign up for free.
00:18:48:02 – 00:19:03:04
Lukas
So yes, our out of the box question today I came up with is: would you rather produce in a penthouse with a view or on your own private island or you can set it up however you want and everyone in the comments, which would you choose?
00:19:03:22 – 00:19:29:17
Devvon
So for me, I’m picking the penthouse with the view. For me, I feel like I like closed environments and spaces when I’m creating like I’m not really like the open, kind of like open air, and other stuff. I like to be in a controlled environment, if that makes any sense, like for me creatively. So if I could see outside and be creating and just go right to the kitchen, you know, like there’s something about that.
00:19:29:17 – 00:19:31:07
Lukas
There’s something about that flow. Yeah.
00:19:31:08 – 00:19:39:14
Devvon
Yeah. It just feels better for me personally. I think that’s where I’m where it’s at for me. Yeah. Especially making music. See, the city I get inspired from seeing the city, yeah.
00:19:39:26 – 00:19:42:21
Fabio
I’m going to go for a private island because…
Lukas
I knew it.
00:19:43:00 – 00:19:43:26
Devvon
I knew it too.
00:19:44:04 – 00:19:44:24
Lukas
I knew it.
00:19:45:16 – 00:20:02:20
Fabio
Because you make it sound like you’re completely alone on the private island. And I just have this image of me chasing this football down, down, down the ocean and calling and shouting. Wilson.
00:20:02:20 – 00:20:03:25
Devvon
A castaway reference.
00:20:05:00 – 00:20:05:12
Lukas
Yeah.
00:20:06:09 – 00:20:07:10
Fabio
You know, I’m just.
00:20:07:22 – 00:20:20:11
Lukas
I see, I see. But your Wilson is like your MacBook Pro and it’s out of battery because you can’t charge it anymore. So you just paint a face on it. The little apple logo is the nose, you know, you’re like, this is all it’s good for now.
00:20:20:18 – 00:20:25:02
Devvon
So the audio engineer’s version of Castaway. That’s that’s how it is. Like, Yo, bro, your MacBook.
00:20:25:02 – 00:20:44:12
Lukas
Exactly. I would choose. Okay, so this is interesting. I would probably choose the private island if I also have complete, unlimited budget to build and construct whatever I want on it because then I can have the best of both worlds in a way where I can kind of have that enclosed space like you’re talking about. I can create a cappuccino bar, I can have, you know, a workout gym, I can do all that.
00:20:44:12 – 00:21:00:10
Lukas
Plus I got the air conditioning or whatever, solar panels, plus I got the outside. Like, I’m like thinking of it like that. But if that wasn’t the case, it was just like, hey, you’re going to be in like a hut on a private island with, you know, some electricity and Internet. I would definitely choose the penthouse.
00:21:00:14 – 00:21:02:27
Devvon
Yeah, I want the penthouse. I don’t want mosquitos biting me.
00:21:04:04 – 00:21:22:05
Devvon
I like the buzz of a city. I’m from New York, you know what I mean? Up. So I’m very accustomed to just people and the noise and, I just enjoy that. I’m living. Things happen in the suburbs. Yeah. Now, but some once in a blue, I’ll be like, okay, let me go get some inspiration, and I’ll just go out.
You know, in the buzz in the hum of the city is just so a part of my music and me as a person. So for me, that’s why I’m, like, so attracted to, like, city, city, city.
00:21:32:00 – 00:21:36:15
Fabio
Not only can you network very quickly, but if you, if you need a headphone jack…
00:21:36:15 – 00:21:36:29
Devvon
Oh.
00:21:37:05 – 00:21:37:18
Lukas
True.
00:21:38:03 – 00:21:39:17
Fabio
There’s things that just go wrong.
00:21:39:17 – 00:21:40:22
Lukas
Same day delivery.
00:21:41:01 – 00:22:00:06
Fabio
When you’re, you know, in some European cities or towns, it’s just like, you know, it’s going to take maybe 48 to 72 hours instead of next-day shipping. And that can be a real issue. Next company is okay. You can only choose one: SoundToys
00:22:00:18 – 00:22:02:10
Lukas
Ooooh, that’s a tough one.
00:22:04:11 – 00:22:26:11
Devvon
Okay. For me, for me personally, there’s one plugin of the year that I use ad nauseam, like it’s in all of my templates and stuff. I’m going to go with EchoBoy – warm, super warm sounding, just does so many things. I love the presets in them. I love that I can saturate it within the plugin. Like that’s something that people I think, feel like people just kind of just like look over.
But you can literally add saturation within the plugin and it just has a sound to it, man. Like, I can’t explain it, but it sounds really good. I love the Echo Boy.
00:22:35:23 – 00:22:47:19
Lukas
I really like Little Altar Boy, and it’s the weirdest name for a plugin ever. When you talk to someone and say, “Hey, you should get Little Altar Boy.” They’re like, “What the hell are you talking about?” It’s almost as crazy as like Endless Smile. You’re like, What the hell does that mean?
00:22:48:02 – 00:22:59:02
Devvon
Yeah. What one of my good friends, bro. He loves Altar Boy to death like he loves Altar Boy. Like he just goes Alter Boy every day.
00:22:59:12 – 00:23:05:23
Fabio
Just a little hack for anyone who’s thinking about getting the Echo Boy, which is a delay plugin. By the way, if you are not familiar with EchoBoy…
00:23:05:23 – 00:23:08:02
Lukas
Oh, yeah, we gotta keep telling people what the plugins are.
00:23:08:02 – 00:23:09:23
Devvon
Are. Yeah, I’ll make sure. Yeah, I’ll make sure.
00:23:09:23 – 00:23:29:03
Fabio
If if anyone using it right now wants to open it up, turn the wet all the way to 100%, turn it to time, turn the milliseconds down to zero milliseconds and what you actually just have is a distortion unit. And you can flick through the different distortion settings and apply it to your signal.
But you’re not getting any delay, you’re not getting any feedback, nothing like that, putting it through the circuitry so you can access the of the Echo Boy, but without having to incur any sort of delay or that kind of effect. So I highly recommend everyone tries that out.
00:23:45:03 – 00:23:58:11
Devvon
Interesting, I never thought about using it like that. Like just to use a kind of like a tone, like a saturator, kind of change in a tone and stuff like that. I never thought about that. That’s so cool. Things that I could kind of play with that actually now and I’m thinking about even with synths, and stuff now and I’m thinking about it.
00:23:58:29 – 00:24:10:18
Fabio
A lot of it backing vocals. I like the there’s like a business setting which is like a bit crazy or the telephone setting which does bring in saturating and… creme de la creme.
00:24:11:02 – 00:24:12:02
Devvon
Got you. Okay.
00:24:13:03 – 00:24:16:03
Fabio
Let’s go to Slate Digital. Do you use the Slate Digital stuff, too?
00:24:16:04 – 00:24:18:02
Lukas
I have not, yes. Okay.
00:24:18:18 – 00:24:48:19
Devvon
So this one is kind of weird. Actually. So I’m a big, very big fan of Slate Digital’s virtual mix rack. Only reason is because I had the, I think it’s the VM-1. I have the modeling mic. So basically for people that don’t know Slate Digital has a microphone plus software coupled, that basically it emulates a bunch of different vintage microphones from different time periods and things of that nature.
And I love it so much. So their concept for the microphone, or how it picks up is, they basically created a microphone that has, how can I say? They told me that they basically did it where okay, the way we have it, where the frequency response to stuff on this microphone makes it very, very accurate for them to actually be able to model in the software.
So there’s a C 800 model, there’s like C-12 models. There’s all kinds of vintage microphones that you kind of have access to. And it’s really, really cool. Like, I feel like I’m actually kind of bringing my home studio to more of like, okay, I want the sound of C-12 or I want the sound of a, you know, C 800 or U 47.
And I can make that decision while I’m kind of flicking through things and I’m like, Oh, the, oh wow, the U47 sounds great in this song. Tomorrow, I could change it, you know, that’s wild! You know! So that is definitely my favorite one. And within the virtual mics, right? They also have preamp simulations.
So I can put like a 1073 with the C-800, you know, all in a computer. It’s kind of insane like just to have like that kind of tonal shape and stuff like that. So my recommendation for them is this microphone, their microphone coupled with the virtual mix rack is game changing. Like that’s my whole go to right now.
00:26:14:04 – 00:26:20:27
Fabio
If you are someone who runs a studio and has different singers, come through: different singers have different tones and their voices and some mics react better or worse depending on their tone. So you can experiment a little bit with a vocalist on what suits them. And then of course, you can also change it later. So you’re not having to commit to anything which sometimes I feel actually when we have too many options, it can also hinder our creativity.
00:26:41:00 – 00:26:42:18
Devvon
Oh, yeah, oh yeah.
00:26:42:18 – 00:26:56:03
Fabio
But it is nice because I think it’s also a great tool to be like, okay, I know that I’m always using the U47 or I know that I’m always using that preamp. Then in the future you could consider actually purchasing the real thing kind.
00:26:56:03 – 00:27:15:05
Devvon
It kind of opens you up as a beginner to, different mics really do make a difference, you know what I mean? As far as you’re concerned. So it’s, it’s though it kind of makes me, it really makes me feel like an engineer, if that makes any sense. Like in the recording process, because it can feel a little stale these days because we do it at home and it’s just a microphone, and I got my interface, but this kind of opens me up to like really getting more, you know, creative in a sense of like, what do I want this to sound like? So I highly recommend it myself.
00:27:24:29 – 00:27:28:24
Fabio
Um, okay, give me one from Plugin Alliance
00:27:28:27 – 00:27:54:21
Devvon
Me right now. Oh, my gosh. Black Box Design 2MS. Oh, my gosh. So it’s a harmonic saturator, but it’s also a stereo widener. It has the ability to add even in odd order harmonics. When I mean this is my favorite saturator today. Like now it’s my favorite. It gives me the ability to increase perceived loudness without actually taking up headroom.
Like I have a preset that I’ve created that literally makes it sound louder, but my meters don’t move it. That thing is nasty. And to add to it, I’m sorry I get mad passionate about this plugin because I’ve been yelling about it for like a couple of months now. It has a mid side function, so the way you can add saturation to the mids, you can add a different type of saturation to the sides.
Like it is insane. Like it’s my favorite saturator right now. It’s my favorite saturator. Oh, I’m going, I’m going to go with the vintage, the classic, the almighty.
00:28:26:28 – 00:28:28:03
Lukas
Balanced the classic.
00:28:28:11 – 00:28:31:15
Devvon
But that 70 setting on and just sit back you relax, bro.
00:28:31:20 – 00:28:45:13
Lukas
Okay. I got a couple I got a couple of questions that we’re going to have you ranked some stuff which I think is going to be really cool just to close this out. One of them is there’s a lot of synth plugins out there. You got Serum, you got Silence, you got an Nexus, you got, you know, all kinds… Vital.
00:28:45:22 – 00:28:51:24
Lukas
What do you think? If you can only have one? Which one would you choose to produce a track right now? Like which you going for?
00:28:51:25 – 00:29:14:03
Devvon
I mean, I thought you I was like, you know, it’s funny. I don’t want to say Atmosphere because I feel like that’s such a cop out is like, yeah, cause if it comes to me producing the track, I’ll be so honest with you. the plugin, that really gives me a lot of inspiration as far as having bass sounds, pads, leads, the whole nine.
00:29:14:25 – 00:29:35:23
Devvon
I’m a big fan of Serum. I’m not going to lie to you. Yeah, I’m a huge fan of Serum. Granted, I have other plugins that do other things specifically. Amazing. Like, Cradle Audios, the prince. I feel like that’s not talked about at all. It’s brand new. Know that one? But it is. It is amazing for like, synthesis and stuff, but as far as, okay, this is the one I can only stick to for right now.
I’m going with Serum for sure.
00:29:37:11 – 00:29:57:25
Lukas
Yeah. Also, everyone watching comment below what your favorite synth is. Also, if you were on a budget, like let’s say you’re a newer producer, maybe you’re not like an engineer and you’re like a new producer, you’re just trying to produce some cool tracks, but disregard stock producer plugins because obviously there are stock plugins on a lot of DAWs and you can only, only have a small budget.
00:29:57:27 – 00:30:07:03
Lukas
I don’t know what it would be. 500, something like that or more. What plugins would be like the ones that you think you should grab that are like worth, you know, your hard earned money that you have?
00:30:07:09 – 00:30:24:07
Devvon
Well, you know, this kind of goes back to what we’ve kind of discussed at the top of the episode where it’s like okay, if I have 500 bucks and, you know, I’m new and I just need the essentials, right? Like some really classic essentials, I would be honest with you. And this is not a slight to any plugin companies, but I’m going to go with Waves, man.
I will be honest because literally you can get the platinum bundle for 200 bucks and that’s already, probably like 32 essential plugins, you know what I mean? Like just with the 200, then you can get to CLA bundle for like 80. I’m still under budget and I’m pretty good shape you know what I mean?
I have a limiter already from the platinum bundle, so I definitely would probably gravitate to Waves to get my essentials out the way.
00:30:49:06 – 00:31:07:24
Lukas
Also, I guess one last one would be like, what about random Plugin companies like for example, Datalife has sausage fattener, Nicky Romero has Kickstart, like there’s some random ones. Are there any random one off plugins that people don’t know about that are under the radar or that people do know about but that you absolutely love?
00:31:08:03 – 00:31:32:12
Devvon
Oh my goodness. There is a company they are called Leap Wing. You ever heard of Leap Wing?
Lukas
Never.
Devvon
Oh, my bro. Can I be honest with you? I think they are on the level from an algorithm standpoint of like brain works, but they just don’t get talked about. Their UIs are amazing and they’re sonics on their plugins. I think they have one of the best multi-band compressors.
No one knows about it. Oh, I think they have one of the best, you know how we have Center for Waves? Yeah, they have a plugin call Center 1 … and I can’t even explain. I can’t explain that plugin is insane because it allows you to manipulate side information as well as mid information. And the way it does it is just insane.
So I’m going to say, I think Leap Wing is the most underrated unspoken, un-promoted plugin company on Earth. That company is really sick at what they do.
00:32:07:06 – 00:32:15:21
Lukas
Also, don’t forget to comment below what your favorite plugin companies are, if you like any of the plugins we were talking about or if there’s anything we missed that you think is an amazing plugin.
00:32:15:21 – 00:32:36:10
Fabio
And you know, what are you going to spend that $500 on? Is it going to be software? Is it going to be synths? Is it going to be hardware? We’re excited for you to enter the competition so you can upgrade your studio equipment. A huge thank you to Devvon. Yes, and my fantastic co-host Lukas. I’m @Noize_london, I’m @musicbyLukas and I’m @HelpMeDevvon
00:32:36:10 – 00:32:50:04
Lukas
We got a lot of people to mention today. Yeah, if you guys haven’t signed up for Boombox.io I think we lost Devon, but we got him for the outro.
00:32:50:07 – 00:32:59:28
Fabio
Feel free to hit us up. Send us a DM or check out our videos. A big thanks to Boombox for allowing this collaboration to happen and very soon.
00:32:59:29 – 00:33:03:10
Fabio
Peace
Lukas
Bye later.