25 of the Best all VST Plugins name on the Market

 - In this post I'll be reviewing 25 of the best VST plugins for sound design, audio editing, mixing, and mastering. (upbeat music) Hello, If you're interested in music production tutorials and gear roundups, consider subscribing to the Black Ghost Audio YouTube channel. As music producer, you rely heavily on your plugins to perform specialized processing and improve your workflow speed. There are so many plugins available, which makes it quite challenging to sort the good from the bad. With the 25 plugins I'm about to cover, you'll be able to take most projects from start to finish without any issues. I'm not gonna dive super deep into each plugin. The idea is more to provide you with an overview of each plugin's key features, and just make you aware that these tools exist. Many of these plugins are free to download and demo, so if any of them spark your interest, you can explore them further yourself. I've included affiliate links to certain plugins mentioned in this post,

in àthe description down below. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links, Black Ghost Audio will earn a bit of money to make more helpful content just like this. Serum is a wavetable synthesizer produced by Xfer Records that lets you create, import, edit, and morph wave tables. It boasts a workflow-oriented interface that makes creating and altering sounds fun as opposed to tedious. If you're looking for versatile multipurpose synth, Serum is an excellent option. This synth delivers two ultra clean oscillators with 16 voices per oscillator, click and drag modulation application, tons of different filters, and 10 built-in audio effects, Omnisphere brings together many different types of synthesis to create a truly unique software instrument, includes over 14,000 sounds, 58 effects units, and an excellent patch sorting system and search bar. If you like using presets, you'll find no shortage of them using Omnisphere. Believe it or not, Omnisphere is the only software synth in the world to offer a hardware synth integration feature. You can control Omnisphere with over 65 well-known hardware synthesizers, which makes using Omnisphere a very tactile experience. For more synth recommendations, check out "Five of the Best Plugin Synths on the Market" via the Black Ghost Audio blog. Kontakt is a sampler that provides you with access to over 55 gigabytes of detailed, creative, and expressive software instruments.

 It powers the biggest selection of sampled instruments available, many of which are available from third parties. You can drag and drop your own samples into an instrument's interface or build your own instruments with sample editing and instrument building options. If you're looking for playable software drums, strings, brass, keys, guitars, bass, and more, it's definitely worth experimenting with Kontakt. Recording drums is a nuisance. It can take a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money to record a studio drummer. A lot of producers steer clear of recording live drummers because of the convincing realism and quality that drum production studios like Addictive Drums 2 are capable of. Whether you produce rock, pop, indie, jazz, electronic, or other styles of music, Addictive Drums 2 will deliver the samples, editing functions, mixing functions, and rhythmic patterns you're looking for. Celemony's Melodyne improves pitch accuracy without the robotic sound that's characteristic of Auto-Tune. If a vocalist falls out of key a few times throughout the recorded performance, Melodyne may be the answer. Thanks to Melodyne's user-friendly pitch editor window. You can quickly click and drag blobs, which are segments of audio files, to affect their pitch and time. The built-in pitch drift and pitch modulation tools let you control pitch drift and vibrato.

 Melodyne also allows you to edit the pitch of separate voices within polyphonic material. For example, you can modify the quality of chords by adding, subtracting, and moving notes as necessary. Auto-Tune is a pitch correction software developed by Antares, that is responsible for the iconic T-Pain vocal effect. Fun fact, T-Pain actually has really impressive vocal control and a breathtaking voice. Some artists use Auto-Tune as a crutch, but it's meant to be applied as a creative vocal effect. Traditionally, Auto-Tune is applied live or during the recording process. However, this requires the talent to be familiar with singing through Auto-Tune and to be capable of hitting the right notes. If you're in a messy vocal performance through Auto-Tune, you can expect a sloppy robotic vocal effect. Auto-Tune includes a graph mode that lets you edit recorded material with enhanced accuracy. You can undoubtedly achieve transparent pitch correction effects using Auto-Tune's graph mode, but it takes a little more finesse than it does using Melodyne. I like to apply pitch correction using Melodyne and then run the results through Auto-Tune. You'll end up with a pitch perfect audio files that contains a robotic shimmer. Make sure to check out our in-depth guide on "How to Apply Pitch Correction to Vocals" via the Black Ghost Audio blog if you're new to the concept of pitch correction. Synchro Art's Revoice Pro is a pitch and timing toolbox that allows you to clone the timing, pitch, vibrato, and level features of one track and apply them to another. You can also warp audio and create natural sounding mono and stereo double tracks. Music producers and post-production engineers will both find Revoice Pro useful. Producers can use Revoice Pro to quickly time-align vocal stacks while post-production engineers can use it to lip sync dialogue. Revoice Pro 4 is a standalone audio editor, but you can access it from within your DAW using the Revoice Pro link plugin. Apply the plugin to the tracks you wanna import into Revoice Pro 4 and then initiate the capture process. RX 7 is an audio repair assistant plugin produced by iZotope that lets you apply audio spot cleaning in seconds. It allows you to rebalance track levels quickly, reshape the intonation of dialogue as well as remove the effects of reverb, clicks, clips, rumble, noise, crackle, rustle, wind, plosives, and sibilance. There are additional modules that let you clean up breaths, fill gaps in audio files, match ambience, 

and correct phase issues. The advanced version of RX 7 is best suited for post-production engineers. For simple audio editing, you wanna take a look at the much more affordable Elements version or potentially step up to the Standard version if you're looking for some extra features. RX 7 is a standalone audio editing suite, but you can apply RX's modules individually to tracks within your DAW. Read our guide on "Six Tips to Fix Damaged Audio Recordings" via the Black Ghost Audio blog to identify and correct various audio problems using iZotope's RX 7. Vocal Rider adjusts your vocal levels automatically, which prevents the need to manually ride faders while recording or draw in volume automation. You set a target level, and vocal rider then raises or lowers the vocal gain as necessary to hit the target. Compression tends to add some form of coloration to your vocals, whereas Vocal Rider does not. It simply applies clean gain adjustments to balance vocal levels, saving you tons of time and energy. Waves also produces a plugin called Bass Rider that's optimized for the frequency range and envelope characteristics of bass instruments. You can use Base Rider to level adjust DI basses, amplified basses, acoustic basses, synth basses, upright basses, and more. iZotope's Dialogue Match is a Pro Tools audio suite plugin that lets you match sonic profiles for dialogue and ADR. This plugin automatically dials in reverb, EQ, and ambiance levels when mixing dialogue recordings captured by different microphones in different spaces. Dialogue Match extracts the environmental profile from one recording and applies it to another. The process is painless and saves hours. If you work in Pro Tools, you're gonna love this plugin.

 Technically, Dialogue Match uses the AAX plugin format as opposed to the VST plugin format, but it still deserves a mention on this list. The FabFilter Pro-Q 3 is an EQ that includes up to 24 bands, linear phase operation, zero latency mode, and natural phase mode, and smooth dynamic EQ. It also provides per band mid-sized processing, surround sound support up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2, a solo feature, auto gain, and a built-in customizable spectrum analyzer. Some additional fun features include spectrum grab, full screen mode, which is perfect for secondary monitors, and EQ match. Pro-Q 3 is one of the most versatile and feature-rich EQs out there, which has undoubtedly contributed to its widespread popularity. If you're looking to upgrade from your stock EQ, the Pro-Q 3 won't disappoint. soothe2 by oeksound is a dynamic resonance suppressor that identifies problematic resonances on the fly and applies matching reduction automatically. Manually notching out resonant frequencies is a thing of the past with soothe2 in your plugin library. Drop soothe2 onto a resonant track, quickly dial in the settings and move on. You can also use soothe2 to reduce harshness and sibilance, as well as mud. Additional key features include a mid-side mode for the overall plugin as well as per band, and there's also an external side chain input. Unlike certain drag and drop processing solutions, soothe2 works exceptionally well. The Pro-C 2 is a compressor that includes eight different compression styles, smooth look ahead, up to four times over sampling, auto gain and auto release, a variable knee, hold, range, external side chain triggering, variable stereo linking, and mid-side processing. Compression is a concept that's tough for new producers to visualize. 

The Pro-C 2 responds to this by providing a sizeable animated level/knee display that visualizes when, why, and how compression applied to incoming audio. The Pro-C 2 also includes level meters that display peak and loudness values in addition to a circular side chain input meter that makes setting an appropriate threshold level painless. If you're looking for an excellent multi-band compressor, check out FabFilter's Pro-MB. The Wave's SSL G-Master Buss Compressor is a compressor based on the renowned Master Buss Center Compressor of the SSL 4000 G console. It captures the unique sound of the original unit's IC input and twin VCA gain reduction, amplifier design. This particular compressor has a bright and snappy character perfect for taming piano dynamics or adding punch to drums and percussion. While it sounds great on individual tracks and instrument busses, the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor excels in mastering. Use it to apply peak compression to tame transients or as a glue compressor to provide your mixes with a gentle squeeze. We put together an entire list of compressor plugin recommendations that you can check out on the Black Ghost Audio blog if you're looking for more analog compressor emulations. Valhalla Room is a true stereo algorithmic reverb. It includes 12 reverb algorithms, making it useful in almost any situation. Sounds range from tight ambiances and rooms to large halls, plates, and huge modulated spaces. This reverb plugin contains an early reverb section and late reverb section, both of which provide access to adjustable modulation controls. The GUI is easy to navigate and so is the preset browser. Search for a preset you like, and then dial in the settings to taste. The FabFilter Pro-R is a reverb that looks and sounds modern. It provides non-technical controls like Brightness, Character, and Distance that deliver the sound you're looking for without requiring an abundance of engineering knowledge. 

Although the Pro-R is user-friendly, a lot goes on under the hood. For example, the prominent Space knob smoothly combines the room model and decay time of the reverb, ranging from tiny ambient spaces to massive cathedral-style reverb. Another highlight is the Pro-R's decay rate EQ that offers entirely free adjustment of the decay time across the frequency spectrum. Valhalla Delay delivers echoes of the past, present, and future. You can use Valhalla Delay to create simple delay effects ranging from zero milliseconds to 20 milliseconds, create chorus and flanging effects, sync the delay to the beat, or adjust delay time in milliseconds. The age knob lets you adjust the artifacts of the delay mode, providing results ranging from clean and shiny to old and dusty. You can select between two different versions of the delay modes and use the ducking control to cause the echo level to track the input signal volume. All Valhalla's plugins are reasonably priced, but tend to perform well above their price point. If you're looking for a good value, Valhalla plugins will deliver. Echoboy is a Soundtoys echo plugin that wraps decades of echo device history into one tool. It provides an assortment of vintage tones, including EchoPlex, Space Echo, Memory Man, DM-2, and Tel Ray oil can delay. More than just a simple delay, Echoboy can produce effects that emulate the CE-1 chorus and a saturation similar to that of an Ampex ATR-102. The bottom line is that Echoboy sounds musical, not stale, rigid, and bland like some other delays out there.

 You can augment Echoboys' musicality by making use of the groove, feel, and accent controls that help create a rushing or dragging feeling. Use single echo mode, dual echo mode, or ping pong mode for powerful stereo effects, or get creative with a rhythm mode, which is like a tape echo with up to 16 read heads. Saturn is a multi-band saturator developed by FabFilter. It lets you apply one of six different styles of distortion models to each band. These distortion models include tube emulations, tape emulations, amplifier emulations, Smudge, Rectify, and Destroy. The later three styles are useful for creative sound design and audio destruction. This saturator allows you to apply modulation to crossover frequencies, dynamics, band levels, and tone controls. Saturn is as flexible as your imagination. It's excellent for saturating vocals, drums, guitars, synths, keys, and basses. Decapitator is a plugin produced by Soundtoys that provides subtle to extreme hardware-modeled saturation. It includes five different analog saturation models, a tone control and a mix knob. This saturator delivers a changing responsive model of all the tubes, wires, and transistors that Soundtoys modeled, which results in a very organic sound.The punish button is one of Decapitator's most alluring features. It adds extra gain to the input signal, driving Decapitator over the edge. The result is distorted and aggressive saturation, perfect for creative sound design. Decapitator works on a wide range of source material, but excels when applied to 808s and basses. Guitar Rig 5 Pro is a Native Instruments plugin made for processing guitar, bass and more. It includes 17 amps, 27 cabinets, and 54 effects. 

You can also apply in-depth tone shaping with a choice of mics and positioning. If you play or record guitar, you're gonna love Guitar Rig. You can use a MIDI foot controller to toggle between different Guitar Rig presets and alter effects, all while keeping your hands free. If you decide to pull the trigger on Guitar Rig 5 Pro, a foot controller, like the Nektar Pacer MIDI Foot Controller will compliment the software nicely. FabFilter's Pro-L 2 is a true peak limiter packed with features that allows you to create masters that are loud and transparent. It includes extensive loudness metering with support for the EBU R128, ITU-R BS.1770-4, and ATSC A/85 standards. The Pro-L 2 includes eight different limiter algorithms, phase oversampling, dithering, and noise shaping, as well as surround sound support up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2. Regardless of your project requirements, this limiter provides the tools required to deliver your client the final product. This limiter is a mastering engineer's best friend. You'll find it in tons of top-tier studios around the world, as well as bedroom studios. Ozone 9 Advanced is a mastering suite developed by iZotope. It includes all the essential tools you need to master your music, along with much more. Ozone delivers AI-powered mastering via its master assistant feature. You choose the modules you wanna use, dial in EQ and loudness targets, and then select a destination format, run the master assistant, and then tweak Ozone's settings to taste. The Match EQ module lets you extract custom EQ curves from your favorite songs and the included tonal balance control plugin talks with other iZotope plugins within your session to help you identify and correct mix issues.

 Ozone is available in three different versions: Elements, Standard, and Advanced. Ozone Elements provides a great starting point at an affordable price, making it a good fit for many bedroom producers. As you move up to the Advanced version, you gain access to features like Match EQ, Master Rebalance, Low End Focus, and the Tonal Balance Control plugin. If you wanna learn how to master your own music, make sure to check out the nine-step mastering guide on the Black Ghost Audio blog. Sonnox's Oxford Inflator is a mastering plugin that increases loudness without sacrificing sonic quality or dynamic range. You can use it to add warmth, character, and dynamic excitement to your music. The Oxford Inflator user manual says that "the inflator process functions by changing the relative probability of samples in the program material such that there's a greater probability of larger values than the original signal. The inflator does not employ signal compression. So there is no pumping, dynamic level change, loss of presence or flattening of percussive attacks. The full dynamic information of the music content is largely preserved despite the increase in average modulation density." Due to the way that the Oxford inflator processes audio, you can apply it after your final limiter while mastering. When you need to squeak it a little bit of extra loudness, the Oxford Inflator's got your back. Sonarworks' Reference 4 calibrates your headphones and studio monitors to create a flat frequency response. 

This increases the chances that your mixes will translate well to various playback systems. You can either download or create custom calibration profiles that apply corrective EQ to the signal that you hear. For example, if your headphones or speakers are naturally bass heavy and deficient in the top-end, Reference 4 will attenuate the low-end and boost the top-end as necessary, Sonarworks sells a specialized calibration microphone that lets you create a correction profile tuned exclusively to your room, if you're using studio monitors. Reference 4 helps you trust your ears, work from anywhere, mix with confidence, and finish tracks faster. If you're still testing your mixes in your car, Reference 4 is the solution. The Reference 4 Headphone Edition is best for people working primarily on headphones, while the Reference 4 Studio Edition allows you to calibrate both headphones and studio monitors. If you're looking for more plugin recommendations, check out "Seven of the Best Music Production Plugin Bundles on the Market" via the Black Ghost Audio blog. If you like this video, make sure to hit that subscribe button and also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram 

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