I’m on the completely opposite end of the plugin spectrum from you. I’ve purchased just a handful of plugins and everything else is Reaper stock or some free stuff I’ve acquired (like the Vladg compressor and limiter and the Softube Saturation).
That Kush stuff is super helpful for me, a guy who has mostly non-special and non-sound-mangly plugins. I could see the Kush plugs being comparable to Soundtoys Decapitator, Slate VCC, Slate’s VMR, and some UAD EQs so it’s super understandable
My plug buys are all fairly utilitarian and have been few-ish so the Kush stuff really improved the quality of my tools. My purchases have been stuff like Valhalla Vintage Verb which is killer, Boz’s Sasquatch (which I just got recently when it was on sale - it’s awesome and saves me from having to put up an outside kick mic on punk/metal genres), Boz’s Panther, an amp sim for metal guitars, a multiband transient designer, that Waves SSL channel strip that was on sale recently, and the Kush subscription. I also got the Focusrite plugins free for having one of their interfaces.
I think that’s it! You see why the Kush stuff really injected some personality into my tools!
I’ve been interested in the Boz Hoser and +10db stuff. Any thoughts on those?
There’s not much I can say about another digital eq, other than that the one is just slightly better than your average digital eq lol.
2 things, first look at his reviews on the Hoser. Then if you buy it, and don’t love it, he gives you your money back…who stands behind a plugin like that?? Waves doesn’t. You really don’t have much to loose by taking the time to demo it. If $150 seems like a lot, catch him when he runs a sale.
Ps…if you like to mangle things, that sound toys devil loc and decapatator are worth their weight in gold. Well, they don’t weigh anything, but you get what I’m trying to say.
Ok, so I’ve been using the Kush bundle for 2 weeks now. My demo expired yesterday. I went the monthly subscription route. The Clarphonic is no longer on sale. I’m gonna rent the bundle monthly until everything goes on sale again before the end of the year, then buy the perpetual licenses.
The sad thing is I started using that Hammer, and the UBK, and have grown to absolutely love them. That UBK is like a wine from New Zeland. Big, bold, over the top, nothing subtle about it, but the flavors are really really distinct. I was certain the Hammer was just another EQ, but when I started using it, I realized how different it is than the Massive Passive. Its really an exceptional plugin, as much as it seems like it’d just be adding clutter to an already oversized library of EQ plugins! lol.
So yeah. Gonna snatch all 3 next time they go on sale. Not a fan of that Electra. Its not bad, but it isn’t doing a whole lot the API doesn’t do. I do really like proportional EQ, but between the Pultechs, API’s, and Manley, I think I’m good.
I’d say my experience with Hammer and UBK-1 is similar to yours. I was skeptical but they became indispensible
I’m simultaneously glad and apologetic I’ve encouraged you to investigate tools that will cost money but you find helpful. Hopefully you’ll get a ton of use out of them and you won’t curse my name FOR ALL TIME!!!
I really like the transformer plugins, too. I’ve got a few colored pres but most of my preamps are pretty clean. Those things give me a little love - plus I like to dirty up my tones and those things will get grimey if asked!
Those are a total no-go for me. I put them side by side the UAD versions of the Neve and API preamps, and didn’t like how they sounded. I didn’t care the Slate ones either. Or the Waves ones. Or the IK T-racks. Or the Nomad.
Oh well. I’m sure something else will come along that’ll bump the UAD’s off the top shelf…though they seem like some very big shoes to fill
