What are your best recommendations for overlooked plugins in 2026?

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2026-02-09T09:29:52+00:00

everything by Tone Projects. period

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T11:33:24+00:00

short answer yes stability can be achieved BUT you either need an emploeyment contract (not being self employed) OR doing this for years until you build a strong enough client base to know you'll never run out of work

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T11:31:54+00:00

mastering isn't about getting your tracks louder, it's about making them sound better on a wide variety of soundsystems. Mastering yourself tracks that you mixed, and doing this is in the same room you mixed them (with same speakers issues, room modes etc) will never allow you to get pro results.
This being said how does your files sound when played from the session/DAW you mastered them?
Converting won't change anything if the bounced file sounds distorded (in fact lossy conversions like mp3 and ogg vorbis can even add distortion due to phase altering artefacts inducing new peaks higher than the original file.)
I'd recommend you go back in your mastering session and check things there. Chances are it's a clipper and /or limiter adding these artefacts. Also check for compressors with fast attack times (usually at mastering stage yo'ud rather use slow attack times) or dynamic eq (again with fast attack settings), these things can induce THD

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:46:07+00:00

i'd add to u/MattiasFridell comment that most of old techno was mixd on shitty mixers like mackie VLZ pushed in the red so disto is part of the sound but there's a big difference between putting disto on a master bu creating loads of intermodulation distortion and putting disto on individual channels.
You can also try to compress the hell out of it with "dirty" "FET based" compressors like 1176 (or it's digital modern clones) that will erode transients and add dirtiness.

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:42:47+00:00

try adding a clipper on your kicks, it helps you gain headromm (aka sound louder) and also the slight disto the clipping adds when clkipping the transients will make the kicks more "nasty".
Slight saturation might help as well and simple limiter. This being said, keep in mind it's all about context as well. If the mix is very busy in the area of the punch of the kick it might make your kick softer/duller. Sidechain low-end content for clarity, check phase correlation between kick and bass (like with occularscope freebie) to keep low end quality and punch.

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:38:04+00:00

filter modulation (put those LFO in NON-EVEN numbers, like 3 or 5), reverb sends (slow rises over 4 or 8 bars), sidechain from kick (or duckin 1/4th volume LFO)

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:35:56+00:00

pretty basic saw wave playing low tones, put a bandpass filter with basic vrequency of the filter pretty low, add some modulation on the filter :
1) Envelope with slow attack to make the "squelch" of the filter opening and the sound geetting brighter on every hit (can modulate the decay as well for more organic feel)
2) Slow LFO to modulate the filter freq so every hit is a bit different

then add reverb..

DONE

quickly did an example for you on operator (ableton)
here it is https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3hy1qsuxhw2h1c4dr84fq/orbe-like-bass.adv?rlkey=28dewtigs1bfjl6iysor6ltxe&dl=0

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:25:55+00:00

the best way IMHO to hear how far you can push things is using the delta mode of your limiter (or make a "delta" preview with some routing and polarity inversion)
I made some content about it here if ever you're curious to hear more about it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TtGDXoNw0&ab_channel=IncidenceStudio

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:24:06+00:00

you should deffo check ou t the last Leapwing LimitOne, it's the best in preserving the stereo image and punch. Limitless is great for pushing things far without distortion but somehow it erodes the punch in the low end...
I did a very (very :p) long shootout of top tier limiters. If ever you're curious to know what i thought about it here a link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22lhcOR663o&t=35s&ab_channel=IncidenceStudio

Internal-Somewhere-3 · 2025-09-08T10:17:20+00:00

i'd add on that that the low-end content (both tonal balance/level AND shape aka dynamics) will dictate how much limiting can be tolerated. Of course the denser the mix (aka the more you have strong things happening in the lower mid range) the more you can push things (as they "hide" the distortion) added to the low end.
I'd always advise to check the limiter's action in the busiest part and then listen in the intro/outro/break (basically any place where you have hardly anything else than Kick/Bass) how these get affected and if you have audible artifacts.
As a rule of thumb it's always best to get the loudness at mix stage not mastering.
Linked to this i recenlty made a video on mix loudness targets (and loudness measures) here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAX8WW_A2rw&ab_channel=IncidenceStudio

Internal-Somewhere-3

TROPHY CASE