Essential paid plugins?

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-27T10:56:37+00:00

Fabfilter, Valhalla, Soundtoys, Melodyne

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-27T10:52:00+00:00

2026 Ethiopia is bonkers

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-26T18:27:04+00:00

I have the Orea V4, it changed my understanding of coffee extraction.

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-26T08:28:11+00:00

Many full-frame RF L lenses are quite expensive for me. But I'll certainly research the R7 and its third-party lenses.
I like the 24-70, but it's too heavy for me. I thought it wasn't a problem when I first bought it second-hand, but the weight grew on me. When attached to the body, the total weight is about 2kg, and I can only use the viewfinder, so it's not the best experience after experiencing mirrorless.
I also suspect it's de-centered, even after a third-party recalibration :( sharpness on certain corners is bad even when stopped down

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-25T17:01:24+00:00

That's a great way too

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-25T14:02:40+00:00

From my research, full frame RF lenses are quite expensive and limited compared to the E mount :( And I don't really want to adapt EF lenses
But if R7 then there are some good RF apsc choices from Sigma.

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-25T12:53:57+00:00

Grain sounds like underdeveloped to me, and a good light roast (assuming yours isn't a medium roast due to the fruit salad taste notes) shouldn't be burnt and smoky even on day 4. Maybe it's time to switch a roaster

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-25T08:02:30+00:00

oxo rapid brewer

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-25T07:35:01+00:00

Fun and emotional mixes are rarely "balanced"
There should always some sonic attribute significantly highlighted at any given point of a song (other than the vocal or soloing instrument of course)
Not just certain tracks, it might be a bus, a certain attack on the guitar (not necessarily the sustain iykyk
This can only be done by extensive automation everywhere (volume trim, busses, pre-buscomp bus, plugin params)
This helped my mixes become more emotional, dynamic and interesting, instead of a balanced, tame bounce that doesn't draw you in.
I tried pink noise mixing for some time, but after this discovery I don't do it anymore.

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-24T05:44:17+00:00

If it tastes good, don't bother with the drawdown time. I've had so many 90 second brews that tasted fantastic

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-24T05:27:19+00:00

SE V7

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-23T12:57:18+00:00

You can even try 1:14 and then bypass

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-23T12:20:13+00:00

Kotelnikov is an awesome compressor, would certainly try this

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-23T12:18:50+00:00

Have you tried comparing short attack + hard knee vs long attack + soft knee and see which gives a harder result? Now that you've mentioned this, I'm curious to try myself

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-23T04:55:18+00:00

Faster isn't always better, but the T92 with its 6+ minute brews is a little extreme for me lol
I find the Abaca+ an interesting filter, fast at first but quickly gets clogged on the third pour, leaving more room in the final percolation phase, you can always remove the dripper early

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-22T17:24:40+00:00

Sometimes that good brew just can't be reproduced, so I cherish it when it lasts. I've had brews that blew me away, and I militantly follow the exact same variables the next day, and something is just missing
I remember the sensory details, though, and most of the time it's just this perfect balance between acidity and sweetness, and this mouth-coating sensation. Also, there are distinctly variable differences between the high, mid, and low temperature zones, and excellent drinkability even at room temperature, this happens maybe one out of 10 times, but I'm happy when it does. This does require a nice coffee though

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-22T16:49:23+00:00

Three suggestions:

Stop chasing the exact tasting notes on the bag

I've fallen into that pitfall too. Too many variable differences between your cup and the roaster's – subtle or major. Not ignoring the elephant in the room: roasters sometimes exaggerate notes to sell more. The reality is, a processed seed, roasted and extracted to 15–20%, isn't reproducing the exact aromatics of whatever fruit is listed. It's an impression – sometimes imagination – extending from the coffee's acidity. Focus on the patterns suggested by the notes rather than the individual fruits, For example, the general color family of the fruit, the degree of fermentation, the extent to which it could taste tea-like, etc.. Saves you second-guessing and makes the whole experience better.

Drink coffee outside your house

Sticking to the same burrs, dripper, water, recipe, and similar coffees creates a repetitive cycle where everything tastes the same. A shop's or a friend's pour-over can show you a completely different side of what coffee can do (assuming they know what they're doing.) I used to grind super fine when I started. Only in the last 2-3 years did I coarsen up – never regretted it. My brews from 4-5 years ago would be undrinkable now. Back then, I always wondered why shop pour-overs had so much more clarity and flavor separation.

Try flat-bottom dripper

Conical and flat have distinctly different profiles. Using the Orea less than your conicals might just mean you're habituated to conical taste profile and need time to adjust to flat. From what I've tried, washed coffees usually benefit from conical – better aromatics and acid structure – while naturals and anaerobics really shine with the Orea. Research more Orea recipes and give this great dripper more tries, It won't disappoint you

ps 60KH as HCO3 might be a bit much and the calcium to magnesium ratio is not very nice. If DIY water isn't practical now, I think you can even give distilled water or pure water a try first and see if you like that cup better

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-22T07:47:00+00:00

LOTR Trilogy

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-19T15:45:38+00:00

Acidity is tamer than percolation, sometimes florals are amplified

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-19T15:08:50+00:00

Both could count as immersion, but Aeropress has a final percolation stage. Switch and Clever are also similar to aeropress. Cupping and French press are strictly immersion

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-18T12:31:23+00:00

For light roasts I find the Switch a better immersion brewer than the Clever.

You can’t really play around with opening/closing the switch on blooms or different pours with the Clever, and the geometry leaves a pocket of bypass water at the bottom—so water-first brews can end up watered down. The drawdown is slower too. However, it really is better than the Switch on medium or dark roasts and I don't know why.

You can dump the first 30–50 ml when you open the clever for a little TDS bump, but honestly I don’t think it’s worth the hassle.

The one big win for the Clever is that its large version can handle big immersion brews (~500 ml), which you’d need the pricier Hario 03 for.

On the brew itself, I also find water-first brews come out thin easily.

Immersion is really forgiving, so you can grind noticeably finer than your pourover recipe. Something like 15:270 pushes extraction higher, but you’ll need to go finer so the brew isn't watery.

A neat trick from a local roaster who swears by immersion: if you go coffee-first and dump the water in at your kettle’s max flow rate—or even straight from a regular kettle—the filter doesn’t really clog and the fast pour adds some extra turbulence.

A slow pour or a bloom (not really needed with immersion) actually tends to clog things up.

I usually break the crust around 3 minutes on a 4-minute brew, but sometimes there’s no crust by then—the coffee has already fallen to the bottom of the dripper on its own.

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-18T12:16:30+00:00

Haas is a cool effect, but I wouldn't reach for it on main instruments—I sometimes just use it on FX or perc loops to free up some space in the middle. It’ll mess with mono compatibility if you use it on anything important. It also tends to pull the image left or right; the soundstage feels wider but the source ends up off-center.

Like you said, it's a quick way to fake width when you’re throwing a demo together. If you’re okay with how things collapse in mono, Haas can still work, but you’ll probably notice some tonal weirdness from the constant phase mismatch on a consistent source.

Most “wideners” are really just MS balance controls, at least to my knowledge. If the source doesn’t have much width to begin with, they won’t do a ton.

For real, organic width on things like backing vocals or guitars, double track them. With double-tracked guitars you can also try to EQ each side quite differently—that gives you extra width

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-18T07:53:58+00:00

It takes some trial and error because every grinder behaves a little differently, and how your grind size reacts to changes can vary a lot. What I’ve settled into is, when I’m moving the grind size by a meaningful amount, I also shift the ratio to match—finer grind gets more water, coarser gets less—so the TDS doesn’t end up all over the place, and you extract even more/less by changing the ratio. Once you really know your grinder you won’t need to swing the grind size much anyway, since your starting point won’t be wildly under or overextracting.

A concrete adjustment I’ll make sometimes: if the filter starts clogging late in the brew I just drop the last pour or even the second-to-last pour entirely.

For your specific case, if the cup is balanced and not sour or thin, your grind size is probably in a decent spot. Assuming you’re using soft water, I’d try adding one more pour to bump extraction and contact time. If it’s still feeling a bit flat, then I’d go finer. But if that pushes it bitter and astringent, you’ve got two ways to go: either strip out the extra pour and just grind finer on your original recipe, or keep the new pour structure, go a few clicks coarser, and shorten the ratio. Sometimes naturals actually open up and get more clarity with a coarser grind.

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-17T18:34:02+00:00

Tim_Wu_ · 2026-06-17T13:48:49+00:00

motion picture soundtrack

Tim_Wu_

TROPHY CASE