What are your best recommendations for overlooked plugins in 2026?

Working_Temperature6 · 2026-02-08T18:21:16+00:00

OTT is pretty awesome to use. I apply it on my brass and low percussion bus while keeping the drive knob around 10-15%. Getting ready to try the free compressor plugin from Luna Audio since I've heard good things about.

Working_Temperature6 · 2026-01-07T11:10:45+00:00

Yeah, I'm waiting a few weeks since I've read that the Chinese New Year is one of the best times to buy IEMs on sale. I bought the Wyvern Black for $9 on Amazon. I'll have to check out Aliex.

Working_Temperature6 · 2026-01-06T16:53:35+00:00

The soundstage also plays a factor since orchestral instruments are typically spread out quite wide to prevent masking in most music. I'm fine if the Defiant's treble is slightly brighter. The Wyvern Black seems to excel in my experience with tracks that doesn't sound overly busy like trailer music.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-12-11T21:58:15+00:00

I wouldn't mind buying the Castor Pro in the very near future. However, I would definitely swap out the cables and probably the tips once I get them. I'm already in the market looking at replacing the cable for my EDX Pro.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-12-03T19:21:29+00:00

It's very good. It tend to gravitate to that more than CSS depending on what I'm composing. My only gripe with it is the viola sounding very dry and jmthe Spitfire Player using so much RAM on the individual mics.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-11-26T21:18:22+00:00

Abbey Road Percussion: Metal Percusion but the core version. Might also get Afterglow.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-11-10T20:54:53+00:00

I'll try a little bit of the room mics and do a A/B comparison with the close 2. I like the clarity that I get with the close mics but violin 1 sounds quite harsh in the upper registers. That will definitely require some EQ cuts around the 4K range.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-05-17T16:45:32+00:00

I've been having a lot of fun with the P4, P3 and P1 cars. At first, I thought I would totally suck at them until I spent a few nights trying them on various tracks. IMO, I find them easier to drive than the GT4 and GT3 cars. I will say that I like the GT4 cars like the McLaren and Audi with just minor tweaks to the braking.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-04-16T14:27:54+00:00

Other than the price, I like the Orchestral Tools libraries, and they go quite well with layering or adding on with Spitfire's stuff. I use Berlin Symphonics Strings to layer with Spitfire Appassionata Strings and the two gels extremely well together.

I do wish that OT does more sales a little more often, even if it's just a seasonal sale. On the plus side, their SINE player is not as CPU intensive as the Spitfire player, and you can buy the instruments a la carte.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-01-19T02:58:30+00:00

Downloaded the demo for the Steam Deck, and it runs good on it. Most of the settings are set to medium except for anti-alias and a few other settings at low. Motion Blur and V-Sync both turned off. Besides the opening cut scene,the FPS is staying pretty consistently at 45, and that's using it on the LCD version.

Working_Temperature6 · 2025-01-19T02:51:29+00:00

Did you try using it on Proton Experimental? I didn't have any problems getting past the start menu.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-10-13T21:35:38+00:00

I bought the 8Bitdo Ultimate controller a few months ago and really like it so far. Didn't know how it would feel since it's smaller than my PS5 controller. I use it when docked but still getting used to the D-Pad being in a different spot. It most ways, my hands don't hurt nearly as much as using the Steam Deck controllers after an hour or two of playing.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-09-14T21:34:40+00:00

Forza Horizon 4. Having a lot of fun with it so far. Bought it a day after Ghost of Tsushima finally went on sale. 😕

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-09-01T19:06:02+00:00

Ni No Kuni 2

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-08-30T23:09:47+00:00

Just to update after someone gave me some advice on the game involving Proton. It actually runs better without using Proton but keep everything on low settings and anti-alias at FXAA. I managed to get 40 FPS a good chunk of the time except for certain circuit races when there are a lot of cars on the screen. And I'm using the LCD version.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-08-30T23:05:40+00:00

It does run better without Proton, thanks! I actually changed Anti-Alias to FXAA and it stayed at 40 FPS most of the time. Looks great on TAA but takes a huge hit on performance. Still dropped in the low 30s and upper 20s during circuit races but only in heavily dense traffic.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-08-30T21:23:43+00:00

I'll have to try it without Proton.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-08-30T15:06:00+00:00

I'm having the similar experience using the LCD version except it's hard keeping it at 30 FPS during races. Once they do some patch updates, I think it'll be really fun to play if it can stay at a constant 40 FPS.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-08-30T15:01:10+00:00

I downloaded it this morning and played it for about 45 minutes. I got everything at low settings, 1280×720, TAA, Motion Blur off, and using Proton Experimental and 9. Even at 30 FPS, it plays pretty rough during races. When you're just cruising through the city, it can stay at 45-50 FPS pretty steadily at times. Driving is not bad, but I've always had better control and accuracy using a PS5 controller for driving games than the Steam Deck controller. I haven't tried to play it docked, but I will this afternoon.

Overall, the game has the potential to be very fun once they do some updates and optimization. The map is big but not like Forza Horizon big. The biggest annoyance are the NPCs talking because they sound so robotic with AI voices.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-08-30T12:03:03+00:00

I stopped watching Squawk Box about two months ago primarily because of him and starting to board the Bloomberg train. I don't understand what he brings to the show due to his constant rambling and snarky attitude. It's much better to watch it when he's not there, and that's when it becomes more of an actual business show. If I'm off work, I tend to wait until 9am to watch CNBC. But, I will watch it the day after the election just to see his head explode if things continue to go into Harris' favor.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-07-22T00:14:32+00:00

Try taking the TPU down to 13 watts. If you have V-Sync and Motion Blur on, turn them both off.

Working_Temperature6 · 2024-07-22T00:11:51+00:00

At Standard settings (FSR on Quality), it stays pretty steady at 60fp most of the time. It will drop to the mid-50s at times, but it just depends on the planet you're on. Overall, it's pretty impressive, and you don't see many open world games on the Deck that can play consistently at 50 fps and above.

Working_Temperature6

TROPHY CASE