I Replaced my Entire Vocal Chain With Free Plugins... And it Sounded Great!

[@MapplebyMusic]

I don't know about you but I am very ready to leave it all behind in a city! Great video, thanks for this

[@stumbla]

The reason why the EQs sound different is bcs the Q-3 labels 0.7 as 1 whereas the TDR doesn't. I prefer the system of the Q-3, but it is a wider band by about 1/3 relative to the TDR Nova. This is my understanding, anyway; I may be wrong or not have explained this well. Also, The TDR Slick EQ is an eq that does a colourful sound. It's a great Maag alternative. It's air band goes up to 40k like the maag.

[@MoonshiftAudio-ft7oh]

Yeah that sounds about right to me. I think I could definitely use Nova as my main EQ if needed, I'd get used to the behaviour pretty quickly but for me the thing that makes Pro-Q3 so indispensible is the workflow - it's so quick and intuitive I never have to stop and think about what I'm doing. Will have to check out Slick EQ - sounds great!

[@snakeeyes3883]

its been my experience that are some categories of free plugins that give you the same results as the paid. like EQ, limiters, clippers, stereo enhancers,and even a few compressors. however, where there are no comparisons are the paid plugins like saturation, most compressors, reverb and delay, pitch shifting and autotune.

[@MoonshiftAudio-ft7oh]

Yep I'd say that's a pretty good summary. Reverb in particular is an area where I've yet to find many free plugins that really do it for me. There are usually some good stock reverbs in most DAWs though which is great

[@MoonshiftAudio-ft7oh]

Haha thanks! I know what you mean... One of the key skills for any mix engineer/producer is being able to listen to the same 4 second loop for hours without going insane 😂

[@snakeeyes3883]

My ol lady says she doesnt mind but im pretty sure i drive her bat shit crazy having to hear me play 4 seconds loops over and over and over LOL

[@EricJohnson-fh8zj]

A good mix comes down to 90% experience and know-how, and about 10% the specific plugins a person uses. Well...add to that good, well recorded singers and musicians. Because honestly, that's the most important part lol. My voice mixed well on record still sounds worse than someone with a great voice but badly mixed 😅

[@MoonshiftAudio-ft7oh]

Totally agree! It's become a bit of a cliche but I really could do 90% of what I do with stock plugins. There are a couple I couldn't do without, and a couple more that I really love because of the workflow but tbh it's mostly about developing your ear and learning to hear what a mix needs