10 Plugins That I Use Every Day
Disclaimer
At the end of the day, this is just my personal top plugins — the ones I actually like and use for my own production and mixing projects. Use whatever works for you. These are just tools, and I think of them like colors on a palette when you’re painting a picture.
If you’re looking for a specific color for your final picture and you know you can get there faster, that’s why I use these tools. But always remember: serve the song, not the plugin companies.
I’m going to leave some links to each plugin so you can read more information about them.
1. Decimort 2 by D16
This plugin helps me to do this underwater effect — the real one. It’s also a great saturation plugin and sounds really close to the original units. All of the plugins from this company are actually cool. Decimort 2 is a great plugin if you want to make something sound interesting or unique, or if you want to add some space to your mixes by removing some frequencies using this plugin.
2. KnockTonal by DJ Swivel
It’s been my cheat code. I learned about this plugin from DJ Swivel — he just showed me the ways how you can use it, and I use this plugin to tune my drums and make my snare sounds perfect. Because right now it’s hard to find the perfect snare, so I use this plugin and I’m just like a psycho, like an obsessed person, adding some root notes of the song to my snare and blending it with the original sound. I really like how it sounds and how it makes all of my drums sound in key — but just don’t do it too much.
3. Duck by Devious Machines
It’s basically a sidechain plugin. It has different modes — it even has a trigger mode so you can sidechain anything to anything, and it’s really flexible. I know there are a bunch of other plugins for that, but I really like the interface and how it sounds.
4. Effect Rack by Soundtoys
I use just Effect Rack in general because you have more functions. I’m using Effect Rack every time. If you don’t have it, you should have it now because it’s cheaper, but you get more functionality than buying each separate plugin. PanMan, EchoBoy, Decapitator!
5. BB Tubes by Waves
When I interviewed Dave Pensado, I didn’t know about this plugin, but it’s actually — in my opinion — a really great saturation plugin. I really like the Beauty knob in there, and it sounds incredible.
6. Pro-Q 4 by FabFilter
I know it’s boring, but Pro-Q 4 from FabFilter. I’m bouncing between this and stock EQ plugins from Ableton, but this plugin actually does the job well, so it is what it is.
7. Center by Waves
This is probably the most underrated plugin, and I learned this from a bunch of engineers, especially Jeff Ellis. He mentioned this plugin and used it a bunch of times on his Mixer Brain course — which is a really amazing course by the way, check it out.
If you want to add some space to your mixes without overthinking and using hard interfaces or complicated EQs, you just use this simple plugin — you either remove sides or remove center. It’s like a mid‑side EQ but with just two knobs.
It’s a really great plugin when I want to remove something and add some space for my vocals. I just remove center, or if I want to make my vocals sit in the center, I just remove sides — and it’s an incredible plugin.
8. R‑Vox by Waves
It’s 101, but it does the job really well. If you need another kiss of compression for your vocals, it’s an amazing plugin. Just one knob — and that’s it.
9. Aurora by iZotope
If you’re struggling with reverbs and you don’t like to sidechain and end up with muddy‑sounding reverbs, this plugin is a lifesaver. It actually combines a soothe‑style effect and sidechains your vocals to the actual reverb signal — it does it automatically.
It’s hard to overdo your reverbs with this plugin, and it’s really been game‑changing since I accidentally tried it.
10. Soothe 2 by Oeksound
Do I need to explain how great this plugin is? I think there are just so many instances where you can use it, but just make sure you use it on purpose. Don’t overdo it. Use it on specific things, if you have specific vibes for this plugin.
One More Thing…
Also—check out my other blog posts! I recently transcribed a ton of content, so now you can see all my plugin chains and hardware setups with clickable links.
And if you’re looking for pro-level results fast, I’ve got Grammy Award-winning templates and my brand new sample pack ready for you. Don’t miss it.