Whether you’re after a mixing or mastering bundle as an upgrade to the mix plugins that come with your base DAW toolset, or you’re looking to extend your sound palette with a host of synths and sound sources, we’ve got you covered with our round-up below.
The benefits of plugin bundles
- Save money in the long run: This is the big one. Sure, bundles are inevitably a larger up-front investment than buying individual plugins. But taking the long view, you get so much more for your money when buying bundled plugins in comparison to the combined cost of buying each product individually.
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Many of the FabFilter plugins share features and key ways of working, including Pro-Q 3
Spend less time learning different GUIs, workflows and approaches to preset management, and more time creating: If you know you like the ethos, workflow and the results you get with the plugins from a particular developer, you’ll usually find that mastering one of their products will make getting up to speed with the others in their range a lot faster and easier – for example, most of the FabFilter plugins have a similar approach to features and layout, and once you get used to the nodes and rotary dials, you’ll be using all of their plugins like a pro in no time. Plus, if you do already own one or two plugins from a particular company, you may get special upgrade pricing for a bundle e.g. Exponential Audio’s Upgrade Center.
- Stay more easily in a productive flow state, minimising the creative friction caused by switching between different plugin designs: Every time you switch between plugins with different GUI styles and ethos, there’s mental friction while you recalibrate. Less context switching between different workflows can mean more time and ease spent in a creative state.
- Several of the bundles in our list come with with an additional “master rack” utility plugin, for speed and flexibility:This is not an instrument or effect itself but which allows you to load, search and access presets or chain the other plugins, all within a single FX slot in your DAW.
Soundtoys 5 Effect Rack Plugin
Soundtoys 5 Effect Rack is one good example; with Arturia’s V Collection, rather than auditioning several separate instruments searching for a particular sound, you can simply load up the included Analog Lab plugin and immediately search the entire library of 6,000+ presets from all of the V Collections many synths and keyboards, all within a single interface.
- Bundles with hardware: Increasingly, we’re seeing great bundle deals that include both software and hardware components, particularly audio interfaces and keyboard controllers, for example Native Instruments Maschine Mk3 that comes with the 25 GB Komplete 11 Select bundle, and Focusrite bundling Waves Musicians 2 and the iZotope Mobius Filter with their excellent Scarlett 2i2 audio interface offering the Time & Tone Bundle.
- Be guided in selecting the right toolset for more advanced production processes: For those new to mixing or mastering, a bundle that includes a typical toolset for these tasks is also a great educational tool, introducing you to all of the key studio tools from EQs and compressors to gates, stereo wideners and limiters.
20 Of The Best Music Production Plugin Bundles – The List
Below we’ve assembled a collection of what we think are some of the very best plugin bundles available in 2018. Whether you’re primarily an electronic producer, or a guitarist; a songwriter looking for the fastest route to a finished track, or a sound design scientist going down to the molecular level to hone your drum envelopes and EQ adjustments, there are suites and bundles geared towards how you make music.
We’ve mixed up some of the best “mega-bundle” offerings with some smaller, more left-field selections that are either less-discussed gems or simply those we think should just be in every producers toolbox. So browse, discover and enjoy!
Formats and DAW compatibility
Unless otherwise stated, all of the plugins featured in these bundles come in multiple, industry-standard formats including AAX, VST and Audio Units, and therefore will work with any of the major DAWs. If you’re unsure, check the official specifications of the plugin/bundle you’re interested in.
1) Soundtoys 5
Trusted by pro’s for many years and loved by everybody who tries them, Soundtoys find just the right balance between faithfully recreating the character of vintage processors and bringing a modern efficiency and sense of fun to their plugins. They are fast and simple when you want them to be — especially with the “Jr.” and “Little” slimmed-down versions of several of the effects, and the wide range of excellent presets to get you in the right ball-park quickly — but also deep and inspiring in a way that only the best, most lovingly-crafted tools can be.
Highlights: 20 plugins in total, including an Effect Rack plugin into which you can stack up several of the effects; EchoBoy, one of the all-time best delay plugins; Crystallizer, a granular delay effect based on the Eventide H3000‘s favourite “Reverse Shift” algorithm; Decapitator and Radiator for “overdriven mix console preamp”-style saturation/distortion; excellent, useful presets; new plugin Little Plate included for free.
Available for: Mac, PC | 32-64 bit | VST, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
2) Waves H-Series Bundle
While Waves’ Gold Bundle is probably one of the most popular plugin bundles of all time, and is a fantastic entry point not just to the rest of the Waves range but to mixing plugins in general, here we want to highlight the awesomeness of the Waves H-Series plugins. Comprising four plugins (compressor, reverb, EQ and delay), the “H” stands for Hybrid, as each of these processors are built around the concept of modelling a whole host of original analogue gear and housing it all within a modern, intuitive interface that’s fast and easy to use. Dial in exactly the balance you want of analogue character and clean modern bite and precision.
Highlights: H-Reverb is one of the most forward-looking plugins in the Waves range; H-Delay goes toe-to-toe with Soundtoys’ Echoboy in the flexible/character delay stakes.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX, Multirack, Soundgrid
BUY NOW via Waves.
3) iZotope Music Production Suite
iZotope develops tools at the cutting edge of music production, mastering and audio signal processing, and the Music Production Suite brings together six of iZotope’s signature plugins: Ozone 8 Advanced, Neutron 3 Advanced, RX 8 Standard, Nectar 3 Plus, VocalSynth 2, and Trash 2 Expanded.
Equally at home in the worlds of music, sound design, film sound, audio processing and correction duties, if you’re after mixing and mastering tools that find that sweet spot between innovative but extremely well-realised features, a fresh approach to interface design and workflow, and top-class sound results, the iZotope bundle could be for you.
Highlights: The Ozone-Neutron combination in particular is an incredibly powerful mixing-mastering duo; Trash2 can cover all distortion and saturation duties in your productions with precision and/or fierceness as required.
Available for: Mac/PC | 32/64 bit | VST2/3, AU, AAX, DPM, RTAS
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
4) Universal Audio Analog Classics Pro Bundle
If you’re looking to add the absolute core bona fide studio classics to your processing arsenal, you could do far worse than grabbing a Universal Audio Apollo Twin and loading it up with the industry-leading UAD emulations of the Teletronix LA-2A Classic Leveler, 1176 Classic Limiter, and Pultec Passive EQ that make up the Analog Classics Pro Bundle. Appearing on countless records of every style and genre, these compressors and EQs are incredibly simple in operation but iconic in sound.
UAD have a large range of DSP-powered plugins, and these bundles are equally worthy of consideration:
• SSL 4000 Series Console Bundle
• Distortion Essentials Bundle
• Classic FX Bundle
Highlights: Choose from three famous versions of the iconic 1176 compressor: Rev A, Rev E, and AE — each with their own sonic attributes and level of grit. Our favourite is the 1176LN Rev E “blackface” unit, the middle of the three in terms of crunch, and which you can use on pretty much everything in a mix for analogue character and unmistakable punch.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST, AU, RTAS, AAX (Note: Universal Audio hardware is required – our recommendation for the best balance between power and cost for most producers is the Apollo Twin MKII DUO).
BUY NOW via Universal Audio.
5) FabFilter Total Bundle
While the Essentials Bundle gets you FabFilter’s most essential mixing tools, their EQ, reverb and compressor plugins, we feel that the Total Bundle represents not just the biggest bang but the best value option for FF fans. If you love the core FabFilter feature of displaying most of the essential controls over an interactive frequency graph with draggable nodes – and frankly, we’ve never met anyone who doesn’t – then it’s an obvious choice to get the whole set, as it means you’re covered for all of the bread-and-butter mix processors in serious style: EQ, compression, reverb, delay, saturation and distortion, gating and limiting, plus of course the filters and synths that made the companies name to begin with. Instant inspiration and fun.
Plus if you’re not completely ready to trust your ears yet when applying compression, limiting or EQ, these plugins are like getting a hands-on masterclass in effective signal processing without you even noticing you’re “learning” something.
Highlights: Pro-Q 3 might literally be the only EQ plugin you’ll need or want; The Pro-C 2 compressor and Pro-L 2 limiter are exceptionally visually helpful and brilliant-sounding; Pro-R still managed to surpass everybody’s high expectations of what a FabFilter reverb would be like; the ability of Saturn 2 to apply saturation and distortion to user-defined frequency bands so quickly and easily is a sound designers and mixers dream.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
6) Native Instruments Komplete 13
No discussion of music software bundles would be komplete (puns, yeeaah!) without mentioning the blockbuster bundle of them all, NI’s monster collection of instruments and effects.
Komplete 13 Select — 16 instruments, highlights being Monark, Massive and Reaktor Prism
Komplete 13 — 68 plugins, 320GB, 36,000+ sounds
Komplete 13 Ultimate — 118 plugins, 840GB, 67,000+ sounds
Komplete is many producers first major software purchase after their DAW, and offers a huge amount to sink your teeth into. It’s long been regarded as one of the best value deals in music software, with Komplete Ultimate bundling every synth sampler instrument, effect and processor plugin into “one bundle to rule them all”. For those suffering from Gear Acquisition Syndrome, we’re honestly not sure if Komplete 13 Ultimate constitutes the best or the worst thing that ever existed.
As ever, the saving compared to the individual prices of the included plugins is huge. Whether you’ll ever use everything included perhaps comes down to how much of a stylistic explorer you are, whether as an artist or in a professional capacity, as a media composer for example, where you’re expected to switch gears between genres, styles and tempos a lot.
Highlights: Everyone’s favourite software modular synth-building and FX platform Reaktor 6; super-synth sequel Massive X; analogue monster synth Monark; Super 8; the industry-leading sampler Kontakt; the long-awaited update to an old and very flexible FX processing favourite, Guitar Rig 6 Pro.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX, Stand-alone
BUY NOW via Amazon.
7) Arturia V Collection 7
The V Collection is an excellent go-to bundle of 21 classic synths and vintage keyboard instruments that together touch on almost all of the key bases and sound sources for modern music composers and producers. The plugins are ostensibly reproductions of rare, expensive or otherwise unwieldy hardware, but with enough subtle modifications, feature additions and the kind of workflow improvements that only software can provide, to make each plugin far more useful and up-to-date than simply an exercise in nostalgia.
Highlights: Version 6 of the V Collection brought us four new additions: the Buchla Easel V, modelled after Buchla’s semi-modular synth from 1973, the Music Easel, and which is great for sound design and ambient textures; The CMI V, which is modelled on the digital Fairlight CMI IIx and incorporates sampling, additive synthesis and a sequencer workstation; The Clavinet V, based on the Hohner Clavinet D6 (“electronic clavichord”) which was made in West Germany between 1964 and the early 80s; and last but by no means least, the DX7 V. 
The DX7 V is, unsurprisingly, a plugin recreation of what is probably the best-known FM synth, the Yamaha DX7. First released in 1983, it both changed the pop music landscape with it’s distinctly less warm and analogue-sounding patches, and also helped define a new trend that would continue for nearly thirty years of hiding most of the controls behind sleek digital-buttoned interfaces.
Notoriously tricky to program due to the relative unpredictability of FM synthesis programming and the lack of hands-on control and visual feedback while tweaking, you might think that Arturia would have problems making a typically faithful recreation while also making a truly useful synth plugin. Their answer to the conundrum is to retain the aesthetics of the original DX7 while also literally extending the interface into an extra popup pane where you can make adjustments in a way that will be familiar and much welcomed by users of more modern synth plugins. Highly recommended!
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
8) UVI Vintage Vault 3
UVI appear to have taken the concept of a bundle of plugin emulations of classic synths to it’s logical conclusion, in terms of the sheer range and quantity of the synth modules and supplied presets. Vintage Vault 3 also comes in at a very attractive price point, significantly lower than combined cost of buying the instruments individually. Fortunately, any concerns that there might be a catch in terms of quality can be put aside: these plugins sound great. From some really rare and obscure machines to genuine classics, you’re spoiled for choice. Even if you don’t go far beyond the supplied presets, there’s enough material ad variety here to keep you exploring for a long time.
Highlights: OB Legacy is a suite of six instruments based on 10 classic and/or more obscure Oberheim synths; Waverunner draws from seven different synths from wavetable synthesis specialists Waldorf; Beatbox Anthology represents 111(!) different drum machines accessible under a single plugin interface, the sounds of which can be freely mixed and matched to make your own definitive vintage-inspired kits.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via UVI.
9) KORG Collection
It’s when you see the list and interfaces of the synths in KORG’s Collection bundle that you realise how significant and multi-faceted the Japanese company’s impact has been on electronic music and it’s production over the last 40 years. From the 80’s analogue magic of the MS-20, Polysix and Mono/Poly, to the 90’s-era digital workstation innovations of the M1 and futuristic vector synthesis of the Wavestation (itself based on the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, the research and development of which Korg inherited when Sequential folded), the sound banks of these plugins and the lists of famous users of the original hardware literally provide a play-by-play account of the evolution of modern electronic music.
Highlights: The current bundle, which dropped the “Legacy” subtitle, now also includes an excellent emulation of the ARP Odyssey, adding to the Korg Collection’s reputation as some of the best and most underrated emulations around, and at a very reasonable price.
Also check out: For more similarly iconic and flawless emulated synth plugins, see the Roland Cloud collection (although it is subscription only), and the Arturia V Collection which also includes some of the same synths modelled here.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via KORG.
10) IK Multimedia Total Studio MAX
As highlighted in our guitar amp sims roundup, we’re long-time fans of IK Multimedia’s guitar amps and effects plugin Amplitube, which is included in Total Studio MAX, alongside SampleTank MAX, T-RackS 5 MAX and Miroslav Philharmonik 2. Featuring 43 virtual instruments and 179 GB of samples, the “Total” and “MAX” names are appropriate, as you’re set for every conceivable genre and production style you could want to pursue.
Highlights: AmpliTube MAX incorporates all of the previous iterations and signature versions of Amplitube, providing more than 300 pieces of tone sculpting amps, cabinets, stompboxes and rack effects from Fender, MESA/Boogie, Z-Vex Effects, Soldano, Orange and Fulltone, amongst others.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via IK Multimedia.
11) Softube Volume 4
Softube have rapidly expanded their first three “Volume” bundles in just the last few years, bolstering the 16 already highly-regarded plugins that made up the original collection with a host of new additions, particularly in the area of partnering with other top audio hardware brands like Weiss, Summit Audio, Doepfer, Marshall, Drawmer, Trident, OTO, and Fix on licensed plugin version of favourite analogue gear. In Volume 4, you get a great mix of analogue/vintage-leaning favourites like the American Class A channel strip and Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 guitar amp alongside much more forward-thinking forays into synth design with Monoment Bass and the fantastic Parallels. joins the party, as does the TEC Award-nominated synth Monoment Bass. All this and you still get, of course, saturation plugin Tape, the Fix Phaser, and the Weiss MM1 Mastering Maximizer, which is modelled on the Weiss DS1-MK3, a favourite processor commonly found in professional mastering studios.
From true original concepts like the TSAR-1 Reverb plugin (and streamlined TSAR-1R version), the Heartbeat composite analogue drum machine and the streamlined elegance of the self-describing Saturation Knob, to the more “classical” direct emulations of legendary analogue gear from Summit Audio, Drawmer and Trident, Softube’s instruments and processors cover a broad spectrum of sources and inspirations, taking in the familiar, the quirky and the esoteric. The things you can always expect and rely on though, are that every plugin is incredibly well designed and engineered, is fun to use and sounds beautiful.
Highlights: The TSAR-1 Reverb, which featured in our 10 Best Reverb Plugins list; FET Compressor; two different saturation effects in Tape and Saturation Knob; the Fix series of Phaser, Flanger and Doubler; Modular, a plugin version of a Eurorack modular synth, including modules designed by Doepfer and which can be augmented with additional modules in much the same way as a hardware modular synth.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
12) D16 Silverline Collection
While we could easily make a case for the D16 Total Bundle, which features every D16 plugin including the much-loved LuSH-101 synth and x0x drum machine emulations Drumazon (909), Nepheton (808) and Nithonat (606), here we’re focusing on the eight-strong FX bundle of signal processors and effects that together make up the Silverline Collection.
Alongside the latest D16 plugin, the multi-tap sequenced delay Tekturon, you get the analog BBD stereo flanger Antresol, double path analog chorus Syntorus 2, vintage tube distortion unit Redopter 2, and our favourite, the Fazortan 2 phaser. Also included are second-generation updates of the excellent reverb Toraverb 2, bit-crusher Decimort 2, and multiband distortion unit Devastor 2.
There is an unmistakable grit and ruggedness to these plugins that makes them ideal for modern electronic music, and the vintage unit-inspired interfaces with their skeuomorphic knob controls encourage you to make swift, bold adjustments that lead to dramatic and awesome-sounding effects.
Highlights: The Tekturon multitap delay; Toraverb 2 reverb; Devastor 2 distortion; make any sound feel like it’s come from an old 12-bit sampler with simple Decimort bit-crushing.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
13) Sugar Bytes Suger Bundle
Our entry points to the Sugar Bytes range were the WOW 2 filter and multi-effect sequencer Effectrix, which quickly became something of a secret weapon for efficient but very flexible sound mangling. But beyond these, Sugar Bytes have grown to create a specific niche for themselves in the busy FX plugin market, always wrapping their wackier ideas in instruments and interfaces that are ultimately designed to inspire listenable results that can be worked into your tracks, whether as final ear candy FX or to generate a glitched riff that could itself form the hook of a whole new track.
Our favourites now are the plugins like generative synthesis engine Obscurium, arpeggiator Consequence and step sequencer Thesys, which can also give other synths in your collection a whole new lease of life. Overall, the bundle is an excellent sound designers toolbox, and an opportunity to save over 50% on the individual plugins.
Highlights: Multi-effect, Tetris block-style sequencer Effectrix is a must-have sound mangler; quirky FM synth Aparillo; Factory, a poly synth with a really fun modulation matrix.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
14) Slate Digital VMR Virtual Mix Rack
The Virtual Mix Rack is modelled on a 500 series rack into which you can drag-and-drop a variety of analog processor modules, creating your own custom channel strips all within a single plugin instance. There are seven modules available, and each rack instance can contain a chain of up to eight modules, which can obviously be saved as presets and reordered just as you might in your DAW’s regular insert effect slots.
While some of the modules are extremely thorough and direct emulations of the sounds of certain classic hardware – for example, the FG-116 is modelled squarely off the Urei 1176 compressor, others model SSL and Neve EQs – other modules are amalgamations of characteristics from several vintage sources, such as the FG-401, a “British” console channel compressor.
Overall, VMR incorporates some of the most accurate emulations available, and all within a smooth and highly user-friendly plugin interface.
Highlights: The FG-N is like a Neve 1073 EQ on steroids, with some serious feature enhancements; the Revival module condenses down the Slate teams research into tube, tape, transformer and EQ modelling into a simple two-knob plugin that just makes things sound “better”.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique; also available as part of the Slate Digital Everything subscription bundle.
15) Cableguys Bundle
Starting with the Curve 2 synth, Cableguys have built out a range of cool plugins that share a similar interface concept, featuring click and drag nodes where you can essentially hand-draw the waveforms and envelopes that shape and control the sound.
With favourites like VolumeShaper and FilterShaper embraced by top EDM producers, and recent new release HalfTime already making similar waves, you should definitely check out the Cableguys range if you want to introduce movement and dynamics into your electronic productions in the most fun and efficient ways possible.
Highlights: Curve 2 synth; FilterShaper 3, VolumeShaper 5, HalfTime
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
16) Positive Grid BIAS Guitar Complete Bundle
The BIAS range offer the greatest degree of control over your tone of any guitar plugins. Amp Pro allows you to match your favourite hardware amp configurations, and not only can you build custom pedalboards with FX Pro, you can build the individual pedals themselves to go on your board with BIAS Pedal! Genuinely a complete production solution for the pickiest tone-seekers.
The Complete Bundle includes BIAS FX Pro, BIAS Amp 2 Pro, and the BIAS Distortion, Delay and Modulation Pedals, as well as the BIAS FX Metal Signature Pack, Bass Expansion Pack and Acoustic Expansion Pack.
Highlights: BIAS Pedal Tone Match technology analyzes and compares your currently selected pedal and the sound of a target tube pedal. It then executes the tonal compensation and enhancements needed to make your pedal’s sound accurately match that of the target pedal.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
17) Eventide Anthology XI
The Anthology bundle brings together 23 plugins, several of which are software versions of Eventide’s most iconic and sought-after hardware effects units. The H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer, made available here as the H3000 Factory plugin, was first released in 1988 and appeared on many records, with Brian Eno citing the H3000SE model as “the best-designed and most enjoyable piece of equipment he’s ever owned.” It’s since also become a particular cult favourite secret weapon amongst electronic dance music producers, due in part to the range and depth of the effects, but also the tonality and smoothness of Eventide’s innovative, signature pitch-shifting algorithms.
The H3000 provides a whole host of effects, from the companies ground-breaking pitch-shifting algorithms, to reverbs, delays, phasers and other modulation effects. The magic is really in how these individual effects can be combined together within the H3000, allowing you to build up incredibly intricate and complex patches all within a single rack unit – or in this case, a single plugin instance.
The H910 Harmonizer was, similarly, famously used by David Bowie and his producer Tony Visconti on 1977’s Low album, and began Visconti’s relationship with Eventide that eventually led to the development of Tverb, a plugin included in Anthology which emulates the distinctive triple-mic placement / compression technique he used when recording Bowie’s vocal tracks for Heroes.
The bundle also includes Blackhole and MangledVerb, two distinctive reverb-based effect plugins that are each based on patches originally found in Eventide multi-effects hardware and which became user favourites, particularly amongst guitarists.
It’s not all vintage digital hardware emulations though, as Anthology also includes Eventide’s most recent release, the “Structural Effects” processor Fission. Fission allows you to separate and independently process the transients and tonal parts of a sound for some really original effects that would usually require far more intricate routings to accomplish.
Highlights: H3000 Factory and H910 Harmonizer, two of the most iconic pitch-shifting multi-effects units; Transient/tone splitter Fission; UltraReverb, one of the best reverb plugins available, both for the quality of sound and also the utility provided by the incorporated delay, EQ and compressor sections, allowing you to perfectly sculpt and process your reverb tails using a single, elegantly streamlined interface.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
18) DMG Audio
DMG Audio is the brainchild of Dave Gamble, who together with “co-conspirator” Krzysztof Oktalski has taken his experience working for some of the most prestigious pro audio companies in the industry and folded it into a series of plugins designed to go toe-to-toe with any other processor of it’s type in the flexibility, features and sound quality stakes – and all while taxing your CPU lightly enough to allow instances on every track in a mix if desired.
If you want to give your DAW mixing setup a professional-grade upgrade all round, take advantage of DMG’s custom bundles offer where you can save up to 35% simply by purchasing several plugins at once. As ever, flexibility seems to be the DMG watchword.
Highlights: Compassion, an excellent compressor plugin with a great, clear interface that makes it relatively easy to get to grips with the massive flexibility provided; EQuilibrium, probably the most configurable professional EQ plugin around, and certainly one of the best overall.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via DMG Audio.
19) u-he synths and effects
Okay, so technically it’s not a bundle. But we’re not going to miss out one of the most loved series of synths and effects processor plugins simply because they don’t do bundles, instead favouring an ethos of fair, consistent pricing with free updates for each of their individual plugins.
u-he lead developer Urs Heckmann has pulled off a very difficult task, designing software instruments that producers covet and celebrate in a similar way to their favourite hardware gear – which is no mean feat in the ever-changing world of plugins. Open any of them up in your DAW, though, and you immediately understand why.
Each of u-he’s main synths have consistently caused waves upon their release and created new benchmarks for plugin instruments, from semi-modular Swiss army knife Zebra2 (famously Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer’s go-to synth), to classic analogue amalgam DIVA, to the character-oozing “digital modular” monster Bazille, right through to the most recent release, REPRO – a double-header package that includes emulations of both Sequential Circuits very first synth from 1978, the polyphonic Prophet 5, and it’s monophonic follow-up, 1981’s Pro One.
As well as the synths, the effects processors shine too: Satin is CPU-light and simple to use, yet adds exactly the vibe you’d want from a tape saturator plugin. Meanwhile Presswerk, with it’s origins as an in-house test compressor tool when developing u-he synths, manages to incorporate every kind of compression characteristic and tone within a single interface.
We could go on, but you should really go and demo the u-he range for yourself, we guarantee you’ll be hooked.
Highlights: Our must-have u-he bundle would comprise DIVA, Hive 2 and Zebra2 in the synth department – with the depth and breadth offered by these two powerhouse synths, not to mention the vast range of preset packs available for every genre, you’ve got 90% of your synth needs covered, whether you’re producing the grittiest electronic sub-genres or composing soundtrack music. Add Satin, a CPU-efficient tape simulation plugin, capable of flanging and tape delay effects as well as saturation; and Presswerk for all-round compression duties. Finally, REPRO, delivering new heights of authenticity, detail and character in a software instrument.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.
20) Space FX Bundle
As well as all the great bundles in our list put together by the individual developers themselves, we should also mention the fact that you can get great deals on bundles of plugin instruments and effects put together by stockists, such as our favourites Plugin Boutique. These bundles are sometimes themed by genre, such as the excellent Drum & Bass Bundle, Composer Bundle and Retro 80s Bundle, or for certain tasks, like the Modern Mastering Bundle. Others are based around a popular plugin instrument and come bundled with preset packs and tutorials for that particular plugin, such as the Serum Presets Bundle and the expansion pack bundles for Output’s awesome composer/cinematic sound design tool like Exhale and Signal.
These are not just token bundles: they typically feature some of the most highly regarded developers and software around, and you get the benefit of some significant savings while still exploring products from several different companies and creators.
Highlights: We’ve chosen the Space FX Bundle as a good example of what you can get, featuring the excellent granular processor Grainspace from Audiority (featured in my recent roundup of the best granular plugins at the end of this recent article); and Audio Thing’s Space Strip fun modular multi-effect channel strip plugin. This bundle also includes the excellent time-messer-upperer TimeShaper 2 from Cableguys. Between them, it’s an extremely cost-effective way to get you hands on a very flexible series of processors for stretching the very fabric of time in your productions, and on a modest budget.
Available for: Mac, PC | 64 bit | VST, VST3, AU, AAX
BUY NOW via Plugin Boutique.Many of the standout plugins in each of these bundles are also discussed in our other Best Plugin posts, including The 10 Best Reverb Plugins In The World, The 10 Best Delay Plugins In The World and 50 Of The Best Compressor Plugins In The World.
Which plugin bundles have you found best suit your recording requirements and preferred workflow? Let us know below in the comments!
For a definitive collection of tips and techniques for enhancing your music to a professional level – from advanced compression techniques to shaping and placing your sounds in the mix with correctly applied reverb and fine-tuned EQ adjustments – don’t forget to check out the Ultimate Guides series:
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2 Comments
im kid of surprised OUTPUT bundle is not on the top 5, just by curiosity, why so?
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