pop/rock is X gear because X so if we are doing that style then we go with X gear first and go with what works. so a type of mic/compressor for hiphop because X artist used it that his engenner said so. a certain type of record made millions = more people listen to it = the gear/sound gets embedded in the peoples brains. Its also not about what others are using, but also what the audience has grown accustomed. sometimes it is not that its better but because they have been in so many hits, then it means its good and to make those hits i need to get it. is a neumann u87 a good mic or better than another one thats $1000? and why so many recreations/clones? same with plugins and other gear. I also see the trending items and since those are being said that are cool then they have to be good and we should follow.

I agree with the extra hoopla and raving that goes on in the marketing side. I just sometimes wish it had more bands so I wouldn't have to insert an extra instance of EQ when I need more than 4 bands. I also get by with the native EQ most of the time. The stuff that's inside Cubase is absolutely sufficient for me. All I want from a limiter is to make sure that nothing clips when I'm done, and perhaps let me push the overall loudness by 2-3 dB without making everything sound abrasive. When I look at FabFilters limiter - I wouldn't know what to do with it. For example, I never understood why anyone would make this huge fuss about limiting. But there's also stuff I don't care about, because I don't hear it anyway. I like some of the character stuff - tube compression, tape saturation etc. and it's all propelled by marketing that takes advantage of the musician's never-ending search for the one little thing that will bring them one step closer to realizing their artistic vision. Sometimes people are convinced that something suddenly sounds better because they're using a plug-in with a nice GUI. Sometimes ears start to hear a difference because the brain tells them that they should. there's a lot of voodoo and placebo about the whole audio gear thing. IMO when you hear people raving about plug-ins etc., they often do it because they think they're supposed to, or that it will make them sound expert, or whatever. Character plug-ins on the other hand are trying to replicate the interesting (originally undesired) side-effects that the hardware circuitry from the year dot introduced to the signal - phasing, distortion, saturation etc. It's a tool that is designed to work cleanly and accurately. The native EQ inside the DAW won't do that, because it's not supposed to. It's basically when EQs and compressors introduce noise to the signal. For the 'standard' user, it might be overkill.Īnd then there's the whole 'character' thing, which is what all the analog emulation craze is about. If you don't exactly know what mid-side compression is and why you would use it, you don't need it. It's useful if you know what you're doing and why you need it. The FabFilter stuff is great for its extra functionality and expert operations. What makes plugins different from another is additional functionality or what people call 'character'. If the amount of reduction and the filter slope is the same, of course.

It really doesn't matter if you're doing it with a stock EQ or a third-party plug-in. You're right, a cut at 300 Hz is just that.

Serum synth v. fabfilter twin 2 synth