Voxengo Elephant

The Voxengo guys really have struck the right balance here between controls and automation so that, with very few tweaks and a little foreward planning, results are coming in fast.  And they are good results!

I bought Elephant during the final mastering stage of our latest album, to add those few extra dBs for punch and playability, and this little plugin with its intuitive interface did just that, and did it well.  The transparancy up to +3dB gain is excellent provided the appropriate limiting algorhithm is pushed into action.

There may be even more accomplished limiters out there.  But they probably cost multiples of what this baby retails for.  For the money, nothing beats it.

My first album was an instrumental metal album with electronic instruments and orchestra crammed in and I was at wits end trying to get it up to current volume levels and not destroy the sound.  I tried a number of other popular compressors\limiters that cost much more and could not get the sound I wanted.  I finally tried the Elephant and I couldn't believe how simple the interface was...and how well it just worked!  I've since recommeneded it to others, one friend who was in a punk band came back to me and said, "That plugin worked miracles!".  I literally use the Elephant at the end of my chain for every project now.  It's a given.

I also bought Soniformer that same day and I've been very happy with it's performance.  It's one of the only EQ\multiband compressors I trust to hand delicate high frequencies without distortion.  It's extremely powerful, though the serious control provided makes for a somewhat confusing interface.  Also I wish it provided for seperate left\right channel EQing\Compression. (of course that would clutter the interface even more haha!)

It's pretty simple why Voxengo plugins are so good - Alexsey has a better ear compared to other developers.

His plugins sound so 'musical'.  I've used many other plugins that technically perform their designed function, yet somehow just don't sound good.

I now have a whole set of expensive plugins that are just taking up drive space.  They simply don't sound as good as thier Voxengo counterparts.