Hey everyone! Welcome back to Home Recording Made Easy, and thanks for stopping by for Part 3 of my ongoing series: What's in My Plugin Browser? If you missed the first two parts, you’ll find links below—but in this post, I'm walking you through some of my all-time favorite plugins, sharing what I use, what I skip, and what’s earned a spot (or the boot) in my production workflow.

Whether you’re working fully in the box, tangling with analog gear, or splitting the difference with a hybrid setup, chances are your own plugin folder is overflowing. If you’re ready to do some serious plugin housekeeping—clear the clutter, keep what works, and maybe learn about something new—you're in the right place.

So, buckle up and let’s have a look at some killer tools that keep my mixes sounding crisp, wide, and professional.

Table of Contents

• Introduction & Video Recap

• Universal Audio: My Old Faithfuls

  • The Bass Amp Sims

  • Tape Machines & Channel Strips

  • Unique and Underused Gems

  • Reverbs, Plate, and Echo Heaven

  • EQs That Shine

  • Manley: A Love/Hate Relationship

  • Classic Emulations and Secret Weapons

  • Compressors and Bus Tools

  • Native vs Non-Native: What’s Worth It?

• Waves Plugins: The Love/Hate Coin Flip

  • Abbey Road & Specialty Tools

  • Go-To Delays and Bass Magic

  • Vocal Processing Made Easy

• Housekeeping: Cleaning Out Your Plugin Browser

• Exclusive Offers & Freebies!

• Final Thoughts: Let’s Talk Shop!

• Links & Resources

Introduction & Video Recap

Welcome back, everyone! If you’ve been following along with my YouTube series, you’ll know that this is the third installment where I go through the plugins in my DAW’s browser—deciding what stays, what goes, and what I absolutely can’t live without. If you haven’t seen Part 1 and Part 2, click the links in the description below to catch up.

“You know you all got 2,000 plugins on your system and you need to 86 a lot of them because most of them you probably don’t even use, right?”

I’ve gone through a stack of sticky notes cleaning things out, and I’m willing to bet that most of you would benefit from doing the same. In this post, I’m picking up right where the last video let off—covering my mainstays, hidden gems, and even a few plugins that have outlived their usefulness.

If you’re new here, don’t forget to subscribe, hit like, and comment below to let me know what YOUR favorite plugins are—or tell me what you’ve tossed recently. We’re all on the same journey!

Universal Audio: My Old Faithfuls

Universal Audio (UA) has been a staple in my workflow since day one—literally. I’ve been with them since the UAD-1 card days in the late '90s or early 2000s. Let’s dive into the gold, the surprises, and even a few I forgot I had.

The Bass Amp Sims

When it comes to bass tracks, I love the feel and grit that UA amp sims offer.

My Go-To Bass Plugins

• SVT-VR: Absolutely killer for vintage tones. If you need that classic Ampeg grunt, this is the one.

• B-15N: Another rock-solid choice, especially for that soulful, round sound.

• Native vs. DSP: The distinction between “native” plugins (which run without UA hardware) and “DSP” plugins (which require Apollo interfaces or UAD cards) is getting blurrier, as UA keeps releasing more native versions.

Pro-tip: For big, punchy rock bass, start with the SVT-VR and thank me later!

Tape Machines & Channel Strips

Essential Mix Bus Glue

• Ampex ATR-102: My absolute favorite tape emulation for master bus or drum bus. Fantastic vibe, warmth, and glue.

• API 2500 Compressor: There are other API 2500 emulations (Plugin Alliance, etc), but UA’s version is still my favorite for punchy, character compression.

• API Vision Channel Strip: The ultimate channel strip for big drums and aggressive guitars. It’s my “desert island” API plugin, hands down.

Unique and Underused Gems

Every plugin folder hides some rarely-touched oddities:

• Chandler Xayr Limiter: Bought it on a deep discount, but haven’t really dived in. Might be a hidden gem, might be a dust collector.

• Dangerous Music Bax EQ, dbx160, EL7 Fatso: The dbx160 is legendary for snappy parallel compression. The Fatso? Old-school magic.

“If you’d like to see some videos around these Chandler plugins, let me know in the comments!”

Reverbs, Plate, and Echo Heaven

You really can’t go wrong with UA’s reverbs and delays.

• EMT 140 Plate Reverb: Smooth, bright, classic plate reverb for vocals and snares.

• EMT 250 Digital Reverb: Another industry classic. Sometimes I overlook these—time to revisit.

• EP-34 Tape Echo & Galaxy Tape Echo: If you need rich-drifting atmospheres or bouncy vintage echo, try these out!

Forgotten Gem Alert: The Helios Channel Strip—I always forget I own this! As far as I know, nobody else does a Helios like UA.

Lexicon Reverbs: The Studio Mainstays

• Lexicon 224 & 480L: These are standards for a reason. If you need lush, versatile studio reverbs, these should be at the top of your list. I reach for these again and again.

EQs That Shine

• MAAG EQ4: The ‘Air Band’ alone makes this worth it. I love it so much, I’m tempted to buy the hardware.

• Manley Massive Passive: I’ll be real—I haven’t fallen in love with this plugin (hardware is supposed to be stellar). Bought it as part of a bundle, so maybe I need to spend more time with it. If you have strong feelings about the Manley plugins, drop a comment and let me know!

“Would you like to see some videos on the Manley stuff? Let me know. Maybe I’ll check that out at one time.”

Classic Emulations and Secret Weapons

• Neve 88RS Channel Strip: UA needs to make this native! Still, it’s one of my all-time favorite Neve plugins.

• Neve 1073, 1084, 2254, 33609: The UA 1073 is still my go-to for “that” classic British sound, though Kit Plugins makes a great 1073 too.

• Ocean Way Studios: Once the king of room simulations. Still sounds good, but today there’s stiffer competition (like UA’s own Sound City, or IK’s Fame/Sunset Sound), so if you’re buying new—aim for the latest.

Compressors and Bus Tools

• Oxford Inflator: Essential for the master bus—every single project, no exceptions.

• Precision K-Stereo: A secret weapon for making mixes wider and more lively without turning them into a smeared mess. Trust me: once you figure this out, you’ll put it on everything!

• Pultec EQs: Timeless. UA’s emulations never fail to deliver.

• Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor: Often raved about, but I just haven’t gotten on with it. Maybe I should revisit it—what do you think?

More UA Staples

• SSL E & G Series Channel Strips: Modern classics for pop and rock. UA’s E Channel in particular is now native.

• Studer A800 MKII: My favorite multi-track tape machine sim.

• LA-3A, LA-2A, 1176 (Blue Stripe/Blackface): The holy trinity of compressors for vocals, drums, and bass. UA’s takes still edge out most competitors for me.

• Valley People Dyna-mite: Never really clicked for me—maybe you’ve had better results.

Native vs Non-Native: What’s Worth It?

UA is slowly making more plugins available as native (no Apollo required). Here are my top picks:

• 1176 Collection: If you don’t own these, you’re missing out. The best all-purpose compressor, period.

• ATR-102, API 2500, Vision Channel Strip, Distressor, Fairchilds: All these are absolute winners if you wanna run UA stuff natively.

• Manley Massive Passive, Pultec, and Sound City: Can’t go wrong here either.

Waves Plugins: The Love/Hate Coin Flip

Waves—they’re everywhere, right? I have their yearly subscription, though I wonder every year whether I’ll keep it. The collection is massive, but honestly, I only use a handful of them regularly.

Abbey Road & Specialty Tools

• Abbey Road TG12345: Great for unique color and vibe in the box. If you want that classic Beatles/Abbey Road channel sound, this, my friend, is for you.

• Waves API: Decent emulation, but honestly, I stick to UA’s API most of the time.

• Brower Motion: This is a sleeper hit for interesting stereo animation—awesome on pads, pianos, and string sections.

The CLA Plugins: Hit or Miss

• CLA Epic: My absolute favorite from Chris Lord-Alge's signature line. Imagine four delays and four reverbs in one window, with the routing power of an SSL sidecar. It’s so versatile you could run a whole mix’s FX from this one plugin. The presets are fantastic, and it’s easy to tweak or just dial in something quick.

• CLA MixHub: Cool feature (“Bucket View” anybody?), but I wouldn’t keep my Waves subscription for this alone.

“Honestly, if you only had to have one reverb and delay, if you needed just one plugin that could do just about anything that sounds good, this would be the one.”

Go-To Delays and Bass Magic

• H-Delay: Don’t sleep on this. It’s basic, it’s ugly, but some of the best records in the world use this thing. Still in my arsenal for a reason.

• R-Bass: If you need low-end mojo on kicks or bass, this is pure magic. I use it all the time.

Vocal Processing Made Easy

• Sync VX: Keeps BGVs and leads locked together—works like magic and honestly, it’s easier to use than the more expensive Vocalign Pro for bread-and-butter alignment.

• Vocal Rider: A handy, “set-it-and-forget-it” tool for keeping vocals nice and level, but I’ve moved to other tools over the years.

SSL Channel Strips Galore

• SSL EV2, E and G Series, classic versions: Waves was one of the first to put out SSL channel strips. Their newer emulations sound great, but if you already have UA, SSL Native, or Plugin Alliance, you don’t need to buy another. Still, if you’re a fan of Waves and have the sub, these are solid options.

Housekeeping: Cleaning Out Your Plugin Browser

If you’ve watched my YouTube series, you know I’ve been ruthless—three sticky notes filled with plugins I’m deleting because I don’t use them, I don’t like them, or I simply have better versions now.

Take a look at your browser:

• How many compressors do you actually reach for?

• How many “classic” analog EQs do you use on real mixes, not just to fill up the GUI?

• What specialty plugins or channel strips are you always returning to?

“I encourage you to go through and do some housekeeping on your plugins because you’ll find that you probably only use about 10 or 12 plugins anyway most of the time, right?”

You’ll not only work faster with less clutter, but you’ll get to know your tools more deeply—and your mixes will sound better for it.

Exclusive Offers & Freebies!

Thanks for sticking around to the end. I’ve got some cool FREE stuff for you:

• Free Mixing Course: Just head over to homerecordingmadeeasy.com and grab my Intro to Mixing course—normally $100, yours for free. No tricks.

• 25% Off Any Paid Course: Want to go deeper? Use coupon code YOUTUBE25 for 25% off any course on the website. This covers everything from basic EQ and compression to full mixing, mastering, and even analog/digital hybrid workflows.

Final Thoughts: Let’s Talk Shop!

So that's the inside scoop on what’s in my plugin browser as of today. I’d love to know:

• What’s in your plugin folder that you use all the time?

• Which plugins have you tossed recently?

• Where do you agree or disagree with my recommendations?

Sound off in the comments below!

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the linked videos for the earlier parts in this series (Part 1 & Part 2). You’ll see exactly what I got rid of and why—and maybe get inspired to do a little spring cleaning yourself.

Remember: More tools don’t make better music. Master what you have, keep what you love, and let go of the rest. Your mixes (and your sanity) will thank you!

"If you take that course and you say, you know what, I want to check out one of other Dave’s courses on his website... I have everything from EQ to compression, full mixing courses, beginners, intermediate, advanced mastering courses, recording courses, and you name it."

Links & Resources

• Home Recording Made Easy

• Free Intro to Mixing Course

• Mixing with Analog Style Plugins Made Easy course: Learn More & Get 25% Off (Coupon: YOUTUBE25)

• Universal Audio (UAD) Plugins

• Waves Plugins

• Kit Plugins

Recap: My Top Picks (At-a-Glance)

Here’s a quick tl;dr of my all-time favorite plugins from this roundup:

Universal Audio

• Ampeg SVT-VR / B-15N (Bass)

• Ampex ATR-102 (Tape)

• API 2500 / Vision Channel Strip (Compression/Channel)

• Lexicon 224 / 480L (Reverb)

• Neve 1073 / 88RS (Pre/EQ)

• Sound City (Room sim)

• 1176, LA-2A, LA-3A, Distressor, Fairchild (Compression)

• Oxford Inflator, Precision K-Stereo (Stereo/Mastering)

Waves

• Abbey Road TG12345 (Channel Strip)

• CLA Epic (Delays & Reverbs)

• H-Delay (Delay)

• R-Bass (Low End Magic)

• Sync VX (Vocal Alignment)

• SSL EV2, E, G Channel Strips (Classic Console)

Let’s Keep The Conversation Going!

What do you think? Did I miss your favorite? Do you agree/disagree? Ready to take on your own browser cleanup project? Drop your thoughts below—and let’s build better mixes, together.

See you in the next post (and on YouTube)!