Stock Reaper ReaPlugs are quite good. However, comparing them to Waves is not an apple to apple comparison. There is a reason a high end plug costs money. I don't much care for many of the Waves ouvre and would go the UA route if I were wanting to invest in plugins or needed something not provided by the ReaPlugs.

As I indicated earlier in your double post, the more expensive plug-ins are designed for a characteristic sound. Some are designed to create superduper loudness others are created to emulate popular hardware devices such as UA 1176's, LA 2's, Fairchild 660's and others. But if you are just starting out, they can be another confusing variable. The software compressors built into Reaper and others are quite capable, quite musical when utilized properly. This takes time and experimentation to obtain the results you want. There are many variables to adjusting compressors and limiters. When done correctly and software, you even have the ability to expand and gate while simultaneously compressing. Most hardware limiters can't do that though there are some that do. So I find stock compressors in software to be as sophisticated or as simple as I want them to be. And I frequently draw my own rather than utilizing presets. But presets are a good place to start and then modify them from there. So even those stock compressor/limiters are even more adjustable than most hardware devices. So while I have purchased certain dynamics plug-ins, I don't generally use them on every track. My first go to is the stock effects provided in the multitrack software package. A lot of power to be had without any additional outlay of cash.

Adobe Audition/Sound Forage user. Oh and ProTools sometimes.
Mx. Remy Ann David

epitexan, post: 387402 wrote: *posted this also another location on here. Sorry if i posted twice. really do not know where to ask this question at.

I am investing in quality gear now since i have advanced in mixing and production. I simply have not tried any other mixing platform other than[="http://www.reaper.fm/"]Reaper[/]="http://www.reaper.f…"]Reaper[/] and its stock plugins. I few free plugins by Modern:

I really need a straight forward answer to this question: How do Reapers stock plugins stack up to [[url=http://="http://www.waves.co…"]Waves[/]="http://www.waves.co…"]Waves[/] and Pro Tools stock plugins? Is there a notice in difference? How big of a difference and is it worth investing into?

I do not mind buying Waves Gold or Silver pack but i want to hear a difference in quality for sure.

Waves does not support Reaper. Many Waves plugins do not operate in the Reaper DAW.

Depends I think on whether you are using the 32 bit Reaper or the 64 bit Reaper. Waves currently are all 32 bit plugs.

Yeah, like 64-bit distortion is going to be better than 32-bit distortion. I have a friend who is quite an accomplished engineer. His stuff sounds incredible. He had an original ProTools system that he was using. Then he stepped up to a newer ProTools HD system. Then went back to his older system because the plug-ins hadn't been created yet that would run on his newer HD system. LOL, you've got to love that stuff. I think he sold off his HD system?

I don't now how they make WAVES in Israel? It's a desert. And who really wants to take a swim where the sea is Black? Or is that Dead? Doesn't sound appetizing either way. I know some of their stuff is really cool (coming from the desert). I've tried some of their stuff though I've not been all that impressed. You may not want to wait for their release of their 64-bit stuff? If the Iranians attack, it'll be a long time coming.

I don't make any plug-ins but I make plenty of WAVES in my studio and around here.
Mx. Remy Ann David

As always, it's not the tools, but who is using them and how they're applied.

Standard DSP algorithms are pretty much the same across all platforms and [like Remy said] it's only once you get into emulations that you start hearing differences large enough to be significant. You could call this plugin coding style DSP+X, where X is an emulation of saturation, harmonic distortion, etc. UA is best at this, IMO. Waves does a few emulations but they're not as good as UA, which is the common consensus.

Anyway, don't get hung up on marketing hype or any of the other BS on the internets. If you can't get acceptable results with stock plugins, it's your skills that most likely need a looking at.

It's almost never the gear's fault.

Cheers :)

The stock ProTools plugs are only a taste of what real plugs sound like. There are a few I like but I prefer Waves on my platform. Reaper and Waves dont play well together so theres not really any way of comparing them. I really like McDSP plugs as well as the UA stuff.

As has been said.....anything will work if you know how to use it and what each device is for and capable of.

Something I've done is to actually create my own effects, like delay. How can you beat an actual duplicate track delayed in the mix (or several)? Not as quick and easy as a delay or reverb plug-in, but if you spend some time with it you can have quite a bit of control over the situation.

One thing I've done is to put a couple of delay tracks in the guitar or vocal mix and then use a blend of stock (Reaper or Cubase) reverb plugins on different ones to achieve a custom ambience.

Nothing will replace forking out dough for a professional plug-in, but a lot can be said for using track duplication, sends, and old-fashioned time and energy to create a sound. Might be worth it on something like a lead vocal, or acoustic guitar.

I'll buy that for a dollar, toothgrinder. See? We don't always disagree. I think most of us like to work at getting something we want rather than just pressing a single button or employing a single plug-in. That's half the fun of being a competent Professional Engineer.

Did you get that kids? This is actual work. It's not drive-through. It's not instant gratification. It's the work that it takes to create a sound that provides for a feeling of accomplishment and a job well done. And then you know that you know something. Because you created it. You don't go to McDonald's to make a child. It's a lot more fun doing it the old-fashioned way.

With six... you get egg roll.
Mx. Remy Ann David

I did live sound in a dome once (Gold Dome in Oklahoma City), and that's a parabolic situation! I managed to incorporate delay into the master mix to break up the reflections in some prime relationship, like 23 ms or some odd number, and actually it sounded quite good.

This is a room where you speak.. speak.. and.. and.. it.. it.. sounds.. sounds.. like.. like.. this.. this..

Pulled a show off in that thing.

I'm not a studio engineer by trade. I've had to work with the most obnoxious environments and get the client to hand over a check. That's making the most of a bad situation, or more positively finding the strengths in a space and working with them to give the client what they want.

Have always wanted to be a studio engineer, but life (and love) took me in other directions. Now I'm drilling on teeth! :biggrin:

Well trying to get good sound in bad environments is frequently like pulling teeth. So without any tongue-in-cheek, I think you're heading in the right direction? Then sometimes to mix in a situation like that you have to implant yourself in the best sweet spot without too much of a rotten condition. Sometimes putting your speakers on a plate on a stand your partial problems might be mitigated? You may also have to be quick on your feet and ready whip a change in order not to chip a tooth? But that's a lot of fluff to deal with.

I like to be cool whipping things up quickly
Mx. Remy Ann David

Basically what I did. Found a spot about 15-20 feet off-center and timed my delay to spread the echo out into something more like a reverb. Place was filled with people, too, which helped. People make great acoustic baffles! (When there are lots of them anyway)

Yes, people are like walking ASC Tube Traps, LOL. A similar scenario to that was a recording I did at the National Presbyterian Church (Pres. Ronald Reagan's church). It was a live recording. And a week later, they wanted to make some corrections. So we went back to the church to make these corrections without the audience. It was immediately obvious that the acoustic signature had changed radically without the audience. So I had a brainstorm. The well padded velvet upholstered cushions on the pews were removable from the pews. I picked them up. I turned and perpendicular. I laid them down on the top edges of the backs of the pews. This was to approximate the acoustic absorption of the people themselves. It worked flawlessly allowing for inter cuts into the original performance recording without noticing an extremely different acoustical signature. And that's how I think on my feet by lying down the cushions. LOL

Thankfully pews don't smell like my feet.
Mx. Remy Ann David