I use a lappy for most of my recording needs. It works but I can't run a ton of VST/VSTi's. I'm using Cubase SX on an Intel machine. I freeze tracks to release the strain off of my CPU, but that can be a time consuming process.

just wondering what the peeps are using a lot of these days.

I know there old, but i just can't seem to get enough of the Focusrite 6 band EQ, and I almost always start compressing with the fairchild 660.
for limiting, i like the plain jane digirack limiter II.
has anyone used the new III series?

oh yeah, as if i need to say it I'm using Pro Tools.

Hello. I am used to pass my mixdowns through a SPL Vitalizer in the final stage before mastering (someone would agree and someone would not...but I like it).
Is there any plugin doing the same job under windows (VST/DX, no RTAS) ?

What is the cleanest software compressor plugin ? There was a positive review of the PSP Mastercomp in a recent TapeOp which appears to be clean enough for mastering.

Are there any software compressors that are transparent?

I am recording a rock band. What is a plugin package I should look into. I'm on a budget, would like to keep it Around $200 if possible.

I'm a saxophonist looking to create some drum and bass smooth jazz r&b beats. I have Sonar 4.0 and I'm looking for a plugin that will allow me to
create some quick funky beats for my songs, then the plugin will add the midi hits in the timeline for me. The plugin should allow me to change tempo on the fly also. Any ideas?

Let us see which are the favorite plugins of our members.
My Top 15 list is:

Just downloaded the demo ssl plugin pak. Never been on the real deal so I can't compare but it's like the staples easy button- just turn it on! Using these plugs I find I don't need other ones that I've always used. The master bus comp just works. I will say the download process is the biggest pain in the ass ever, but when you get there-wow! :D

Oxford Dynamics and EQ.
Compared against anything UAD offers, which I have, are they worth 2 to 2.5X ? 550 for the EQ seems pretty pricey, especially with no demo for me to try AFAIK (gave all the demo's a once over about 6 months ago), same with dynamics. Then again I have a buttload of compressors available to me with UAD and 3 cards to spare, but only 3 EQ's.

So, I just bought more ram for my powerbook g4 1.25ghz 15inch. I went from 768mb of ram to 2gb. Then I went into a Pro Tools that had plugins being used and expected to see the CPU bar on the system usage indicator to be lower but it seems the same?

whats the deal...grrrr!