Podcast Audio Plugins – The Big List

This post contains a lot; I start with an explanation of what audio plugins are, then present some “cleanup” plugins, and then lots of “mixing” plugins. Also see my Top 10 Audio Plugins for Podcast Production.

What are audio plugins?

Audio plugins are individual audio processors which you can use within your DAW software to enhance the audio quality of your recordings. Most DAW’s already have many built-in plugins but you can also purchase 3rd party plugins which are usually better quality. Here are a bunch of companies that make good plugins: Waves, Fabfilter, iZotope, Acustica, Universal Audio, oeksound, Kazrog, Soundtheory, Soundtoys, Softube, Slate Digital, sonible, Sonnox, …and many more.

Why are audio plugins good for podcast production?

Because they can fix various audio problems as well as enhance the sound to make it much more professional.

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“Cleanup” plugins and software:

Auphonic (Available as both standalone app and browser-based. Includes noise and hum reduction, high-pass filter, adaptive leveler, loudness normalization, compression, dynamic range control and LUFS loudness targeting)

Auphonic Multitrack (standalone app with similar functionality as the regular Auphonic (see above), but Auphonic Multitrack can also process and mix together many audio tracks simultaneously and do such handy things like crossgating and more, including exporting each processed track separately, etc.)

RX 8 from iZotope (standalone app which contains many modules including de-hum, de-reverb, de-plosive, de-ess, mouth de-click, voice de-noise and many more – plus many of the modules can also be used in your DAW as individual plugins, which is awesome)

Noise Reduction

Voice De-noise and Spectral De-noise in iZotope RX 8

NS1 Noise Suppressor from Waves (I have not used this but have heard good things about it)

ERA Noise Remover (I have not used this but have heard good things about it)

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“Mixing” plugins:

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Channel Strips (which include several different types of processors within the one plugin)

Focusrite SC from Plugin Alliance

Scheps Omni Channel from Waves

SSL 9000 J from Plugin Alliance

Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain from Waves

SSL E Channel and SSL G Channel from Waves

Ozone 9 from iZotope

Neutron 3 from iZotope

Celestial from Acustica

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Equalizers

Pro-Q 3 from Fabfilter

AMEK EQ 200 from Plugin Alliance

smart:EQ 2 from sonible

F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ from Waves

Scheps 73 from Waves

Gullfoss (Intelligent EQ) from Soundtheory

V-EQ3 and V-EQ4 from Waves

API 550 from Waves

PuigTec EQP1A and MEQ5 from Waves

Scheps Parallel Particles from Waves (EQ and compression combined)

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Compressors

Aquamarine 4 from Acustica

CLA-76 from Waves

Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Class A from Plugin Alliance

True Dynamics from Kazrog

Pro-C 2 from Fabfilter

CLA-2A from Waves

API-2500 from Waves

PuigChild 660 and 670 from Waves

SSL G-Master Buss Compressor from Waves

Oxford Dynamics v3 from Sonnox

V-Comp from Waves

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Multiband Compressors

Pro-MB from Fabfilter (multiband)

Ozone 9 Dynamics from iZotope (multiband)

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Limiters

Pro-L 2 from Fabfilter

Ozone 9  Dynamics and Vintage Limiter from iZotope

Brainworx bx_limiter from Plugin Alliance

Oxford Limiter v3 from Sonnox

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Expenders/Gates

(Most channel strips also contain an expander/gate – see list above)

Pro-G from Fabfilter

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De-essers

Pro-DS from Fabfilter

soothe 2 from oeksound

Sibilance from Waves

DeEsser from Waves

SPL De-Esser Collection from Plugin Alliance

Manny Marroquin Triple D from Waves

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Saturation

Saturn 2 from Fabfilter

Black Box Analog Design HG-2 from Plugin Alliance

True Iron from Kazrog

Oxford Inflator V3 from Sonnox

Saturation Knob from Softube (Free)

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Exciters

Aphex Vintage Exciter from Waves

Ozone 9 Exciter (multiband) from iZotope

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Tape Emulation

Saturn 2 from Fabfilter

J37 from Waves

Kramer Tape from Waves

Ozone 9 Vintage Tape from iZotope

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Leveling

Vocal Rider from Waves

Level Magic (I recently tried this and it’s awesome. This processor is widely used in television and radio.)

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Transient Shapers

spiff from oeksound (adaptive transient processor)

Neutron 3 (Transient Shaper module) from iZotope

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Monitoring

Sonarworks (headphone and speaker calibration to make sure you’re hearing the frequency spectrum properly.)

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My “current” personal favorite plugins:

It’s no surprise that many of the plugins I really love right now are quite expensive compared to others. But I like investing in awesome quality products because it ensures that ALL the audio I produce will sound better for years to come!

Focusrite SC from Plugin Alliance

soothe 2 from oeksound

Aquamarine 4 from Acustica

AMEK EQ 200 from Plugin Alliance

Pro-L 2 from Fabfilter

Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Class A from Plugin Alliance

Black Box Analog Design HG-2 from Plugin Alliance

Vocal Rider from Waves

Oxford Inflator V3 from Sonnox

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Other plugins which you usually won’t need, but may occasionally come in handy for intro effects, etc:

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Reverb

Pro-R from Fabfilter

Abbey Road Reverb Plates from Waves

Abbey Road Chambers from Waves

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Multi Effects Plugins (Delay, Chorus, Flanging, Distortion, etc.)

Timeless 2 from Fabfilter

H-Delay Hybrid Delay from Waves

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*What are YOUR favorite plugins? (comment below)

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