Plugin Categories EQ Compressors Channel Strips Limiters Mastering Suites Transient Shapers MIDI Sequencers Working in sound design requires an ear for subtleties. Some say that sound design is all about making many small tweaks to lead to one great sounding final mix.
1. Xfer Records Serum
Serum is a wavetable synthesizer produced by Xfer Records that lets you create, import, edit, and morph wavetables. It boasts a workflow-oriented interface that makes creating and altering sounds fun, as opposed to tedious. If you’re looking for a versatile multi-purpose synth, Serum is an excellent option.
This synth delivers two ultra-clean oscillators with 16 voices per oscillator, click-and-drag modulation application, tons of different filters, and ten built-in audio effects. Serum’s popularity makes it a go-to synth when collaborating with other artists.
2. Spectrasonics Omnisphere
Omnisphere brings together many different types of synthesis to create a truly unique software instrument. It includes over 14,000 sounds, 58 effects units, and an excellent patch sorting system and search bar. If you like using presets, you’ll find no shortage of them using Omnisphere.
Believe it or not, Omnisphere is the only software synth in the world to offer a Hardware Synth Integration feature. You can control Omnisphere with over 65 well-known hardware synthesizers, which makes using Omnisphere a very tactile experience.
For more synth recommendations, check out '5 of the Best Plugin Synths on the Market.'
3. Native Instruments Kontakt 6
Kontakt is a sampler that provides you with access to over 55+ GB of detailed, creative, and expressive software instruments. It powers the biggest selection of sampled instruments available, many of which are available from third-parties.
You can drag and drop your own samples into an instrument’s interface or build your own instruments with sample-editing and instrument-building options. If you’re looking for playable software drums, strings, brass, keys, guitar, bass, and more, it’s worth experimenting with Kontakt.
4. XLN Audio Addictive Drums
Recording drums is a nuisance. It can take a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money to record a studio drummer. A lot of producers steer clear of recording live drummers because of the convincing realism and quality that drum production studios like Addictive Drums 2 are capable of.
Whether you produce rock, pop, indie, jazz, electronic, or other styles of music, Addictive Drum 2 will deliver the samples, editing functions, mixing functions, and rhythmic patterns you're looking for.
5. Celemony Melodyne 4 Editor
Celemony’s Melodyne improves pitch accuracy without the robotic sound characteristic of Auto-Tune. If a vocalist falls out of key a few times throughout their recorded performance, Melodyne may be the answer.
Thanks to Melodyne’s user-friendly pitch editor window, you can easily click and drag blobs (segments of audio files) to affect their pitch and time. The built-in Pitch Drift and Pitch Modulation tools let you control pitch drift and vibrato.
Hello Composers! Mike here, with a quick guide on the Best Sound Design VST Plugins. =)
There are so many ways you can do sound design. Distortion, Modulations, Morphing, Time-Stretching, Pitch-Shifting, Waveshaping etc. I love Sound Design, and I create and shape a lot of my sounds in my cinematic music.
I use plenty of VST plugins, both instruments and effects, to do my sound design work. And I also have researched a lot of options that you might want to check out. Let’s dive in! =)
VST Plugins for Sound Design
1. Soundtoys Decapitator
2. iZotope Trash
3. Soundtoys FilterFreak
4. Softube Tape
5. Heavyocity Punish
6. Spectrasonics Omnisphere
7. Soundtoys Crystallizer
Hello Composers! =)
My name is Mike, founder of professionalcomposers.com, music composer and sound designer since 1998, old school nerd, and coffee addict. So grab a cup of coffee, and let’s check out some amazing Sound Design VST Plugins! =)
If you want to get lots of Gear Guides on Studio Hardware, Software, Plugins and Sample Libraries: Check out https://musicproductionnerds.com
1. Soundtoys Decapitator
The king of distortion plugins. There is a reason why almost all professional producers are raving about this plugin. A friend of mine said: “It’s like hot sauce for audio, I like to put it on everything”. From gentle analog saturation to mangled beyond crazy distortion. It even has several models of distortion plus an extra button called “punish” when you really like to drive the sound hard.
2. iZotope Trash
Another distortion plugin, but this one has a whole range of creative features. It has a dual-stage multiband waveshaping distortion which gives you the ability to chain pairs of distortions. It even has a customizable waveshaper, and a lo-fi delay unit. iZotope Trash is more than distortion, it is about transforming your sounds! 😉
3. Soundtoys FilterFreak
This plugin is all about adding movement to your sounds. Dynamic filter sweeps, automated crazy motion, or even construct intricate rhythmic filter sequences with the Rhythm Editor. As with all Soundtoys plugins, you get a huge range of presets to start from, but it’s also super fun to create your own! =)
4. Softube Tape
Sometimes you just need that warm vintage analog color in your sounds. And what made that sound in the old days of music production, was partly that they used analog tapes to record to. This is where Tape Emulation plugins comes into play in modern music production. And Softube Tape is one of the kings in this field. Instant analog, warm flavor. Sweet! =)
5. Heavyocity Punish
This is a multiple function plugin that is amazing for beefing up any sound. It includes a compressor with 3 types to choose from, a saturation unit with vintage, modern or tube distortion, a transient shaper and an equalizer. Then it ends with a limiter to make sure you are not clipping after all insane sound mangling. The benefit of having all in one single plugin is that you get quick access, great overview, and easy loading and saving of presets.
6. Spectrasonics Omnisphere
My absolute favorite instrument plugin for all types of sound design. From instruments, to soundscapes, to twisted distorted pulses and rhythms. I have used Omnisphere since the first day it came out (in 2009 I believe), and I have at least one instance in pretty much every music production I made since then. I confess, I am addicted to Omnisphere, haha. 😛
7. Soundtoys Crystallizer
Delay and echo effects are incredibly useful for sound design. And while there are plenty of standard delay plugins, you might also want a creative delay unit, such as the Crystallizer. It uses a combination of pitch-shifting and reverse echo algorithms to create shimmering soundscapes that sounds amazing. It’s dangerously fun to try different presets, so beware, haha. =)
What Plugins will you use for Sound Design?
These are some of the best ones from my personal view, but of course there are 100s, perhaps 1000s of VST plugins you could use for sound design. I recommend you to do some research, based on what kind of shaping, mangling and creative designing you want to do with your sounds.
Best Vst Plugins For Sound Design Layout
Have fun with Sound Design for your Music Compositions and Productions! =)