My 10 Favourite VST Plugins Of All Time!

May 4, 2022May 4, 2022 Producer Sphere best vst plugins, best vst synths, top vst plugins

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced producer, VST plugins will be an incredibly important part of your production toolbox.

However, if you’re just starting out, the world of third-party plugins can seem confusing and often overwhelming. From fully-featured, powerful synthesizers, to analog-modeled tape delay plugins, there are a HUGE amount of VST plugins out there to choose from.

Over the years I’ve bought a LOT of plugins (more than I’d like to admit). Admittedly, some of these purchases were a complete waste of money. However others were absolute game-changers for me, and completely transformed the way I create music.

To help you navigate the vast universe of commercial plugins, I’ve created this list of my 10 favourite VST plugins of all time.

Hopefully this list sheds some light on which plugins are worth your time and money. All of the plugins listed are powerful, versatile and beautifully designed, and are now ESSENTIAL to my production workflow. Enjoy!

1. Serum

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Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an insanely powerful wavetable synthesizer with pristine sound quality and unmatched sonic flexibility.

Upon it’s release, Serum took the plugin world by storm. It’s arrival blew every other soft synth out of the water, and to this day remains the most popular, acclaimed plugin on the market.

So what makes Serum so special? Firstly, the sound quality alone is enough to set Serum apart. Its highly optimized oscillators produce a noticeably clean and truly accurate sound output, with no audible artefacts.

On top of that, Serum has a staggering level of versatility. The creative workflow-oriented interface allows you to create, edit and morph wavetables, and then manipulate them using the various filters, modulation controls and on-board FX.

This plugin is a rare example of a heavyweight VST product that is easy for beginners to understand and enjoy, but has the complexity and intricacy that will keep advanced producers busy for many years.

Serum Features

• Import audio directly from audio files to create unique wavetables

• Dual Wavetable Oscillators

• 75 filter options (with controls such as Cutoff, Resonance, Drive, and Fat)

• Huge online community with hundreds of tutorials and guides

• Limitless modulation options (4 Macro Controls, 3 Envelopes, and 4 LFO Modules)

• 10 unique effects: Delay, Reverb, Hyper / Dimension, Flanger + more

• 450 presets and 144 wavetables

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

2. FabFilter Pro-Q 3

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Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for the gold-standard of sound quality, flexibility, and ease of use when it comes to EQ plugins.

Without a shadow of a doubt, FabFilter’s “Pro-Q 3 EQ” plugin is the most popular, highly acclaimed EQ plugins of all time, and it’s easy to see why.

This EQ plugin is focused around a large, stunning EQ band waveform display. This allows you to place up to 24 bands wherever you want, and then fine-tune your chosen bands, e.g variable stereo placement or enabling dynamic EQ.

However, plenty of EQ plugin have this style of interface, so why does FabFilter’s plugin stand out from the rest?

Firstly Pro-Q 3 EQ is incredibly intuitive and has a beautiful, easy-to-use design, while still offering every EQ process an advanced producer would ever need. Because of this, even a complete beginner to music production could get the hang of this plugin in minutes.

Secondly, Pro-Q 3 EQ allows you to shape your sounds in a way that results in unparalleled sound quality and frequency precision.

Used by everyone from Skrillex to Dave Pensado (mix engineer for Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Beyonce), Pro-Q 3 is definitely the only EQ plugin you’ll ever need.

FabFilter Pro-Q 3 Features

• Highest possible sound quality

• Gorgeous Retina interface with large interactive EQ display, multi-band selection and editing for maximum ease of use and efficiency

• Up to 24 EQ bands

• Spectrum Grab: grab and adjust a peak in the real-time spectrum analyzer

• Extreme CPU optimization

• Filter shapes: Bell, Notch, High/Low Shelf, High/Low Cut, Band Pass, Tilt Shelf, Flat Tilt

• + many more features and parameters

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

3. Scaler 2

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Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an hugely valuable music theory plugin that provides instant inspiration for chords, melodies and song ideas.

Scaler 2 is an incredibly impressive plugin that will undoubtedly help beginners in music composition and production, while also providing chord inspiration for more experienced producers.

If you are beginner to music production, and have a low – intermediate understanding of music theory / composition, Scaler 2 should definitely be on your radar. Not only is it fantastic for rapid sonic inspiration, it’s also handy for getting to grips with the basics of music theory and chord progressions.

The plugin allows you to load preset chords and chord progressions, detect scales and chords from audio and MIDI input, and create your own original chord progressions within the plugin. For example, you can select a scale from the countless variations, and build chord progressions and melodies based on the selected scale.

Overall, Scaler 2 is an incredible, intuitive way to discover and experiment with various musical scales and chord progressions. If you’re currently struggling with a lack of inspiration, or you’re just sick of re-using the same chord progressions, Scaler 2 is a no brainer.

“As for Scaler, my life has just changed right there.” – Carl Cox

Scaler 2 Features

• Over 200 artist chord sets

• Over 300 unique genre, common and mood-based chord sets

• Browse chord variations to get suspended chords, extended chords, dominant sevenths and jazz chords

• Play melodic expressions with over 200 phrases, performances and rhythms

• Arpeggio or strum features

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

4. u-he – Diva

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Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an incredibly powerful, beautifully designed synthesizer with an authentic, unrivalled analogue sound.

In quite the contrast to Serum’s ultra-clean sound, u-he’s Diva has a gorgeous, vintage tone and character. The plugins sound design is reminiscent of the iconic monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers of yesteryear.

To put it simply: Diva has the best sound of any synth I’ve heard that has an analog-modeled design.

The plugin allows you to replicate the warm, natural tone of several classic synths, and then manipulate the sounds using various unison, filter and envelope options, modulation controls, FX, etc.

Diva also comes packaged with a whopping 1200+ presets, including everything from synths, basses, pads, instrument emulations, percussion and much more. Loading up some of the presets will open your eyes to what a expertly-designed analog synth is capable of.

There’s a reason this synth is seen as a god-send by many producers, and for me it truly changed the way I create music.

Diva Features

• Diva’s zero-delay-feedback filters set a very high standard of authenticity.

• 5 oscillators models based on classic synth hardware

• 3 ADS(S)R envelope models / 5 filter models

• 2 host-syncable LFOs with multiple waveforms

• Extensive modulation options

• 2 Phasers, 2 Chorus, 2 Delay, 2 Plate Reverb, 2 Rotary Effect

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

5. RC-20

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Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for a unique, creative effect plugin that recreates the warmth and texture of retro recordings.

RC-20 Retro Color is a popular, multi-effect VST plugin that has become an essential part of my plugin arsenal.

This plugin is especially popular with lofi, hip hop or ambient producers, as it offers a no-nonsense method to inject some pleasant, analog warmth into any sound.

Many producers seek to emulate these dusty, vintage audio imperfections and artefacts that would have occurred naturally in old recordings. These emulations often produce nostalgic overtones, and can really enhance the character of a track. This plugin does exactly that.

RC-20 has 6 individual retro modules; a Noise Generator, Wobble & Flutter, Saturation & Distortion, Degrader & Bitcrusher, Reverb and Volume Drops. Each module offers a different way recreate the tone and character of vintage gear and old-school samplers.

This is an ideal plugin for anyone looking to add some old-school character to their tracks.

RC-20 Features

• Up to 4 band mode

• High quality 6db to 96db filter models

• Hard-/soft knee mode, optional autogain, optional autorelease for every compressor

• Graphical Ratio / Threshold curve display

• Up to 4 limiters (one for each band) + 1 mastering limiter

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

6. Pulsar Audio – Mu

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Features

Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an emulation of a legendary tube compressor/limiter that gives classic tube compression results with pinpoint accuracy.h-precision emulation of a classic compressor with an unmatched level of accuracy.

I actually remember first using this plugin and how immediately impressive the compression quality was. I’m always a fan of emulations that take advantage of the digital world to go beyond the real hardware, while still remaining faithful.

For example, back in the day many engineers would mod the original compressor with a high-pass filter. To improve on this, Pulsar Audio have actually integrated a full equalization section, as well as look ahead/behind transient capabilities.

Pulsar Audio describe this plugin as “impressively transparent with a touch of warmth“, and I couldn’t agree more.

Mu Features

• Faithful tube compressor emulation

• External Sidechain

• Optional M/S encoding and decoding

• Look Ahead / Behind feature

• Flexible Sidechain Equalizer

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

7. Massive X

Sound Quality

Features

Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for a seriously powerful synth plugin with amazing sound quality and on-board functionality.

Massive X has a very futuristic, sleek design and is genuinely one of the aesthetically impressive plugins out there.

When compared to Serum’s ultra-clean sound, Massive X has a distinctive, rich, analog tone.

One of my favourite things about Massive X is it’s impressive modulation options. Massive X has 9 independent, customizable LFO/Envelope options, which can each be set to a modulation envelope, an exciter envelope, a switcher LFO or a random LFO. These modulation options allow you to get really creative, and create some truly unique sounds.

Definitely worth checking out.

Massive X Features

• Over 170 wavetables and 10 different modes

• Extensive FX, filters and unison options

• 600 presets

This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.

Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.

8. FabFilter – Saturn 2

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Value for Money

Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an intuitive saturation plugin with an seemingly endless amount of controls and features.

Saturn 2 is another example of a plugin that has transformed the way I create music.

Whether you’re adding a light touch of high-end saturation or cranking up the distortion, Saturn 2 delivers precise, high-quality results on guitars, basslines, synths, percussion and much, much more.

Its multiband distortion setup can be found in other plugins on the market (even the original Saturn release had this feature, albeit with much less flexibility), however when paired with it’s jaw-dropping modulation capabilities, Saturn 2 runs rings around its competitors.

For such a complex plugin, FabFilter have created an effortless user experience on par with their more recent flagship plugins.

For any producers looking for a comprehensive, immensely powerful distortion tool, Saturn 2 should be on the top of your list.