Compressor and/or reverb plugins for Logic

[goroth]

So I've got Logic 9 Poverty Version and I'm too crap at budgeting to upgrade and too honest to torrent that shit. Trying to mix some vocals that admittedly were pathetically recorded, but still...

Anyone got any tips for an ok verb and an ok compressor for vocals? I'm not averse to buying stuff, but given that I'm not in any way serious nor even good at recording and mixing I want to keep my costs as close to free as possible, at the expense of being good. Ideally I'd like both a nice compressor and reverb, but either one will do good things for my mix I think.

The povo version of Logic doesn't come with the same compressors and reverbs as the studio version, which I understand are pretty nice. I'm finding even with the mix dialed back in the inbuilt plugins it's a case of inaudible or sledgehammer subtle. And not in a good way. Just a "wow, what a crap plugin" kinda way.

I'm also the first to admit it could be because I suck, so ultimately I'd like something where my suckiness is going to have less effect on the output

[DRodriguez]

Waves stuff tends to be good and have lots of useful presets if you want to stupid proof things. Their API comp is my go to compressor.
Izotope is the all time no thought needed stuff, though they tend to be a little heavy handed. Most of their stuff has built in verb, compressors, delays, distortion, etc. Nectar is their vocal focused one, alloy is instrument focused, and ozone is the mastering one.
As far as reverb, I think sparkverb just had a nice sale. Great for the price. I generally use the lexicon verbs, but those get expensive. If I'm at home, I'll just run things through my BigSky.

[GardenoftheDead]

Ok so the question you need to ask yourself is, "Do I want a Utility compressor or an Effect compressor."

Can't beat the TDR/VOS Kotelnikov for the low cost of free. Super transparent compression.

For "Effect" compression, a low cost option is the OvertoneDSP FC70, which is a fairchild compressor clone.

for reverb, $75 will get you Valhalla Room which is something you'll use for ever.

[goroth]

DR, Garden - these are exactly the sort of tips I'm looking for.

Definitely looking for utility compressor rather than effect compressor. Using compression as an effect is way out of my zone of things I'm capable of haha!

Thank you so much

[Psyre]

The only compressor plugin I'm really wanting right now is the UBK-1. Gregory Scott hosts an awesome audio podcast, and his hardware/plugins look top notch. However I think they require iLok which I do NOT want to deal with. I've only heard amazing things about the UBK-1 plugins as a utility comp though. I'll have to break down sometime this year and get some of his plugins.

[DRodriguez]

The UBK may sound nice, but that is far from a utility comp. It's more of a coloring compressor. A utility comp is more a compressor with a wide range of simple settings you can shape into whatever you want.
The UBK is more of a pumpy effect compressor with a mix knob to dial it back in and out. I have heard good things about it though.

[Psyre]

Ahh ok, good to know, so there is effect, utility and color comps?

[DRodriguez]

Sorta. I'm using color and effect interchangeably.

There's no real classification of a compressor, and many compressors can be made to be used in different ways. But often times, the person who designs a compressor will have a goal in mind. A utility compressor is often one with a more open ended design. Made to do anything.

You could design a compressor to be transparent, so that you don't hear the compression. You could design it to pump like the UBK, to give some bounce to whatever your compressing. You could design a compressor to really do many things.

[goroth]

TDR/VOS Kotelnikov: downloaded and implemented. Does exactly what I want (ie evening out my shitty bass playing). WOhoo

[HeartfeltDawn]

Utility comp: Kotelnikov
Character comp: Klanghelm MJUC - 24 Euros. Loving this compressor.

Reverbs:

Valhalla Vintageverb over Room for me - 50 bucks.
Free interesting reverb: Sanford Reverb - simple interface, has some good sounds in it. Quite a clean allrounder.

http://www.lesliesanford.com/vst/plugins/

[popvulture]

I have the UBK-1 and love it. Although it can get super colored and is GREAT for that (man, it squashes the hell out of some drums and makes them sound so good), it can sound a bit more subtle if you want it to.

The best thing about it is that for a person like me—I've been playing/writing music forever and know the sounds I want, but am self taught in terms of recording and can be more than a dumbass about EQing/comping things correctly—it's fairly idiot proof.

It's not the only comp plugin you want to own, and I wouldn't call it utility, but that said—I use it on tons of stuff.

[popvulture]

I bounced two versions of a song sketch I did in Logic, one with UBK on bass + drums, one without. The drums are just shitty Maschine samples I played with my fingers—you can really hear how bad they are with the UBK off. Then you turn it on and pretty much BLAST.

I should definitely emphasize that I don't do this stuff in the professional capacity—as I said, I'm untrained in recording and most of these things I use for sketching out ideas. That said, it really helps to have stuff sound the way I want it, instead of that shitty syndrome one often experiences using Logic, in which nothing you have in your head translates to what you record. The UBK has been sort of a magic thing for me, in that I can almost always put it on something and achieve more of the effect I want immediately, without getting discouraged/disheartened.

Granted if I wanted to record this song for real, I'd go to a studio. BUT... for getting across ideas at home, it's beyond perfect for me.

I'll also add that they're expensive, but if by some chance you ever end up getting some kind of UAD hardware, their plugins are beyond fantastic. The EMT Plate 140 is my go-to verb, and their LA-2A always does what I want to vocals (I used it here on the sketch la-las). So if you're ever thinking of getting a new interface, and Apollo could be something awesome for you, well worth the money. I'm currently running an Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt with a UAD Satellite.

https://soundcloud.com/palmoore/sets/ilf-quickie

[DrMabuse]

The built-in verbs in Logic express aren't bad. Are you using it as a plugin directly in the instrument channel, or on an aux channel with a send from the instrument channel? The send approach gets me closer to where I want to be, good way to tie all the tracks together in a single virtual space.

[goroth]

Compressor directly on the tracks and reverb on an aux bus.

I downloaded the plate reverb from Valhalla, which is doing good things! I really like it.
Like I said, it could very well be that my shitty results are directly correlated with my lack of knowledge, but the Valhalla reverb and the kotelnikov compressor did the trick.

Things are sounding incrementally better....

[db3jed]

I'm still on Logic Express myself and quite frankly have absolutely no reason or desire to upgrade.
The stock Logic comps are not bad in the least.
Over the years I've found a bunch of recipes for Logic compressor presets that I will put up against any comp plugs that I own.

Someone mentioned Klanghelm's MJUC earlier; hands down one of my favorite character comps.
I own everything that Tony/Klanghelm has released and his free plugins (MJUC Jr, DC1A, and IVGI) are a must have.
I use DC1A on every session in fact.
His VU meter plugin (VUMT, $9 +/-) is absolutely essential for me personally; it makes gain staging in Logic SO much easier.

For reverbs I agree 100% on the Valhalla plugs; they are shear awesomeness and I doubt you will ever outgrow them.
I use Plate, Room, and their freebie, Freq Echo.

A good free reverb that I still use on occasion is "Ambience" by Magnus (http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/).
The presets were developed through the Smartelectronix community and some of them are REALLY good.
Another freebie is TAL-Reverb-2 (https://tal-software.com/products/tal-reverb).
The plate reverb algorithm is good enough that I still use every once in awhile.
TAL has a bunch of other free reverbs on his page but this one really connected with me.

As far as other free plugins go there are absolutely hundreds of them out there and some of them are really good.
I worked for about 5 years with nothing but the stock Logic plugins and a bunch of freebies.