Voxengo Elephant
I have had a 'bedroom studio' for the last few years and when it came time to look for mixing and mastering tools outside of Logic's own I did a lot of research into the different brands on the market. Voxengo's was a name consistently associated with high praise. Having bought numerous plug-ins from you I attest to the robustness, usability, elegance and effectiveness of the Voxengo tools and the audible improvements they made to my music. The price, when looking at that of the competition, seems pretty cheap.
I use Crunchessor (powerful all-purpose compressor), Drumformer (great results) and Voxformer, Varisaturator, GlissEQ and HarmoniEQ and the smaller ones, like StereoTouch (so good), Warmifier (very subtle when used correctly) and LF Max Punch (instantly rewarding). When I master I always use CurveEQ (brilliant design), Soniformer and Elephant.
As an amateur, it's hard for me to appreciate just how good these plug-ins are, because I've not tried a lot of the comparable tools from other companies, but as Voxengo always does the job in the way I want, I've no desire to look for any replacements. When I used Elephant, I knew I wouldn't need another limiter; it doesn't add any colour to the mix and it's incredibly powerful. The entire mix is simply elevated, louder, with no apparent negatives. The only one I have no idea how to use is Soniformer, but the presets are really solid, so I don't feel the need to investigate further.
The saturation, EQ and compressors in Voxformer helped me fully realise what my voice could be. I had no idea my vocals could sound so full and warm until I used it, and now my singing has matured to match that sound so well that I don't even need to dump loads of effects anymore, just any quick preset on the Voxformer and there you go: thicker, sunnier, glowing.
I'm so stoked I came across this site, and I will definitely get the Polysquasher in the sale this summer.
Rowland Wells, LondonMy first album was an instrumental metal album with electronic instruments and orchestra crammed in and I was at wits end trying to get it up to current volume levels and not destroy the sound. I tried a number of other popular compressors\limiters that cost much more and could not get the sound I wanted. I finally tried the Elephant and I couldn't believe how simple the interface was...and how well it just worked! I've since recommeneded it to others, one friend who was in a punk band came back to me and said, "That plugin worked miracles!". I literally use the Elephant at the end of my chain for every project now. It's a given.
I also bought Soniformer that same day and I've been very happy with it's performance. It's one of the only EQ\multiband compressors I trust to hand delicate high frequencies without distortion. It's extremely powerful, though the serious control provided makes for a somewhat confusing interface. Also I wish it provided for seperate left\right channel EQing\Compression. (of course that would clutter the interface even more haha!)
Scott Morgan