Universal CPU-friendly set of VST FX for live gigs?

[Caroozo]

I'd like to ask about fx plugins for live use - I know about PSP Vintage Warmer and similiar plugins, but I have several questions.
1) are there good FREEWARE plugins?
2) I use Reaper as main DAW - are there quality plugins I can use? (as a matter of fact, I don't use them a lot )
3) if not, can someone suggest something that just works, don't cost premium and is as simple as possible? I have access to very good studio-grade stuff for recording, so I need just one simple solution for live
4) should I use several plugins, or there's all-in-one solution?

I play in live band - drums, bass, keys, 2 sax, clarinet, vocal, sometimes entire brass section and guitar, so I have to cut through the mix - my plugins and interface (Zoom UAC2) are already quite good, I use good hardware (RD700GX) but as I don't want to take additional hardware in rack, I believe I can tweak sound a little with little to no cost by software. I'd like to get universal solution, without the need to tweak it - just set it and forget about it .

Sorry for lame question, but I'm musician, not producer - what are must-have effects for live? I don't want to tweak EQ or use choruses and stuff (good instrument/plugin should sound good from the beginning), but I think saturation/valve simulator or something to add harmonics are the must. As I'll use i5 CPU (2C/4T), I want to use simple/low req/good sounding plugins, as I use very heavy VSTi (Keyscape and Jupiter 8 being the most demanding).

Thanks for any advice!

[VariKusBrainZ]

Toneboosters

Amazing prices even more amazing quality

[Caroozo]

Which exact plugin(s)? And what about CPU use?

[Caroozo]

I searched over the web and found this one:
https://tone-empire.com/shop/goliath/
Seems to be good sounding, not-so-demanding and all-in-one solution. I need something like that for the entire mix, where I can get a nice smooth boost for entire mix (as all my instruments are synths and their characteristics are similiar). But maybe there's better solution?

[heavymetalmixer]

Free: Melda, Kilohearts, Ariwindows Dead Duck.

[Caroozo]

And what can You recommend from the paid ones? I'm interested in the best sound, CPU usage and simplicity - in that order. If it comes at price, no problem .

[VariKusBrainZ]

Reaper comes with a shed load of effects, maybe start with those

[sbj]

When it comes to "Bang for buck" and simplicity the Plug & Mix bundle rules.

It's on sale at the moment and you get 50 fx's for $49

http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info ... d6bb0c9f5a

[Caroozo]

Reaper comes with a shed load of effects, maybe start with those

Guys, I'm not a noob, just asking about something that works...
Anyway - I've tried Goliath by Tone Empire and that little bastard seems to be perfect solution for me . 39$ for decent saturation/compressor/envelope shaper/EQ, on i5 4300M it uses as little as 0,5-1% of CPU and... it works !!
I've got a bunch of presets - some plugins don't get much from it (Keyscape, being already very good VSTi), but D50 and M1 have got a new life, and PROMARS is sounding even better . On friday I plan to use it on band practice to see how it sounds "in the mix" but for the price it gets the job done .

[Ah_Dziz]

Melda Free fx bundle. I’d go with mostly the plugins that come with whatever daw you’ll be using. Which one would that be? Also u-he products are nothing if not stable in my experience as well as NI. I guess it depends on how crazy you’re planning on going with your processing in the midst of your set. If you’re mostly just going to have presets that you’ve prepared in advance then you have a bit more wiggle room because the combinations you are using have been tried out already. If you are going to be building new chains and improvising whole new combination then you’ll want things that load up smoothly, quickly and are super stable.

[acYm]

if it's for live use, make sure it's zero latency for real when you demo something, reaper lets you do that easily.

goliath seems like a decent strip, nice design... I'll have to demo that, on sale it's a pretty good price point

I thought of what I would do if I were in your position, and looked within what I have, that I know can deliver... I'd say SDRR2 in Desk mode could fit the bill.

[Caroozo]

I'm using Omnisphere+Keyscape, Korg Legacy Collection, Roland Cloud plugins (mainly D50, but ocassionaly Jupiter 8, Juno 106, ProMars), OP-X II Pro. I use Reaper x64 on modified OS with stripped-down services, carefully "crafted" so the LatencyMon is green all the way. I use Zoom UAC2 interface with 44.1 kHz and 128-96 samples (it goes as low as 24 samples/96 kHz with RTL under 2 ms but need quite a monster CPU to use it without glitches ;D).

I use well-prepared setups for songs I play, but my style is to know every patch I want to use and freely switch between them as the performance go (for improvisation etc). I already tried the Goliath, bought one and I'm pretty happy with both the effects and performance. Yesterday I tested it on i5 4300M and it has little to no impact on performance - good work Tone Empire! I remember using some Wave plugins on C2D which were CPU hogs, and Diva, when it came out, absolutely killed my CPU at the time (T5550)...

Today I pre-configure my HP notebook (i5 3427U, 2x4GB RAM dual channel, SSD Samsung 256 GB) for music only - benchmark-wise, it's comparable to i5 6100U, better than i7 720QM, and a little worse than i7 2620M (I test with CPU-Z benchmark every CPU I can - especially in the notebooks ;D). On stress test, it came as high as 65 Celsius degrees on two cores, no power limit, so the CPU will no throttle at all.

Yesterday even on cheap headphones and Lenovo L440 speakers the effects were very audible - and that's something. As I played on Asio4all on integrated audio, I have to test it out in real life scenario tomorrow on band practice. As for now, I'm very happy - little CPU usage, great sounding algorithms, presets, nice GUI - for me it's better to have one plugin that do the trick, rather than have an army of plugins. Remember - I use not-so-modern i5 CPUs, so it's far from studio use, where I have access to i7 8700K .

[acYm]

so it made a pretty good first impression eh. looks like one shouldn't sleep on tone empire... Loc-Ness is pretty interesting as well, not much talk about it in here.

[sqigls]

i use FabFilter Simplon on most of my live channels.
it's a good bread n butter filter. no latency.

[Caroozo]

Golliath was discussed over the web and serious users (those, who works with audio everyday for over xx years) say that this one is very nice, above average at least and brilliant at most. As I literally don't have ANY fx plugin, it was no-brainer to buy this one - if it sounds good on stereo 0,5 W speakers on integrated audio, it has to be good. I'm mainly musician who record something or compose from time to time, and for my ears Goliath makes some "fairy dust" on my VSTi - that little edge I just needed . FabFilter Simplon seems interesting - I give it a try (there's 30-day demo ).
About Loc-Ness - well, dev himself wrote that it will be something big, yet little love for this one... But hey, it's common the smaller companies don't get much attention - it's called "hidden gem" . If someone remember Sylenth1/Virus/Nexus days, the tracks made by these instruments were audible in most of the songs at the time - boooooring ;D. So it's good to have something different .