Fabfilter or Soundtoys 5

[plexuss]

My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys. Soundtoys is more about emulating the warmth of analogue and most/all of the Soundtoys plugins apply some amount of distortion. That distortion is going to give you warmth but it's also going to suck PLR and mess with transients in way that is not typically what you want with EDM. With EDM you want punch, power, depth and clarity. That's what 'll get with FF - they are not analogue emus and provide more clarity in mixing than Soundtoys. YMMV

[billcarroll]

My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys. Soundtoys is more about emulating the warmth of analogue and most/all of the Soundtoys plugins apply some amount of distortion. That distortion is going to give you warmth but it's also going to suck PLR and mess with transients in way that is not typically what you want with EDM. With EDM you want punch, power, depth and clarity. That's what 'll get with FF - they are not analogue emus and provide more clarity in mixing than Soundtoys. YMMV

While Fabfilter plugins are great, this above completely inaccurate about Soundtoys not being appropriate for techno and "EDM." Distortion and saturation and used to great effect in pretty much all styles of electronic music, by almost all top producers.

[plexuss]

My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys. Soundtoys is more about emulating the warmth of analogue and most/all of the Soundtoys plugins apply some amount of distortion. That distortion is going to give you warmth but it's also going to suck PLR and mess with transients in way that is not typically what you want with EDM. With EDM you want punch, power, depth and clarity. That's what 'll get with FF - they are not analogue emus and provide more clarity in mixing than Soundtoys. YMMV

While Fabfilter plugins are great, this above completely inaccurate about Soundtoys not being appropriate for techno and "EDM." Distortion and saturation and used to great effect in pretty much all styles of electronic music, by almost all top producers.

I didn't say Soundtoys was inapproprirate for EDM. Try again and don't misquote me.

[billcarroll]

My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys. Soundtoys is more about emulating the warmth of analogue and most/all of the Soundtoys plugins apply some amount of distortion. That distortion is going to give you warmth but it's also going to suck PLR and mess with transients in way that is not typically what you want with EDM. With EDM you want punch, power, depth and clarity. That's what 'll get with FF - they are not analogue emus and provide more clarity in mixing than Soundtoys. YMMV

While Fabfilter plugins are great, this above completely inaccurate about Soundtoys not being appropriate for techno and "EDM." Distortion and saturation and used to great effect in pretty much all styles of electronic music, by almost all top producers.

I didn't say Soundtoys was inapproprirate for EDM. Try again and don't misquote me.

"My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys." - plexuss

[leeleema]

My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys. Soundtoys is more about emulating the warmth of analogue and most/all of the Soundtoys plugins apply some amount of distortion. That distortion is going to give you warmth but it's also going to suck PLR and mess with transients in way that is not typically what you want with EDM. With EDM you want punch, power, depth and clarity. That's what 'll get with FF - they are not analogue emus and provide more clarity in mixing than Soundtoys. YMMV

While Fabfilter plugins are great, this above completely inaccurate about Soundtoys not being appropriate for techno and "EDM." Distortion and saturation and used to great effect in pretty much all styles of electronic music, by almost all top producers.

Aye, agree with this; original comment seemed odd. Some techno artists for example will only use analogue gear for its 'warmth'. Perhaps a very narrow interpretation of EDM, which is a bit of a meaningless term anyway. While I'm at it, this question may not be the best as the packs are quite different e.g. no general reverb or 'proper' compressor in Soundtoys, no delay, phaser etc in fabfilter; eqs have very different use in both. I'd also ask, have you properly explored the effects your DAW?

[plexuss]

The OP asked for people's opinions of FF vs ST for EDM. It wasn't an "and" question. It was an "or" question. I still stand by my opinion and advice to consider FF vs ST if they have to pick one over the other. ST will give lots of opportunities for cool production but FF will provide the essentials and avoid the traps associated with working with analogue models and all the distoriton they create, which can be detrimental to the vibe of EDM (generally speaking).

I didn't say Soundtoys was inapproprirate for EDM. Try again and don't misquote me.

"My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys." - plexuss

Excellent! As you can see I did not say Soundtoys was inappropriate for EDM. In the context of the OP question, yes, in my opinion stay away from ST and consider FF for EDM. But, in general both are useful for EDM. Hopefully that clarifies things. Thanks for correcting your post.

[billcarroll]

The OP asked for people's opinions of FF vs ST for EDM. It wasn't an "and" question. It was an "or" question. I still stand by my opinion and advice to consider FF vs ST if they have to pick one over the other. ST will give lots of opportunities for cool production but FF will provide the essentials and avoid the traps associated with working with analogue models and all the distoriton they create, which can be detrimental to the vibe of EDM (generally speaking).

I didn't say Soundtoys was inapproprirate for EDM. Try again and don't misquote me.

"My opinion: If it's for techno/EDM I'd stay away from Soundtoys." - plexuss

Excellent! As you can see I did not say Soundtoys was inappropriate for EDM. In the context of the OP question, yes, in my opinion stay away from ST and consider FF for EDM. But, in general both are useful for EDM. Hopefully that clarifies things. Thanks for correcting your post.

The OP asked about plugins for "Techno / Trance production." Saturation is one of the most effective mixing tools tools available. Perhaps one of the most important tools for an electronic music producer, when used well. Soundtoys provides some of the best tools for saturation and distortion, especially Decapitator. Echoboy also has terrific saturation models included.

[plexuss]

The OP asked about plugins for "Techno / Trance production." Saturation is one of the most effective mixing tools tools available. Perhaps one of the most important tools for an electronic music producer, when used well. Soundtoys provides some of the best tools for saturation and distortion, especially Decapitator. Echoboy also has terrific saturation models included.

That's true, and my mistake for generalizing the genre too far. Still, I'd recommend FF first and ST later making various assumptions about teh OP.

It doesn't matter people. Relax. They are all good. Buy whatever you want, it'll be great.

[Kinh]

Saturation is a must for EDM, it doesn't matter what kind. Literally NO EDM/techno doesn't have analogue saturation on it. So soundtoys wins there over FF.

Secondly, FF plugins have almost 0 latency, are highly cpu efficient whereas soundtoys are not.

[plexuss]

Saturation is a must for EDM, it doesn't matter what kind. Literally NO EDM/techno doesn't have analogue saturation on it. So soundtoys wins there over FF.

Secondly, FF plugins have almost 0 latency, are highly cpu efficient whereas soundtoys are not.

Then the choice is obvious: Soundtoys wins!

[octaveup]

For me: FabFilter anchors the fundamental essentials that go on almost every track/song and I couldn't do without (always multiple Q3, L2, most often C2, often Saturn2, MB, sometimes R)

Sure, SoundToys are very nice, but there are other plugins that I sometimes subsitute instead of the SoundToys ones, whereas FabFilter is there every single time, and does the job seamlessly without complaints or adding stress.

Just don't bother with the FabFilter synths (imvho)

[Ploki]

Filters in Twin 2 are pretty cool tho, and it's extremely easy to program. Bit dated tho.

[Yaroslove]

Most of FF plugins are for mixing and mastering. But, ever FF one is pretty cool synth (Boris Brejcha uses him a lot). ST is 100% about creative fx, they don't have synths. So, keep in mind this things, before make a final choose.

[Trancer]

Thank you for all your very interesting answers and opinions.

A mix of the two seems a good thing.

Decapitator and echoyboy for Soundtoys and for mixing, Fabfilter, eq, compressor.

Regarding the reverb, Valhalla seems a very good choice, really excellent plugins.

For the eq, the Curve 2 could be an alternative. There are also some really good products at UVI.

The Relayer, for example, apparently very creative.

The Sparkverb and the Shade, not bad at all. What do you think ?

[leeleema]

I think that's nearly a month since you first asked with lots of advice since. Why don't you a) try some demos; b) put some arrangements together in your DAW, (you still havn't told us what it is btw), work out the gaps in your resources, hence work out what you need/want. Stop procrastinating and get stuck in. PS only you will know what works for you