Best bass enhancement plugin

[hcv242]

my favorites are bass mint and bass XXL by denise these days

these two

[stromkraft]

The "problem" I'm trying to solve is my lack of a bass enhancement plugin.

Actually, bass enhancement is a solution to your real problem. As you wouldn't divulge that (not too uncommon), people had to guess what the problem was that you think bass enhancement will solve. That might create a confusing discussion, because there is not one particular correct way to look at bass area problems. It's perfectly valid to view as "a mixing problem", even if that is highly unspecific. It depends on the mix, the emotion in it, the mixer and even the artist, no?

You mentioned RBass, which is mostly about adding harmonics in order to psychoacoustically making it appear there is deep bass on playback systems that cannot even play those low frequencies back (without breaking the sound for the systems that can), so no surprise you found it underwhelming when it isn't trying to do what you was looking for. Unless you were looking for some way to get heavy mixes on the many weak systems out there? Of course RBass can be abused to do other things.

The thing with bass, is that it is actually not always clear what "bass enhancement" could mean, even if you think it is for you. I've learned that cutting low bass makes the bass sound deeper for the mixes I work on. When you cut you get the headroom to give back energy, but this does not have to be done with bass saturation, carefully EQ'ing done with a great bass EQ, like for example those that use Mixed phase;sometimes in some dynamic way like how TDR Infrared does; can work well too.

Another option is lowering higher frequencies changing the overall feel of the mix. The point is there are many ways to enhance the bass region and the role it plays in a mix. Some solutions mentioned here are great, but not all bass problems are the same thing and no single solution fits them all as far as I know.

So what did you choose in the end and how is it working for you?

[swilow11]

Went with Bass Focus by Devious Machines. Also picked up Bass Mint but haven't really used it much yet...

[kritikon]

Personally I use the BBE sonic suite one. But tbh I think almost all of them do mostly the same thing and mostly sound indistinguishable. On the odd occasion I use a bass enhancer I'd be happy using almost anything on the market, just happens I have BBE because I got the set specifically for sonic maximizer and it's easy to use. Tried many of the others in the past and none of them wowed over the others. Neither does BBE

[DNAudio]

Anyone liking/have tips using TDR Arbiter for bass enhancement/improvement? Dudes brought it up elsewhere and I started using it and it's kinda great on basslines but I don't really understand it yet.

Arbiter is essentially a very clean dynamic EQ that works independent of the overall volume. "x2" & "x3" generate even-order & odd harmonics respectively in relation to the dynamic EQ's frequency. You might be more interested in TDR Infrasonic to specifically enhance the low-end. It has a dynamic "bump" mode which can subtly enhance low end transients. The analyzer is also stupidly precise & zoomed in so it's very easy to "hone in" on the specific frequencies you want to emphasize or get rid of (there's a lot more going on in the low end than any conventional analyzer can show!)
The mixed phase mode makes phase shift pretty much inaudible, but phase shift can actually enhance the low end (VOS SlickEQ has a dedicated phase rotator for the low end in fact!)
Highly recommend their filter bundle. Very useful for all types of signals.

[DNAudio]

I can also recommend airwindows Thunder. Adds punch to kicks & adds some distinct yet tasteful harmonics, but can go wild if you push it!

[ROTMetro]

Anyone liking/have tips using TDR Arbiter for bass enhancement/improvement? Dudes brought it up elsewhere and I started using it and it's kinda great on basslines but I don't really understand it yet.

Arbiter is essentially a very clean dynamic EQ that works independent of the overall volume. "x2" & "x3" generate even-order & odd harmonics respectively in relation to the dynamic EQ's frequency. You might be more interested in TDR Infrasonic to specifically enhance the low-end. It has a dynamic "bump" mode which can subtly enhance low end transients. The analyzer is also stupidly precise & zoomed in so it's very easy to "hone in" on the specific frequencies you want to emphasize or get rid of (there's a lot more going on in the low end than any conventional analyzer can show!)
The mixed phase mode makes phase shift pretty much inaudible, but phase shift can actually enhance the low end (VOS SlickEQ has a dedicated phase rotator for the low end in fact!)
Highly recommend their filter bundle. Very useful for all types of signals.

Wish there was an upgrade to the bundle from just Arbiter but I don't see one.

[DCrown]

Eq and saturation could become your best friends for bass. Split the bas singnal into 2- 3 bands and experiment with eq and saturation. The frequency range 3-5 kHz is pretty important to make a bass cut through a mix and be heard on small speakers. HC filter at about 8.5 kHz!

[Dr.Gunjah]

I got better results with spectre than with most of these bass enhancers.