How many stock VST Plugins do you actually use in Cubase

Cubase
1

We all love our VST effects and VST instruments. Cubase pro 15 alone provides more than 115 stock plugins (audio effects and instruments combined), quite a few of which are not just functional but truly excellent in terms of sonic quality and versatility.

Then we have third party VST plugins, many of which have tremendously fallen in price in the past 2-3 decades (the Waves Gold Bundle e..g. can be had for 90% less money than it used to cost 25 years ago) and there are almost innummerable free plugins of very decent quality (Berlin Orchestra Free, being a case in point).

So, if only installing one or two more bundles (e.g. from UAD, Arturia, Waves, Eventide, SoundToys etc), one EASILY get to have their Cubase loaded with several hundreds of VST Plugins, most of which never get used at all, let alone being mastered by the user.

The most recent trend in the VST-universe has become: less is more! “Influencers” and social media personas are arguing which limited number of plugins they would install if they had to start over their music production journey.

And here is finally my question:

Which Cubase stock-plugins do you actually use on a regular basis and if you had to pick only 5-10 of those most essential to you and your workflow, which ones would that be?

2

I have pretty much completed my plugin buying journey and rarely use stock plugins, but some are phenomenal.

Squasher is fantastic; also, Stereo Imager and Multi Band Limiter are brilliant, but I struggle to think of more that I use, as most of my needs are covered by 3rd-party plugins. That’s not to say that the stock plugins are not great.

3

Thanks a lot for your valuable input!

I do wonder if 3rd party effects people use do actually deliver objectively sonically superior results or a relevantly more efficient workflow than their Steinberg stock plugin-counterparts?

These stock plugins are easily dismissed for two reasons:

  1. They come “for free” as they are included in Cubase pro. Everything that is cheap or doesn’t cost anything, or is easy to get, automatically let’s our brains believe that it’s of no good quality.
  2. They all look the same (e,g, same Cubase design language), which creates the impression that they may not really be musically remarkable.

So, I would suggest to the fine people at Steinberg to seriously consider the following marketing hacks:

a) In addition to having those stock plugins bundled with Cubase Pro, you guys should sell 10% of them separately as well, and for quite a substantial price. THis alone would make them immediately look and feel more desirable and “worthy”.

b) Hire a a good graphic and UI-designer to substantially revamp the GUI and look and feel of these plugins. Make them look unique and shiny instead of being part of a “people’s army tool”.

I am 100% sure that these two measures alone are going to make many more people use more stock plugins.

4

Personally, I do prefer 3 party plugins because the results I get are simply astounding. This comes from a guy who used to work with 4-track cassette recorders, so you can imagine how incredible I find it that I can create release-ready music.

I would say that out of the stock plugins I came across, Squashed is truly phenomenal.

The EQs and Compressors are cool, but I am covered with Kirchhoff and Cenozoix, which are phenomenal. Classics such as Microshift, Empirical Labs Distressor, and newer stuff such as Leapwing Audio StageOne 2 (which is beyond phenomenal) and the very much needed Sooth and Smooth Operator Pro are plugins that cannot really be found within the free stuff.

But then again, I wouldn’t expect Steinberg to give us an ultra-complex program and phenomenal plugins for a single price/upgrade.

However, if one is starting now, there are more than enough great plugins to get started.

5

I think its very much dependent on your audio objectives, genre and if the track is relatively a minimalist production or takes advantage of lots of elements.

Regularly used meaning most used?

EQ and/or Filter with cut/boost are my most used. I don’t need Fab Filter, Pultec, or Manley to make a cut or even boost on for example…an egg shaker that when muted, you can hardly detect a difference. Manley, and what it does which is dependency on the relation to other knobs is a tool that takes a long time to learn, and reserved for important elements.

Compressor. Similar to the example above. Often, I don’t need a higher end compressor with a lot of features. Get just a few to cover your compression objectives that arise often.

Frequency 2. Many/most users don’t realize the feature Frequency 2 has, that no other dynamic EQ to my knowledge includes. I take advantage of that feature pretty often, and it simplifies things.

Supervision. It’s always there. I have 4 video displays, and Supervision takes up half of my 4th.

Mono Delay. Some may laugh, but like EQ above, it’s often hardly audible…but when muted, something isn’t right. If it’s more important, I’m still liking EchoBoy.

Cloner. Just learn it. Then if left empty, find a 3rd party tool. IMO it’s much under used.

Test Generator. Since I use an outboard mix console, and RME, I use it very often to make sure things are set up right at the start of the day. Also used with my Moog Voyager and Roland Jupiter X. Or, using a level meter, be aware of the low frequency nulls in your listening area.

I’m a casualty of audio plug marketing. 25 years ago it was safe to assume buying 3rd party worked and sounded best. I think it’s a mistake to assume that today because DAWs have made great advances.

How would I really know if Steinberg outsources to a 3rd party that makes one of my favorite 3rd-party compressors? Do they re-brand the same basic coded compressor for Cubase with an NDA? Sure, it’s a new GUI with traditional Cubase blue gray colors, but has that sonically changed the results?

I’m not saying Steinberg outsources nor does what I just wrote. You have to your ears and decide for yourself. However I think a lot of users rely on marketing, forums, other peoples double blind folded doubly un-biased tests, and have way too many plugs without really learning them.

6

I almost never use any of them except the reverbs. I use the built in EQ as primary EQ but not the plugins. I totally avoid any non-linear operation stock plugins. They sucks and have really poor aliasing handling. (Non-linear is the compression, distortions, saturations etc) I have third parties that are good so I don’t even bother with the stock.

7

I regularly use these plugins or features:

  • Pre Low and Hi Cut and Gain
  • Frequency 2 and StudioEQ
  • Stereo or Mono Delay (sometimes PingPongDelay)
  • DaTube, Magneto II, and Quadrafuzz
  • Brickwall Limiter, Compressor, DeEsser, EnvelopeShaper, MultibandCompressor, Squasher
  • Chorus, StudioChorus
  • RoomWorks, Reverence, and Revelation
  • Imager
  • VocalChain

If I want a bit more coloration, saturation, or a specific character, I opt for commercial plugins from UAD, Waves, Softube, or others.

8

I have lots of third party plugins but recently I’ve found myself using stock plugins more.

9

Ooof honestly, not very many as I had amassed quite a collection over the years before moving back to Cubase 11, and once UAD started their native fire sale deals, I use the Vision channel strip, compressors, tape saturation, etc from them on everything. Audiority, SoundToys and Eventide cover most of my ‘effects’ needs, but man I do love me some Quadrafuzz (I was a HUGE fan of the original way back in the VST32 days), and Frequency 2 is awesome when I just need a ‘simple’ and light EQ that does the job. I actually use Frequency 2 on all my effects busses, first plugin in the insert chain. Have an ‘Abbey Road EQ’ preset I use for everything going into my reverb and delay busses, as I figured using a whole channel strip on it was overkill.

With that said, once I start getting to the point where I can’t upgrade or use something any longer, my plan is to just start using the Steinberg stuff and getting on with the day. Like my old Logic Pro, it comes with just about everything you could need right out of the box. And with Halion and Groove Agent as well, I literally do not need anything else including my three old dinosaur hardware samplers I use every day.

But I’m one of those guys that’s spent the last 30 years working with hardware synths and consoles, so I’m not quite ready to go all in the box just yet. :smiley: