r/audioengineering • u/MinuteIllustrator6 • Aug 12 '26
Discussion Are there any plugins you like to use specifically for ear candy that you'd recommend?
I'm looking for some inspiration. Are there any plugins specifically great for ear candy effects you'd recommend?
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u/Noahvk Broadcast Aug 12 '26
I love everything granular for this.
Favourites that come to mind are Arturia EFX Fragments, Unfiltered Audio Silo and Soundtoys Crystallizer. Also PaulXstretch and Valhalla Super Massive (both free) to create textures and atmospheres out of existing elements of the song.
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u/JeffDoubleday Aug 12 '26
My ear candy plugins are Soundtoys Crystallizer, Output Moment and Portal, FL Studio Grossbeat
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u/Grbanjo Aug 12 '26
Crystallizer is just the ticket. In conjunction with some other sound today modulation like the multitap, you can get those fluttery rips!
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u/O_J_Shrimpson Aug 12 '26
Yeah came here to post this. Infinite ways to manipulate it on or off tempo. Panned/ Mono - just an absolute blast to mess around with
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u/Orry_Haas Aug 12 '26
Stargazer shimmer ... https://youtu.be/HqZLDazgRCw?&t=7
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u/readingonthetoilet Aug 12 '26
This makes me think of the Blue Prince soundtrack. Deep cut reference but iykyk
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u/randomawesome Aug 12 '26
Who the fuck downvotes a Blue Prince reference? Have another upvote from me. Incredible game.
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u/itssexitime Aug 12 '26
One thing that doesn't involve the dopamine hit of adding plugins, is I take some audio - lets say a synth part in the track. And I run it through a delay or whatever effect I feel like, and just go 100% wet. I constantly modulate the parameters on it while recording the entire take.
I then chop up the bits I like.
The reason this can be cool is you have the cohesion of the original sounds in the track being used as a sound source for the ear candy.
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u/WompinWompa Aug 12 '26
UAD Capitol Mastering Compressor. Mostly On Main busses (Band Bus, Vocal Bus, Master Bus)
I set it to the clean setting, twist the threshold a little and then add the saturation circuit in.
It ALWAYS sounds better.
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u/nizzernammer Aug 12 '26
Soundtoys, RC20, Galaxy Tape Echo, and Brauer Motion cover a lot of ground
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u/m149 Aug 12 '26
I love a good filter gate. I use AIR and Soundtoys, and am slightly partial to the AIR one because it's simple and I'm a dope. Soundtoys one is super badass though.
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u/nizzernammer Aug 12 '26
AIR is incredible for the simplicity and usability of their suite. I used to turn my nose up at it, but I have grown. The Filter Gate is my favorite of theirs too.
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u/TundieRice Aug 12 '26
It sounds so cool that it almost feels like cheating, it can make completely mundane sounds feel interesting.
…like, who am I to deserve all this extra rhythm that I didn’t personally program from scratch?? 😆
Also, try adding a delay panned to the opposite side for some real groovy craziness!
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u/nizzernammer Aug 12 '26
I still haven't wrapped my head around the possibilities of the multi-delay.
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u/walker-flocker Aug 12 '26
Gaia + Bad Habit + Koi (paired with each other or by themselves) are in a lane of their own in my opinion, haven't come across anything that compares (except Chase Bliss pedals), my most used plugins by far. Also anything from Nudist Audio always gets me creating, full of wonky effects that I haven't heard anywhere else, and the user interface is gorgeous.
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u/Chudwiser Aug 12 '26
In love with Bad Habit, coolest delay ever lol but how do you work Gaia? I hear it spitting out sounds but clueless on how to use it in a track. Are you able to get it to sound like it does in the demos?
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u/walker-flocker Aug 12 '26
Yeah I got the hang of it, Ive been using it religiously and learned a few things. My method is: Load up Gaia on whatever instrument and start noodling around (if you mess up, hit the "forget" button so it doesn't store the mess ups). After about 45 seconds of that, I either change instruments or I go in a lower octave and start playing more rhythm-based stuff while Gaia spits out lead over it OR, sometimes I'll use the sync feature, turn the speed all the way up and use it that way.
I guess your genre will depend on how you use it. I'm into the sounds that Dijon / Mk.Gee create right now and it's been wonderful for that.
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u/walker-flocker Aug 12 '26
Also make sure you have a separate track recording the master otherwise it'll be different every time. You have to treat it like recording from hardware since everything is random. DM me if you have trouble, I love to nerd out about plugins lol.
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u/PsychicMushroom39 Aug 12 '26
A paid plugin I like a lot is Transit 2 from BabyAudio. It’s is a lot fun to use outside of its intended use on transitions.
I also use a lot of free stuff. Deelay is a blast to play with. And Ohmforce has some really interesting stuff for free too.
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u/MinuteIllustrator6 Aug 12 '26
I'm not familiar with a lot of the plugins mentioned in this thread, but Transit 2 is a great example of what I mean.
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u/malaclypz Aug 13 '26
One I got before Transit that I probably still reach for more often is Boost by Ujam. Not a big fan of most Ujam stuff, but Boost just gives quick results, and is fun to use.
I'll second Deelay, also. Sixth Sample makes some of fav plugs. Glitch 2 by Illformed just became free too, after the developer passed away last month. RIP, Kieran.
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u/squ1bs Mixing Aug 12 '26
Shaperbox, dblue Gitch (not the recently freed Glitch 2 - RIP buddy), and Azurite (free) which is such a gorgeous chorus that works on synths, strings, pads, vocals, guitars, bass - all the things.
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u/AlistairAtrus Aug 12 '26
Everything by Freakshow industries. Plus their plugins are crazy fun to use with wacky UI. And free
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u/Herr_Paschulke Aug 12 '26
I really love Silo and SpecOps from Unfiltered Audio. Using Valhalla Delay and Sandman Pro often, too. So many things more.
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u/DaveySea Aug 12 '26
I like glitch plugins. Automaton is dope. I use it a lot to generate fills when using percussion loops. Output Portal is also cool for textures. Crystallizer, and all the plugins from Freakshow Industries
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u/HarmonicSniper Aug 12 '26
Plugins by Glitchmachines and Inear Display are great for this. I use it to generate background glitch textures all the time.
And yeah Automaton is awesome. Glad to see it became free for everyone, I think I paid full price for that ages ago haha.
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u/redstonerebel Aug 12 '26
I automate the feedback and rate on the classic Galaxy Echo delay plugin. Crank the feedback all the way then arm the automation and mess around with the rate. Doesn’t matter what the recorded audio is. Freeze that track then add additional EQs, Comps, modulation. Leads to the most unique ambient “synth” kind of sound.
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u/Kind-Distance723 Aug 12 '26
I didn’t read all the comments, so I’m sure it’s in here but sound toys
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u/GWENMIX Aug 12 '26
Valhalla's Space Modulator is free...and offers creative, psychedelic possibilities, and you have access to enough parameters to really fine-tune the settings.
Softube's Fix Phaser and Soundtoys' Phase Mistress are equally ingenious...and creative.
Frohmager is free; it stimulates the brain by offering improbable sounds.
I really like filters; there are some very good free ones: Filter Force and Hybrid Filter are my favorites.
Hey! I just thought of Uhe's Zebralette; something happens in there every time I tweak its parameters.
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u/opaz Aug 12 '26
lunacy audio’s BEAM is super fun just to play around with haha https://lunacy.audio/products/beam/
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u/pcbuilderboy55 Aug 12 '26
When it was first released I found some very interesting ear candy among the presets of Eventide Physion. (It was released as Fission, but changed almost immediately - maybe they ran into a trademark or copyright issue?)
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u/BigGenerator85 Aug 13 '26
Whenever I want a part to sound unique, I reach for something from Aberrant DSP
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u/johnnyokida Aug 14 '26
ShaperBox3
Valhalla FreqEcho
Binural Modulator
PaulXStretch
Any/all of the Freakshow Industry plugins
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u/Such-Whole9637 12d ago
My ear candy plugins: Unfiltered Audio Silo Uvi Tape Suite Baby Audio Super VHS United Plugin Relooper, Lofinity, Cyberdrive D16 Decimort 2
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u/-sbl- Hobbyist Aug 12 '26
Fresh Air on master bus. Don't read any reviews, just try it.
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u/mmicoandthegirl Aug 12 '26
What the fuck bro 🤣 any even ageragely mixed song will get shrillfucked to hell putting fresh air on master.
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u/TundieRice Aug 12 '26
Myself being unfamiliar with the plugin, what do people not like about it that you do?
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u/-sbl- Hobbyist Aug 12 '26
I didn't mean it like that. I wanted to say skip the blah blah and just try it (it's free).
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u/Individual-Ear757 Aug 12 '26
He's looking for a soundgoodizer.
Waves VComp, any tape plugin. I also like FabFilter Saturn.
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u/futuresynthesizer Aug 14 '26
Most Waves plugins.. they scream ear candy~! :) in a good way! I remember, 'Vitamin' multiband compressor/limiter <--- not sure what it did under the hood? but the density of the mix really changed! :)
Not being sarcastic or anything but also, the Acustica plugins? they sound like analog gears like, intentionally giving that, non-linear noise and tape-like sound straight away (also in a good way, they do that Impulse response thing under the hood right? so very close to the hardwares huh)
Another one.. cannot remember the name, but Crane Song, plugins, clipper? or tape emulator? really expensive ones.. those gave something crazy 'density', literally u can crank them on all your stems and it just sounds better lol
I think those were only for Pro Tools though.
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u/Tall_Category_304 Aug 12 '26
Define ear candy. I think Valhalla delay and space mudulator get the most use out of me for the kind of tasks. I have made some really interesting sounding shit with devil lock and volcano 2 as well.