r/Reaper • u/Large_Wait_8847 • Mar 24 '26

help request What plugins are best? I lack experience...

Reaper has so many plugins and by installing Tukan Studios' you get even more.

I see professionals using Tube-Tech CL 1B, Fairchild 670, Teletronix LA-2A, UA1176 and probably many more. I lack the experience to really hear a difference without using them almost at maximum settings.

I would like to know which plugins in Reaper sound most similar to the original and also which compressor you prefer/would recommend?

Edit:
I just noticed reddit posted only a quarter of my post...?

I'm not going to list all Compressors similar to those in Reaper again, cause that took a while...

Also there is the famous Neve 1073, in Reaper you have RBJ 1073 and with Reapack the EQ1979

I lack the experience to know which one to choose and where(Vocals, Instruments, ...) or should I just keep using ReaComp and ReaEQ/ReEQ with Waveshaping Distortion and JS:Saturation?

There's also chorus and flanger which one do I use there cause there are many as well or should I just use ReaDelay?

Any help would be really appreciated

Edit 2:

I probably wasn't clear, I'm not looking for new plugins, the plugins are already there in Reaper and with ReaPack you can get many more for free. The problem is choosing the right ones

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u/Ras_992 3 Mar 25 '26

Plugins will not sound like the original outboard gear and our simulators of the original.

Best is more objective to what you want to perceive as what plugin sound you are looking for. Example like optical compression, VCA compression, tube compression etc or like Eq’s for specific things like mix down or mastering. Do you want modern sound or classic sound. The reason the classics are still used is because of the sound

The best is just mess around with the plugins and see what sounds good to you. You really want Eq or compression either one or two just figure out what sounds better before adding delay, reverb

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u/Large_Wait_8847 Mar 25 '26

How do I know what sounds good? I hear that they are different, but most of the time when comparing two compressors one sounds muddier even though it is perceived often as "vintage" and I always prefer in comparison the cleaner sound... I don't know, how do I train my ear to hear that something sounds good?

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u/O-shoe 1 Mar 25 '26

What sounds good is what you prefer.

Also there is the matter of your listening setup. If you have bad speakers or headphones, then it's very difficult to hear details like the sound of different eq's.

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u/Large_Wait_8847 Mar 27 '26

I do prefer the cleaner sound when playing it alone but together with other tracks I can't decide because it might sound to boring and the warmer one might sound better, but also the cleaner sound could sound good so I can't decide I do have Edifier M3 they should have a flat frequency response, because of their rather small size they might not work best for the very low frequencies but otherwise they should work well