I downloaded a few plugs a while back i liked for mastering. T Sledge, was good, there were others. I also bought Sonar Essentials, recently, as well as Reaper. I find Reaper to be less cluttered, but i find Sonar to be slightly better. Reaper has a gazzillion small features that you can customize ever detail, but i find that confusing, and distracting.

Many like the Reaper evolutionary growth process, but as i said i find it to be a waste of time, there is update or change every few days, and one feel compelled to make the change, as if I am missing out somehow. Also my DAW is not internet connected so all changes have to be transferred by thumb drive or such.

All the crying over at Sonar to me is just that. I have not had one single issue so far with stability. I think if you do a good plug in search for mastering plugs you can get a half dozen or so and be fine. Really what you need is a solid Multiband EQ, a good compressor, a very clean limiter, and a spectrum analyzer. Having a better reverb, and such does not hurt.

Having a very clean mix to start with helps, making sure tracks are panned properly, that offending frequencies are tamed, goes a long way to polish a project. clean up the mud, stop any clipping problems, and you are really there.


HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini with 16 gig of ram, BiaB 2025, Realband, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 9 32c , Melodyne 5 editor, Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, Presonus control app.