Introducing United Plugins DarkFire Plugin and 78% Discount (Until 1/5)

Hello! I’m Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer.

Today, I’d like to introduce a new product, DarkFire, recently launched by United Plugins, which I’ve been using quite often.

Purchase DarkFire at Plugin Boutique

This plugin was provided as an NFR (Not for Resale) license through Plugin Boutique. If you purchase it via the links in this post, I’ll earn a small commission, which helps me greatly. 😊
Let’s dive in, shall we?

DarkFire is a versatile all-in-one plugin that can essentially be categorized as a saturator.
Plugins with such multifunctionality are usually used on buses or the master channel.

At the top of the interface, you’ll find the OS (Over Sampling) button, which enables up to 8x oversampling.

  • AGC stands for Auto Gain Compensation, automatically matching input and output gain levels.
  • LIM acts as a limiter to ensure the signal doesn’t exceed 0dB.
  • ADV allows deeper parameter adjustments.
  • The headphone button lets you isolate and listen to only the harmonics.

In addition, the HP/LP (High Pass and Low Pass), EQ, and compressor functions operate as you’d expect.

The first image above shows when the Stereo knob is set above 0, and the second shows the Depth knob also turned up.

  • The Stereo knob adjusts stereo imaging by manipulating left-right EQ differences.
  • The Depth knob creates a sense of front-back space using short delays.

Personally, what stands out the most is the Type option that appears to the left of Harmonics Shaper when the ADV button is activated.
Here, you can select between Tube and Tape saturation types.
The default setting is Tape, but I personally prefer the Tube option.

The harmonic patterns differ significantly between the two.
The first image shows the Tube mode, while the second shows the Tape mode, which only generates odd-order harmonics.

You can also double-click on parameters to adjust them to exact values.
I believe you can never have too many saturator plugins, as each one offers unique characteristics that are hard to replicate!
At its current price of $17.60, this plugin is an affordable option worth testing.

Find Out United Plugins at Plugin Boutique

United Plugins also offers many cost-effective and practical plugins. With discounts running until January 5, it’s a great time to explore their offerings.

Click image to purchase Front DAW at Plugin Boutique

One plugin I highly recommend is FrontDAW, which emulates various console preamps. I’ve been using it regularly since 2019, and it’s been incredibly handy!

Additionally, Plugin Boutique is running a promotion this month where you can get one of the following plugins for free with any purchase:

  • UAD Oxide Tape
  • Karanyi Sounds Vapor Keys
  • iZotope Nectar Elements
  • Pitch Innovations Rhythm Box

Among these, I personally recommend UAD Oxide Tape, as it delivers decent quality for a tape emulation plugin.

That wraps up today’s post. See you in the next one! 😊

Basics of Mixing – 12.1 How to Solve The Problems of Recording Source

Hello! This is Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer.

Today, I’d like to say about the problem of recording source and how to solve. This article is based on my book “Basics of Mixing” released at South Korea.

Let’s dive in!

1) Noise Floor

If you use analog hardware, electricity causes certain noise across all frequency range. We call this “Noise Floor”.

So if you recording with microphone pre-amplifier or use outboards, you have to recognize and keep in mind it. Although you can’t hear the noise in mixing step, but it could make problem in mastering step .

This matter could be fixed with plug-ins like iZotope’s RX bundles(Spectral De-Noise). But when the source processed, you will hear High Frequency & Low Frequency loss. So I don’t use it often until have no choice.

2) Popping Noise

Popping Noise, A.K.A pop noise, is caused by popping sound. If you look closely upper picture, could understand it’s usually belong low frequency. So it could solved with low cut(high pass) filter.

However when you record voice, use pop filter is best method to prevent popping noise.

3) Sibilance

Sibilance is hissing sound when you pronounce like “S”. This high frequency sound can be perceived as louder than other frequencies due to the equal loudness contour.

You able to use De-Esser plug-ins or EQ to solve this problems. Another method involves cutting the sibilant peaks and adjusting the gain of the affected clip.

4) Click Noise

When you check the records, you could find click sounds frequently. In vocal records, lips make those noise. Drawing waves with pencil tools will solve this problem.

There have another way, use De-Click plug-ins. However I don’t like this method. It makes high frequency loss.

5) Clipped Noise, Distortion

If the recording is distorted like this from the beginning, the best solution is simply to re-record it.

You might want to ask the client to double-check their export/bounce to see if the distortion originated there.

If the recording is distorted and re-recording is impossible, you can try to fix it with plugins like De-Clip, although you’ll have to sacrifice some audio quality.

6) Ambience

In the past, there was no way to fix recorded ambience. However, nowadays, there are many plugins that remove reverb and ambience from companies like Waves, UAD, and Izotope, so it’s not as big of a problem anymore..

7) Ambience

You can consider most other issues beyond these as unresolvable. If noise is caused by electrical issues and is consistently present, you can address it by dealing with the noise floor. However, if it appears intermittently, it’s impossible to fix.

Similarly, if a problem occurs consistently, there’s a good chance it can be fixed. But things like construction noise from nearby or the ticking of a clock are difficult to remove.

In this post, we discussed various problems with recorded audio and how to solve them.

The next chapter was originally going to be about groove and sidechaining. However, This is one of the key topics in my book, so I’ve decided not to cover it on the blog.. I don’t want to give away all the content for free and be unfair to those who purchase the book. I hope you understand.

From the next post onwards, I’ll be talking about outboard gear.

See you in next post! 🙂

Introduction to Soundtoys 5.4 Bundle and Individual Plugins (45% Off, Until Jan 2)

Hello! I’m Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer.

Today, I’d like to introduce the Soundtoys plugins, which are currently on sale during the end-of-year discounts following Black Friday.

This post isn’t sponsored; I purchased these plugins on my own in the past. However, I’ve received considerable support from Plugin Boutique, so all the links in this post direct to their website. Your understanding is appreciated!

Also, if you make a purchase through these links, I’ll receive a small commission, which greatly helps me keep doing what I love.

Let’s get started!

Purchase Soundtoys 5 Bundle At Plugin Boutique

Soundtoys specializes in plugins that excel in coloration, delay, and modulation.

The Soundtoys 5 Bundle includes a total of 21 plugins. Since there’s a lot to cover, I’ll summarize the list in a table:

Plugin NameRoleDescription
SuperPlateReverbRecreates tones of 5 classic plate reverbs, delivering rich and expansive reverb effects.
DecapitatorDistortion/SaturationHardware-modeled saturation and distortion effects that add bold character to your mix.
EchoBoyEcho/DelayEmulates a variety of vintage echo units, providing warm and rich delay effects for vocals and instruments.
Little AlterBoyPitch/Formant ModulationOffers vocal pitch shifting, hard-tune effects, and robotic voice modulation.
CrystallizerPitch/Granular DelayEnables creative sound design with pitch-shifted and reversed granular delay.
PrimalTapRetro DelayRetro-style dual delay with lo-fi looping and warp effects.
Devil-Loc DeluxeCompressor/DistortionDelivers aggressive drum compression and distortion effects.
RadiatorTube Saturation/EQVintage tube preamp style for warm tones and rich harmonics.
MicroShiftVocal WideningProvides classic pitch-shifting and chorusing for vocals and instruments.
Little PlatePlate ReverbA modern take on the classic EMT 140 plate reverb.
PanManAuto-PanningCreates spatial movement with rhythmic auto-panning effects.
TremolatorTremolo/Rhythmic ModulationOffers vintage guitar tremolo and rhythm-based effects.
FilterFreakFilter/ModulationDelivers analog filter sweeps and rhythmic filtering effects.
PhaseMistressPhaserProduces rich phase sweeps with deep analog vibes.
Sie-QEQEmulates the W295b EQ, providing smooth highs and warm lows.
Little RadiatorTube SaturationSimple tube saturation inspired by the vintage Altec 1566a preamp.
Little PrimalTapSimple DelayA straightforward retro delay with looping, warping, and distortion effects.
Little MicroShiftSimple WideningAdds focus and depth with a simplified vocal widening effect.
Devil-LocAudio Level DestroyerSimple yet powerful drum compression and distortion.
EchoBoy Jr.Simple EchoCombines 7 analog echo styles for quick and easy delay effects on vocals and instruments.
Effect RackMulti-EffectCombines all plugins for custom chains and overall mixing control.

For this post, I’ll focus on three standout plugins: Decapitator, Little AlterBoy, and the renowned EchoBoy.

Decapitator

Click image to purchase Decapitator at Plugin Boutique

The Decapitator plugin emulates the coloration of five iconic pieces of analog hardware. Its name might sound intimidating (it literally means an executioner who beheads), but it’s perfect for adding aggressive saturation to your tracks.

1) A Mode is modeled after the Ampex 350.

2) E Mode (EMI) is based on the Chandler/EMI TG Channel.

3) N Mode emulates the Neve 1057 Channel.

4) T Mode recreates the Triode (3-tube) saturation of Thermionic Culture’s The Culture Vulture.

5) P Mode replicates the Pentode (5-tube) saturation from the same hardware.

Personally, I often use N or T modes, as their harmonics feel more pronounced to me.

Other key controls:

  • Push: Boosts the input signal.
  • Thump: Slightly boosts the low-end around the high-pass filter.
  • Steep: Sharply cuts the high frequencies.
  • Tone: Acts as a Tilt EQ.

If you want a bold, saturated sound, this is the plugin for you!

Little AlterBoy

Click image to purchase Little AlterBoy at Plugin Boutique

Little AlterBoy is a simple yet powerful pitch modulation plugin.

  • Adjust pitch by semitones from -12 to +12.
  • Modify formant to make the pitch changes sound more natural.

This plugin works best with monophonic instruments like vocals (it doesn’t handle polyphonic material well).

Modes:

  • Transpose: Standard pitch shifting.
  • Quantize: Snaps the pitch to the nearest chromatic note.
  • Robot: Fixes the pitch to a single note (e.g., C at +0, C# at +1, etc.).

I often use this plugin to add an octave effect to lead melodies by sending the signal through Little AlterBoy.

  • For higher pitches: Set Pitch to +12 and Formant between 2 and 3.5.
  • For lower pitches: Set Pitch to -12 and Formant between -2 and -3.5.

Adjust the Formant settings by ear for the best results!

EchoBoy

Click image to purchase EchoBoy at Plugin Boutique

EchoBoy is an all-in-one delay plugin loaded with options.

It offers:

  • Simple single delays
  • Dual delays
  • Ping Pong delays
  • Rhythm Echo and more

The Style menu provides a variety of delay textures, and the Tweak section allows further parameter adjustments.

Finally, the Style Edit menu lets you fine-tune the output characteristics of the selected delay style.

It’s no wonder EchoBoy is often called the ultimate delay plugin!

Conclusion

This was a quick overview of the Soundtoys bundle.

If you’re considering just a few plugins, I highly recommend Decapitator and Little AlterBoy. Try the demos first and grab them during the sale if they suit your needs!

Purchase Soundtoys 5 Bundle At Plugin Boutique

See you in the next post! 😊

I Released a New Song After a Long Time… The Tremor

Hello! I’m Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer.

I always introduce myself as a singer-songwriter, but honestly, I’ve been working as an engineer so much that I sometimes question whether calling myself a singer-songwriter is still accurate. 😅

That said, I finally released a new song after what feels like forever!

It took way longer than expected… haha. Doesn’t my outfit look a bit chilly? This was filmed in mid-October, and it was still slightly warm back then. But I got so busy in the meantime that everything kept getting delayed until it was freezing winter.

The song itself was actually written late last year. Yes… this too got pushed back, as you might have guessed.

I remember coming up with the idea after I left my job at Forest Record. I was feeling a bit deflated, like a balloon losing its air. Around that time, I applied to graduate school at Sangmyung University.

I spent an entire day playing a simple guitar chord progression and thought to myself, “Right, this is the sound that made me fall in love with music in the first place. Let’s cheer up and get back to it.” And that’s how this song was born.

Thankfully, my song was featured on the front page of the Latest Music section on Korea’s streaming platform, Bugs.

It was also showcased by 821 Sound, where I had it mastered.

I’ve always been a fan of Director Namwoo Kwon’s mastering work—it suits my taste perfectly every time.

These days, I sometimes feel like releasing my own music is just a form of self-satisfaction. Of course, it’s exactly this kind of satisfaction that motivates me to keep making songs.

As time goes on, I find myself letting go of my ego little by little and viewing things from a broader perspective.

This winter, I’m planning to write another book, wrap up my overseas research papers, and submit them for publication.

Let’s keep striving forward!

See you in the next post. 😊