Hi! This is Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer. Today, I’ll introduce a room/headphone simulator, Space Replicator made by Lewitt.
I received the NFR code for this product from Plugin Boutique for this review, and if you purchase the plugin using the links included in this article, I’ll earn a small commission that helps me keep going…!
Space Replicator is a plugin that uses HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) modeling to allow you to experience sound with a sense of spatial depth, making it sound like real acoustic space when listening through headphones or earphones.
While there are indeed several plugins offering similar virtual monitoring functions, and some competitors boast larger headphone/earphone catalogs, Space Replicator’s distinct advantage lies in its specialized focus on HRTF and the process of creating personalized binaural profiles.
If you select a headphone or earphone model that you own and that is supported by LEWITT, you can generate a personalized binaural profile through a few simple steps. Although the results may not be perfectly precise, the effect was noticeably effective when I tested it.
Furthermore, the plugin features 12 different virtual spaces, each offering various listening perspectives or speaker options, and it also provides 6 different headphone simulations.
My favorite virtual space is the Vienna Synchron Stage A, which accurately provides the acoustics of far-field speakers. Since small studio producers and engineers usually can’t access such a setup—and neither can I—this particular feature offers me a tremendous amount of practical things.
It is currently 50% off until January 4, 2026. Therefore, if you work in a space with acoustic limitations, I highly recommend this plugin.
Hi! This is Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer. Black Friday is right around the corner, so, as I did last year, I’ll summarize all the plugin sales that I want to recommend for composing, mixing, and mastering music.
This post is not sponsored by any of the plugin companies listed. However, I have an affiliate partnership with Plugin Boutique, so, I’ll provide their purchase links alongside my explanations for any plugins they offer. Furthermore, purchasing through the provided link earns me a small commission that helps support this content..^^ (It’s really hard to make a living these days…haha..)
Then… Let’s start!
1) WAVES
I always recommend plugins made by waves to people around me. While their update plan policy is incredibly frustrating, it certainly doesn’t detract from the quality of their plugins. Additionally, they usually offer significant discounts during the Black Friday season.
I highly recommend the Horizon Bundle. This bundle features 93 plugins, all of which are highly versatile. The price is only $219(Tax Included), leaving no reason not to recommend it.
Specifically, the CLA series, the Renaissance Compressor, and the H-Delay are my favorites.
2) UAD (Universal Audio Digital)
Universal Audio has lots of useful plugins too. The LA-2A series, the 1176 series and the chamber reverbs are definitely my go-to plugins from UAD.
I own quite a few UAD plugins, and they were really expensive before Universal Audio launched the native versions. Additionally, the 10-plugin bundle was also very pricey, if I recall correctly. However, for this Black Friday sale, you can get 10 plugins for only $108.90 (Tax Included). I must admit, I find that a little unfair….^^. It’s a really great deal, so I highly recommend grabbing this opportunity.
If you haven’t had any experience with UAD plugins, I will select my top 10 recommended plugins for you.
Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection
1176 Classic Limiter Collection
API 2500 Bus Compressor
Teletronix LA-3A Classic Audio Leveler
EMT 250 Classic Electronic Reverb
Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection
Pultec Passive EQ Collection
UAD Sound City Studios
Hitsville Reverb Chambers
Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb
3) IK Multimedia
Unfortunately, IK Multimedia already concluded its “Group Buy” event last month, so it is unlikely there will be any additional sales during Black Friday. However, I have written about IK Multimedia’s virtual instruments and mixing plugins previously, so, if you have an interest in this company, please read this article.
Arturia offers a wide range of virtual instruments and mixing plugins. They boast significantly high quality, tthe only drawback is their high CPU usage. However, as CPU processing speeds have grown rapidly, I believe this is no longer a critical issue.
Brainworx was founded by Dirk Ulrich, the same individual who established Plugin Alliance. They offer superb mixing plugins with remarkably good quality. They are also remarkably affordable, so you should definitely consider purchasing their plugins if you have a limited budget.
Specifically, I recommend the digital EQ, the bx_digital V3, from Brainworx. At just $11 (including tax), it is incredibly useful for identifying the frequencies where resonances occur.
I currently use three main pitch correction plugins: Auto-Tune, Melodyne, and Revoice Pro. However, I find Melodyne to be the most intuitive plugin. I use it on almost every project.
The Studio version is now $301.40 (Tax Included).
7) Native Instruments
Native Instruments sells a lot of virtual instruments. Their Komplete bundle is their most famous, and it features a 50% upgrade discount during Black Friday.
I think you need Cableguys’ plugins if you want to create a modern-sounding track. Recently, many producers and composers are making the source audio groovy, and these grooves are created through artificial manipulation.
Cableguys’ plugins are made for these purposes.
I recommend Shaper Box 3 (at $97.90 including tax). Also if your budget is larger, the Cableguys bundle (at $163.90 including tax) is a great choice.
I love the BFD drum plugin. My main drum VST is BFD, and their sounds are exceptional. While it has a steep learning curve, once you understand its complexities, it will provide truly realistic drum sounds.
The drum sounds on this song were created using BFD drums.
iZotope offers famous plugins like the RX and Ozone series. They also have excellent reverb plugins. Currently, they are offering a 40% discount on their bundle upgrades.
Since a certain point, Plugin Alliance began including tax when they sell their products to international customers on their website. Therefore, there is no compelling reason to buy their plugins directly from their website. You can earn points and free plugins when you purchase plugins through Plugin Boutique. Thus, I highly recommend purchasing them there instead.
My favorites include the Maag EQ4, the SPL series, and the Bettermaker C502V plugins.
I believe that covers all the main recommendations. There are still a few plugins I would like to recommend, but they are either not currently on sale or have fully transitioned to subscription models (like Musio 1).
Honestly, these days, I feel that plugins are not the most crucial factor in music production. The ideas and concepts are the most important aspects. Sound design and engineering are just the finishing touches to the music.
So, if you want to make meaningful music, I would advise against spending a lot of money on plugins you might use in the future. Just buy what you need now.
Hi! This is Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer.
Long time no post…!
I was too busy studying English and doing other work. Unfortunately, I failed to achieve the score that I wanted on the TOEFL test. My plan was to apply to a Ph.D. program this year, but I may have overestimated my English ability…T.T..
But I think it is reasonable for graduate schools to have a high TOEFL score threshold. If someone studies in Korea, I think they may have a good command of Korean and need to be proficient in the language. From the opposite perspective, English speakers will think the same way.
So.. I have to study English harder than before..
By the way, today, I’ll introduce Cableguys’ new plugin, Snapback. (The plugin was provided by Plugin Boutique, and if you purchase by the links, I’ll get small commission from them.)
It’s a simple audio layering plugin. However, this plugin has great detection ability and adds many flavors to the sources.
It analyzes the input signal in real time, detects each transient with high precision, and triggers two types of layers: a pre-transient “Snapback” layer and a main transient layer. This allows users to enrich kicks, snares, claps, and percussive sounds without manually adjusting timing in the DAW.
By automating phase-accurate alignment and offering detailed controls such as pitch, timing shift, stereo width, filtering, and dynamics, Snapback makes drum enhancement faster and more musical than traditional manual layering.
Let’s find out more about it’s parameters.
In the analyzer, a blue audio signal appears in front of the main source, with a purple audio signal behind the blue signal. The blue one is ‘snapback’, and the purple one is ‘transient’. They can be adjusted using the parameters at the bottom of the plugin.
I presume that many people are already familiar with the attack, decay, pitch, and all related parameters. Thus I’ll not elaborate about whole things. However, shift parameters refer to ‘shift timing,’ which can be adjusted from -4 ms to 4 ms. Width can be adjusted from 0% to 200%, and dynamics from 0% to 100%. HP and LP means High pass and Low pass filter.
Snapback and transient presets are organized into several stylistic groups, each designed to emphasize a specific aspect of drum layering. So, you can instantly hear how different combinations affect the groove.
Overall, Snapback is a simple tool, but it solves one of the most time-consuming tasks in modern production: clean and precise drum layering.
Its transient detection, timing accuracy, and flexible controls make it a fast and musical solution for enhancing percussion in any genre. I think $29 is really affordable!
Hey there! I’m Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer.
I finally submitted a new paper yesterday after about a month and a half of work. It’s a pretty straightforward paper, but building the program took forever… ugh. It’s a tool for measuring crosstalk, THD, and stuff like that. I’ve released it on my GitHub [Link], but I’ll write a detailed post about the program later.
Also, the paper wasn’t that critical, but I’ve been so busy running around for listening experiments that I totally neglected this blog. I’ll get back to writing posts diligently until I find my next topic!
Today, I want to talk about summer plugin and virtual instrument sales. I probably should’ve done this earlier, but since these sales usually happen between June and July, I think we’re still good… right? Haha.
If you purchase through the links below via Plugin Boutique [Link], I get a small commission, which really helps me keep things going. So, let’s dive in!
You’ve probably heard of this one! I previously introduced Total Studio 4 Max , but Total VI MAX is the version that includes only virtual instruments.
Right now, it seems they’re focusing on virtual instrument sales. I’m guessing come July, they’ll shift to mixing/mastering effect plugins. Personally, I think IK Multimedia offers the best bang for your buck, so for beginners, I’d say just grab Total Studio when it’s on sale without overthinking it.
Since the UADx (Native) versions came out, Universal Audio plugins have become super affordable. The Summer Mixtape Bundle, at about $100 for 10 plugins, is a fantastic deal for first-time buyers.
My recommended plugins:
Teletronix LA-2A Tube Compressor
UA 1176 Classic FET Compressor
Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection
Teletronix LA-3A Audio Leveler
Pultec Passive EQ Collection
Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb
These six are solid picks, and you can choose the rest based on your taste.
That said, after years of working with audio and music, I’ve noticed UAD plugins tend to have pretty aggressive saturation. They’re not like, “Wow, UAD is the best!!” for me, haha. Still, they add a punchy vibe to flat recordings or budget mics, so they’re great when used in the right context.
If you want even better value, the UAD Analog Classics Pro Bundle is the way to go. The LA-2A and 1176 series get used in projects all the time, so they’re super reliable.
Waves isn’t quite the value king anymore with IK Multimedia’s crazy sales, but if you want something lightweight and industry-standard, Waves is still the go-to. You’ll likely find the best deal at EveryPlugin .
Waves’ update plan gets a lot of flak (I’m not a fan either). Switching from Intel to Mac Silicon cost me like $200, which was annoying, haha. That said, newer Mac OS updates don’t seem to cause major issues with older Waves plugin versions.
Horizon is the best value, and if you feel it’s not enough, grabbing the SSL 4000 Collection or API Collection should cover you. Waves’ SSL compressor is really well-made.
If you’re into ambient music, Eventide Audio’s ShimmerVerb and Blackhole are pretty much must-haves. They’re great for creating expansive vibes and are consistent bestsellers, so grabbing them during a sale like this is a smart move.
Mastering The Mix makes some really solid plugins, and I especially recommend their EQ series. Plugins like Bassroom and Mixroom visually show how frequencies pop out or sit back based on loudness, which makes tweaking super intuitive.
Oops, this one’s got just one day left! I should’ve posted this sooner… sorry! Personally, I think getting the Standard version of Komplete is enough. Ultimate or Collector’s Editions feel a bit overkill, haha. You’ll barely use half the stuff in Standard as it is.
BFD’s expansion packs are on a crazy 70% sale right now—never seen a discount like this! Grab BFD 3.5 and the London Sessions kit, and you’re set for most genres. If you need more, snare add-ons or jazz kits are great options.
There’s probably more coming in July, but these are the standout sales right now. Some of these end today, so if you’re thinking about buying, act fast!
I’ve got a ton of topics in mind, so I’m not sure what the next post will be, but I’ll see you there!
Jooyoung's Music Blog 