If you want a quick round-up of some of the hottest new software releases for use in music and post-production then at Production Expert we've created this summary. We tell you what the brand says and what we think, we also include links to help you find out more.

This week we take a look at:

Zynaptiq MASTER Bundle

What Does Brand Say About Product?

The MASTER Bundle: AI-powered audio mastering plugins for maximum quality with minimum effort. Our award-winning "smart" equalizer UNFILTER solves any EQ problems auto-magically (or manually, if preferred), with stunning precision, an incredibly quick workflow, and pristine quality. Carve out the details and character of your audio, add clarity, increase density, and boost loudness without breaking a sweat using INTENSITY. Change the level and punch of drums in a mixed recording or on the drum bus using our source separation based UNMIX::DRUMS. Whether you are a mastering or mixing engineer, music producer or artist, the MASTER Bundle will save you massive amounts of time while providing unbeatable results!

Zynaptiq Plug-ins Included In MASTER BUNDLE:

• UNFILTER

• INTENSITY

• UNMIX::DRUMS

What Do We Think About Zynaptiq’s MASTER Bundle?

Zynaptiq offer a fair few bundles that cater to a wide variety of mixing applications which all represent great value for money, especially this bundle priced at $599. The MASTER Bundle fills a nice gap in Zynaptiq’s bundles and is also quite a unique offering in a sea of plug-in mastering plug-ins bundles.

Pros:

• Includes the fantastic INTENSITY plug-in

• Great value for money

• Unlike any other mastering plug-in bundle you can buy today

Cons:

• None

Visit Zynaptiq for more information on their new MASTER Bundle.

FabFilter Pro-Q 3

What Does FabFilter Say About Pro-Q3?

An equalizer is probably the tool you use most while mixing and mastering, so you need the best of the best. With FabFilter Pro-Q 3, you get the highest possible sound quality, a very extensive feature set, and a gorgeous, innovative interface with unrivalled ease of use.

FabFilter Pro-Q 3 is designed to help you achieve your sound in the quickest way possible. Via the large interactive EQ display, you can create bands where you need them, enable dynamic EQ for any band, and select and edit multiple bands at once.

Unique features like Spectrum Grab, Full Screen mode and EQ Match will speed up your workflow even more.

What Do We Think About FabFilter Pro-Q 3?

What’s not to like? For years FabFilter Pro-Q 2 has been a firm favourite of mine for mixing and mastering. Pro-Q has features across countless tracks within every single mix that I’ve produced in that time. It’s one of those types of plug-ins that, though quite visual, makes it easy for me to follow my instincts and make smart choices based on what I’m hearing. Any action, such as loading a band, setting a Q width or gain value is only ever a single click away. Nearly every operation is no more than two clicks away which makes for an incredibly easy to use plug-in. I’m awarding FabFilter Pro-Q 3 with an Expert Choice award as FabFilter has taken an already fantastic plug-in and improved it well beyond a point that I ever thought was possible, however, I do feel a bit disappointed to see that FabFilter Pro-Q 3 doesn’t feature any pitch tracking EQ as we’re seeing this type of technology introduced in more and more EQ plug-ins these days.

Pros:

• Dynamic EQ is smooth sounding and super simple to set per band.

• New m/s mode per band is a welcome addition as the previous version couldn’t provide us with the means to do both stereo and m/s within the same instance.

• Incredible value for money for an EQ plug-in which offers so many ways to shape and mangle tone

Visit FabFilter for more information and to download the 30 day free trial. If you have yet to try any FabFilter plug-in then we strongly suggest to start by dipping your toe in the water with FabFilter Pro-Q 3. Buy FabFilter Pro-Q 3 for £134 which represents outstanding value for money for an EQ plug-in of this caliber.

Waves Sibilance DeEsser

What Does Waves Say About Sibilance?

Powered by Waves’ innovative Organic ReSynthesis technology, this transparent vocal de-esser removes harsh vocal ‘s’ sounds faster than ever before, with exceptional quality – allowing you to make your vocals brighter without harshness. 

What Do We Think About Waves Sibilance?

I’ve been a Waves plug-in user for many years. My go to Waves DeEsser plug-in has always been “DeEsser”, the white plug-in with a single reduction fader. Waves new DeEsser is a big step up from that previous generation plug-in as this new product includes a very useful sibilance detection graph that helps us to see the amount of reduction and a smart sibilance detector engine which makes for quick and easy application. Waves gave this away over the Black Friday 2018 period, sadly this offer isn’t available anymore, however, you can pick this up on offer for $39 (regular pricing: $69) which isn’t a good a deal as free but still a bargain.

Pros:

• Intuative GUI.

• Does exactly what it says on the tin.

• Sibilance detection is indeed very smart.

Cons:

• None.

Visit Waves for more information about Sibilance.