I have always been a big fan of using stock plugins as much as possible. I don’t like spending lots of money on plugins that can be imitated with everything you have. However, I do think there are some low-cost plugins out there that are worth looking into.

So to all my Producer friends out there, here are my top 3 simple-to-use plugins that you may not have heard of but definitely should check out:

1. Renaissance-Bass (Waves)

My absolute go-to Plugin to make the bass sound nice and thick. It is a bass-enhancing plug-in, that does not focus on adding sublayers but twists the harmonics. You can enhance your sound without having to turn down the gain massively since the actual loudness does not increase on the low end which is usually pretty tightly shared with the kick drum - and is typically one of the peaking frequencies in house music. So you do not want to make this any louder than it already is. 

2. Camel Crusher (Camel Audio)

Old but Gold. One of the best distortion plugins in my opinion. Even though OTT came up later on as a very good alternative that can be put on pretty much any sound, sometimes I still like to go back to Camel Crusher.

3. DJMFilter (Xfer Records)

My go-to filter in every track. It gives you all the options & automation you need with only a few knobs. + It’s Free (win/win).

I also heard a lot of good stuff about KSHMR Essentials - I haven’t tried it, but from what I’ve seen, it’s a great sound-enhancing plugin for all different kinds of elements in your tracks.