What are the best / your favourite AU plugins?

[Jay Lee]

I know there's a lot of threads about best reverbs and stuff, but I thought it would be nice to have everything in one thread. So what are in your opinion the best plugins that have AU version...oh and let's keep it UB (intel compatible).

Compressor/Limiter
EQ
Delay
Reverb
And other FX...

[xist]

In my opinion you can't go wrong with:

Soundtoys Native Bundle (delays, filters, creative harmonizing, etc.)

AudioEase Altiverb (IR reverb)

Sonalksis (eq and comps, filter)

other choices with different flavours:

FabFilter (filter, comp)

IK CSR / Breverb (algorithmic reverb)

I would start with these. They cover all the professional need you may have.

Yes, there are tons of other plugs, much cheaper too, but the difference with the ones mentioned is noticeable. And remember, more plugins you put in your folder, more time you'll have to spend learning, tweaking, etc.
And with less plugs, your computer (and DAW) will be easier to maintain too ;-)

Then, if you're into creative manipulation/post-production or need to do serious tunings:

Celemony Melodyne

Last thing, if you're into harmonizations (up to 4 voices) and you want to have creative fun in real time with your computer (which doesn't happen often with plug-ins), this is one the things I've liked most recently:

Antares Harmony Engine

Most of these have demo versions. Try and decide :-)

[jeronimo]

EQ & Compressors from Sonalksis
Logic 8 Delay Designer
IK CSR for reverbs
Amplitube 2 for multi-fx