After years of producing, mixing, and mastering, I’ve narrowed down the software and plugins that truly make a difference. These favorites power my daily workflow and help me shape the Tony Oso sound.

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Digital Audio Workstation

Reaper: The best-priced DAW on the market. Light, powerful, customizable, and nearly unbeatable for the price.
Buy: Reaper

🥁 Virtual Instruments & Drum Software

1. Steven Slate Drums 5.5: The best-priced drum VST available. Tight, punchy drum sounds perfect for rock, pop, and anything in between.
Buy: Steven Slate Drums 5.5

2. Modo Bass 2:  Insanely realistic bass modeling that nails everything from P-Bass warmth to modern growl.
Buy: Modo Bass 2

3. Native Instruments Kontakt 8: The industry-standard sampler that unlocks thousands of virtual instruments.
Buy: Kontakt 8

4. LABS (Spitfire Audio): Free, cinematic instruments with massive emotional character.
FREE Spitfire LABS

5. Waves Bass Fingers: Super playable finger-style bass VST perfect for demos or full productions.
Buy: Waves Bass Fingers

6. Waves CODEX Synth: A powerful wavetable synth for modern electronic textures and leads.
Buy: Waves CODEX

7. Waves GTR Tool Rack: A surprisingly solid amp/effects suite for quick guitar tones and creative FX.
Buy: Waves GTR Tool Rack

8. Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7: A fully-loaded amp and effects powerhouse. 
Buy: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7

🎧 Monitoring & Mixing Tools

1. Steven Slate VSX: Incredible headphone modeling that lets you mix anywhere accurately.
Buy: Steven Slate VSX (You need the headphones to go with it!)

2. Izotope Neutron 5: A powerful all-in-one mixing platform with AI assistance that speeds up your workflow.
Buy: Izotope Neutron 5

3. Izotope Tonal Balance Control: Keeps your mixes on track by comparing them to pro-level tonal curves.
Buy: Izotope Tonal Balance Control

4. Izotope Insight 2: A full suite of metering tools so you can visually understand every detail of your mix.
Buy: Izotope Insight 2

5. Loudmax Limiter: A simple, transparent limiter that gets loud without killing your mix.
FREE: Loudmax Limiter

7. Fabfilter Pro-Q 4 EQ: The best dynamic EQ on the market.
Buy: Fabfilter Pro-Q 4 EQT

🎤 Vocal Production Tools

1. Izotope Nectar 4: Incredible vocal presets that get you 90% of the way there with only minor tweaks.
Buy: Izotope Nectar 4

2. Waves Butch Vig Vocals: Aggressive, polished vocal processing inspired by the legendary producer.
Buy: Waves Butch Vig Vocals

3. Waves Sync VX: Great for tightening vocal doubles and getting that modern, clean vocal stack.
Buy: Waves Sync VX

4. Izotope RX: Great for repairing audio with reverb and noise issues
Buy: Izotope RX

5. Melodyne: Yep… nobody’s perfect. I use it for subtle pitch correction and natural tuning.
Buy: Melodyne

6. Waves Harmony: Makes my job much easier when hunting for the perfect vocal harmonies.
Buy: Waves Harmony

🎚 Mastering Tools

1. Izotope Ozone 12: Unbelievable mastering presets that get you 90% of the way there with just a few tweaks.
Buy: Izotope Ozone 12

2. Abbey Road Mastering Chain: Polished tone modeled after the legendary Abbey Road signal chain.
Buy: Abbey Road Mastering Chain

3. Brainworx bx_masterdesk: Instant masters with simple controls and powerful analog-style processing.
Buy: Brainwork bx_masterdesk

4. Fabfilter Pro-L 2 Brickwall Limiter: When doing advanced mastering techniques, this is a must.
Buy: Fabfilter Pro-L 2 Brickwall Limiter

🔥 Creative Effects & Additional Plugins

1. Izotope Trash: My go-to for distortion, degradation, and wild sound design.
Buy: Izotope Trash

2. Izotope Neoverb: A smart reverb plugin that blends different reverbs for lush, clean, or massive spaces.
Buy: Izotope Neoverb

3. Native Instruments RAUM: One of the coolest free reverbs ever. Beautiful ambient textures and creative spaces.
FREE: Native Instruments RAUM

4. Waves Brauer Motion: A spinning, swirling motion effect that opens up mixes in a unique way.
Buy: Waves Brauer Motion

5. Waves CR8 Creative Sampler: An intuitive sampler for crafting unique instruments, chops, and textures.
Buy: Waves CR8 Creative Sampler

6. Waves Cosmos Sample Finder: Instantly organizes and searches your entire sample library.
Buy: Waves Cosmos Sample Finder