Sonalksis, based out of Liverpool, England, happens to be one of the smallest yet most intriguing companies currently developing plugins. Other than Sony’s Oxford line of EQs and compressors, there are few plugins that I’ve found over the last few years that have inspired me outside of the current line of emulations and clones.

The SV-315 mk2 compressor, as much as I almost hate to say it, has been a godsend compressor that has beat out my outboard SSL buss compressor on several occasions. Between that and the surprisingly useful and unique TBK3 compressor, I find their stuff innovative and effective beyond many of the newer stuff from some of the major developers.

Please note I’m not endorsed or affiliated with these guys – I was just inspired by my session today to share with ya’ll my current love of these plugins. In my opinion, the future of audio plugin design for Pro Tools and any other platform needs to be forward thinking. Emulating outboard gear has it’s place, but the next revolution lies within new and creative designs. There’s a difference between building upon past designs and re-hashing them in digital form.

-Christian