Phil Speiser is a musician, producer, and developer who embodies the term one-man-band. Now, The_Spice, his all-in-one sonic enhancement plugin, is free for a limited time.
Everything on his website (including the website design), from music to sounds and plugins, is 100% Phil.
I’m sure we’ve all worked on songs or projects that change in some form from start to finish. The change is often a good thing, as we naturally develop ideas over time.
Other times, even if the final outcome sounds good, it’s not quite what we imagined because we couldn’t find a way or the tools to get there.
In an attempt to minimize the gap between an idea and a finished product, Phil learned to program his own audio tools that helped him stay true to his original vision, and he has been releasing user-friendly plugins ever since.
The_Spice is a simple but highly impactful plugin that adds depth, energy, presence, and clarity with little fuss.
Like the Waves IDX Intelligent Dynamics plugin (Black Friday 2024), the developer encourages use on multiple individual tracks and the master bus.
The_Spice plugin uses adaptive multi-band processing to enhance the elements you want to shine, polish any problem areas, and craft the perfect space for each sound/instrument in your mix.
Also, like Waves IDX, the adaptive processing intelligently responds to the input for optimal results.
There are only a few controls to get through, starting with the main Intensity dial. Turning the Intensity dial reduces muddiness around clashing frequencies and highlights dynamics that breathe more life into each track.
Intensity delivers subtle polish to more prominent enhancements.
If you want something more transformative, you can use the XTRM knob to introduce an OTT-like effect with saturation, which is great on synth sounds or drums (especially when used in parallel by bringing the Mix knob down some way to avoid becoming too aggressive).
The Spark module is a high-frequency enhancer inspired by analog design. Spark is an easy way to add clarity and brightness to melodic elements without harshness.
Again, the results depend on the input, and as good as it is, even the nicest melodic line or percussive pitch can become obnoxious if too bright, so it’s not needed everywhere.
The_Spice has some nice touches, like a lowcut switch to remove low rumble under 100Hz. Another nice touch is the input level markers on the Output meter, so you can always see exactly how your levels compare/change.
I’m unsure how long The_Spice will be available for free, but I’d grab it while you can.
The Spice is available in AU, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows.
Download: The_Spice (FREE for a limited time)
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Last Updated on January 16, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
