PluginChainBuilder
Plugin Chain Advisor
Welcome to PluginChainBuilder
Setup questions asked once and saved forever. Build professional plugin chains for recording, mixing, and mastering in seconds.
What is your mixing experience?
This shapes how ChainBuilder explains things.
Beginner
New to mixing, explain everything
Intermediate
Know the basics, show key notes
Experienced
Veteran, numbers and upgrades only
What DAW are you using?
Stock plugin recommendations are built around your specific DAW.
What are you working on?
Choose a lane to build your plugin chain.
Recording
Track specific instruments. Signal chain built around your mic, pickup, genre, and role.
Mixing
Fix and polish your mix. Full mix, individual tracks, or bus processing.
Mastering
Platform-specific LUFS targets for Spotify, Apple Music, CD, vinyl, and more.
🔍Search plugins, instruments, techniques...
DAW: Logic Pro
For Beginners and Intermediate Producers
What Gear Will I Need?
Answer a few quick questions about your session — what you are recording, how, and where. We will give you a curated list of essentials plus upgrades worth knowing about, with the recommended picks at every tier.
PluginChainBuilder.com participates in affiliate programs with Sweetwater and Plugin Boutique.  · 
Affiliate Disclosure
PluginChainBuilder.com participates in affiliate programs with Sweetwater and Plugin Boutique. We earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Recommendations are based on documented professional use and are made independently of affiliate relationships.
Report a Bug or Send Feedback
Found something broken, or have an idea to make PluginChainBuilder better? Tell me about it. Every message comes straight to me.
What kind of feedback is this?
Describe the bug. What did you expect, and what happened instead?
Your email (optional, only if you would like a reply)
Your feedback is sent straight to me. Page, DAW, and browser are included with bug reports to help with fixing. Nothing else is collected.
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What are you working on today?
Pick the option that matches your goal. We will narrow down from here.
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Which instrument?
Pick the instrument you are recording.
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How are you capturing it?
The capture method shapes the gear and chain you need.
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What is your recording environment?
This shapes which accessories will help you the most.
What Gear Will I Need?
Pick a category to see Budget, Mid-Range, and Professional picks — with educational notes and cross-references to gear that pairs with it.
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What genre are you recording?
Genre shapes instrument recommendations, mic choices, EQ settings, and reverb character.
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What are you recording?
Select a saved instrument or configure a new one.
Track multiple instruments
Build chains for several sources in this session — switch between them as tabs.
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What role does it play?
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How is it being captured?
Tell us about your acoustic
These details shape the mic and DI recommendations in your chain.
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What interface are you recording into?
Optional — saves for future sessions
What microphone are you using?
Optional — saves for future sessions
Select microphone type
Click a type to expand — enter your mic, get tips, and see gear recommendations.
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What type of voice?
This shapes the microphone recommendation — different voice types need different capsule characteristics to sound their best.
Mono or stereo recording?
Most recordings are mono — one mic on the source. Stereo uses two mics for a wider, more immersive image.
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What type of virtual instrument?
Select your category to see the right chain and gear recommendations.
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How is your drum plugin outputting?
This determines whether you get one channel strip or a full per-instrument multitrack chain.
Single Stereo Output
All drums on one stereo track — simplest setup, full mix in one channel
Quickest to set up
Multi-Output
Separate tracks per instrument — Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat, Toms, Overheads, Room, Bus
Professional standard
Effects Sends
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What are you mixing?
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Which instrument are you mixing?
Select a saved instrument or choose a type.
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Which bus or stem?
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What genre are you mixing?
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What problems are you solving?
Optional — select any that apply, then continue. Or tap Continue to skip.
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What are you mixing on?
Your monitoring setup affects every mix decision.
Studio Monitors
Speakers in a treated room or near-field position
Most accurate
Headphones
Closed or open-back cans for critical listening
Portable
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How are you processing your mix?
Select your approach — or build the chain now with defaults.
Plugins
Software processing inside your DAW
Most common
Hybrid
Plugins plus outboard hardware inserts
Best of both
Hardware
Outboard gear: compressors, EQs, summing
Analog signal
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What genre are you mastering?
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How are you mastering?
Your setup determines what the chain shows — plugins, analog hardware, or both.
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Where is this being released?
Tap a platform to continue. Each has a specific LUFS target and True Peak ceiling.
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Any issues to correct?
Optional — select all that apply, then build. Or tap Build now to skip.