There’s a lot of talk about certain plug ins sounding HI Fi. I think of old MacIntosh stereos and Altecs as having a bass and classy sheen that made any record sound amazing, deep and lush….

What plug ins do you find do this? AA Erin has this I think, and also Silver Bullet. What do you use for that bit of magic?

Boosts at 10k to 12k. Smiley-face the midrange. Boost 125hz.

I'm joking, of course..wait a minute..no I'm
not.

I demoed AA Erin on my Focal monitors and sub system, which is pretty much "hi-fi" in its own right. Didn't hear one bit of difference between all of the convertor models..I mean, none. Seemed to be a boost from 10k to 12k, much like any exciter plugin would add. and although the stereo widening was quite good, it's nothing I can't get from other stereo imaging plugins.

Put a widener and an exciter on it, maybe a bit of saturation..there's your "hi-fi". There are plenty of plugins that do that. Or..gasp..add exciters and saturation to individual elements in your mix, and make the panning more extreme. You put something like Slate Fresh Air on shakers, it's instant hi-fidelity.

Not to slam Acustica needlessly, they have two products I use constantly that I consider to be without peer..Lava (their mic modeling plugin) and Thing8 (their Jupiter-8 synth plugin).

I always thought a touch of ssl bus compression can add a touch of "high fi whatever" if that's what you're asking.

Soundtoys Sie-Q high band has kind of a slope curve that adds a nice presence. Air band on the Maag EQ is well-liked (though I have no personal experience with it). Simultaneous boost/cut with a Pultec style EQ.

Other than that, can't really think of any "magic high fi whatever plugins" to be honest.

For hi-fi with that classic sheen it has to be:

1. Clean, flat, broadband.
2. Adds very slight, pleasant harmonics.

I think of clean tube especially sitting in that category. Even order harmonics and progressive distortion with a very wide saturation curve.

The less clean, the more 'mid-fi' it is.

For a plugin to hit that, I use a waveshaper to add just a slight amount of soft clipping and harmonics. Maybe in a couple/few stages with very very slight amounts, just like in an amp. There are various options for waveshaper plugins. I use the tube and saturation engines in Apulsoft apShaper. It doesn't alias as much as others because it uses ADAA - aliasing is counter to the goal of hi-fi.

Not sure about the above post by Mr. Polich, as Erin models EAR gear. Not convertors or exciter stuff. I guess he's talking about Daisy. I own Erin but I don't find it that useful or adding much magic, which is disappointing considering what it models. I'd rather use a waveshaper. I used to use Cranesong Phoenix and the HEDD, which is... OK, was great at the time. I like hardware the best tbh. Tracking with a tube pre (I like the A Designs MP-2A) that has the sound already. Plugins could do it better is all.

Anyway, less is more here.

Yes, my bad, I meant AA 's Daisy plugin.
Thank you for the correction.

The only plug-in that made me feel like it's instant sounds-like-a-record ("amazing, deep and lush", yes) would be Kush Clariphonic Mkii Parallel Mastering EQ. Of course, some great effects in a mixing session can be used to get "there" by someone with some skills and many effects do exist that sound great. But few just make it work with little effort with varied sources.

Now, I haven't used it much so maybe I got lucky when I did. I have yet to settle for a master EQ. TDR SlickEQ Mastering is another contender and I have already some EQs meant for or otherwise suitable for this, so I need to compare at some point. In no hurry though.

Since in 2025 you can only add saturation and never remove it (discussed in other thread) the idea of a Hi-Fi maker is wrong to me... you cant higher the fidelity of a digital PCM file (once A/D converted)
Highest fidelity would mean that the original source remains untouch/unmodified. And nothing more untouched than not touching and changing it: just playing it.

Fake Hi-Fi as other said could be removing mids, maybe you can create harmonics via exiters... but no one of these proccedures will be faithful or HI-Fi, it might even sound better (understood not as fidelity but from a subjective POV)

Correct but I don't think that is the OP's point nor is it the focus of the replies. "Sounds like a record" could be anything..and which records are people talking about? IMO Kendrick Lamar's "records" sound terrible. Poorly mixed and mastered. But that is my personal taste.

You can't quantify what "sounds like a record" or "high fidelity" actually means. It's really down to what you like..again.

Funny when I started with plug ins, bought UBK1, Clariphonic and VCC. That was really helpful to getting me to believe plug ins could deliver. Lately been using Zynaptiq tools. Unfilter in the Butter setting, Balance in the 80’s, and Punch in the Wider presets, all do something nice.

Kush Electra is a wonderful Eq. Honestly it’s the only Eq I’ve meshed with to add sparkle with Clariphonic. I do agree with the above poster that was talking about manipulating sound, but unless you have great monitoring and treatment (I don’t!), can lead you to madness lol!