Waves Infected Mushroom Pusher Plug-in Reviews

I'm an amateur part time song writer, guitarist, "singer"...I've used innumerable "mastering" plugins from maybe a dozen great companies...still keep coming back to IMP to polish my mixes to share...works well to quickly augment a mix...I'd buy it again in a heart beat!

I've been mastering my own music, plus some of my friends' tracks. My main tool for mastering is Ozone 9, which I can't recommend more highly. Using the "Mastering Assistant" feature as a starting (and sometimes ending) point has enabled me train my ear to the point that I'm pretty happy with my ability to master tracks.

Over the last two years I've purchased several Waves plugins to compliment Ozone 9, but find myself regularly using only two, either Greg Wells Mix Centric and Infected Mushroom Pusher. I add one of them at the end of the chain, followed by my DAW's (Logic) limiter to glue everything together and warm it up a bit more. I find that both of these plugins add something really great. I find Mix Centric generally works really well to add presence and glue to actual instrument based tracks (folk, rock, country, blues, etc.), and used it extensively when mastering all the old recordings of bands I played in over the years. Infected Mushroom Pusher works to add space, depth, clarity and fullness (and some balls) to DAW based sampled music (pop, dance, ambient, etc.), and I use it on the master stage of almost every new track now.

Both of these plugins go on sale regularly... If you want to master tracks from actual bands I would probably recommend Mix Centric, although Infected Mushroom Pusher sometimes works great for that, too. If you're doing primarily electronic music on your DAW, however, then I would absolutely recommend Infected Mushroom Pusher.

Last thing, let me also say that decent monitor speakers are crucial, but fortunately don't have to cost so much. I mix and master with M-Audio speakers, and find them to be excellent. A friend of mine has an old pair of Behringer Monitor speakers, and they sound pretty flat, too. And lastly, acoustic treatments are also crucial, plus they make the listening experience WAY more enjoyable. If you're on a budget you can order a box of six Owens Corning 2'x4'x2" panels, wrap them with colored burlap and hang them on your wall. Or take two or four of them, cut them in half and glue them together to make 24"x24"x4" bass traps for your corners, and use the other two on your side walls. Add a hanging 2'x4'x4" "bass trap" for above your head and you'll be well on your way to doing very credible masters.

And let me give a big shoutout to Swetwater. They're always so helpful. And if Waves is doing a sale, Sweetwater always offers it for the saem price, too.

So anyway... yes, I LOVE INFECTED MUSHROOM PUSHER!

Bought this very recently so i haven't been able to test it to its full potential, but so far i've used it on a couple of masters for EDM tracks (the reason i got it) and it's definitely a gem for that purpose. The stereo section widens the high end nicely without messing with the low end of the track, the limiting is solid and overall this thing sure lives up to it's name - you can push it pretty hard without losing punch or distorting. (Of course, if it's distortion you're going for, you can get it - there's actually a "clip/limit" select function also). So far, great stuff!

This plugin is really awesome! It gives an in-your-face, aggressive quality to any track I throw it on using the "PUSH" feature. Also, unexpectedly, it makes a GREAT brick wall limiter. I actually use it in place of the L2 plugin often. Never thought this very inexpensive piece of tech would end up on just about everything I record, but it does!

This plugin is amazing! If you wanna improve your mix this product accomplishes it with simplicity and ease of use.