What’s the Best Exciter Plugin for Metal Mixes?

You’ve got your mix sounding heavy. The guitars are thick, the drums are pounding, and the bass is holding down the low end. But something’s still missing. It feels a little… dull. Like there’s a blanket over the whole thing. You’ve tried boosting the top end with EQ, but it just gets harsh and brittle.

This is exactly where a harmonic exciter comes in.

Unlike an EQ, which can only boost or cut existing frequencies, an exciter actually generates new harmonic content, usually in the mid-to-high frequency range. This adds a sense of air, presence, and clarity that you just can't get otherwise. It can make a vocal cut through a wall of guitars, give cymbals a brilliant shimmer, or add an aggressive bite to a snare drum.

But with so many options out there, which is the best exciter plugin for the job? The truth is, it depends on the task. A better question is: which tools are proven to work in heavy music, and how do the pros use them?

Let's break down some of the most powerful and go-to exciter plugins for metal production.

The Go-To Exciters for Modern Metal Mixes

Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter (by Waves or Universal Audio)

This is the OG. The Aphex Aural Exciter is a legendary piece of hardware that has saved countless mixes from sounding flat. The plugin versions from Waves and UAD are fantastic emulations that capture the character of the original.

Why it's great for metal: It’s famous for its ability to add a beautiful, silky top-end sheen without sounding overly electronic or harsh. It's not an in-your-face effect unless you really crank it.

How to use it:

• Vocals: Place it on a lead vocal track or bus to add air and intelligibility so it can slice through dense guitar tracks. The AX mix mode is perfect for this.
• Drum Overheads: Want your cymbals to sound expensive and shimmery instead of trashy? A touch of the Aphex on your overheads or drum bus can add that high-end sparkle that makes a kit sound polished. Start with a low amount and slowly blend it in until the cymbals just start to open up.
• Mix Bus: A very, very subtle touch on the mix bus can add a final layer of polish and "air" to the entire track. Be careful here – a little goes a long way.

FabFilter Saturn 2

FabFilter Saturn 2 isn't just an exciter; it's a multi-band saturation and distortion beast. This is the surgical tool for when you need to add harmonic content to a specific part of the frequency spectrum without messing with everything else.

Why it's great for metal: Its multi-band nature is a godsend in metal. You can add aggressive bite to the high-mids of a guitar without making the low-end chugs flubby, or add warmth to the low-mids of a snare without making it boxy.

How to use it:

• Snare Drum: Split the snare into three bands. Add some "Gentle Saturation" or "Warm Tape" to the body (around 200-500Hz) and a more aggressive "Broken Tube" or "Smudgy" saturation to the crack and attack (around 2-6kHz). This lets you shape the tone of the snare dramatically.
• Guitars: Want more pick attack and string definition without adding fizz? Create a band from 3kHz to 8kHz and apply some subtle saturation. This is a much more natural-sounding alternative to just cranking the presence knob on an amp sim or using a harsh EQ boost on your metal guitars.
• Bass Guitar: Use it to add grit and harmonics to the bass's midrange so it can be heard on smaller speakers, while keeping the sub-bass clean and powerful.

Soundtoys Decapitator

While technically a saturation plugin, Decapitator is the undisputed king of aggressive harmonic generation. When you need something to sound mean, nasty, and in-your-face, this is what you reach for. Don't let the simple interface fool you; it's incredibly versatile.

Why it's great for metal: It adds attitude. From subtle warmth to full-on obliterated distortion, Decapitator can make drums punchier, vocals angrier, and bass more present. The "Punish" button is pure metal.

How to use it:

• Parallel Drum Bus: This is a classic move. Send all your drums to an aux track, put Decapitator on it, and hit the "Punish" button. Tweak the tone knob to be more "bright" and then blend that aux track in just underneath your main drum bus. This adds incredible punch and aggression without losing the original dynamics.
• Screaming Vocals: Blend in a bit of Decapitator to give screaming vocals more texture, grit, and harmonic complexity, helping them stand out.
• Snare Top: Need more crack? Put Decapitator directly on the snare top mic, drive it just a little, and use the "Thump" and "High Cut" controls to shape the aggression.

iZotope Ozone Exciter

Part of the powerful Ozone mastering suite, the Exciter module is a fantastically versatile tool that can be used on individual tracks and buses, not just for mastering. Like Saturn, it offers multi-band processing and a variety of different saturation "styles."

Why it's great for metal: The different modes—Analog, Tape, Tube, Triode, etc.—give you a huge palette of tonal colors. You can go from the subtle warmth of tape to the crunchy bite of a tube circuit.

How to use it:

• Guitars: Use the "Tape" or "Retro" mode on a guitar bus to add a bit of saturation that helps glue quad-tracked guitars together, making them feel like one cohesive wall of sound.
• Synth & Keys: If you have synth pads or strings in your metal track, the Ozone Exciter can help them find a space in the mix by adding harmonics that separate them from the guitars and cymbals.
• Mix Bus: In a mastering context, the Ozone Exciter is amazing for adding that final 10% of "wow" factor. Use it in multi-band mode to gently liven up the mids and add air to the highs without touching the powerful low end.

It's Not The Plugin, It's The Mixer

Here’s the thing: you could own every plugin on this list and your mixes might still sound the same. The real magic isn't in collecting plugins; it's in knowing why and when to use them.

We've all been there—scrolling through forums, seeing a pro mention a specific plugin, and thinking, "That's the missing piece!" This is classic plugin acquisition syndrome. But the reality is, the world's best mixers, like the many instructors you'll find on Nail The Mix, could get a killer mix using just stock plugins. Their mixes are great because of their skills, their aural taste, and their thousands of hours of experience—not because they have a secret plugin folder.

An exciter is a problem-solver. The most important step is identifying the problem: "My snares sound dull," or "My vocals get lost." The second step is choosing a tool to fix it. Any of the plugins above can do the job. The final—and most critical—step is using your ears to dial it in.

A Word on Phase and Parallel Processing

When you use an exciter, especially on a parallel bus, be mindful of phase. Exciters, EQs, and many other processors introduce a tiny bit of latency. Most DAWs have Automatic Delay Compensation (ADC) to handle this, but it's not always perfect.

If you're running a signal in parallel through an exciter, that processed signal might be slightly out of time with the original, causing phasing or "comb filtering" that can make your sound thin and weak.

A quick way to check is to flip the phase on the parallel channel. If the sound thins out drastically, you're likely okay. If it gets fuller, you might have a phase problem. This is the kind of deep, practical knowledge you need to turn good mixes into great ones.

See How The Pros Do It

Reading about techniques is one thing. Watching a world-class producer actually apply them to a real-world mix is another thing entirely.

Want to see how guys like Will Putney, Jens Bogren, or Nolly Getgood use saturation and excitement to make their mixes hit hard? At Nail The Mix, you can. Every month, you-get access to the full, raw multi-track sessions from massive bands and watch the original producer mix the song from scratch, explaining every move they make.

You'll see which exciters they reach for, how they dial them in, and—most importantly—why they're making those choices in the context of a real song. Check out our entire catalog of past mixing sessions and see for yourself how the best in the business craft legendary metal tones.