What DAW & Plugins Does David Guetta Use? Gear & Equipments.

David Guetta is a No.1 DJ in the world according to djmag.com and sold over 9 million albums worldwide along with 30 million singles. The French DJ was born on November 7th, 1967, and rose to the top around 30 years of age.

Some of his top hits include Sia – Titanium, Bebe Rexa – Say My Name, 2U – Justin Bieber and so much more. He has also help co-produce songs for other artists such as Ariana Grande – One Last Time and Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling.

Before we get into David Guetta’s home setup, you should watch the below video to get a glimpse of his workspace and some of his gears.

Let’s go into his tools now.

What DAW Does David Guetta Use?

David Guetta for most of his production and playing live uses Ableton Live. Ableton Live is a very powerful workstation and is used by a large number of famous artists/DJs.

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Though Ableton Live is his primary DAW of choice for his production, he does use other software such as Logic Pro, Fl Studio. In an interview, David Guetta mentioned that when it comes to mixing the go-to DAW is pro tools.

What Plugins Does David Guetta Use?

David Guetta uses quite a good amount of plugins to get the desired sounds. Safe to say that most of his productions contain the following software on this list. Like other artists, he also uses these tools to create unique sounds by himself but it is always good to know what are the tools an artist uses.

VSTs

Artists such as David Guetta uses quite a lot of powerful plugins and it is always fun to find out their tools. I love to research around them to know exactly what they use and I am glad to share this around with others like me.

Below are some if not all of these plugins that he uses, I have also linked to sources to confirm each of them. If you are interested you can head over to those links to check them out for yourself.

1. Native Instruments Massive Synth

A very powerful and famous synth that can be used to create various sounds. When you start playing around with native instruments’ Massive, you will realize that all those super hits songs have very similar sounding elements. This plugin is also used by Skrillex.

2. reFX Nexus 2

Nexus is another great plugin that already comes with amazing presets and you will find thousands more with a simple google search. Nexus by reFX is another favorite of David Guetta. You can see his testimonial on the official testimonial section of the reFX website.

3. Sylenth1

Sylenth1 is still a very active plugin and one of the reasons young artists started using it was after Martin Garrix’s famous interview. Sylenth1 is another plugin in the toolkit of David Guetta. You can watch the video below where he uses it.

4. Mixed In Key Captain Beat

Mixed In Key is a great and advanced plugin. You can use it to find a key of any drum, vocal, or any sample and create basslines and chords according to that. Makes life much easier. There are also a lot of expansion packs available online.

5. Cableguys VolumeShaper

Cableguys comes with a lot of plugins and David Guetta has a bundle of them and uses it. VolumeShaper is mentioned here because he used it in a video and that video is embedded at the end of this article.

6. Nicky Romero – Kickstart

A really simple yet powerful plugin for sidechaining by Nicky Romero. Along with many sidechaining plugins, David Guetta uses this as well for his tracks. If you are a producer and would like a really cool sidechaining plugin then get this one.

7. Nicky Romero – KICK Drum Synthesiser

Nicky Romero’s other famous plugin is this Kick Drum Synthesiser. It’s easy to sculpt, create, manipulate and shape your sound. This plugin has a really nice GUI that would want you to try it.

Buy the plugin

8. Xfer Records – Serum

The serum is a really famous plugin, from Martin Garrix to David Guetta, everybody has it and uses it. Serum by Xfer Records comes with a wide range of presets and also a good amount of presets are available online.

Especially if you are producing EDMs this plugin will give you the perfect touch for it. There is a video where you can see David Guetta using this plugin (Embedded at the end of this article).

9. Universal Audio SSL 4000 G BUS Compressor

This is a compressor plugin that has a decent GUI and produces a very crisp sound even after compression. A little pricey but does the job for the price.

More info

10. Vertigo Sound VSM-3

This is a mixing and mastering plugin and as claimed by the manufacturers it is a “one of a kind harmonic generator”. Another plugin from UAD and also used by David Guetta.

More info

11. Universal Audio Pultec EQP-1A Legacy

This is a classic EQ plugin and a very high-end one from UAD. In this below video at exactly 5:53, you can see David Guetta using this plugin.

View on official site

12. Brainworx bx_control V2 Plugin

In David Guetta’s masterclass on the same above video, you can see that he uses this plugin on his master chain. This plugin is about $99 and they also offer a free trial if you want to try this plugin out.

More Info

13. Antares AutoTune

A plugin that is been used by almost every producer for pitch correction and autotune effect. It is also in the list of David Guetta’s toolkit. Seems like he has the bundle from Antares.

Get Antares Here

14. Cableguys – HalfTime

Cableguys – HalfTime plugin is a very powerful plugin that is the only plugin in the market dedicated to half-speed sound effects. HalfTime helps to create a new vibe to your songs regardless of your genre. This plugin is used by Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, and many more.

Get Cableguys – HalfTime

15. SonicProjects OP-X PRO-II

This plugin is said to be used by David Guetta and the source is the testimonial on their website. If this is of any interest to you then feel free to check it out.

Check SonicProjects OP-X PRO-II

16. Native Instruments – Reaktor Software Synthesizer

Reaktor is a software synthesizer that you can use to create absolutely anything with some tweaks. If you purchase this almost 70+ instruments along with thousands of presets come along with this.

This plugin can also be used to create and sample anything and make it sound the way you want.

Check the official demo

17. Cableguys ShaperBox 2

Cableguys ShaperBox 2 is an advanced sound shaper that is built by combing 6 powerful Cableguys plugins. With this plugin, you can make your synth sound sharper, expand stereo range, and make your drums punch harder.

View more info

18. Vengeance Producer Suite – Avenger

Vengeance Producer Suite – Avenger is another plugin that David Guetta uses along with Nexus. He says that he prefers it more than nexus as he gets to control and edit the sounds. This also comes with great-sounding presets that you barely need to edit.

More info

19. iZotope Ozone 9

Izotope Ozone 9 is one of the most popular and powerful plugins that is a must-have if you mix and master your own songs. Martin Garrix, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and much more mainstream artist uses these.

View details

20. iZotope RX 8

IZotope RX is a plugin that is used to repaid audio but also has other features such as removing dialogue reverb, de-rustle, and isolating vocals.

RX 8 Advanced — A screenshot of David Guetta’s screen. A video posted by David Guetta.

Check price on official site

21. Waves – Vitamin Sonic Enhancer

Vitamin Sonic Enhancer is a multiband harmonic enhancer and also a sound-shaping tool that can make your mixes powerful without losing any quality.

Above is a picture of David Guetta’s workspace.

View plugin details

22. OTT by Xfer Records

OTT by Xfer Records is a multiband compressor and used by many EDM and Techno artists including David Guetta. He uses this plugin to achieve a bounce effect on his mixes. This plugin is free of cost.

Download for free

23. UAD Plugins (Bundle)

UAD Bundle consists of a lot of useful mixing and mastering tools. The below picture is a screenshot of David Guetta mixing a track. Clearly shows that he has the entire bundle of UAD plugins.

View UAD Plugins

Also read: What Plugins Does Calvin Harris use?

What Gear Does David Guetta Use?

DJ SETUP

1. Pioneer DJ RMX-1000 Remix Station

If you are a DJ and need to impress your crowd with a little bit of unique twist on spot, you need to invest in one of these. RMX-1000 serves up all the possibilities of studio effects and beatboxes.

This device also comes with Pioneer’s remix box editor software that will allow you to customize and manipulate every function that there is on the device.

Check price and reviews on Amazon: Pioneer DJ RMX-1000

2. Pioneer EFX-500

This product isn’t really active right now in the industry but David Guetta used to use this and can be seen using in the below video. Just thought I’ll mention it anyway.

3. Pioneer DJS-1000

DJS-1000 is 16 track DJ track dynamic sampler. You can use this to create unique phrases and samples ahead of your sets. It is very convenient if you are a regular performer.