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Do We Go Overboard With Plug-ins?

Random comment on the video: 2mins to say that "in some cases, having too many plugins can be detrimental but in some cases there's a new one that you like, install it and use it." WTF?
 
You're supposed to get a new phone every year. Every other year at the latest, because apparently, the current one suddenly doesn't do it any more. It's the same with plug-ins. It's an industry. I think it's full of woo-woo. I will go out on a limb and claim that even a lot of full-blown pros suffer from a lot of tunnel vision and placebo.

I think for most people it's absolutely sufficient to find the ones that work for them, sound good and are fun to work with. And that's it. It also takes a lot of time to really learn a plug-in - learn to listen to what it does and gain some practical experience with it you can rely on. I always end up coming back to the same few I almost always use.
 
Random comment on the video: 2mins to say that "in some cases, having too many plugins can be detrimental but in some cases there's a new one that you like, install it and use it." WTF?
LOL, good point.
 
Im currently on vaccation at my parents place having just my laptop. Using just a few plugins I have installled here feels really good. Imo there is a lot of otherthinking going on. Especially when it comes to EQs.
Some people claim that all EQs are the same and its just about saturation and unclear parameter labeling ....
 
Plug-ins seem to be targeted at preset surfers. Especially software synthesizers - just go to the KVR forums to see what I mean. These guys are buying hundreds of synth plugins to play the same cheesy EDM/dubstep sounds, nothing that isn't achievable in Ableton or any other DAW with native devices.

I personally don't like to use plugins unless it's something I absolutely can't accomplish natively, which is very rare. Bitwig Studio is really great for sound design, all of the devices are streamlined to work coherently with each other (not to mention the modulation capabilities) and I would hate to taint the workflow by loading up some bloated plugin.

I think the only VST things I'm using regularly are Play, Equator, and Pianoteq.
 
No.

For mixing, it's a toolbox. Would we say to a car mechanic that he's having too many wrenches and that adjustable monkey one should be enough?
 
No.

For mixing, it's a toolbox. Would we say to a car mechanic that he's having too many wrenches and that adjustable monkey one should be enough?
No. But does he need twenty?
 
no, but he would work with the best tools he has i think.
Of course. And learn those tools better than any others. But he really only needs a few to do the job. And if he keeps buying new tools, hoping for better results, maybe his time would be better spent on practicing his plumbing skills.
 
Doesn’t to hurt to have 2 or 3 of each type of plugin due to saturation differences for example some eqs have different q shapes, slopes and freq areas , some are more all around and some are more surgical . It does get to a point though when you’re looking through your plugin list and wondering why you have this or that. Delays, saturation and reverb plugins can be vastly different and be effective for certain styles or effect that you’re going for . To each their own I guess .
 
I bought a UAD card years ago in a fire sale, and the latest Soundtoys bundle more recently, and a few things besides that, and Pro Tools came w /a number too, which I’ve not explored.

Consequently I have more Sfx than inclination to learn them myself, but then an engineer comes in and is happy to have what he prefers.

I don’t really mind having extras; I find that I go through phases (har-har) of using favourites, only to migrate to different ones from my collection at other times.

Restlessness of a particular kind I guess. Also I keep changing genres, and you can’t use the Space Echo on everything.
 
I have enough. I’m not even a good mix engineer!

I purchased Sound Toys 5, a couple Waves console emulations and reverbs, a bundle from Toneboosters. I also have the few that came with Komplete 10 and a whole bunch of free ones I’ve downloaded over the years.

I find myself still looking at sales and even putting things in my shopping cart but then the voice of reason says, “you don’t need that!” and I move on.

I have enough. Too many even! I use most of them and I’m getting the hang of it but....I have enough to last me the rest of my life.
 
No. But does he need twenty?

Let's say 15 of them are different sizes, and the rest may be the most usual sizes but have different handles- for example, one might have a 90 degree handle and one has an extra long handle. But you probably get the point. ;)

If I just take only the compressor plugins for just a rock band mix as an example...

LA2A-styled for smooth compression for vocals and bass.
1176-styled for direct drums, bass and sometimes vocals if you want more aggressiveness.
LA3A- styled for guitars and anything that needs to be brought even more in your face.
Fabfilter Pro-C for extremely transparent work (very uneven vocals for example).
Cubase's own compressor for quick and easy sidechain purposes.
Kush Audio's Novatron for mastering and fattening the bass with harmonics.
Waves Renaissance Compressor for giving vocals transparent evening BUT with some character and aggressiveness.
API2500, dbx or SSL-styled for drum bus punch and glue.
SSL-styled or Vari-Mu for master bus glue.

And this is just a tip of the iceberg. Many of the compressors have completely different characteristics, some bring more harmonics, some may even EQ things a bit, but technically there are your "monkey wrenches" and then there are those specific tools for sound and tone shaping. And knowing how to use them all is the key to something sounding good instead of just sounding ok.

Personally, I don't buy plugins anymore that often but I do have quite a lot of them. Some of them I refuse to work without, some I can live without (but achieving the results without them is slower and more inefficient) and some are completely obsolete due to the fact that some other plugin does the job better nowadays.
 
a healthy way would be to erase old plugins that we don't use...

I do that all the time. In Cubase you can have different plugin "sets", and mine at work looks quite like this at the moment. (At home I have more of the plugins, which are missing from the work set)
I've also divided the plugins more accurately into their own groups depending on their purposes: For example, the EQ section is split with "surgical, emulation and analog-styled" groups.

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LA2A-styled for smooth compression for vocals and bass.
1176-styled for direct drums, bass and sometimes vocals if you want more aggressiveness.
LA3A- styled for guitars and anything that needs to be brought even more in your face.
Fabfilter Pro-C for extremely transparent work (very uneven vocals for example).
Cubase's own compressor for quick and easy sidechain purposes.
Kush Audio's Novatron for mastering and fattening the bass with harmonics.
Waves Renaissance Compressor for giving vocals transparent evening BUT with some character and aggressiveness.
API2500, dbx or SSL-styled for drum bus punch and glue.
SSL-styled or Vari-Mu for master bus glue.

Yeah, I mean, everyone knows this rap. But honestly, so many times I feel these observations are as often a bunch of truisms as they are valid. As if you had to put the 1176 on drums because everyone keeps parroting this stuff. As if you couldn't beef up your drums with another great compressor. Perhaps with the same one you also used on another track or bus, because it just gets the job done. As if the listener cared. The distinction is between "1176 is great on drums" and "you need the 1176 if you wanna compress drums!"

Sure, if that's just your style and you really know and love the combo, of course, you put the 1176 on the drums because that's what you know and love. But it becomes this perpetual mantra: oh, you need the 1176 for drums, the Teletronix for the vox, the Fairchild for the glue, and all this stuff. Like a checkbox for the serious (or posing-as-serious) audio dude. There's nothing wrong with using either of these, but people tend to create these myths around stuff and GAS is a thing.
 
I have a lot, but just ignore the ones I don't use. I used to hoard plugins like crazy, but I barely buy them anymore. Reason for this is that there are not a lot of plugins that actually have a unique or even great sound.

I lastly bought Soundtoys 5. I bought them because they were the only ones in years where I went 'whoa!'
 
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