Can you ever have "too many" plugins?

  • Thread starter Thread starter pikingrin
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pikingrin

pikingrin

what is this?
Outside of scouring the net for freebies I've also ended up with the majority of Waves' dynamics and EQ plugs (on sale, of course) and I feel like it's gotten out of control. Is there such a thing as having too many plugins?




Trying to curb my GAS...:D
 
New gear is always a double-edged sword. It takes time to get to know the basics of each new piece of gear, and can take a long time to really get to know it inside and out. That's all time that could've been spent making new music with gear that you're already familiar with.

I bought Waves Gold bundle around xmas time and I still haven't made my way through all of the plugs in there. Basically I use L1 and H-Comp a lot and have only fiddled with the rest a little bit. But those 2 plugs are so head-and-shoulders above anything else I own that they've been worth the investment.

Just take your time, don't feel obliged to use any of it in a project "just because you can". Play with each of them, read the manuals for them, watch a YouTube video or two on each of them, fire up a couple of new experiment projects and turn some knobs. There are some really good quality plugs in there!
 
Yep, I most certainly do! Aside from the ones that still show up in my list but don't actually work like the Cubase plugs and a bunch of SynthEdit stuff that Reaper doesn't want to use for one reason or another, I have a whole bunch of comps, limiters, saturators, filters and EQs that I never touch because I get everything I need out of ReaComp, ReaEQ and a couple of JS plugs that I hacked together myself.
 
ashcat_lt said:
Yep, I most certainly do! Aside from the ones that still show up in my list but don't actually work like the Cubase plugs and a bunch of SynthEdit stuff that Reaper doesn't want to use for one reason or another, I have a whole bunch of comps, limiters, saturators, filters and EQs that I never touch because I get everything I need out of ReaComp, ReaEQ and a couple of JS plugs that I hacked together myself.
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That's just the thing, the Cubase plugs aren't at all bad but I get sucked into the chase by the options and sale prices that are less than 1/4 of what the retail value is. Regardless, I'm a sucker for options. If these plugs don't work after this PC dies (a few times, my HDs are backed up now in triplicate) then I might scream a little bit. Maybe that's a problem for another thread though...:D
 
IF you spend hours trying out different comps, EQs or other plugins, then YES, you may have too many! I tend to fall back on the ones I'm conformtable with, too - ReaEQ, ReaComp and ReaVerb, for example, because when I try others, I ended up chasing my tail to get things dialed in.
 
I have't bought any plug-ins yet (though I've thought about it quite a few times), but I went through a period where I downloaded EVERYTHING that was free that I could find. Now when I look at my plug-in list I don't know what 90% of them are. I really feel like I should have learned how to use the basics before downloading, but I have GAS big time. :D
 
in the past year Ive bought a couple of eventide plugs and a collection of cheapo's...thatll be it for me this year too
 
I have more than I need. If I do buy more, it will be for a reason and not just GAS. I am really trying to avoid too much of that.
 
I don't like the compressor that's included in Studio One. I'm sure it works fine, but the interface and the "graph" that they use just doesn't make sense to me. I can't seem to get it to work sometimes (which I'm sure is user error more than a problem with the plug-in). I like the plug-ins that look more like "traditional" hardware than a piece of software. I've been eyeing the "virtual" series plug-ins from Slate Digital for a while, but I don't want to waste my money since I don't really know how to use them effectively yet.
 
In Reason, there's no such thing. There's only like 200 total plugs (including VST and VSTi) A lot of those are not even worth your time looking at. I've got 2 nice limiters, about a dozen good comps, three EQs (3 band, 4 band and 1/3 octave), some nice dual oscillators, dual pitch shifter, a few demolition plugs and all the normal phase/chorus/unison/reverb/etc. stuff. Probably only about 4 dozen plugs, total. And there's just not that much more available.
 
I have a ton of plugs that I don't use. The only thing I'm looking for now is a really nice chorus. The UAD dimension d is good, but lacks a mix control or a 'dry off' switch.

I was thinking about getting the Lexicon pcm or the eventide plugins to deal with the modulation duties, as well as adding yet another reverb/delay to the arsenal.
 
Have tried the Melda mPlugs? Those are my go to for modulations. I prefer to use mVibrato for chorus type things, but they also have a chorus, phaser, flanger, all with just piles of features.
 
ashcat_lt said:
Have tried the Melda mPlugs? Those are my go to for modulations. I prefer to use mVibrato for chorus type things, but they also have a chorus, phaser, flanger, all with just piles of features.
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Never heard of them. I will have to check them out. Thank you.
 
Xcaliber said:
I don't like the compressor that's included in Studio One. I'm sure it works fine, but the interface and the "graph" that they use just doesn't make sense to me. I can't seem to get it to work sometimes (which I'm sure is user error more than a problem with the plug-in). I like the plug-ins that look more like "traditional" hardware than a piece of software. I've been eyeing the "virtual" series plug-ins from Slate Digital for a while, but I don't want to waste my money since I don't really know how to use them effectively yet.
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I kinda like the studio one compressor for side chaining as its very easy to see what youre doing with it...but their best plug is their fat channel. Ive mixed an entire track using just it nearly (needed verbs and delays elsewhere). It really is a great plug.
 
I think you CAN have too many plugins if it gets beyond the stage where you know them all inside out and backwards.

Personally, I have the ones that come built into Audition plus a very small selection of other 3rd party ones that I use constantly. It's pretty rare that I wish I had something more. Most of the ones I've downloaded to try have ended up being deleted again.
 
In the past few years I've eliminated a bunch of stuff for this very reason... and really, I was always going to certain plugs anyway.

I've since decided on a manufacturer, and sticking with them (Waves)... easier to deal with updates/upgrades and all that with it being one developer

And, I'm spending more time just working on music, rather than digging through tons of plugs, or searching for new ones....

In reality, I don't need every plug in the world ;) That's distracting ;)
 
ashcat_lt said:
Here's the free bundle. They're all great, but I only really use the modulations. MFreeEffectsBundle
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That is a good bundle package that anyone new to recording should really take a look at. With Reaper and assuming the upgrade to these plugins, for $110 that is a really nice package.
 
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