I recently opened up an old project to test my new UAD SSL 4000G Bus compressor. I was surprised that I already had a chain of maybe five plugins. The addition of the SSL improved what was already a good mix. But instinctively I feel that there should be some sort of signal degradation every time you go through another audio processor.

 

Is too many plugins too many?

By definition, yes. Too many of anything is too many.

Never mind me, I just had to.

 

There's also two kinds of too many. On a channel insert you can have a single combination processor such as Ozone, and you could have five that each performs a part of the process. It's when you've got 63 compressors, 127 EQs and fifteen limiters to chose from that you've probably overdone it with the sherry.

There should be little degradation at 24 bit other than intermediate dither. That is so far below the ability of your amplification to reproduce as to be insignificant.

 

There is a kinda degradation that will happen with some types of plugins (analog modelling ones). That pleasant analog tone that is their main selling point is subtle distortion. If you stack too many you can get the sonic equivallent of a brash eyesore neon sign that says "strippers". It will be glowy and electric and all, but most people won't like it.

The trick is to find chains of gear that complement one another nice and get the sound where you want it to go. It's possible to infinitely add gear, and everytime you add something it sounds like an incremental improvement. The problem is that having too many of those incremental improvements all at once if you weren't paying attention to complementarity, starts causing them to mush up and you no longer hear any nice analog tone from it, you just hear the mushed neon stripper quality.

 

It's worth remebering that 21 bits of loudness, above the noise floor of electrons passing through metals, is loud enough to permanently damage your hearing, 22 bits has blown your eardrums out, 23 bits has blown your windows out and 24 bits has demolished your studio, were it possible to create an air transducer that could cover that range.

There's basically two kinds of 'analog' in plugs. The Waves method is to inject a noise floor and is a form of confabulated dither. Modelling produces a closer approximation, but it does stack in the digital domain as Satai describes.

 

Track the source well. That means picking the right mic and preamp combination as well as crafty mic placement to make the mixing much less involved. A great performance only helps the process. Though if you are just using ITB virtual instruments, create your sounds so that they mesh and do not have conflicting frequencies. A painter paints using colors and shapes and technique and doesn't expect to fix the piece when printing to a poster. Get it right at the source and don't depend on fixing it in the mix just because you can.

 

If its sound good, then its not too many plugins.

 

Depends on your workflow. And what you stack. I am a big Fan of Warren Huart and his Produce like a pro youtube channel (hollywood working mixing professional). By the way a marvolous channel every mixing releated guy should follow. The only channel I learned something everytime i watched a video.

He is doing hybrid mixing and his in the box chains are sometimes funny. Something like eq-deesser-multi comp - eq-eq-dsser-multicomp-comp etc...
his philosophy is dont go back to a plugin if you wanna change something add another one.
And he even stacks things like the mv2 waves that adds dither (written in the manual) ...

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2018

I have way too many plugins. I blame Audioz

 

Too many = Too many.

 

For every extra plugins that we have, the children is starving, food and water become insecured, climate changes becomes unobserved and we can thanks to ourselves for labouring cash to global warming. Take no fear. Enjoy the extra plugins as many as too many y'all.

 

Maybe it was just a killer mix already! - that you couldn't fuckup unless you really whent for it!

 

Yah!.

Me personally>....

...Having lists n lists of plugs can be great funn indeed..

..However..

.."Doing so will result, in the user being a jack of all trades ,and master of none".

I could be wrong....im simply drawing upon my own experiences
..Its a bloody nightmare when you simply wana pick a plug etc....

."but youve a 3 hour long choice to go thru em all- if you dont kno those plugs in n out

Ive since cut my list right down ,coz its unessecary and a pain in my ass.
I still got way- too many..

But how may is too many tho ,..>

"One may find emselves laying awake at night askin emselves juuust that question""

Personally i think as soon as it becomes a chore ,"to choose a plugg i mean">

..."youve too many"

 

While marketing does exist, too many plugins means it's not too many, "we have another digital eq, clean and transparent with analog curves, you will never find anywhere!", but there are about 20 same plugins with same conception or even better, like having ProQ2 and DMG Equilibrium, both outdo all these 20 secret weapon eqs. But marketing says it viceversa. Not enuff to have all plugins, it means you have nothing, because something "better" will out. Better or not, marketing decides or your psychology or your ears or your eyes (if you work mostly with GUI, not sound). Or only DSP...DSP quality and your requirements/goals/tasks and results are the key. Not the quantity of plugins.

 

Exactly.

Couldnt agree more.

Thats essentially as ive gone n done too.

.."Makin a list of what i most frequantly found myself using as a goto -for all areas o plugg management"

I cant even artculate strongly enough , just the sort of Impakt -having to sit n cyle thru endless pluggins can/will have!!..