I agree. Every professional should know his tools and should not be ignorant of the state of current dsp developments. That's part of his duty as a professional. My thinking was primarily aimed at musicians and producers, whose focus should primarily be creating music and getting the sound right at the source. Because that's the luxury we have: getting it right at the source. Therefore I think, creators should spent their money on signal generstors instead of mixing plugins. and spend more time learning some basic music theory. It's really a rewarding momentsonce you are able to construct a jazzy 7th chord and create a nice progression on a Rhodes plugin by yourself - without using A.I.assisted tools. Last edited: May 10, 2019
[...]In 2009, the online audio forums exploded after someone posted their results comparing many EQ plug-ins ranging from freeware VSTs to very expensive brands. The tests showed that most of the EQs nulled against each other to silence, as long as extra effects such as distortion or “vintage mode” were disabled. As you know, when two signals null to silence, or very nearly so, then by definition they must sound identical.[...] From "The Audio Expert" - Ethan Winer "I’ve certainly spent many hours with finicky artists trying different vocal mics, all of which sound remarkably similar, and all I have to say is that I felt it was a waste of time." —Alan Parsons, famous recording engineer/producer
I'd add this: I set up the same settings for the different reverbs (in a "send" mode - wet = 100%, dry = 0%) predelay, density, decay, etc so what? All the reverb plugins sound different, despite the same settings! As for delay plugins, after trying different ones, I always come back to the stock plugin (Sonitus) it's simple and does the job properly Conclusion: each does it his way
Believe it or not, you're quite right (for reverbs): "[...]Unlike equalizers, compressors, and most other digital processes, reverb has always been the last frontier for achieving acceptable quality with plug-ins.[...] demands hundreds or even thousands of calculations per second to create all the echoes needed[...] Because of this complexity, all digital reverbs are definitely not the same." From "The Audio Expert" - Ethan Winer Moreover, there are two kinds of digital (or plugin) reverb: algorithmic and convolution. Especially for convolution reverbs, each manufacturer uses a custom impulse file, so they forcefully sound different even with same settings.
The most effective, traditional and natural remedy for all sufferings is: Abstinence In the west it's not recommended much because people have become simply pawns in the battle between market leaders and their abstinence-liberty has been taken away from them.
Not taken away but rather made difficult to embrace due to a constant barrage of the propaganda that is needed fool "consumers" in order to fuel the never ending and impossible continued growth that defines the literal pyramid scheme that capital depends on for its insatiable appetite to absorb the lifeblood (to weaken but not to kill...quickly) and take advantage of the masses. Buy 2 Get One FREE .. One Size Fits All Last edited: May 10, 2019
100% agreed. plugin hoarding is a problem all producers have to learn about the hard way though. we all get warned and we all do it anyway until we learn for ourselves