If you can delete these two plugins, you are not a plugin addict.

 

If you use the Apu Software plugins, you can get 4 or 5 updates of the same plugin in one day.

 

Hello, I am Jenny.
Around 2003 an acquaintance gave me a cd full of plugins from h2o, radium, air, artic, etc (it had Fruit loops 2, Vegas, quadrafuzz, and a bunch of fx mainly).
As I had no internet at the time, no problem. That cd was all I would need for the next 5, 6 years.
But... around 2009 a friend gave me another cd with a copy of fl studio, and amplitube, and then I downloaded focusrite guitar fx suite - think it was my first plugin download, on a dial up connection - and then in 2010 another friend passed me NI P-53 and Arturia mini (through a pendrive?) and then I was hooked, totally, no coming back.
That is my story (at least I do not use Kontakt nor plugin doctor, so... I am not a lost case, I think). Good luck striving to reach nirvana plugin ecstasy.

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2025 at 10:45 AM

Just download everything and admire your uninstalled collection.

 

Not a joke

 

I'll remain anonymous for now but I hoard plugins like there's no tomorrow.

I even keep 32bit laptops with WinXP & Win7 for old backward compatible plugins.

aaaaarrhhhh @_@

 

Yo I don't want to kill the vibes with my seriousness here ... but for me this somehow works to make the described situation better.

Basically it helped me with my general workflow to focus on doing things quick and intentional. There is always room for experimentation and zooming in on some detail. But all in all it helped my creativity big time, not spending much time with "choosing the right EQ" but using the same boring Kirchhoff EQ most of the time, not even thinking about it's many functions. I want to make music, I don't want to waste any time with decision making more than necessary. It's about being intentional and spending time making music teaches me how to archive that. Testing out plugins was great to learn the tools. Hardware Edition taught me things in a less distracted way. Now I haven't tested even Serum 2 yet, using version 1 without something I miss. Would not be possible back in the days for me.

Conclusion: stay addicted, just be addicted to less things and be even more addicted about these things.

I'm afraid of sounding like this guy here -> .... but it helped me a lot to have my daily thoughts about being thankful for all the beautiful possibilities I have now making music. A "Hardware Edition" example: a few month ago I bought the first really good acoustic guitar. Since than there was not one single day I was not grateful for being able to play such an instrument. I played 25 years on a okay acoustic and did not fell in a situation I would spend so much money (~2500 €) for one single thing. Being deeply grateful for this guitar every damn day prevents me on the other hand for the GAS taking over excessively. Seriously, I exercise this practice so often, it weakens dreams about becoming a millionaire, because I'm sure it would make me buy some more beautiful acoustic guitars in a short time.

 

This is excellent advice overall, especially a.) and b.) - not that c.) isn't cool too, but 25% just feels a little too arbitrary. I have my own set of do I or don't I (download and install) parameters:

• Size of plugin - I've got fantastic EQs with a footprint of 10-40 MB on average. Yet I see some EQ plugins 250MB or bigger.
  - Plugin code bloat usually means lazy coders, or cheap company (leveraging "platforms" instead of innovating).
  - Most such oversized, or overweight plugins: thanks but no thanks (FabFilter Pro-Q 4 is 11.4 MB for reference).
  
  
• Buffet-style Bundles - some installers allow you to untick them individually, but the temptation is too great to check them out.
  - Best to skip Bundles, unless you're already familiar with 80% of the Bundle's plugins.
  - Alternatively, delete the extraneous plugins of the Bundle post-installation.
  
  
• Extraneous plugins - I rely on pro recommendations and pro reviews to figure which plugins to buy/download.
  - If no one I know is already using a plugin, or has at least heard of it positively, I don't touch it.
  - I remember a certain "dev" guy who was asking for help coding audio plugins in forums...
  
  
• Spring cleaning - with my clothes, I assess which I've not worn for a year or longer. I pack them and give them away.
  - Likewise with plugins: if you've not used a plugin for 1-2 years, send it packing (to an archive folder).
  - Yes, equally: the ones I bought as much as the ones I adopted.
  
  
• Common sense - just factoring in PSP and UAD (I was an early bird of both), I've got their entire lineup of EQs, Compressors, etc.
  - I ask myself: do I really need another EQ? How many EQs (vintage or modern) do I really use/need? Not that many, really.
  - So I skip new EQs, Compressors, Reverbs, etc., unless it's semi-revolutionary (a la Sonible, for instance). Those I try out.
  
  - I regularly uninstall Libraries as well (with Native Access). I don't need the Una Corda and other NI pianos for instance.
  
  - Always remember to clean up the unused plugins (from /Avid, /Digidesign, /VST, /VST3, /CLAP) if using only AU, or vice-versa.

 

This talk is all very informative and such but...

...where the hell is the download button?

 

My way :
-keep a reference and compare to it when you THINK a new plugin MAY be of any interest
-to get a reference among candidates, it should take less than 1 hour max, until you don't really know what you need ... and so you need nothing
-you may keep several plugins in each category IF they really bring something special (not NEW) on the table

As an example, one day i tested ALL my reverbs with a dry vocal and a dry acoustic guitar.
Pushed them full wet (my best test to know their clarity and personality).
At the end, i kept the simplest AND most effective one ... Valhalla VintageVerb.
YES, i loved some others ... but at the end, i was loosing too much time with them for the final result.
Some were separated into countless plugins versions, some with 100 settings ... BYE !

Same with compressors : i use bread and butter DAW integrated one, with sometimes Fabfilter. And if i need some "mojo", i add something like Decapitator or any other saturation.

Same with guitar sims : STL AmpHub and Helix cover everything i need.
I kept both because Amphub is sounding really realistic and easy to tweak.
BUT Helix get effects the other don't do (like poly capo, fuzz factory, poly sustain ...).
May be i will reduce to Helix only with the next session if i really master Helix settings up to AmpHub level.

That's why SHORT TESTING before buying is important : to not start a stack
NO, no one need 10 reverbs or compressors or EQ or whatever.

I still use more than 10 saturations/filters/MOJO plugins ... because they all sound different
Everyone fails at some point

 

I did all recomendations, i finaly ended with 562 plugins, I'm more happy now.

 

Well, it is whatever you like to call it.... until your drives die or you lose them in one or another way

 

Sometimes I like to sit back in a big chair with a glass of good scotch and just look at my hard drives... just think about how full and bursting with software they are... put on some Motown, Al Green or something... turn down the lights... have some lotion and tissues handy, ya feel me

 

Plugin can't kill you

 

I admit it, I am a plugin addict and now since I found kontakt libraries and numerous 1000s of presets I've become addicted to downloading them too. Many of you know I came back to the internet August of last year. I had all these great ideas of making remixes, and mash ups and my own productions, but I fell into this rut thanks to AudioZ and I've yet to produce a single piece of music. I spend my time downloading and listening to presets, sample packs and testing out kontakt libraries. I have probably 20 different reverbs, 20 different tape machines, saturations, EQs, multi fx tools etc. and probably 100 different synths. I have so many that I often have to delete and re-register because they get busted or it's always an update. I do this daily scrolling AudioZ at least 20 times a day refreshing the site for the new updates, and latest releases to download. I've filled nearly 2 8TB hard drives. The situation I have now is that I just recently had my computer worked on in may after maxing out the hard drive. I had to buy another one to transfer my infromation and the new profile the tech created was my name Eric. However, everything on my old pc was under the profile name "pc" so now I have lost libraries, presets, programs, serials etc. that no longer work and that I have to find and install. I have notepads of plugins that now require serials, and that no longer work when they were registered before and most don't even recognize the library path to the samples that was set. I have a poblem and a real addiction.. help me