aidan o driscoll Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) After all the purchasing over the years .. many via this DEALS section ... I decided to deep dive into my plugins folders and start being tough and getting rid of paid/free plugins that I am still not using. I want to get my plugins down to what I would use regularly. Doing same with DAWs .. I have a few, so I am just going to have Cakewalk and reaper installed, everything else goes. I find I am overwhelmed with plugins TBH and that its a positive step to cull as much as possible .. less is more and most likely more productive also, less temptation to go off side roads etc. Thats the plan anyway. Anyone else at any point conclude this / try EDIT - one other honourable exception .. I may keep REASON INTRO 11 on board ONLY to have it in "plugin Mode" ( I have the reason plugin ) inside CW/Reaper to have access to its unique inhouse plugs now and then Edited September 21, 2023 by aidan o driscoll 10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfrobert Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 I am on the same journey right now. It gives me the feeling of liberation and a breeze of fresh air. The next step will be to create some templates as starting points for particular project types. One important step was to switch to Studio One and explore the built in processors. I also quite standardized the third party stuff in my plugin folder. Good idea, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satya Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Bro u rich 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan o driscoll Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) 6 minutes ago, ralfrobert said: I am on the same journey right now. It gives me the feeling of liberation and a breeze of fresh air. The next step will be to create some templates as starting points for particular project types. One important step was to switch to Studio One and explore the built in processors. I also quite standardized the third party stuff in my plugin folder. Good idea, really. I think an important step esp where EFX plugins are concerned regardless of DAW is to decide on what EFX plugs to regularly use in each category of EFX eg EQ, Delay, Reverb and so on .. Try stick to a few decent ones per cat and not dilute with loads of freebies etc, ending up overwhelmed when trying to do something. Also LEARN these few plugs properly so you know your way around them therefore speeding up the creative process and mastering tracks etc Same goes for AUDIO Plugs .. Synths. I have so many synths and Kontakt Libraries .. huge number i will never use. Yet I still havent seriously dug into some great synths i have like pigments Edited December 16, 2022 by aidan o driscoll 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeGBradford Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 I'm about to move to a new PC and there is no way I am reinstalling the 1,000 + (mainly free!) plugins I have acquired (though that figure is a Cakewalk count so is made up of VST 3s and 32 bit VSts as well as 64 bit) I spend hours going through instrument presets only to come up with no music at the end of it so a bit of discipline is well overdue! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eusebio Rufian-Zilbermann Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 If you'll be reselling the licenses you don't use and the prices will be a good deal, don't forget to add in your signatures the links to your buy/sell listings. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 45 minutes ago, aidan o driscoll said: After all the purchasing over the years .. many via this DEALS section ... I decided to deep dive into my plugins folders and start being tough and getting rid of paid/free plugins that I am still not using. I want to get my plugins down to what I would use regularly. Doing same with DAWs .. I have a few, so I am just going to have Cakewalk and reaper installed, everything else goes. I find I am overwhelmed with plugins TBH and that its a positive step to cull as much as possible .. less is more and most likely more productive also, less temptation to go off side roads etc. Thats the plan anyway. Anyone else at any point conclude this / try 14 minutes ago, ralfrobert said: I am on the same journey right now. It gives me the feeling of liberation and a breeze of fresh air. The next step will be to create some templates as starting points for particular project types. One important step was to switch to Studio One and explore the built in processors. I also quite standardized the third party stuff in my plugin folder. Good idea, really. 7 minutes ago, JoeGBradford said: I'm about to move to a new PC and there is no way I am reinstalling the 1,000 + (mainly free!) plugins I have acquired (though that figure is a Cakewalk count so is made up of VST 3s and 32 bit VSts as well as 64 bit) I spend hours going through instrument presets only to come up with no music at the end of it so a bit of discipline is well overdue! Blasphemers! ? 1 1 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan o driscoll Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Bapu said: Blasphemers! ? Not saying Ill never buy a plug again .. but rather than just going on wow this is a great deal I will look at NEED and if it fits in with what I have or fills a gap. Unless real good and useful I am going to stay away from freebies and stuff off of mags. My core is Native instruments Kimplete, Arturia inc FX, Cherry Audio, a small few Waves ( already removed a good few of these ), Izotope, Scaler, AAS, UVI I just really want to start to learn proper again .. know my way around decent useful plugins That list above also tallies with what other members in my band HAVE esp the song writing members .. so its handy that all have same core plugs for collab Edited December 16, 2022 by aidan o driscoll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan o driscoll Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 And yes ... NO 32 bit plugs 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locrian Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 57 minutes ago, aidan o driscoll said: After all the purchasing over the years .. many via this DEALS section ... I decided to deep dive into my plugins folders and start being tough and getting rid of paid/free plugins that I am still not using. I want to get my plugins down to what I would use regularly. Doing same with DAWs .. I have a few, so I am just going to have Cakewalk and reaper installed, everything else goes. I find I am overwhelmed with plugins TBH and that its a positive step to cull as much as possible .. less is more and most likely more productive also, less temptation to go off side roads etc. Thats the plan anyway. Anyone else at any point conclude this / try I did the same thing last year for the same reasons as you and it was definitely worth the effort. My specific focus was to cull thing downs to mainly the large plugin providers (Waves, PA, NI, UVI, Melda, iZotope,...) and maintain as few plugins from the smaller companies. Like you, I now am working much more efficiently. Best of all, updating is much easier and faster now b/c, consolidating to mostly the large plugin providers means I can run fewer installers and update more plugins than before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan o driscoll Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 The next thing is to look at KONTAKT and REAKTOR libraries. Again zillions of these, many free .. or if purchased sounded good at the time .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 1 hour ago, aidan o driscoll said: After all the purchasing over the years .. many via this DEALS section ... I decided to deep dive into my plugins folders and start being tough and getting rid of paid/free plugins that I am still not using. I want to get my plugins down to what I would use regularly. Doing same with DAWs .. I have a few, so I am just going to have Cakewalk and reaper installed, everything else goes. Unless you are moving to a new PC like JoeG, there is no need to delete them unless you need the space. Just reorganize your plugin folders so that the most used are easily accessible. Keep the rest installed, but out of sight in a secondary folder for a rainy day. You never know when you may say you wished you still had "that" one to use! I also have the issue of more than one DAW. Decided to remove all their icons from my desktop except for the top 2 that I need to focus on. The rest are hidden in a folder. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan o driscoll Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 @abacab Yip .. I have all the plugs on ext drives backed up if I ever need them. For me having them NOT INSTALLED is a better idea ... I would say for most of us we use or would only use a particular few most of the time anyway. As I said a big thing for me is to LEARN some core plugs properly to make decent use of them going forward 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Lawler Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 OR... 2 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Byrnes Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 I love the Cakewalk Plugin Manager because I can easily make various plugin lists, such as Essentials. The number of plugins installed and the space they take up isn't a reall issue any more with 1+TB SSDs. I have all samples installed on their own drive and backed up on an external drive, as are all the plugins and their installers. So, if I need a stripped down, uncluttered plugin list I can just use a custom plugin list in the Manager. It's an illusion as the plugins are still installed but it does help a bit. ? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, aidan o driscoll said: As I said a big thing for me is to LEARN some core plugs properly to make decent use of them going forward That's always a great idea! My strategy: I mostly use virtual instruments and soft synths (my true addiction), so no plugins are needed here for vocals, instrument microphones or DIs. So most of my channel insert plugins are rarely used except for Scheps Omni Channel which can help VIs fit in the mix. I have a few other channel strip options if that doesn't work out. For just getting an idea together most virtual instruments that I use have onboard FX that gets the sound shaping job done. If not, I like to add MixBox (70 processors) or Amplitube 5 MAX to an instrument track to change it up some. The FX chain presets in MixBox let you recall favorite processing chains. It has many tools from T-RackS, but in simplified format and quick to grab. My runner-up FX in this category are a few creative FX like Blackhole, Objeq Delay, or Tape Mello-Fi. Or even Guitar Rig 6. I find reverb is often best used here in a reverb bus to create a virtual room, unless I am using it as a special effect on an instrument. Reverb is probably the category that I have accumulated the most plugins for. I think the Sunset Sound Studio Reverb is probably a good one to keep around, as are the Abbey Roads plates and chambers from Waves. I also really like iZotope Neoverb and the Exponential Audio reverbs. Don't overlook Panagement for locating instruments in the stereo sound field. For general mixing and/or mastering I'm most likely to just use iZotope Neutron Advanced and iZotope Ozone Advanced. Those are on my to-do list for learning properly. Thank you Groove3!!! I also have T-RackS 5 MAX, which clearly has more mixing and mastering tools (38 processors) than I will ever need. But I have had some interesting results with Lurssen Mastering Console. The bx_masterdesk from Plugin Alliance was a nice surprise! Those are keepers, IMO! I like to keep it simple. If it sounds good, then it probably is OK for me. I'm not trying to pretend to be an engineer... But like the other addicts here, it has always been tempting for me to over collect plugins just because something that might be a handy option someday is having a flash sale, group buy, or free! It never helps when someone says "hey, it's great"! LOL! Edited December 16, 2022 by abacab 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawajava Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) @aidan o driscoll - choosing the simpler approach... Edited December 16, 2022 by lawajava 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettelus Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 A pretty good litmus for this is starting with keeping things that are 64-bit VST3 and then cherry picking the rest. More and more apps that will use plugins are starting to lean toward VST3 only. I have been looking more at things that take up MASSIVE amounts of drive space that I rarely touch. Even though they were deals, 500+ GB of "stuff" will come to a reckoning at some point. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 27 minutes ago, mettelus said: A pretty good litmus for this is starting with keeping things that are 64-bit VST3 and then cherry picking the rest. More and more apps that will use plugins are starting to lean toward VST3 only. That's a good approach to take with FX plugins. Future proof the path forward. But I have a couple of virtual instrument hosts that still prefer or require VST2 plugins. Unify prefers the VST2 format and will cull VST3 (on demand cleanup, though not required) if they are duplicates, and AKAI VIP will only scan/use VST2 plugins. I can always use external VST3 FX with those hosts as needed, but for the instruments I'm out of luck. 27 minutes ago, mettelus said: I have been looking more at things that take up MASSIVE amounts of drive space that I rarely touch. Even though they were deals, 500+ GB of "stuff" will come to a reckoning at some point. Yep, agree here! My samples drive is swelling. And that adds to the expense of backup storage for all of this! I have already uninstalled a couple of sampled synth libraries, because sampling a synth seems a bit of a waste of space when there are now so many quality synth emulations available. But I have given an exception to IK Syntronik 2 MAX because even sampled (and with a huge 176 GB library) they sound so good, even though I have the Arturia V Collection 9, the KORG Collection 3, a pile of Cherry Audio synths, and some excellent one-offs including u-he Repro. But all those alternatives added together fit in under 25 GB of disk footprint. So I have drawn a line now, with sample libraries limited to useful multisampled acoustic, electromechanical instruments, and some environmental found sounds. And at some point I should probably cull those that I rarely or never touch. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy1 Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 I removed Camel Audio Alchemy and it's library. Never really used it. I'm thinking of removing Iris 2 since I never use it. I have Serum, Sylneth, Spire, all IK, All Arturia, all Image Line, LIve Suite., KV, I don't think I would miss it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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