Hot take: plugins are overrated

[Guitarbilly]

I started on a new track for the band today and decided to do a challenge: with the exception of EZ Drummer for drums and my UA SVT for bass, I only used the native plugins that come with Cakewalk. So all the EQ, compressors, reverbs, delays etc were the built-in plugins.

Honestly, once I was past the learning curve on some of the plugins, they all sounded good. Makes me rethink the 100s of dollars (probably thousands actually), I spent on 3rd party plugins over the years.

On the other hand having all the options are cool so

[Marc G]

if a plugin doesn't give me a short cut to a sound I'm not interested..... I like things like the SSL or Waves version of the SSL channel strip, I use one on every channel I'm working on... I like having EQ, compression and gates in the same area and in a familiar format that I can easily see what the settings are at a glance...... at the same time, the stock compressors, gates and EQs in logic will more than do the job, but that means having 3 windows open per channel and unless your screen is big enough or you have multiple screens thats a lot of real estate on your screen being used up.

[Chris Z]

The Eventide plugins are some of the best I've heard.

And this one for the lol

[greatmutah]

Depends on the plugins but generally I agree. The base ones that come with Logic are pretty basic but get the job done. There’s a few I’ve bought from Mercuriall because I really liked their stuff. I also got the Ik amplitube stuff on a deal because my singer was using it for a project and I wanted it to able to track to his stuff and actually hear it instead of just clean guitar (he’s limited and doesn’t know how to bounce in place lol). Since it was cheap I didn’t mind and got some cool tones out of it. I also used my Orange and captor for a few things too and did bounce my tracks in place when I sent it back so he didn’t have to worry about my Two Notes stuff that he doesn’t have. I prefer to operate that way most of the time, especially if I’m unable to mic up a cab.

I spent some money on some Two Notes cabs and RedWirez IRs and I honestly have zero desire to spend anymore on IRs. I should be able to get what I want out of those and whatever I’m lacking I can EQ.

[I'MAPUNKROCKERDAMNIT]

Yeah man! The plugins that came with ProTools are fine.
Some third-party plugins are good and some are OK. I really haven't downloaded any bad plugins.
I have to say that, some of the cheaper plugins work really well... the Plug & Mix bundle is under $100 and they all sound good... except for the three or four guitar sims which are meh.
Valhalla, PSPaudioware and Nomad Factory are excellent and cost effective.
But yeah, with the exception of Ozone, RX7, Waves Vocal Rider and a few other specialty plugins (that ProTools doesn't make) I prolly could make decent recordings without any third-party plugins.

[ElDirtySanchez]

I’ve never paid for plugins but in the past have used cracked ones, now I use a lot of the free ones available and found that those give me the best results I’ve ever had. I really like a lot of the Tokyo Dawn stuff that’s available for free. I use the compressor and eq on everything I do.
The free Valhalla stuff works great too.
With all the good free stuff out there, I don’t know if I’d get any benefit from buying their other products.

[broslinger]

I've never spent big bucks on plugins, but a few have been worth it over doing pure freebies.

Good freebies:
Tokyo Dawn Nova (If I could only use ONE plugin, this might be it.)
Tokyo Dawn Slick EQ
Tokyo Dawn Kotelnikov
Tokyo Dawn Milotok
Klangheim Mjuc Jr.
Klangheim DC1A
Valhalla SuperMassive
Valhalla Space Modulator

GREAT stuff I bought: (Like absolute gamechangers)
Valhalla Delay
Valhalla Vintage Verb
Waves Butch Vig Vocals
Waves Eddie Kramer Tape
Waves SSL Mastering Comp