Another Fruggin' Plug-in
By Seva

Waves Renaissance Vox plug-in

Actually, another one is a good thing. "Can never have enough.” I’ve heard that many times. Ya just can't have too many plug-ins. I prefer to call them software processors. Truly it's no wonder that most people feel they can't have too many (good) plug-ins, because most of us would do the same with hardware if we could, collecting the pieces which have distinctive flavors that are desirable.

I'd have stacks of hardware if given enough disposable income. (OK, I already have a few small piles anyway.)

Here's the point: you may not have to restrict your view of the plug-in scene as much as you have to for the platform you select, as Mel Lambert points out in his article. When people question fully defines the minimum level they need. After this, they only need to decide how much expansion potential they want to have with this product. But for plug-ins, you can have the best even on a low-cost, native-only, hand-me-down, slow-boat embarrassing POS computer-workstation.

The best news is that with today's workstation products, all levels of DAWs can access top-shelf processing, whether with CPU-only or added DSP power, whether standalone or computer-based. You may not have all the voices, tracks, power, or gadgets you want, but you'll not have to compromise in the "outboard" section. You get to pick from all levels because most plug-ins are available for all workstations.

Reverb Plug-in (click on image for full view)

In other words, even with a computer-based, CPU-powered system of just a few tracks, you can still have the same processing as on high-power DSP card systems. Of course you can't do as much, and certainly not as much in real time. The bottom line: you can't use as many plug-ins on a small system, but no compromise is needed in the quality. This puts tremendous power and refinement in the hands of thousands of users who otherwise might never touch a high-end hardware equivalent.

Example: you've got Waves Renaissance EQ, but you don't have a Manley Massive Passive. Another example: your virtual system gives you automated everything, "total reset", but you've never run a physical mixing desk with total reset simply because you can't afford it, nor a studio that has one.

However, just because these software processors work almost everywhere doesn't really mean you have to go get all of them. Instead, I'm pointing out you can pick and choose, taking the truly ideal pieces to match what you want for a track, such as Antares Autotune, Focusrite Compressor, Waves L2, and POW-R dithering. Even if you have just a basic 2-track editor on a slow, inherited Pentium, you can really use the appropriate flavor of processor without the big bucks of equivalent hardware. Nothing like a cheap clean editor with a top-shelf outboard rack! The workstation you buy may have to fit your needs (i.e., $$$), but you can still have nearly the best processing, a feat that's impossible in the hardware world.

So, turn on, plug-in and rock out! (Did I put something on a thirty-year delay line?)

seva
www.soundcurrent.com

Return to Mel Lambert’s main DAW article.