So many new plugins, money to burn? How do you guys afford it?

[surreal]

But then again... I have not wasted money on DAW upgrades

Ok, I have to fight with you on that one. DAW upgrades are well worth the money. I haven't purchased one that made me say" Aw c'mon man. What the hell did I do that for? This blows." Every update was worth whatever I spent on it. Particularly Cubase updates. They always make it better with each update. (I'm sure some will disagree)

Agreed.... no fight needed

No seriously... I have read about many people who got that sinking feeling when their $200 DAW upgrade gave them more problems than fulling evil marketing promises

[xoxos]

I keep my gas under a reasonable amount of control. Yeah, I've let go this season a bit, but I'm still pretty cheap and I don't have anywhere near the number of plugins that a lot of people have here.

I just say no to most things until there is an intersection between "I am ready for it" and "it is on a reasonable sale." I'm totally okay buying something that, strictly speaking, I don't need, but that helps my workflow or inspires me. I don't need to make money with plugins, per se, but, I do feel that if I'm not releasing music that I shouldn't buy things.

Honestly, it's so much better than the hardware days and this sale season has been awesome to get some of the tools that I've wanted for a while.

the last time i took someone's post, threw it in dectalk and on a beat, the moderators didn't seem to approve

poetry like sheikspeer

[foosnark]

A lot of hobbies cost some money. Some more than others of course.

A few years ago I decided I wanted to get into metalsmithing. That meant having a space to work, tools (some of them specialized), equipment, and materials. For my very minimal setup, it still cost more than a minimal setup for producing music on a computer -- and I wound up doing a lot less with it. Other people buy boats or motorcycles or classic cars, or they simply collect things, or they go to clubs or whatever.

With plugin-based music, you can go pretty far for almost free; spend a few hundred dollars and you can go much further, but after a while there are diminishing returns.

But hey, it's a damn sight less expensive than Euro-rack GAS

Kind of? Eurorack has some infrastructure expenses (cases, patch cables, basic utilities that are free or unnecessary in the plugin world) that are a bit of a barrier to entry and a speed bump on expansion. And software has the advantage of multiple instances for free. But that aside, module prices are not so bad compared to some plugins -- for instance, Rings is not much more than Chromaphone (and sounds much better IMHO, and is more flexible) and is cheaper than Tassman.

At any rate, I'm trying to minimize my Eurorack GAS with a lot of meticulous planning, intentionally limiting case size, and asking myself what I can do in software instead. Recognizing the difference between "that's cool", "I want to play with that", "I want to collect that", and "I will actually use this in my music and it will work well with my other gear and is not redundant" is pretty important

[liquidsound]

But then again Poly vs Mono. That's a major difference as well.

[Orbit-50]

A lot of hobbies cost some money. Some more than others of course.

A few years ago I decided I wanted to get into metalsmithing. That meant having a space to work, tools (some of them specialized), equipment, and materials. For my very minimal setup, it still cost more than a minimal setup for producing music on a computer -- and I wound up doing a lot less with it. Other people buy boats or motorcycles or classic cars, or they simply collect things, or they go to clubs or whatever.

Very well said. I've thought about it that way also. We are all going to waste our money and time doing something in life. We do this. Others do something else. In the end, it all equates to the same thing.

[2ZrgE]

... In most cases you will not hear a difference in a finished song.

But that's not the point.

How many of those plugin collectors even finish their songs?

There are people who obsess about sounds, and there's people making music...

[BERFAB]

I've been at this a pretty long time, and I'm just a hobbyist. When I first started out with ITB recording, it was Cubase SX2. My big start up costs were: 1) PC 2) Mixing board 3) Monitors 4) soundcard/analog-->digital converter 5) Cubase.

For a while, I just used free plugs, and then someone showed me Komplete 2. Got it on sale, but still very expensive for me at the time. Then I got Sampletank 2 on sale, and things just kind of snowballed from there. I created a budget for myself that allowed for 1 or 2 purchases every month. But for several years now, I have reached saturation. There's nothing more that I really "need."

But, of course, there's still plenty that I "want." So, here are my current personal rules:
1) Always update the software I currently use and rely on--like Cubase and Komplete. But get it on sale if you can (Komplete usually goes 1/2 price in 6-8 months).
2) Don't buy anything else, unless it is DEEPLY discounted. Fabfilter's Creative Bundle for $99, Papen's Explorer III for $125, the recent iZotope bundles, anything by IKM after 6 months, etc. come to mind.
3) Break rule #2 occasionally. I bought Omnishere 2 when it came out for a slight (but not great) discount. Never regretted it.

Cheers
-B

[ghettosynth]

I've been at this a pretty long time, and I'm just a hobbyist. When I first started out with ITB recording, it was Cubase SX2. My big start up costs were: 1) PC 2) Mixing board 3) Monitors 4) soundcard/analog-->digital converter 5) Cubase.

For a while, I just used free plugs, and then someone showed me Komplete 2. Got it on sale, but still very expensive for me at the time. Then I got Sampletank 2 on sale, and things just kind of snowballed from there. I created a budget for myself that allowed for 1 or 2 purchases every month. But for several years now, I have reached saturation. There's nothing more that I really "need."

But, of course, there's still plenty that I "want." So, here are my current personal rules:
1) Always update the software I currently use and rely on--like Cubase and Komplete. But get it on sale if you can (Komplete usually goes 1/2 price in 6-8 months).
2) Don't buy anything else, unless it is DEEPLY discounted. Fabfilter's Creative Bundle for $99, Papen's Explorer III for $125, the recent iZotope bundles, anything by IKM after 6 months, etc. come to mind.
3) Break rule #2 occasionally. I bought Omnishere 2 when it came out for a slight (but not great) discount. Never regretted it.

Cheers
-B

So we have similar models. Although, with upgrading, I vary based on the vendor's upgrade model. I think that you're mostly better off to keep Cubase upgraded if that's your DAW of choice. I stopped at 7.5 and switched gears so I know that it's going to cost quite a bit if I want to ever go back and get on the latest. With things like Komplete though, you can get on the every other plan, or whatever, and the cost isn't really going to change. I've been on the odd numbers since 5, but, 11 might be the first odd number that I skip, I haven't decided yet, depends on if it goes on sale.

[BERFAB]

Cubase has generally hovered around $200/year to stay current with all the step and full upgrades. Frankly, I consider it a bargain. It really does keep getting better and better.

Komplete Ultimate, if you wait, is also $200 per upgrade on sale. While in the past I've always considered this a bargain as well, it is not really so much a bargain if you upgrade every version. Sometimes (like the latest upgrade) it seems like they're really reaching for new value to add. Reaktor 6 is, of course, a worthy milestone, but how many other synths/noisemakers can you add before they become indistinguishable? Again, I'd bite at $199 (probably next summer) but not now.

-B