How to pare down an overgrown plugin collection?

[MMaarrkk]

As a hobbyist who likes making strange noises and is under no illusion of mainstream success, I think it's less of that and more FOMO - "what if that plugin can do something new and cool?" Which is why I'm working harder to know exactly what I have, so I can go, "well, maybe it's slightly new and cool, but I have a plugin/reaktor ensemble that can do 95% of it that I already like"

I can definitely agree that FOMO might just be one of the bigger cases around here. At least personally, I'm a big fan of pianos and different plugins coming out left and right really puts me in a position where I want to try them out. But I think with these type of VSTs it's more of a flavour and aesthetic thing, just like with physical ones. Because In my actual production my main piano plugin is completely free.

If you like something, it becomes really easy to justify collecting it, even if that costs quite a bit of money.

[ztrauq]

As a hobbyist who likes making strange noises and is under no illusion of mainstream success, I think it's less of that and more FOMO - "what if that plugin can do something new and cool?" Which is why I'm working harder to know exactly what I have, so I can go, "well, maybe it's slightly new and cool, but I have a plugin/reaktor ensemble that can do 95% of it that I already like"

I can definitely agree that FOMO might just be one of the bigger cases around here. At least personally, I'm a big fan of pianos and different plugins coming out left and right really puts me in a position where I want to try them out. But I think with these type of VSTs it's more of a flavour and aesthetic thing, just like with physical ones. Because In my actual production my main piano plugin is completely free.

If you like something, it becomes really easy to justify collecting it, even if that costs quite a bit of money.

Yeah, I definitely think there are a few years when I got into that "collection" mode with plugins. It can be way too easy to get into sometimes.

Which is why I'm trying to, in addition to just paring down what's there, apply a similar process towards future plugins. I need to go beyond "it's new, it's cool," and put some additional analysis steps in between that and actually buying something.

I'll probably still allow a little leeway for cheap impulse purchases from time to time, and I decided I wanted to consider some not necessarily need-based purchases for certain small devs who I want to support right now to help them get through the current crisis, but for anything even approaching a major purchase going forward I want to have a comprehensive analysis: to determine whether a plugin either does something I want that's so new that I don't have anything that really covers it, or that does something better than a current plugin by such a margin that I'm going to be dramatically happier by upgrading. I haven't fully implemented that yet, but I have been doing more analysis in general and it's cut down significantly in the amount of plugin purchases this year compared to the last few years.

[BONES]

I buy things when they're cheap, knowing that if I find out later that something is really good and I didn't get it while it was cheap, I'll be really annoyed. So I buy a lot of stuff, sometimes too much to keep track of, but none of it is stupidly expensive. I mean, it is easy to spend $80 on a night out at the pub so anything cheaper than that is actually very cheap. So anything that's under $50, I check it out and if I think it might be useful, I just buy it. If it turns out to be a dud, I can live with that.

[BONES]

I'm an idiot.

[Michael L]

I have been doing more analysis in general and it's cut down significantly in the amount of plugin purchases this year compared to the last few years.

Some of us did a fun challenge of buying only one plugin in a year. I learned that the cost in money is less important than the cost in time it takes to learn something well.

[fairlyclose]

I'm amazed how many times I think I have sold every plugin or sample library I possibly could and then a few months later find something else I think I may as well try and get rid of.

[MMaarrkk]

Which is why I'm trying to, in addition to just paring down what's there, apply a similar process towards future plugins. I need to go beyond "it's new, it's cool," and put some additional analysis steps in between that and actually buying something.

...but for anything even approaching a major purchase going forward I want to have a comprehensive analysis: to determine whether a plugin either does something I want that's so new that I don't have anything that really covers it, or that does something better than a current plugin by such a margin that I'm going to be dramatically happier by upgrading. I haven't fully implemented that yet, but I have been doing more analysis in general and it's cut down significantly in the amount of plugin purchases this year compared to the last few years.

I think that's a great approach. I mentioned that I like collecting piano VSTs, but I still keep a level of analytical approach. I like different characteristics, but getting pretty much the same product, is not really enchanting my collection, but just making it cultured. So I think it's a great point to keep - "how much will this aid me in my creativity" or something along those lines.

[Scotty]

I organized all my plugins using Cubase plugin manager by category then stood back and realized how ridiculous it all is. My purchases have slowed tremendously because I can see the overlap readily and then fire up a plugin I'd forgotten about to get a buzz. I blame it on curiosity, procrastination, gear lust and other generally non productive tendencies. Keeping the plugins organized has helped scare me a bit straighter.

[highkoo]

curiosity, procrastination, gear lust and other generally non productive tendencies

Mmmm, Saturdays!

[fairlyclose]

I organized all my plugins using Cubase plugin manager by category then stood back and realized how ridiculous it all is. My purchases have slowed tremendously because I can see the overlap readily and then fire up a plugin I'd forgotten about to get a buzz. I blame it on curiosity, procrastination, gear lust and other generally non productive tendencies. Keeping the plugins organized has helped scare me a bit straighter.

I might have another trawl through this week using that method. I am super keen to trim down the plugins. I'd love to do that with sample libraries but most of the ones I have left I actually use or cant be transferred. have not been buying libraries much for a while and only from quality devs for even longer

[energydrink]

My 2 cents.. take the best plugin in all areas and be hard for yourself, don’t think “hey, I MIGHT use this one day”, tell yourself to ONLY keep the bread and butter/workhorse plugins and try master your craft with those. Then as your needs and abilities grow you can look for that one plugin you’re really looking for.

[dune_rave]

there's nothing wrong in buying some plugins. but there should be some limit. and you could spend this money on a better soundcard too.
Currently i'm trying to sell some plugins, to raise some money for a new and better soundcard.

[ztrauq]

I organized all my plugins using Cubase plugin manager by category then stood back and realized how ridiculous it all is. My purchases have slowed tremendously because I can see the overlap readily and then fire up a plugin I'd forgotten about to get a buzz. I blame it on curiosity, procrastination, gear lust and other generally non productive tendencies. Keeping the plugins organized has helped scare me a bit straighter.

I haven't set it up in my plugin manager, but one thing I've been doing is creating a document with a set of different categories and then as I add in plugins writing their names into the various categories.

That way when I'm looking to add in, say, a compressor, I can look at that list and go "wait, I already have a couple of compressors here, does this really do something different that I will actually want to use?" And when it comes to compressors, that answer is usually "no," so I think I'll be able to narrow that down to the DAW's stock compressor plus one or two.

That's not the case for all categories, but it definitely puts things in perspective in terms of how much of one category I have, and when one category is getting stacked up with a lot of plugins that I "want" I know that I need to look harder at that and pare it down specifically to the ones I want to focus on and know that I will use.

[cleverr1]

The problem I have that compels me to keep my excessive number of plugins is that I have a large number of legacy projects mainly for backing tracks which I may at some point in the future need to revisit, so I can't delete any plugins I don't tend to use right now because I may have used them at some point.

A feature that would really help here would be where DAWs allow the user to create masks so if you choose to you only get to see the plugins in the mask you could select when you start a new project.

[Mushy Mushy]

A feature that would really help here would be where DAWs allow the user to create masks so if you choose to you only get to see the plugins in the mask you could select when you start a new project.

Like Cubase then.