OK, tha'ts it, I'm doing it(!) Deleting Excessive VST's

[mixyguy2]

I tidy regularly.
I ask, "Does this plugin evoke joy?"
If not, I toss it into a trash folder on another drive.

If it's on another drive, it's not really trashed, you're kidding yourself

part of the problem is the creators each include too many presets

YES thank you someone else gets it. I remember someone telling me how great Omnisphere is because it has 800 billion presets or whatever the number is and didn't get when I said that's reason enough for me to never buy it. Synths in particular should never have more than 50-100 presets if that.

Why not just force yourself to use them - all of them.

Time. There's only so much. Why on Earth anyone would force themselves to use some plugin I can't imagine.

Anyway...

I have a ton of plugins of all kinds. When I first try something out, I determine right away if it will or might have use to me one day. If not, I delete it. If so, I keep it and add log it in the spreadsheet I have describing each one I have. There's no harm in having something I use rarely or might not at all. Better that than to delete it and later be looking for it or wishing I had it.

But the synth presets are what get me. I actually tried (and in some cases succeeded) in trying and taking notes on every one for future reference, but for those with so many, I gave up.

[Michael L]

I tidy regularly.
I ask, "Does this plugin evoke joy?"
If not , I toss it into a trash folder on another drive.

If it's on another drive, it's not really trashed, you're kidding yourself

There's no harm in storing something I use rarely or might not at all. Better that than to delete it and later be looking for it or wishing I had it.

[mixyguy2]

Exzachary! See you at the GAS Anon mtg.

[Touch The Universe]

There is a lifetime of time. Begin using a couple of them in each new track and continue the process until all are used. How in the world does time even play into this. It just requires discipline and resolution. You seem resolved to loose all your plugs and money but can't muster up the same to gain, learn and experience so I wanted to encourage you towards growth. You do you.

[Scoops]

I have 233 vst's available in my DAW after I cleaned what I didn't need, which was way more.

Recently I've been doing a lot of orchestral based pieces, So I need that plugin, and 6 others (EQ, Compressor, De-esser, MB Compressor, Reverb and Limiter of which are all FabFilter) The other 226 vst are there to let me know I spent too much money on this stuff.

[mimtemdo]

I had about 340 plugins and managed downsize to 105 yesterday. I moved many to a "quarantine" folder (not accessible to my daw) in case some old project comes back. Coincidentally the 105 plugins left started performing much better. Pigments and all of my other high-cpu plugins were only using half of what they were before I deleted so much. I wish I knew specifically what caused the improvement.

Is it a Reaper thing, each available plugin just weighs all of them down? Too many ilok plugins? Another company's products phoning home constantly? And how could those plugins simply existing in your folder cause a different company's plugins to perform less efficiently? I didn't change anything else at all.

[havran]

For months or more I have had no VSTs installed, because of my chronic indecisiveness re: which Linux distro to stick with or which version of Windows to use.

Now I have a stripped-down installation of Windows 11 Pro with which I nearly feel at peace, so I'm at the stage of considering which plugins to reinstall. (It should probably be a small set so that I don't overwhelm myself with overchoice.)

Then there's the question of which DAW(s) to install.

(Don't be like me -- chronic indecisiveness leads to few if any results.)

Also, it has been a few months since I bought anything, and I'm not even fighting the impulse to go shopping, even though I have plenty of everything in every category.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Sorry -- I'm probably not much help in this case.

You certainly understand your own ‘Somehow’

Years ago, KVR had a ‘buy only one plugin for a year’ challenge. I participated.

That sounds mighty familiar

[Michael L]

That sounds mighty familiar

Familiar sounds from the mighty "I promise I will not buy more gear-thread (HaRd MoDe 2017)"

viewtopic.php?p=6691033

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

That sounds mighty familiar

the mighty "I promise I will not buy more gear-thread (HaRd MoDe 2017)"

viewtopic.php?p=6691033

…also known as the “How to save money and irritate ghettosynth” thread

[Dexter US]

I have a few thousand so I am forced into using cakewalk if I want them to be organised.. at least for the index and then I can look them up in whatever loader I am using..

[GaryG]

For months or more I have had no VSTs installed, because of my chronic indecisiveness re: which Linux distro to stick with or which version of Windows to use.

...

Also, it has been a few months since I bought anything, and I'm not even fighting the impulse to go shopping, even though I have plenty of everything in every category.

I've found moving to Linux cures GAS pretty comprehensively

Have a bridge installed for a handful of 'easy' windows favourites (things like the valhalla plugs that don't need managers, ilok etc) and check out native plugs when I need a specific tool but rarely check out here, PB etc no for new freebies, deals etc.

So, moving to Linux has made me more productive. That'll trigger a few people.

[SLiC]

Anyone decluttering I can recommend this free program 'Plugoff' https://midifex.com/plugoff

As well as getting rid of duplicates or unnecessary version hidden on your system, it lets you 'archive' plugs so they don't load but can be brought back with one click...

[Kalamata Kid]

Anyone decluttering I can recommend this free program 'Plugoff' https://midifex.com/plugoff

As well as getting rid of duplicates or unnecessary version hidden on your system, it lets you 'archive' plugs so they don't load but can be brought back with one click...

Wow. Will likely get this!
"one click" but I suppose a reboot is required?

[havran]

For months or more I have had no VSTs installed, because of my chronic indecisiveness re: which Linux distro to stick with or which version of Windows to use.

...

Also, it has been a few months since I bought anything, and I'm not even fighting the impulse to go shopping, even though I have plenty of everything in every category.

I've found moving to Linux cures GAS pretty comprehensively

Have a bridge installed for a handful of 'easy' windows favourites (things like the valhalla plugs that don't need managers, ilok etc) and check out native plugs when I need a specific tool but rarely check out here, PB etc no for new freebies, deals etc.

So, moving to Linux has made me more productive. That'll trigger a few people.

Now there's a way to think about things.