Mixing and mastering software - essential or just marketing?

[Foxedge]

Do you think that stock plugins of the most common DAWs can get to the same level of quality as specific mixing & mastering software, or do they have essential features that stock plugins doesn't have?

[3ee]

really depends on the DAW... stock plugins are getting better and better..

some offer better options than others but certainly your mastering chain will crave a few -external- pieces if you want extra quality.

[Daimonicon]

Do you think that stock plugins of the most common DAWs can get to the same level of quality as specific mixing & mastering software, or do they have essential features that stock plugins doesn't have?

[DJ Warmonger]

"Quality" is always questionable, but it's also workflow that matters. if you take alook at Izotope Ozone, you will know each and every option has its purpose and is placed / controlled in a way suitable for mastering. If you pick any random effect with similiar functionality, it may work completely different and have different feature set.

[rod_zero]

Mixing yes, mastering depends on the DAW. And obviously it depends on what you want to achieve.

I personally like and use a lot of Ableton Live stock effects, the eq, glue compressor and filters are very good for example, the reverb and limiter not so much so i got Valhalla Vintage Verb, and since I am not mastering I haven't got a limiter but planning to do so soon.

[Mathematics]

For some sounds, sure. Stock plugins are good enough for sculpting your sound but paid plugins "can be better." Like most things in life, it's all relative. I'd have an easier time telling which plugins are garbage than tell you which ones are good. Kind of like woman. I can't tell you who my future wife is but I could easily point out who isn't going to be.

Certain plugins pair nicely with certain sounds, so it's no wonder why someone serious would have a large library of plugins, that is, purchased plugins. On the other hand, I'd like to see a stock AAX plugin in Pro Tools do what the L3-16 does to a DnB track. Yea...good luck. I mean, you can try build something like that using sophisticated bussing and limiting but for $500, you can have "that sound" you want. Yea..there is a free VST multiband compressor called Limiter6 but there's no AAX version as of 9/2016. So, again...it's all relative.

If the songs is great, plugins won't even matter. No one ever listens to a song and says...oh, that song is lame because he used stock plugins. Besides, no paid plugin can turn a turd into a diamond; hence the old saying...you know which one.

[lolilol1975]

In most modern DAWs, the included plugins are often geared towards transparency. The compressor, the EQ are more than adequate to do the job and external plugins are just bonuses for slightly faster or more convenient workflow. The delay is often pretty basic but will suffice for most standard uses, although here you can easily find much better, i.e more creative effects. For instance there is no delay that even comes close to D16 Sigmund.
OTOH, the included reverb usually isn't fantastic, with the exception perhaps of the Logic reverb. Here, external plugins can substantially improve things.
Then there is the never ending suite of saturation plugins, which are a matter of taste and flavor really. It's like adding a little bit of salt and pepper and spices here and there, with a lot of marketing adjuvant. You can either like them or simply skip them entirely. Personally, I don't buy much into this (literally) and only rely on free stuff like FerricTDS and one compressor plugin that I bought because it has a great quality/price ratio, namely MJUC.

[ATS]

Do you think that stock plugins of the most common DAWs can get to the same level of quality as specific mixing & mastering software, or do they have essential features that stock plugins doesn't have?

pretty much, I mastered a whole album with pretty much just q10 and it came out fine.