spending money on plugins

[pinnacle]

Hi,

Im wondering if someone can explain to me if and why its worth spending more money on plugins for pro tools for example compressors and reverbs etc.

Like what is the difference between pro tools ones that come with the programme and other ones that cost anywhere from $50 and up?

Why is one reverb 50 and one 500 and another 150 ? same with compressors. I need convincing that its worth parting with my money because to be honest with my untrained ears I cant hear the difference between a free one and 500$ one. Also There are so many out there and so many people including on this site going on and on about how one is better than another yet other people saying the opposite. I recently looked at universal audio reverbs only to find that in order to use theirs I would need to first spend 800 on their hardware!! Pffft is all I could think of, pffft indeed.

[Lincoln Mitchell]

Many of the plugins in pro tools are in fact pretty good. If you cant hear any difference, dont spend your money. You can demo most though. For example, demo/compare maxim to an L2 or L2007 and you will see, or lexicon reverb vs. Dverb.

Anyway, I find it more useful to use the tools I have, and often,realize there is something new I can use an old tool for which is awesome...

As for the UA, you are also paying for DSP...

[Stig Eliassen]

It's worth it to me when it can help me get a better mix. I had to keep on recording and mixing for a long time before I was able to hear small nuances and differences. I would say that you should work with what you got. But, I would demo some reverbs, because the differences between some of the plugins are huge. Softube and Audioease makes good ones IMO.

[Becharax]

The easiest ones to demo would be in my opinion the massey plugins ....

for a straight forward comparaison go for the l2007 limiter of massey versus a maxim plugin

no matter how trained or not your ears are you will tell the difference ....

Cheers

[spenner]

Originally Posted by pinnacle

Like what is the difference between pro tools ones that come with the programme and other ones that cost anywhere from $50 and up?

Most stock plugins are clean/transparent. If you know how to use dynamic and time-based processors, then the ones that come with PT are more than enough to get a professional mix. OTOH, many 3rd party plugins simulate specific hardware models.

Example: I would choose the Digi EQ and Digi Comp over any EQ and Comp plugins. However, when I want color or more of an analog sound I use the Waves SSL Bundle. So, IMO, only if the stock plugins are not giving you a sound you want, then look to getting it from a 3rd party plugin.