Track templates, comping, matrix view, console view, the nudge shortcuts, anything other than the smart tool, RMix, Breverb, that Strum plugin, quick groups...
 
there's more but those are ones that sound great but are either cumbersome or just nothing I spent time digging in too deeply with because I can accomplish things another way.
 

dubdisciple

Guitarpima
Edit your post and then I'll do the same.

I edited my posts even before your last comment but no big deal.  keep your posts as is. matters not to me since i have been called worse :) i took your response as rude, responded, etc and then i thought we were both past it. my apologies, yada, yada...  in any case, karyn is right. best to get back on topic. . 

If that were the case then you would have appreciated my humor.
 
Have a nice day!

*shrug*

I though the title was referring to software bloat.  Are there some things that should be ditched.  I still think it odd having a 3rd party like SD while still trying to market sounds for Session Drummer unless it was AD who was the developer behind Session Drummer.
 After watching the Virtual Instruments Revealed videos, something like Cyclone was ahead of it's time. The TTS is one of the last midi players you see in a DAW. I think Beatscape should have been kept.  
 I know of some who still install the SonicTimeWorks compressor they got with Sonar 2XL.  I still have VSampler from back then.
  Sonar may be one of the few apps left that still use DX plugins.  Reaper does and DX support will be gone from FL Studio. 

kitekrazy1
I though the title was referring to software bloat.  Are there some things that should be ditched.  I still think it odd having a 3rd party like SD while still trying to market sounds for Session Drummer unless it was AD who was the developer behind Session Drummer.
 After watching the Virtual Instruments Revealed videos, something like Cyclone was ahead of it's time. The TTS is one of the last midi players you see in a DAW. I think Beatscape should have been kept.  
 I know of some who still install the SonicTimeWorks compressor they got with Sonar 2XL.  I still have VSampler from back then.
  Sonar may be one of the few apps left that still use DX plugins.  Reaper does and DX support will be gone from FL Studio. 

Again, apologies for the confusion.  I guess a better title may have been something along the lines of features that you never got around to using.
Cyclone was definitely ahead of it's time.  I think Session Drummer was kept because it does certain things that AD does not like import your own samples. Certain genres would be very awkward without that ability. I think Beatscape is a classic case of a good idea that was never fully developed. It was like an MPC that did not sample  and had a much more awkward workflow. If Renee had stayed on at Cakewalk perhaps it may have been developed more.  The Timeworks compressor was my fav compressor for a long time.

kitekrazy1
I though the title was referring to software bloat.  Are there some things that should be ditched.  I still think it odd having a 3rd party like SD while still trying to market sounds for Session Drummer unless it was AD who was the developer behind Session Drummer.
 After watching the Virtual Instruments Revealed videos, something like Cyclone was ahead of it's time. The TTS is one of the last midi players you see in a DAW. I think Beatscape should have been kept.  
 I know of some who still install the SonicTimeWorks compressor they got with Sonar 2XL.  I still have VSampler from back then.
  Sonar may be one of the few apps left that still use DX plugins.  Reaper does and DX support will be gone from FL Studio. 

That is a bit overstated. All soft synths use MIDI to trigger their sounds. The TTS-1 is an update to the Virtual Sound Canvas that came with Pro Audio and Sonar 1. It was as is the TTS-1 a GM synth.  However any synth or sampler can be used with a GM file. Its just MIDI after all.

dubdisciple
[...] I have not used anything but geist for drums in months although I have nothing but good things to say about AD. [...]

I have been on a personal "simplification binge" for the past year, not because of things lacking, but to expedite workflow. Learning new toys takes a given amount of time, and mastering their usefulness takes even longer. When X3 hit the streets, the one thing I could repeatedly crash was the step sequencer, and because of this I turned to Geist. Due to the complexity of that sequencer, I focused there; yet ironically I will use AD/Spitter to modify sounds quickly and pull samples for drum layers (this is comical in a way, but hey, it works).
 
The other thing I did was get iZotope's Studio Bundle, and upgraded Ozone 5 to Ozone 5 Advanced. Again the reason was not that things are not available, but I very much prefer to look at something I know well and have things "all in one place." Because of this, the BT bundle has only been opened a couple times. I just prefer the simplicity of minimizing "goodies" and knowing their layouts.
 
As time is the only true resource that matters in life, efficiency and efficacy are king for me.
 
 

mettelus

dubdisciple
[...] I have not used anything but geist for drums in months although I have nothing but good things to say about AD. [...]

I have been on a personal "simplification binge" for the past year, not because of things lacking, but to expedite workflow. Learning new toys takes a given amount of time, and mastering their usefulness takes even longer. When X3 hit the streets, the one thing I could repeatedly crash was the step sequencer, and because of this I turned to Geist. Due to the complexity of that sequencer, I focused there; yet ironically I will use AD/Spitter to modify sounds quickly and pull samples for drum layers (this is comical in a way, but hey, it works).
 
The other thing I did was get iZotope's Studio Bundle, and upgraded Ozone 5 to Ozone 5 Advanced. Again the reason was not that things are not available, but I very much prefer to look at something I know well and have things "all in one place." Because of this, the BT bundle has only been opened a couple times. I just prefer the simplicity of minimizing "goodies" and knowing their layouts.
 
As time is the only true resource that matters in life, efficiency and efficacy are king for me.
 
 

Once i got spitter to work, it opened a new world for me.  I was able to sample and re sample anything conveniently.  I think my question, as awkward as it may have been is starting to reveal a common theme. many of us value efficiency over new toys even as we continue to collect them lol. 
 
How is that jazz course going??

Yeah, I think we get caught up in collecting toys, but we all have our "go to"s that we prefer, since truly mastering them can take a huge time investment. Sadly, I have a truckload of hardware that falls into the same bin, since they are very cool with limited application, but the time needed to master them can be immense.
 
Spitter sort of leveled the playing field, as it were, against those who want to confine you into their GUI with proprietary content (AD being one of them). As much as I enjoy AD and its sounds, the inability to easily make humanized step sequencer patterns left me looking for another alternative. Spitter is one of those "niceties" that is worth its weight in gold. Another neat trick is to use Audition for the same purpose, since Audition will beat-slice samples to a customizable threshold, and then creates a file for each. The "issue" with Geist (and why in can get RAM-intensive quickly) is that it loads the entire wav file, and the "samples" are really clips, so I have gotten savvy at keeping samples to "only what is required" to get the most from it.
 
The jazz improve course is awesome. Jazz is a new genre for me, and the perspective of Gary Burton is quite refreshing. He is very forthright on why he is not a proponent of some learning methods out there and explains why readily. He does not believe in "learning licks" or playing scales sequentially (classical method), but is more focused on learning scales/modes and their application (thus far). If you have time to nab the videos for the course, they are definitely worth downloading even if you do not participate in the course itself.

Thanks mettelus