Every day my inbox is filled with various companies' analog emulation plugins. (EQ's, Limiters, Compressors, reverbs etc.) Along with many other types of plugins. And each one says they have painstakingly reproduced the sound of the XYZ21 [fill in the blank analog equipment] and promises to give your recordings that much sought-after genuine analog sound.  I purchased a couple that had an exceptionally good sales pitch, but honestly the plugins provided with SPLat seem to do the job just fine.  I also have Izotope's Ozone 7, which (for me) is my "go to" mastering suite.  So I really don't need anything else....I have more than what I need, including plugins for individual tracks.

So my question is. for all these plugins I see advertised in my email and Facebook (and other music sites), is there really any need to pay any attention to "the better analog emulation plugin" promised by these companies?   Doesn't SPlat's army of plugins pretty much have everything you need in that area?

EDIT: And to be perfectly honest, my old 55 year old ears have a hard time hearing the difference between an analog emulator and a regular digital compressor, limiter, EQ's, etc.  I can't hear that "warmer sound" promised by those analog emulators.  And most of my songs just use the basic "rock genre" instruments:  Drums, bass, guitars (acoustic and electric) piano, organs.

I'm with you there Lee. I have spent a whole heap of money getting sucked into these so-called wonderful emulations. To be fair, some of them have been helpful and remain my go-to plug-ins...the SSL series from Waves, the FabFilters, some iZotope etc for example. So many, I could really do without but I guess that's a learning curve as well. At this point, I'm a lot more discriminating these days about just what I'll purchase. 
 
Frankly, I'll use some of Sonar's console plug-ins as quick go-to plugins, mostly EQ/compressor and perhaps some of the Anderton FX from time to time...but it's usually if I'm looking to try something out for a special FX, esp the latter.
 
Mostly it's basic eq/com and some reverb/delay FX/saturation. I will go to some other Wave plug-ins for vocs though...like morph/doubler etc. 

Meh. I see the "analog" plugins I have as niche. They're useful in specific cases when I would like a specific color on a track, or just because it happens to behave well with a certain sound. Of my "analog" plugins I like CA2A, the Waves Pultec EQs and Klanghelm SDRR best (even though that one doesn't technically model a specific piece of kit it's designed as if it does). But there's plenty of stuff that doesn't model anything specific that I still really like and prefer over Splat stuff, e.g. the Waves Renaissance Compressors, FabFilter Pro-Q2, Pro-DS and Saturn, Waves CLA Bass, Waves Vocal Rider, ValhallaRoom and VintageVerb. Some of those do things Splat stuff doesn't, some of them I just prefer for the sound or interface.

Generally speaking I love it when plugin makers take advantage of modern GUI possibilities (e.g. FabFilter or Melda) as opposed to modeling ancient metal boxes. But living in a crystal clear digital world and not having that much desirable outboard sometimes it's nice to fake it a bit. Honestly I don't think there's a huge difference between most emulations of a single type and if there is and you're bothered by it, you're better off buying the actual thing. I like to try them out when a track seems to lack something. If it doesn't work, I'll try another.

Sanderxpander
I like to try them out when a track seems to lack something. If it doesn't work, I'll try another.

+ me too.
 
Do I have "too many"? Some would say yes.
 
Could I get by with less? Ya, sure. But they are all bought and paid for, so.... "I like to try them out when a track seems to lack something. If it doesn't work, I'll try another."

It's just marketing and advertising like the laundry detergent with the "new, improved formula" to give you those whiter whites and brighter colors.
 
If you're happy with what you've got, maybe some email unsubscribing and more selective Facebooking is in order, though I do find some music sites helpful for reviews.

SPlat's plugins are comparable to the big names regardless of what anyone says.  I am a big fan of the Tape PC module (even tho I own several boutique Tape plugs), the Pultec EQ emulations from Nomad, the SSL settings on the Gloss EQ, the 1176 module, etc., etc.  But gear-wise there are so many textural variations.   They are all unique.  For example, I recently got the TG12345 and REDD console emulations from Waves and I'm enjoying their distinct character on some of my current mixes.  loading up every track and bus with one of these console emulations does something that is otherwise tough to create.  My recordings are sounding more analog then ever before and I have to say I'm loving it.  That being said, creative use of a small collection of plugins can yield incredible results.   The SPlat toolbox is damn-near complete.  The grass is always greener and the plugin sales are downright invasive lately.

Pretty much slightly different flavors of the same drink...the exception being UAD, Acustica-Audio and a couple of others...UAD obviously driven by chipset coding, Austica-Audio is really good but a difficult non-intuitive interface (in Nebula, the standalones not so much) after that Waves seems to be the go-to and sound toys...but the one thing I have noticed between emulations and the real thing is the amount of headroom and sound stage available in real analog vs a plug-in is noticeable...and this is where the code makers generally miss the boat, the head-room cannot be coded...it reflects real space and thats always a different metric...

In the box I find there really isn't much need to go outside of Sonar at all...(same holds true with Logic) all of them are going to follow the same basic code recipe and I would imagine in a real double blind test most people could not pick out the difference between the latest greatest and the first best one...

Cake stuff is awesome. I have some Valhalla verbs and stuff like that, in which the Cake plugs don't venture into. But their Ca2a etc are top notch.

Thanks for your responses.  I'm glad to know that others feel the same way.
Except NOW, I'm going to have to check out some of the plugins you all mentioned in your posts.  LOL!

You know, we all suffer some serious GAS!
I think that Bapu's recent MixBus thread and Smallstonefan's "summing" thread tell a story.
You pays your money, you takes your choice...
YMMV
 
T