Here is a two part video in which I recently watched and it got me to really think about my own personal mixing style.  We all are looking for that bit of special magic to help that next mix shine better that the one before.
 
These video were an eye opener for me,  I think we all can relate in some way..
 
The Very Best Plug-in Choice Part 1
The Very Best Plug-in Choice Part 2
 
 
Enjoy!!

Thanks for those links. I don't feel like I have really been swept up in the plug-in thing. But I have accumulated way more VSTs than I am ever likely to use. This happens sneakily.  For example, maybe I was interested in a new version of some VSTs that I use a lot, and the vendor put out a special bundle that included those updates and 10 other things I probably won't use. Another example: I recently purchased another DAW because I will be doing a collaboration with another musician and he has most of his work already done on that other DAW.  That brings a few dozen VSTs into the set.  And so on.  I'm sure everybody has a similar experience.
 
Those videos help me not feel guilty for ignoring most of the stuff that is on my hard drive.
 
My frustration is that I simply can't hear big differences (or even some small differences) with most of these. At this stage of my skill development (I'm probably 10% of the way toward being pretty good at mixing/mastering), there are only about 10 VSTs I think I can use in a way that is really beneficial.  Here are the ones that come to mind:
 
- Concrete limiter
- The Blue Tubes stereo widener -- that sounds way better to me than any similar tool
- EQs in general -- but lately I start with Neutron because it has the wizard mode that does a nice job of getting me started. I am starting to get the hang of the dynamic filters
- Various reverbs - Rematrix Solo makes more sense to me than the others, so that's all I use
- Sideband compressor - mainly for ducking
- Multi-band compressor -- again Neutron is nice because of the wizard mode
- Melodyne - as a special-purpose tool
- Various chorusing or doubling tools, especially for vocals or horns
 
I have never really heard a big effect from the various console emulators.
I don't get the point of multiple equalizers in the chain, just as the video guy mentioned.  Neutron tends to do this a lot.

I didn't watch the video, but placing an EQ before and after a compressor allows you to reduce unwanted frequencies (perhaps low freq build up) before the signal hits the compressor and then to sculpt the sound after the compressor.  You can do it all before the compressor, but it allows a bit more control if you use two.  I don't use this technique much because I really like the PC EQ and there can be only one in the chain.

Thanks Jesse.  Yes - interesting and in line with my experiences. 
 
I'm not very experienced with any real-world equipment, but like cpermerlee, there are a lot of things that I can't really tell one from another - especially blind.  I have a number of things that I know how they sound and how they WORK to be able to get a certain sound out of them.  For example, there's a great little delay in the PodFarm guitar preamp that's really great and super simple.  It's the analog delay and does exactly what I expect it to and feels kind of "old and analog" to me.  It allows me to pretty easily control the repeats, the tone of those returns, etc.
 
I have the same issue with me vDrums (to the left) - I have the TD20 with the expansion card and there are still just a few of the kits that I will lean on because they sound the most like real drums to me and have some pieces that are easily controllable in a mix.  It's funny because it's often not the ones that I use to play around while practicing that SEEM like they would be the best.
 
For guitar, I still can't seem to beat the PodFarm mentioned above.  I'm sure there are many guitar purists that would just laugh out loud, but for me and the sounds I like, there are a few settings in there that just feel "right" to me and get me a sound that I like. 
 
Maybe my ear is just simple! :)
 
Thanks for sharing.

Love Joe Carrell. Always great advice from a very down to earth guy.
 

Great video.
It really reminds me of back in the day when all we had was hardware, analog gear.
We learned those tools and used those tools to the best of our ability's.
We learned to stretch so much out of one piece of gear. I used 1 channel strip and 4 microphones to do just about everything and anything.
 
I go back and listen to some of those old mixes and I hear an honest, genuine sound. a type of sound that could survive a nuclear bomb. Now a days, I have so many tools at my fingertips that sometimes it gets confusing which ones to grab. Which is why a couple years back I went for a much more simple approach. I have a tool box and those are the tools I use. every once in a while I will borrow from another tool box but that might be only to fix something.
 
So, Great video here Jesse G.
We all need to be reminded of this stuff once in a while. That its not about how many plug ins you own, its about how you use them.

My observation is that the experts seem to work so fast. Half the reason is because they start with great tracks and don't just throw plugins on because they have them.

The art in mixing is knowing sound when you hear it, and how, if at all something needs to be added (a plugin) or taken away to improve a sound or the balance of many sounds in a composition.

Unfortunately there aren't any shortcuts to learning.

Its also about getting it right at the source, so you don't need to fix much.  The other reason the "pros" work so fast is their DAW is like an extension of themselves.  They know all the shortcuts and hot keys.

totally agree with his philosophy
 
if I were to make a suggestion at all about gear vs plugins and the amount of plugins....  it will probably be cliche but it all comes down to garbage in vs garbage out.
 
get your incoming signal chain as good as you can get it with quality analog gear and a quality interface/converter and at that point.....  you should only really need plugins to help you gain control over all the pieces and put them where you want them.  this of course is in the context of recording/mixing a band.  electronic stuff often created by synths within the daw is a different ballgame and not an area where I spend much time.
 
really good source material almost mixes itself.
 
most of my mixes have 2 or 3 plugins tops per channel.  a channel strip emulator first in the chain for some basic eq and compression, and a console emulator next to add a little bit of drive to taste.  sometimes a gate for drum stuff.
 
I buss groups of instruments together and on that buss I have a good glue type compressor, and a console emulator for the buss.  sometimes I will add eq to the buss also just to slightly shape the whole instrument group.
 
thats usually it though.  kind of replicating a real world scenario where youd be running everything into a console and having a few outboard pieces of gear hooked into some of the busses.
 
I use sends and stuff for reverb and delay for if/when I need them.
 
And I get most of my loudness with parallel compression blended in
 
if I find myself feeling like I need a whole host of plugins to get any particular piece to sound the way I want it...  I probably just need to re consider how I am capturing the source material.  Move the mic.  use a different one.  eq the guitar or bass amp differently etc.
 
especially in the context of an album or even like a 3 song demo...  the last thing I want to do is paint myself into a corner by throwing everything including the kitchen sink at a mix, and then try to find a way to recreate that for the remaining songs so that they all sound like they go together on the same album/demo.  Its hard to match the feel from song to song when youre employing sixty two different plugins and turning knobs like crazy lol

mudgel
My observation is that the experts seem to work so fast. Half the reason is because they start with great tracks and don't

It helps that the experts generally have better musicians to work with, although I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions.