Friends,
 
Grinch post. Just to drive the thorn in deeper, but got a continuous nagging perspective that I try to resurface every once and awhile at the expense of being branded as “uncool”.  Not trying to, and not likely to make many friends with this, but…
 
Question confronting me is when is enough finally enough.
 
My case, recently retired and on a vegetable social security budget. Doing well, but makes you think twice about frivolous expenses.
 
Examples are the PSP new whatever compressor, only $59. One warrior posted that he had to evaluate if it was worth having another clone of the same thing.
 
Some company has an Ilok string library for a dollar until January. Evidently sold for megabucks back in the past. Comment was wondering if even a dollar was worth the 16 GB hard drive real estate. Looked and listened to the YouTube vids, and some nice violins, but I’m already out the Yin Yang with strings. Then looking at the 30 step Ilok installation process. With my past crash and burn Ilok experience,  decided to let it go.  And know what…not missing a thing I can’t do with too many options already to keep track of.
 
May be a lone wolf on this, but is there anyone else out there that has hit the saturation point?
 
My three nephews, great musicians in a heathen hell bound Christian gospel group. They got a Presonus sound card with Studio One Artist, a crippled teaser for the upgrade. Studio Artist has some basic effects, but can’t integrate external vst/vsti plugs until you shell out the money.
 
Urged them to go with Cakewalk, with Reaper, with a Studio One upgrade to take advantage of third party plugs. Whole universe of effects being denied to them.
 
Response was, what does any of these have to offer.  Studio Artist already has a compressor, flanger, phaser, a neat synth.
Question was turned back on me as to why I felt the need for such redundancy. Was made all the worse as they sent an arsenal of high quality mp3’s done on Artist. I had a hundred fold software arsenal, but was spending all my time spinning knobs. Was on my part a combination of hiding a lack of real creativity and the scapegoat idea that some client may come in some time in the future and demand a niche.
 
So, a really black and bordeline forbidden topic, but when is enough finally enough? Anyone else hit the brick wall end of acquiring more?
 
John

No scapegoat. No brick wall. No saturation.
Plugs incite creativity and inspiration.
Never 'nuff said.
Go, John, go.

Collecting and experimenting with plugins is part of the fun for me. I am younger and my job affords me the ability to do so without jeopardizing feeding the kids or pulling them out of school. Do I sometimes feel like I'm over the top? yes. Do I have everything needed to make music? yes. Will I stop? hmmmmmm. I do honestly think I will slow down in 2017. :)

I'm with you John. I stopped wanting to get the latest best reverb / compressor / limiter a couple of years ago. Unless it's for a specific tool/sound I don't have like a amp speaker IR, I have way more than I need.

. . . thought I was at some kind of "saturation point", having one or two of everything I need, feeling content, enough to make some great music, maybe the occasional upgrade needed . . . then I watched the online video of that damn new iZotope Neutron mixing thing . . . resistance is futile, weakening day by day.

My solution is that I try to hold myself until I can get what I think I like when prices bottom out, seasoned with codes and coupons, and then I buy at no-wiener level, 'cause that's where I'm at.

It's easy to spend more time perfecting your tool collection than using them.
I think it's all about balance.
Can't say I achieved that in 2016 - for myself the last year has been skewed towards acquisition mode, hope to change that in 2017.
 

When I upgraded the studio computer (October 2014), I decided not to install every plug-in that I own - instead I focused on a few essentials. Obviously, two years later, I've installed a few more, but overall, I've stuck with my original plan.
 
A few weeks ago, I finally put the finishing touch to a mix I had been struggling with for a long time.
 
I decided to strip the whole thing and go back to the basics: I imported the audio files in my trusty old DAW, Logic 9, and built the entire mix using nothing but Logic's own plug-ins. For whatever reason, Logic 9 didn't detect my Waves plug-ins, so I had to make due without my usual go-to (CLA-2A, 3A, 76, etc)
 
Of all the version of that mix I have put together, this one was completed the quickest, even though I was starting from scratch.
 
I had not worked in Logic 9 for a while, but even though the GUI seemed a bit bare when I started, I soon realized that I was working a lot faster. Likewise, the plug-ins had a rather utilitarian design compared to the fancy GUI they've been given in version 10. But somehow, that also seemed to work in my favour. 
 
So, yes - personally, I do feel like I have more than enough. I've grown pretty indifferent to all the new plug-ins.I've grown pretty indifferent to all the new plug-ins.
 
I think I've bought one plug-in in 2016 - XPand for $1. I wouldn't really count it as a new acquisition, as I had been using it in Pro Tools for years and merely wanted to be able to use it in Logic. 
 
The one thing I've really been waiting for is the release of Sonar for Mac - because I have tons of projects I want to work on, and because I worked with Cakewalk products for over a decade. That being said, I'm still thinking that I'd probably be happier with an older XP PC running Sonar 8.5. I don't care much for the new stuff.
 
 
 
 

While owning most all the colors in the big coloring box is fun and, at least in my case, client inducing (read tax write down) one could cover most needs of any project with just what comes with SPLAT. There are occasional plugs that pop up that can really do something different...Neutron, for instance...or are amalgams of plugins rolled into an easy, simple interface...IM Pusher or Scheps Parallel Particles, say....that can really make a difference to your workflow. But you can do perfectly adequate mixes without such. If you know how to use the tools Sonar provides, that is. If not...ain't nothin gonna help ya.

Yep, pretty much saturated. Now I spend money in Groove3 vids! Although retired, there is not enough time for all pursuits. Improve my drumming, guitar, bass etc skills. Music theory, brass sections etc. Now how much time can I spend in new Sonar stuff every month? Let alone family, exercise, food prep...... I decided that new plugins are way down the list of priorities. Not quite as far down are Sonar updates. 
If you didn't play but only mixed it might be different, But I have surrendered to the "I will never know it all" view. You just can't update/upgrade your way to fulfillment. At least I can't.
Gotta get on the indoor trainer, a lot of cycling planned this upcoming summer!