that people like Ross Hogarth are really using these plugins on albums that are released to the public? Maybe on demos they are but with the equipment they have I doubt it. It's just hard to buy into.
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDS0G2hBtDg

Most Engineers, I found, use a combination...

They'll use plugins to get it part of the way there...and
hardware to get the "full" whammy.  I have yet to hear
a mix done entirely "in the box" that sounds anywhere as near
alive as a "hardware" done mix...if that were the case, there
would be a lot of hardware companies out of business.  I have had
this argument repeatedly.  There is no way that a $50 plugin
is going to sound remotely the same as it's $2000 hardware
counterpart.  If that were true, then these major studios wouldn't
be buying $500,000 consoles and spending hundreds of thousands in
outboard gear.  They'd buy plugins, save a whole lot of money, and
be done...

Lots of outboard used on the way in... and a combination at mix.
 
We've got several clients who are mix engineers.
Yes, the do make extended use of plugins.

Jim Roseberry
Lots of outboard used on the way in... and a combination at mix.
 
We've got several clients who are mix engineers.
Yes, the do make extended use of plugins.

Great tracking on the way in sure helps to make great mix on the way out...
THAT much is for sure!

I'm not sure I would ever use or need to use a plugin if I had that kind of equipment but I guess I'll never know.

If he's using a de-esser probably wouldn't want him mixing for me.

There are commercial releases that use plugins throughout and minimal hardware, yes. Particularly in the electronica field.

Whether any use one of these Waves' "simple signature multi-effects" is a different matter.

Whether the people whose signature appears on the plugin use it, no idea. Maybe they do if it emulates the way they'd approach things using multiple plugins or hardware and it gets the results for them in their mix using tracks recorded in the way they like tracks recorded. Which doesn't mean anyone else will ever get the same sound out of one.

It's like buying a 1969 Strat and converting it to upside-down left-handed use, adding an original late 60s Fuzz Face and Crybaby, plugging into a Marshall Super-Lead and expecting the gear to turn you into Jimi Hendrix.

It won't. You'll sound like you playing through Hendrix's stage rig, which might even make you sound worse instead of better.

Mosvalve
that people like Ross Hogarth are really using these plugins on albums that are released to the public? Maybe on demos they are but with the equipment they have I doubt it. It's just hard to buy into.
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDS0G2hBtDg

It's highly possible. Especially when it comes to time constraint and efficiency,
I am not sure if the implication here is that this type of plugin is a gimmick, but in the past I
would have entertained the thought that without a doubt this type of a plugin is a gimmick, but in today's advances in technology I would say that it is highly possible that this type of plugin can be and is being used on commercially released material.  And by the way, i do own this plugin and use it when needed . Remember , they are all just tools, but if you are looking for a one stop fix to bypass taste and choice, it'll never happen.

Yes, mix engineers use plugs all the time.  If it is well recorded with good hardware and in a great space with an engineer that knows how to get a sound, plugs sound great come mix time.  And when the request comes back for "these minor changes" it is much quicker to call up the session than reset a bunch of analog hardware from pics on your iPhone. Time is money.
 
If you get a chance to A/B hard and software, it can be really difficult to tell them apart for mix purposes, esp. if you aren't pushing the software hard, esp. for tone.  A lot of that should be done going in anyway, through hardware.  That is where I find hardware useful, esp. when pushing it.  And fun.  You get to "play" with your engineering toys.
 
Being about to mix back out through hardware is all gravy.  But plugs can work as well after tracking.

More and more top level mix engineers are going totally ITB. Andrew Schepps comes to mind as a good example. This is because many plugins have finally reached, for all intents and purposes, parity with the modeled hardware. Plus the advantages of plugs versus hardware are self evident...the ability to have multiple instances, mobility, extra features lacking in the hardware to name but a few. In short, like many other useless anachronistic debates that have been superceded by technological advances, it's over. Plugins are the future. And will only get better. Try to come to grips with it. Hard though it may be.