Reaper is a beast at $60 personal. If you want a "minimalist" approach,
and already have 3rd party plugins, it is indeed a "no-brainer"
It's powerful, customizable, and inexpensive. The included plugins aren't pretty,
but again, they are minimalist, and do the job.
Mixbus has the "sound" and seems to widen the stereo field somewhat.
Can't wait for MB3...with VSTi and MIDI support and 64 bit....