Waves Tune: I think I paid $50.  I tried and tried but couldn't seem to get a handle on that one.
 
I'm not an engineer but if I were I'd think it would be beneficial to be at least familiar with waves plugins.  I would assume if you were working outside your own studio you would find waves to be dominant.

tom1
I'm not an engineer but if I were I'd think it would be beneficial to be at least familiar with waves plugins.  I would assume if you were working outside your own studio you would find waves to be dominant.

 
Exactly.  While I don't have any hard data, I'd bet that Waves has sold more plugins than anybody else, and by a wide margin.  If you work with others in the business, it's a good idea to know your Waves. 
 
On the topic of dust-gathering, most such tools in my folder are things that came with bundles.  I bought the Nomad Integral bundle a while ago for cheap, and while I'm glad to have it -- it has some stuff that I really like -- most of the 50 or so plugins never get used.  Same goes for several of the Melda plugs ... when I want to do something specific, I rarely reach for MMultiBandAutoDynamicLimiterEQLargeWithEndlessWaysToTweak. 
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

90% of them.
 
As a matter of fact, on my most recent mixes, the only 3rd party plugs I used were... Waves. 
 
EQ and Compression are the two things I use the most - and most of the time I use my native plugs for that. Occasional exception for EQ - IK's Pultec.
Occasional exception for Compression - IK's Fairchild (though I'm getting better at dialling what I want using the VariMU mode of Logic's comp), Waves CLA compressors.
 
Others - IK's British Channel, and, even more rarely, reverbs - Lexicon, IK's CSR and Valhalla.
 
Most used/essential 3rd party: Waves tape emulations and L1. That's the only ones I've been using lately.
 
Which is why I guess I have had my plug-in acquisition syndrome well under control for a while. I'm only getting stuff that my basic set of plug-ins don't cover, which isn't a lot. EQ's and compressions don't really interest me, nor reverbs. 

The "spinin' W CREEPED me out; then top that off with them wantin' to WUP up on my a$$.
Well, you get the picture.
I got one a them "free" UAD Duo's, but UA drug their A$$ so long gettin' it to me I decided to pass.
Worth $425 on eBay, 7 day auction, .01 start, no reserve!
Glad to get it!
T

My UAD-2 Solo card has actually been collecting a bit of dust lately. I try to depend on UAD less and less because the way they're going, I'll barely be able to run a single instance of their next line of plugs on my Solo. I also don't like how they keep replacing the trusted old plugs (LA2A, 1176, Pultec etc.) with new versions requiring 10x the DSP power for 5% more authenticity. Before I know it the "legacy" versions won't even be supported no more!
 
The only UAD plug I can't live without is the Precision De-esser. I've just never tried one that comes close! 

Since I didn't upgrade to UAD2, my whole UAD1 account including:
Big Neve 88RS Channel Strip
DreamVerb Room Modeler
Precision Enhancer kHz
Which I'm trying to sell to a happy UAD2 home.....
 
Wusik Station
AAS String Studio (still trying to find a use for it)
BFD Eco
A couple of the D16 Silverline bundle (Devastator is one of em)
 
I'm sure there's a bunch more, but I can't remember as they've been collection dust.
 

Crysonic, I can't even remember what the plug-in was called. It never worked right, that I remember, and the company was less than helpful.

Some are just plain obsolete:
LiveSynthPro
VSampler 3.5 (paid for the upgrade from VS3 included in Sonar 3)
Cameleon
 
Some I just don't use anymore:
Pristine Space Light - I like it better with Cakewalk's GUI.
TAL U-NO-LX
Ultra Analog VA-1 - The GUI is way too small to work with.
discoDSP Vertigo - I used to like this one but not so much anymore.

mumpcake
 
Ultra Analog VA-1 - The GUI is way too small to work with.

 
Yeah whats with all these small GUI's? Especially now when 4k displays are getting more and more common. Thankfully my newfound love (the Melda Plugins) lets ju scale the gui to your liking.
 
/M

Reverbs. I still slap my face as to why I bought several. Expensive, schoolboy error but it was in the past and you are allowed to make the odd mistake early on.