How Do Cracked Plugins Perform On The Apple Mac M1?
Vložit
- čas přidán 9. 01. 2021
- There are plenty of CZcams videos out there on the morality and legality of using pirated software and cracked plugins, so we try and approach it from a slightly different angle - Do you even NEED what you're trying to crack or are your problems better solved further upstream?
Check out our FREE test master service at:
www.presentdayproduction.com/...
Join our new discord server at:
www.presentdayproduction.com/...
To receive a 7% discount (and earn us a tiny commission) on a DistroKid subscription and increase your chances of higher ranking on Apple Music and Spotify playlists (assuming Mark has mastered your tracks, that is!) and help use this link:
distrokid.com/vip/seven/1940343
If you would like to send us new and interesting products for review, or are interested in a collaboration, please email us at:
info@presentdayproduction.com
If you enjoy our content and would like to make a small PayPal donation to the channel (it gets pretty expensive pretty quickly to make these videos!), then we would be eternally grateful, and give you a shout-out in the next video!
www.cosmic-audio.co.uk/thankyou
If you'd like to use Epidemic Sound's extensive library of well-recorded music as a fantastic learning tool, as well as being able to use it in your own content for CZcams, Facebook or Instagram, follow this link (We earn a small commission which supports the channel):
share.epidemicsound.com/3qmrV6
Alternatively, if you'd like to try out a personal Epidemic Sound subscription at a reduced price, follow this link:
share.epidemicsound.com/3qmrV3
We are also now Waves Ambassadors and we will be bringing some epic content alongside Waves!
Please follow this link for our PresentDayProduction partnership with Waves plugins (We earn a small commission which supports the channel):
waves.alzt.net/JrqZ47 - Hudba
Preach it! As always, another straight forward, no BS video. I remember falling victim to ‘plug in’ lust, thinking I needed all these recommended plug ins to make my music better. But like you, my music sucked because I forgot to actually make the music first. I ended up deleting a lot of plug ins I didn’t really need and now concentrate on making the music the best I can WITHOUT all the plugins first, then only use what ones are really needed. Thanks again for another great video!
Dare I say it. This channel has the potential to be the ‘top gear’ of CZcams music production videos 😂 just need to do some crazy stunts now...
I’d love to do some crazy stunts... launch a 48 channel desk out the back of a plane... ya know.
Now all I need is a plane
And a 48 channel desk
@@PresentDayProduction 😂 exactly
Crass and Discharge controls on the Chlamydia plugin, very punk! Love it. You guys are a breath of fresh air and actually know what you are on about. Fair play.
Thanks Ivan!
one of the best youtube "tech" videos I've seen for years. I was literally in tears of laughter at the Chlamydia section. I'm reminded the Beatles did Sgt. Pepper on a 4 track
I needed to hear this. I’ve been so lusty after gear lately that I’ve been focused on that rather than actual writing and I’ve spent a ton and gotten no better as a result. As always, thank you gents.
This is just excellent. Real life advice from real people with zero hidden motive or agenda. And bloody funny too.
Thanks Pete!
Don't be fooled, they are sponsored by Chlamydia!
Since the start of black Friday I've had growing plug in anxiety ; ) I've always prided myself of not falling for the hype, but this year something got me. Hours spent looking at reviews, reading blogs, comparison videos, demoing them myself. End result - have made less music than in the whole of the year, 2 week hospital stay included. Agree with everything in this video. You can waste so much time f**king about with plug ins and not thinking about the music. And free plug ins that come with DAWs these days are seriously good. Have just been using logic plug ins and it's crazy what you can do with them. I never realised the compressor was so good! Keep spreading the good word!
Thanks for your comment! The Logic plugins are fantastic. We have a free Logic tutorial coming up soon showing just what you can do using Apple’s plugins ONLY!
So true, the same goes to virtual instruments and theirs presents, for which you need at least days just to preview how they sound. I've bought a hardware synth and I use it as my primary instrument, so that I'm "limited" to this one and can focus on creating, not searching.
I really like people who thought that this catchy title video was really about cracking plugins :) There are so many great free plugins guys, there is no need to get an unstable version full of malware of something that you won't ever use anyway. In the end I realized that I only use very few of my plugins and always the same ones because I like them, I know how to use them. Great and funny video as usual. I look forward for a video a bit more in details about mastering, how to use eq, multiband comp, how to read the lufs...
I'm new to the channel but I've been going through the videos and I have to say you make a lot of sense. I found I was more creative when I had little gear and had to finds solutions to problems using something other than high-tec, whilst I became lazy when I could simply use a plug in or get a computer to fix it for me. That's not to say that plug-ins and computers are bad - I would never want to go back to using tape (I am that old) but I like to learn to use a piece of gear and explore it fully now, and rarely find the need to buy new stuff. I still get excited by new gear, but I'll wait for a month first and if I still think it's a good idea then I'll buy it rather than just buying it immediately. It wouldn't be the right way for everyone, but it works for me.
100% agree, great video. I use one paid VST and one Crack VST - next to that I have Tracktion (now Waveform Free 11) and I don't need any more sounds because I've got a zillion, I just need to improve what I am trying to create. Good advice, thank you!
I also like what you said about 'over processing' sounds. My last track was 'mostly' piano sounds for the main notes and hardly needed anything more than volume and panning using the standard components in the DAW.
Yes live Prince was a perfectionist but on his recording there were imperfections all over the place, just read or listen to the many stories that come from his engineers such as desks not installed correctly but he still released the track or his vocals distorted but again song released as a single... Anyways it’s always great to hear people in the industry talk about a Prince and yeah great video guys!
Love this video. Truthful and insightful in every way.
You hit the nail on the head here. I would add questioning the need for subscriptions into this debate, but it always seems to divide opinion.
I think that it depends on the individuals' circumstances, the subscription model and the product(s) included, but simply to have an "all you can eat, for only £x" plan feeds into that idea of thinking that more choice = better results. Most companies offer free trials to demo and there is a ton of free and bundled software out there to get anyone started these days too.
Keep up the good work!
Oh boy, that was one of the funniest things I've seen. Especially the chlamydia part ! Almost woke my girlfriend up at 3 AM watching this.
I've been saying this to people asking me advice on gear and now that you've done this video I can finally just send them this and save time. 😂 Thanks lads!
Thanks for sharing this video with your friends :)
Good to know you agree!
You guys have a black belt in "Keeping it real".
Will V2 of the said Chlamydia plugin have a Wet/Dry facility?
shouldn't it be 'chlamidia'? get it, cause MIDI? ... no? ... I'll see myself out
Haha that’s actually funnier than our joke 😂 we’ll see ourselves out. You can write the jokes from now on! 😂
MIDI? So it has to be a very slow infection^^
@@peterbrandt7911 yep 32Kb per second. That's SLOOOOOOOW!
@@timbeaton5045 Yep, I remember sending samples via MIDI to an Atari ST pre SCSI and PC, just to create some fancy effects, took us literally a day.
That SSL bleep had me rolling on the floor hahaha
Another great video guys... I loved it. Cant wait for the next one!
It’s definitely justifiable to crack plugins, and it definitely helps less talented musicians make better music, especially if ur not great at sound design, hearing incredible presets is always inspiring
Less talented? Cracks where on hundreds of platinum records since the 90s, because they boot faster, less hassle of usb keys 🔑 and limitations of computers able to run the apps, even though they where purchased, cracks (tweeks by digidesign reps) or pirated are better then commercial bs
@@mr.mikehunt4286 damn good to know , thank u for that knowledge nugget lol, makes sense I guess
@@CollinWestScoots more less poor musicians, hey man, i cant reveal my id here here but i worked in big rooms, believe me when i tell you that musicians are oppressed by the industry, they are a threat to the industry which accepts rich kids who buy billboard charts, surrender their money, publishing etc just for the fame, from inside it was still never enough, they could never stay on top unless they shared even more money buying stocks of the label., and there are more then enough richy rich kids in the USA willing to drop $10k just to have a song on the radio aired with their name on a prom or bar mitvza
Hey can you suggest where can i get some cracks for mac m1.
Imma newbie and can't afford all plugins which are needed 😢
i don’t think it’s justifiable but i’m doin it anyway 🔥🔥🔥
Dude omfg the Chlamydia why is nobody talking about this. 💀💀💀VSTi only. Damn catchy 😂😂
I've got a warez version of Chlamidya I can let you have really cheap. Just deposit $20 into my Moscow branch of Western Union ASAP.
love the storytelling on this channel.. subscribed👍
Thanks for subscribing!
Brilliant video! Thank you guys.
Brilliant.....possibly one of your best yet. Apologies for not watching sooner, shou;lf have known the clickbait title was a twist of some sort.....and as someone else who started on 4 track cassette in the 80's and sometimes go back and listen to what I managed then, yes, it's a great lesson.
Cheers guys.
PS: Love that Chlamydia is only available as a VSti ;)
Thanks Nic! Always a twist in our videos ;)
Another great video guys. I don't have tons of experience producing records but lots of experience playing music and with one self-produced album under my belt I have to agree it's more about the music and the sound you capture. The plugin game is a trap. And I laughed my ass off at CHLAMYDIA, It's damn catchy....
We’re glad most people agree that it’s all about the music you make and not what plugins you use to make it!
Shit in, shit out. Who would have thought ?
All joking aside, I'm a big Mötley Crüe fan, and a few years back they re-released their whole catalog, adding some bonus tracks and rough mixes to their albums. The first listen to the rough mixes was kind of a "gotcha !" moment: they sounded HUGE and not THAT different from the finished mixes. Great musicians playing great songs and sounding great in the room...no need to mangle beyond recognition what's just working as is.
As a live sound guy, learning when to stay out of the way and let the musicians do what they do is one of the most valuable skills I ever learnt (still working on it of course).
I've used Logic X for 10 years more or less. I went down the road of 3rd party plug-ins because everyone said you should...I came to a painful realisation after a particularly difficult mix (I made it difficult...🙄 ) where the basic tracks were fantastic. I was spending more time searching my plug-in library for "the sound" than actually mixing the tracks as they were...I remixed everything with the Logic plug-ins and suddenly it was done , in 2 hours...Whilst there are 3rd party plug-ins that are excellent, I now realise that these are usually the ones that provide a really unique sound, not the emulations of classic outboard gear - which Logic have done already - and they're free in the box...I'm still pretty crap at all this but now I'm less crap because I'm getting a deeper understanding of what plug-ins do. I use Logic as I said but this applies to pretty much every DAW, they're all excellent.
Well said! The built in plugins are fantastic on pretty much every DAW now! Thanks for your comment!
@@PresentDayProduction boo, your scared of telling the truth, most cracks are done by competitors like softube, soundtoys, avid and Slate audio, to keep their product prices above others, you wont find cracks by them anywhere, atleast not after 2014
Definitely one of your best lads. You made sense on everything you spoke about. So true that the song is King. Love your comments on Mr Stevie Wonder (Number 1 in Feel, Musicianship, his Amazing vocal quality & ... The Song ) Yes It was the sound of the quality instruments that were used (70's / 80's) but how far have we come in 40+ years? (or how far have we traveled back in time?)
Brilliant and hilarious. Might be my favorite video y'all have made so far.
The first recordings I made in my early 20's in the late 90's on a ART Phantom mixer and a Foxtex A8 1/4" 8-track (with an Alesis 3630 which I still have) are still some of my favorite recordings ever, and were the most fun I've had recording. Back then I thought nothing about spending 10 hours a day moving a single mic around the drums/amps/guitar replaying the same parts hundreds of times to hear how the sound was affected.
Around '99 I bought an M-Audio Delta 1010 and a Mackie CR1604-VLZ and built a DAW and very quickly I went from making recordings to downloading and hoarding software. I got really good at this. I could suss out the latest releases like nobody's business. I had *every version of everything.* I knew the zero-day scene inside and out. I could have taught a course. It took me several years to realize that this was a path straight to distraction. Chasing releases had sucked the life out of my recordings and the fun out of the process of making them. Eventually I stopped recording altogether.
In the last few years I've started again but using only paid or free software. There is SO FREAKING MUCH amazing free/cheap software out there it absolutely boggles the mind, and more free awesomeness comes out every time I turn my head. This past Black Friday I caved and dropped $60 at Waves (let's be honest, it's a perpetual sale event with them). I bought the CLA76, CLA2A, the Puigchild and the Electric 88. Those three comps were the Waves plugs I used most in my pirating days and now I can use them and feel good about it (even though Waves' licensing is a PITA).
Now all I need to do is stop watching music production videos and start producing music.
What an awesome comment, and you’re SO right! Great story, thank you!
Perfectly stated! Thanks guys...good piece.
I'm keeping my M1 Mac Mini as clean as possible, free from dodgy cracked plugins etc. That said, like many others, I learned a lot in the early years using cracked plugins from Waves etc, so when Black Friday came around I actually purchased a lot of plugins that I had previously cracked. In a way, these plugins were my version of the 4-track.
Great videos. I'm subscribing the channel now. Thanks and keep up the good work
Great video! As I've said many times, "Use your ear, not your gear as a priority when you mix and master," and "It's not the canoe, it's the Indian," and, "It's not the car, it's the driver." And finally, the definition of a completed track, "No emotional weak links for the listener from the very first note to the last moment of silence." Two Thumbs up to Mark Ashfield and James Nugent!
Two sides of the same coin : some people blame their lack of tools others think that their lack of creativity , talent and skills are caused by the fact that they have too many tools
god i LOVE this channel. You guys are awesome
Thanks Gabriel!
Loved this. I had a portastudio, DX7, Juno, etc, in the 80s and loved it. Worked as a software developer and for fun played in a trad jazz band on trombone in pubs and then on bass in a band. Now I'm retired and play around in a DAW as a hobby. I went through three phases. Download every free plugin - low creativity, no idea what I was doing. Then download every cracked plugin to see if that was what was missing - no better, still crap music. Finally deleted everything and spent 6 months learning to use the DAW and it's plugins properly. Creativity is back and audio quality is great. It's the same with VCV Rack as it's too easy to download 100s of free modules before you have learned the built-in stuff and understand the basics of modular. Craft before professional tools.
Thanks for your comment, that’s great to hear that you are of the same opinion! Learn your tools before getting new ones, always the best way!
Man, truth. VCV Rack is the destroyer of time.
So true. Every musician should watch this.
Your content is quality, very insightful video :)
In the glory days: I feel the musicians magnetics were captured by a mic magnet, stuffed down a wire, and stored on a magnetic tape. Speaker magnets could accurately replay vibes.
Sorry, I didn't quite understand where exactly do I download the cracked version of Chlamydia from?
Great out-take in the end :)
I used to be a studio rat but moved to live mixing. I gave my live mixes a clarity it needed (holly bs some mixes I heard are just terrible) but learned to be minimalistic and only cut what is not needed and never add or boost what is not needed. In the end my mixing and processing technics changed drastically for a studio mixing. I totally ditched a technical stuff and concentrated on creativity and emotional aspect. My studio is set now that I press the button and recording starts. I understand that I have years of experience and mixing is just do a few cuts and compress a bit here and there. But people stop m@asturbating a track too much for hours. You are just killing it. Few adjustments here and there are ENOUTH! "Less is more" is my moto now. I am trying to cramp this in all the young band I am producing. They first reject it but then come and admite that hard and soul is EVERYTHING! More you process more you kill it!
This man literally made the car analogy LMAOOOOO
No bait apology needed. I don’t have a Mac or a crack!! But.. your vids are always worth the ten minutes (ish) great stuff lads.
Thank you Peter!
@@PresentDayProduction a pleasure chaps, I’m a new bee to digital using reaper and a few plug ins spitfire, ssl, abbey road. It’s enough for this old git to learn without being deluged with the next next next must have shove in. Agreed, it’s about feel, talent, mood, and a nice cup of tea 🤪
This content just hits HARD
i was like 2 clicks away from downloading sh*t tonns of pirated plugins, but after watching this im gonna stick with my stock fl plugins that i KNOW how to use
and its made me re evaluate how i do my music tbh. like where as before i was looking for that 1 plugin that could save my mix now ive accepted that i just need to embrace the plugins i have and use them to their fullest abiblites..
thanks guys
Thanks for your comment! Great to hear, we’d love to hear what you’re working on!
@@PresentDayProduction
Im really not the greatest mixing/mastering engineer and ive only been learning how to do so for about 5-6 months with my DAW..
so dont expect much from my mixes at all.
czcams.com/video/MS33Jzc80Ps/video.html
Do you guys think the Waves plugins are also overrated??
Because I achieved almost the same mix using stock plugins .
I did not find any diffrence in the compressor or the Fx tools waves have.
There are one or two Waves plugins that have a specific use, and they’re good at it. But the rest are just over-complications of something you can get cheaper, or not use at all and instead use the stock plugins.
A lot of people go on about rVerb in Waves... I hate it. I’d rather use VerbSuite Classics from Slate, or the good old Logic Space Designer
This... this should be a Public Service Announcement to every creator, in every medium in perpetuity. Expletives and all. Especially the expletives, now that I think about it.
why do they feel the need to make plugins 2000$ + dollars
Funny! & very true! Enjoy your videos for the instruction & also the comedy!
90% agreed. one thing i do not agree with that buying a lot of different plugins somehow makes you loose the ability to judge a good or bad bass performance. if you know what you are doing and have a certain skill level and know EXACTLY what the new plugin does, it can be helpful. 50% is gearlust but some of it is useful. also some of it can be just inspiring, even just the gui..
Alternate title: "How to Become a Better* Musician:
*freely interpret the barrels of meaning here
Bravo. Avoid the distraction. The suite that comes stock in Logic is incredible.
We agree! Use the tools you’re given, they’re amazing!
Agreed. The only thing I’ve bought outside of that is the izotope basics stuff just so I could use ozone elements for a quick mastering preview, and on my last mix I didn’t even need that. Just used the stock plugins on the mix bus and got it sounding great.
I found this video quite towering. There are indeed many pitfalls in the digital domain where people can get trapped in the "easiest" way to achieve a sonic goal, or try to get the "best" sounding gear without listening to it first. The chlamydia part was neat.
this video is produced way to well to only have 7k views
Thanks Joost, hopefully those numbers will go up soon! We’re trying hard to make our videos good quality!
can you please give the downloadable link of that software
You guys ar crazy. And right, of course.. Love your videos. Keep them coming. :)
Back in the late 90s, software for music was all about instruments, you needed a synth sound. FX was crazy in the early 2000s on the market for the start of plugins.
Is an antivirus required in case something goes wrong with cracked plugins on MacOS? Or is MacOS secure enough? Asking for a friend…
Great video! Limitations foster creativity.
Great information..
I upgraded to logic after MANY years of GB. Love logic and purchasing new plugins as my ability and understanding increases. Just bought waves denoiser 👍 LOVE the chlamydia!!! Thats the next plugin you guys should make
Chlamydia.... I thought you already had it?! 🤣🤣🤣
@@PresentDayProduction lol cheeky buggers 😁
Where can we find the Ashfield back catalogue?
How do you process your voice? Sounds smooth especially top end. I wish i could process my dialogues in films :)
For Mark, a little compression, de-essing and treble on the EQ... for James... enough de-essing to kill a cow, then a small amount of compression, followed by SHIT TONS of EQ because James has the worst voice for recording, ever, in the history of recording.
Description by James.😂 All using cracked plugins
excellent video! I alwsys put emotion and performance first- i have spent (wasted) $£€1000’s on plugins and they have never made a difference to the quality of the song
I feel like when you have access to old vintage equipment its a plus because it sounds amazing but in reality, if you capture the perfect performance on an iPhone in a less than ideal situation, itll always be better than recording a mediocre performance in the greatest studio in the world using the best equipment known to man.
umm do you have an afiliate link for chalmydia? i dont wanna just crack it
what is this emotion you're talking about, is that a new plugin? I NEED IT
Not to be offensive in any way, just wondering if you guys who mixed this videos audio missed that ringing frequency presumably coming from the lav microphone, or am I just hearing it since I'm young and still have fairly fresh high frequency hearing xD
SO PRINCE WAS CLAP !!!!
Mark’s piece on his early home recording was very similar to mine, I agree that plugins can be distracting rather than helpful, absolutely agree that they
have questionable business models.... and yes my early recordings on my Korg D3200 were far superior to my recent stuff, excluding vocals .. which I’ve never managed to get right on anything.
Great video
two very good points; there is plenty of great free software out there, so no need to steal; and as with hardware, lots of software comes with the need to spend lots of time to learn it. I haven't had illegal software for decades, but have fallen into the trap of buying too much (especially hardware)...ending in frustration of not having enough time to learn it all and use it NOW in a proper way...
Ha ha ha funny as, and probably just saved me a million quid, keep it up fellas, really looking forward to the logic classes. Also your desk (furniture) was that a DIY job or ready made?
Thanks Johnny!
We’re looking forward to the Logic classes too!
The desk is a Studiodesk-inspired design, but custom built by us with our own twists
Clicked for the piracy, stayed here for the awesome mesaage the video gives. I think I will follow your advice. Thanks for this perspective.
Thanks for your comment! Great to hear we may have given some new thinking angles.
Do you really need those clickbait titles?
Good video ❤
Spot on tricky dudes.
I love Mark's origin story
Regarding the Akai 1212. I'd argue that it's not that you had too many tracks it's that you didn't have enough people. And by that I mean the rest of the band had obviously buggered off... Not that you should have hired a session crew.
I'm a mixing engineer based in India, I love your channel since its inception and the topics you choose, you are doing a great job.
I noticed something very unusual and disturbing in this video, there is a constant noise along with the dialogues of your video around 15khz-15.4khz range. I've noticed this in few more of your videos. Please try to clean it up before uploading. I don't know if you've noticed this or kept it unintentionally, but as an engineer my ears are sensitive to these frequencies as it's a part of my day job to clean these up. So thought of letting you know about it.
Cheers 🥂
I’ve heard the beta version of Chlamydia II and it’s amazing!
It’s even MORE catchy! Almost infectious!
I loved that video
imo the place for cracked software is: people who are really young like too young to get a job young but have some passion. if that gets them into it it's a good thing. but once you can buy your tools and have to actually think carefully about whether you would benefit from them or whether you're just making your plugin list longer and more cluttered it feels so much better to buy what you need and just not use what you don't
Great video guys. Sometimes we fall in the dark side of believing that we need more tools to produce great tracks. Thanks for this great video.
Great and true. I had to lough once again😅
I have recently removed ALL my cracked plugins and afterward made a clean fresh installation of all my software that I own. It feels soooo good and I have enough of plugins that I have bought with my own money.
Congrats on the fresh start and best of luck for the future!
Love the sentiment here
Great video. I look at it like this; if your not taking your music seriously enough to use legit tools, how do you expect other people to take it seriously and more importantly what does that say about your motivation and view of your own music.
Perfectly said!
Really suggest get "the clap" and run it in VSTD3 format
So true I lusted after an orange amp and fender telecaster but in the end I just had a behringer amp and des Paul guitar from Ali express …
Gold!
Good topic.
Some of this is explained with hoarding. We want it all. And the devs with well known mixing engineers* and youtubers are part of this trying to make us think we need 20 software compressors because they have some unique sound-as if anyone could distinguish the “sound” if asked.
I'm guilty to this as well and yes, trying a new plugin is part of our curiosity. Watching all the great mixing engineers using this and that thru endorsement deals with the developers and manufacturers-as if a mix would be better because of the retro gear emulating plugin they want you to buy and when doing the sales pitch both youtuber and the watcher going “ah huge difference!”
I'm not trying to argue completely against using retro plugins or what might be-but try to be true to yourself. Do I need all of this to make a good mix or to produce good music, or just for having fun?
Suggestion for a topic:
Can software devs survive without doing heavily discounted sales all day of the year? (Part of sales strategy for at least one well known Israeli company, but seems to be a necessity today for most, not all, developers to sell with heavy discount.)
* Yes I can still admire yet criticise the same person I think does amazing mixes but should separate themselves from being tied to some devs.
That is an interesting suggestion for a video, maybe we will follow that up! Thanks for your great comment.
And you are totally right. It is entirely about hoarding, the desire to own everything, because it will theoretically make you a better engineer if you have the same setup as CLA.
who made the trap beat?
All our music is licensed from EpidemicSound
LOL!! THANK YOU for making me laugh almost 13 minutes straight. Love the videos! 👌🏼😂🙌🏼
And of course spot on!
We’re glad you agree! Thanks for your comment, Simon!
somebody has a link? for Mac
A link for what?
You can even record your voice great on a iphone mic . no need for a u87
We actually have a video coming up explaining exactly that!
It would be really nice if Waves didn't charge an update fee to install software you already purchased on newer mac OS. at least there's a workaround to make your legit V9 plugs work on MacOS Catalina.
A lot of people should hear this on repeat.
And not pointing fingers here. I bought a lot of stuff this black Friday to test. For my own pleasure. But I kinda keep it separate.
What I'll do to not distract myself is work with what I know for my clients. And mess around in spare time with plugins and gear I got for fun.
Eventually something sounds so good It goes to my main setup. Or a session pops up where than one plugin or piece of gear would shine and I use it.
Otherwise I keep it dead simple.
The main question to ask yourself is always: "why do I add this". Often after you ask yourself that question, you find yourself taking some processing off.