I'll start..Waldorf M plugin. I got so excited about having the "amazeballs" Microwave sound in a plugin, I couldn't wait to buy it.

Used it exactly once. Months ago. Haven't since. To be honest, I found it disappointing. Not evocative or that unique, like Plasmonic or Objekt or even Chromaphone. It's a one-sound plugin to me. I can get cooler sounds that are in the same ballpark elsewhere.

I still have and use the Waldorf PPG 3v plugin, which frankly to me sounds better and is actually useful. And includes effects and a working mono legato mode.

Don't want to start a debate about whether I'm an idiot and the Waldorf M plugin is the greatest synth plugin ever. Just want to hear from others who have been disappointed with VST's they bought.

What about plugins we never really started using, is that on this list too?

Nope. Just plugins you used once or twice.

Every waves plugin I ever purchased. Their continuous paid upgrade just because an OS is upgraded is total BS.

Probably about 95% of plugin alliance plugins. Probably about 95% of UAD plugins.

I easily own dozens of plugins from both companies and use almost none.

I could probably completely happy with using only:

1. MH channel strip
2. UAD Distressor
3. UAD Pultec
4. Fab filter EQ
5. Echoboy
6. Altiverb.
7. Ableton Glue
8. Decapitator

As far as VST instruments, I would really be able to live without all of them, but if you gave me three it would be omnisphere, dune 3 and the sh101 from softube. And I also own dozens of others that haven’t been touched in years.

So much damn money wasted on software.

OOF! Easily enough to buy a few nice hardware 500 units.

I very rarely end up using any soft synth I've bought. In fact I stopped buying them except for the Blofeld plugin, because hey maybe I can not turn on the hardware once in awhile..

Any soft synth I end up using, I try to replace with a real one at some point if I can. If not, most everything ends up in one of my samplers. About the only softsynth you'll likely find in one of my projects now is either Groove Agent, Halion or TAL Sampler. Groove Agent is only used to get my initial breaks sorted out, then all that get's sampled into my Akai (GA handles the chopping for me, easy as pie). Same with anything I'd use TAL for. Halion only gets stereo patches and really long samples because I hate using using stereo patches on my E6400 and saving 100MB of memory sucks even to an SD card heh. Don't even need my Roland (Softube, TAL) plugs anymore now that I picked up an SH-4D, it might not be perfect, but it handles Juno/SH-101/etc stuff like nothing (my actual 101 is out of commission at the moment).

All of them?

This thread is a bit like nights out horror stories where folk admit to bagging a fifteen-pinter who stalked you for the next five years. I've got so many plugins that I absolutely had to have, purchased and then thought "Next!" that I don't just need my own thread, I need my own forum. In fact I reckon if I totted up what I have spent on unused plugins then I would need another new plugin called DeAnurism. The combination of an addictive personality, self-soothing with shopping and a complete lack of self-control means I have more than I care to admit.

Synplant is an obvious howler purchase that I open up periodically and think WTF was the inspiration for this? Shrooms by the Kilo I reckon. This purchase was part of that deceptive mantrap called a bundle. At the time I was listening to a song by Erasure with a computerised voice saying "Rocket" so Bitspeak seemed like an essential purchase. Bitspeak has never appeared in a single track to date. I even bought a microphone to use with it. And a stand. Bitspeak meant that and I use quotes for a reason, "It probably made more sense to buy the bundle." This is how I come to own Synplant. This was recently joined by Plogue's Chipspeech but I've only had a couple of weeks to not use that at all. Early days yet.

Then there is a whole raft of plugins I don't use because I can't be arsed reading the manual. Reading the manual takes away precious time that could be used for buying plugins.

For balance. I do have some plugins that I use all the time. Saturn 2, Studer A800. I'm very impressed with UA's Moog Minimoog plugin that I recently bought as part of a bundle of 58 plugins - most of which I will never use. The only issue with the Minimoog plugin is that it sounds so good I have 14K of modular sitting unused but that belongs on another thread I suppose.

Every Waves plugin I've ever bought. Not that they're all bad. I just got so tired of their convoluted rent seeking licensing model.

Replied before I read the thread. Almost exactly same response re waves. And I agree with really only needing a handful, fab filter, klanghelm, isotope along with the stock logic plugs and I'm good.

Here’s what I used a bit and won’t use again:
EastWest Forbidden Planet. I thought it was useable at first but it really doesn’t sound at all in the same league as an actual analog polysynth through OTB gear, which is what they sampled. I stopped using it as a placeholder since it’s not close enough at all. And not a very good sound as such anyway

Here’s what I bought and hope to use more:
Slate VSX (with headphones)
Soundtoys bundle

Here’s what I bought and might use more:
Melodyne Studio
Superior Drummer 3 + expansions
Ge-Force DMX & Imposcar

Here’s what I regret buying and have never installed:
Native Instruments Ultimate CE 13

Is there any reason to install anything in there?

If you mean all listed above, yes. or of those you mention:

Soundtoys without question. Eventide. G-Force.

I'd go down with the ship with them, or die on that hill kinda thing.

(I have to use Kontakt, or otherwise I would hope, or rather, 'sarcastically said', not mind at all if the new owners of Native Instruments (in the Francisco Tech Chachi Bothers) die a painful death being fed into a wood chipper on a live feed...)

Melodyne can be important absolutely....

Superior Drummer is absolutely great for many, but not the 'only' in that regard.

and Steven Slate can go take his steroids and enjoy his cocaine with Joe Rogan and live in his alternate reality as much as he wants that I don't have to interact with.

all good.

NI Komplete.

I got everything installed on my studio computer. Not using them at all.

I needed Komplete Kontrol in my Macbook Air so that I can use Vcollection through that. Was installing Komplete out of habit when I realized I don't have enough disk for it all.

Decided to install just Komplete Kontrol and Kontakt. What a waste of money the rest of it is.

I agree with that, and I’m glad you wrote it

I was a bit unclear - is there anything in NI Komplete 13 CE (or later) that’s worth installing?

I just want to buy and use Native Instruments FM7 again but is that even possible these days without using old crax?

What is up with that company?

Why not FM8?

Valhalla Shimmer - I have no idea why I bought it, I hate shimmer reverb. A little pitch down (The Devil's Shimmer) can be okay but pitch up shimmer is nails on a chalkboard.

As with everyone else, the NI suite. When I need a real instrument sample I use the ones included in Live Suite or Air Xpand2! for shitty rompler samples.

Too many to list. It’s a learning process.

But my biggest disappointments were Omnisphere and Diva. Thankfully they both still had value when I sold them off.

Agree with you on Omnisphere. It has since been surpassed by plugins like Pigments and Falcon 3.

I would agree about Diva as well, EXCEPT that I just re-discovered the JP 8000 part of it, and it's actually pretty good.

hmm, It's been awhile since I looked at that sad deprecated menu... but outside of the fact that I have to rely on Kontakt (which is still the best software sampler out there despite what I imagine is going to happen to it with those idiots at the helm and no one else having their resources in terms of product (and no, UVI isn't close unfortunately, and other solutions aren't either in terms of what their scripting can do with the different IP they have developed and obtained and the talent that preceded and built what was a great product that current ownership is driving into the ground...)..

um... I really used to like a lot of their stuff... until they shat down their legs in terms of what artists want and steered the ship towards what the..., well, I don't know who, but the "influencers"? the money? I don't know... but if there is any serious musician or producer here that will speak out in behalf of supporting their current direction or movement, please feel free to raise their hand...

(and I know there are some here that feed their families off that teat, so I won't put them on the spot, and it's not their fault...)..

but no... there shouldn't be outside of necessity, utility, or occupation on that to be honest.

I use Kontakt... transitioned off pretty much every other product they have other than legacy projects myself...

Things like Reaktor/Absynth/etc etc are(were) great.

Now they are a shill sample pack race to the bottom feeder and it's a shame.

They are pretty much a joke at this point outside of certain things... I'm absolutely sure they have some products other than that you can make good music with... but they are no longer held in much esteem or first call of dignity product line unfortunately.

mho only.

Quite a few... What's even worse are the VST's I've bought and never even bothered to download :(

In my spice drawer is smoked paprika. If it came in a bottle the size of a thimble, that would probably be enough to last us for a year, as the only thing we use it for is deviled eggs, and we rarely eat deviled eggs. It will expire and get tossed, and a new bottle will be purchased the next time we have deviled eggs.

The Microwave might just be your “smoked paprika.” Not something you often use, but just the thing, when that’s the sound you want. I think it’s a lot better than PPG 3, because it’s got a way better interface, and a lot of other nice features that I appreciate. I don’t use either one of them a lot, but when I have to have “that sound,” I’m glad that I have them. I can run those wavetables in other synthesizers, but they don’t quite work as well.

I'm going to reformat my MBP soon - always feels like spring cleaning after a few years of things being added and removed.

I keep thinking of trying to set a hard limit for plugin installations when I do so and craft a 'studio' of the best in class (so no installing the whole Arturia suite just because I can) but when I start making a mental list of what I'd install it starts to seem so long the curation is almost pointless.

Pigments 3. Used it for one track. Had to add heavy processing to get juice out of it. Too much hassle. Besides that, the interface which everyone was calling great, wasn't that fast to use as I expected from the reviews and opinions.
Sold it, never missed it since then.

NI Komplete which may not be a surprise. I have upgraded to all new versions since version 2. Over 20 years now... I don't know why. Old habit maybe.
Sometimes I use Guitar Rig and once a year maybe Battery. But that's it.
Arturia V-Collection I actually use but even there only 20-30% of the included stuff.

I'm super-careful with what I buy, but a late dud was the JST SkyBox reverb. Eventide Blackhole and Valhalla SuperMassive are what I use instead.

I'm not really seeing much "overlappability" between Omnisphere and Pigments, to be honest?

Vitocorleone123's dislike of Diva is turning into a Gearspace classic.

What I'd give to bag a 15 pinter who stalks me for the next 5 years.

Plugins are the new ummm, something or other

It's funny that you mention Plasmonic, Objekt, and Chromaphone. Those are three plugins that I demoed (but fortunately did not buy) and never considered again.

I suppose if I were doing music for TV, film, and games, I might be more interested in "pseudo-Ethno" mallet and pluck instruments. Or maybe if I wanted to revisit Peter Gabriel's "Security" album for some reason.

But almost all physical modeling synths sound thin and cheesy to me. I want them to sound as rich and detailed as samples but be more expressive. And they never deliver, IMO. Apple probably did it best with its Structure instrument 20 years ago. For better or worse, the field has not progressed to anywhere near the point where physical modeling can replace sampling, as many people predicted back then.

While no one is an "idiot" for not liking a synth, it is strange (to me) that you prefer the PPG 3.V plugin to the Microwave 1, which, IMO, is superior in every way – sound, flexibility, expressiveness, UI, and third-party library support. But different strokes for different folks.

Plugins are like pokemons. Collect them all.

Huh? That's one I haven't heard before.