Do you use not updated/discontinued plugins?

[icedsushi]

It's spring cleaning time again, going through my plugins folder cleaning out anything that's not used, redundant, or doesn't work quite the way I need it to. I still have a select few 3rd party plugins but I'm surprised it's less than half of what I had 2 years ago. I don't miss what's no longer there & I feel a little more productive spending less time updating them or deciding what to drag onto a track.

What do you think of plugins that haven't been updated for many years? Have you moved on from them or do just use them if they seem to work with the lastest OS? One example for me was Pro-53, I moved on from it last year, even though technically it worked.

A bunch of the Destroy FX plugins haven't been updated in more than 4 years, but I have one that seems to work on Snow Leopard. I'm finally moving to Lion next week though & haven't used the plugins even though it's a great plugin. I'm not going to install it on the new system, because it hasn't made itself into any of my Live sets anyway.

Nothing lasts forever and some plugins are going to fall by the wayside or become broken with software updates. But some stuff still works even when you'd expect it's so old that it shouldn't. Do you find yourself using outdated, legacy, or discontinued plugins with a current OS & host?

[Tarekith]

I don't keep anything I haven't used in the last few months usually. Means I don't have a lot of plugins anymore, but the ones I do have I know very well and can work fast with. If a piece of Adar isn't working for me, I'd rather get rid of it while there's still some demand for it, and put that money towards something new.

[regretfullySaid]

I used to be a plug-in whore synth the beginnings of the vst/directx days. I can't say all that time was wasted as I learned a lot just by fucking around with synths and effects. I keep an "Old VST" folder around more for nostalgias sake; I guess like a hoarder. But over the years I knew I was wasting a lot of time by fucking around and the more you know the more you realize a lot of the stuff is the same, just different GUI/Layout. Sure characters may be different but not necassarily if they're made from stock building blocks like Synthedit, which is a majority of free plugins. Now I stick to a small few of synths and effects besides the Suite stuff. It's better to master of few than know a little about a lot imo.

That said, I still love Klangormer/!JSynths Nin!ja. The GUI is a black & red combo which I'm a freak about, but also the functionality and layout of the design I find logical and intuitive. I really enjoy the sonic character you can get from it as well as when you're tweaking it. It has a personality I've never seen or heard in any other synth. It can be found if you look.
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/ninja_by_j_development

[doghouse]

Anything I really like I'll keep around but I'm using fewer third party plugins all the time.

I've never been upgrade crazy, unless the upgrade offers a very significant advantage I stay put. I still have Reason 2.5 for instance, all I really use it for is NN-XT so why upgrade?

[jackrabbit]

I put semi redundant plugins in a VST archive folder elsewhere just in case I need any of them if i am uploading an old projects rather than deleting them. Keeps my normal VST folder to a selective working minimum without having to make too hard choices.

[Grijak]

I have found that any plug ins I own, either synth or effect, that are older that 5 years or so have been supplanted by modern equivalents that can do the same things and that are 32 and 64 bit ready, so I am also cleaning out those that I know will not be updated to work with 64 bit when Live gets to that point which is I hope SOON! The only old old synth I am keeping for now is Green Oak Crystal because I still use it all the time; it has really been a timeless synth for my work, so I am glad it went 64 bit!

[Machinesworking]

I do, far too many. B4II, Pro 53, Spektral Delay, Kore, Pluggo etc.
Not on new projects, but my live Set still includes B4II and Kore.
Kore is a stickler though, I still haven't come up with an elegant solution to using Absynth, Kontakt, Massive, Zebra 2, Guitar Rig, along with dozens of FX in ten plus songs in a single Live Set without killing my old Macbook Pros CPU. Mainstage might be the only way.

[Muzik 4 Machines]

since NI likes to shit in the face of their customers, i'm stuck with b4, pro 53 and spektral delay that will never be updated again