Ep 28 - Before You Buy Another Plugin, Ask This One Question

Studio Stuff Podcast #28 | Before You Buy Another Plugin, Ask This One Question

We started this episode sipping tea and joking around… and somehow ended up in a full-on therapy session about plugins.

A listener comment kicked it off: “Sometimes it feels like I spend more time buying and setting up plugins than making music.” Yep. Been there. So we unpack where that urge comes from, why the “next plugin” feels like it’ll fix everything, and how we personally draw the line between useful tools and dopamine shopping.

And to make it extra practical, we answer a listener question about oversampling: what it is, when it matters, why it can reduce aliasing, and why enabling it everywhere can absolutely destroy your CPU.

Special thanks to our sponsor, Audient. https://audient.com/

What We Dig Into:

• The biggest reasons we keep buying “one more plugin”

• How to tell if a plugin is actually helping your mixes (or just your mood)

• Why we still reach for the same familiar tools most of the time

• A simple rule to decide when a new plugin is worth it

• What oversampling is (and what aliasing actually means)

• When oversampling matters most (and when it’s overkill)

Topics & Stories:

• “How do they make decaf coffee?” becomes a philosophy debate

• The “collection” trap: buy 2 more, save more, own everything

• Seeing a plugin you forgot you already bought (painful… and real)

• The “24 tracks” question: how many different EQs and compressors are you actually using?

• Why “good-looking plugins” can weirdly influence creativity

• AI plugins as the next “take my money” wave

Listener Q&A:

Oversampling in plugins:
Where to use it, why it can reduce aliasing in non-linear processing (saturation/limiters), and why it’s usually not a make-or-break factor for your mixes.

Final Takeaway:

Plugins aren’t going to save you. If you buy one, buy it on purpose: save time, solve a real problem, or unlock a sound you truly can’t get otherwise. And for oversampling… understand it, use it selectively, and don’t let it become the new rabbit hole.

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We’ll answer as many as we can in upcoming shows.

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