I agree with the previous post. You will notice the greatest difference with the higher quality outboard verbs. Verbs are basically the only outboard efx I use–the rest are plugins. Don't bother with anything less than the Lexicon PCM series (80, 81, 90, 91) or TC equivalent. The cheaper hardware stuff isn't much better (if any) than decent plugins.

drbam

Agreed.

I used to have a rack of Efx but sold them all save for one dbx compressor
and an EFX unit (that is only used to monitor vocals, never printed).

I have added mic preamps too, that seems to be rage and for good reason.

Plugins are sure easier and react to automation....that's the biggie.
P

I can't say enough good things about the UAD-1 plugins. They work great with Vegas and Acid and emulate vintage gear better than any native plugin I've ever heard.
That said the Waves native plugins are very, very good.
I would spend my money on external channel strips/preamps and microphones to get the best audio possible into the computer.
Then get some really great monitors to make sure that you're acurately hearing what's going on.
B.

You'll get your best bang for your buck with pre-amps. Good stuff in, good stuff out. When you track with good preamps, the future EQ'ing and tonal quality will sit much better in your mixes. If you have 'thick' tracks that all have the same lower quality pre's, they will all sit in the same place in your mixes and be much more difficult to find 'sweet spots' in the soundfield.

Great reverbs on top of poorly tracked vocals or instruments won't suddenly make them better.

On-board compressors, reverbs and other sweeteners come in some excellent forms now but as I've heard on more than one occasion: "You can't polish a turd."

I agree with the post about getting a good reverb and a mic preamp or two. Plug in's are great, but I still like the feel of turning a knob on some stuff, so I guess it will depend on what you are comfortable with. A mic preamp is pretty much a must, as a previous post said, it's much easier to work with a well recorded signal. You have probably seen plug ins that will give you that tube sound, but there aint nothing like the real thing, baby. I'll probably catch hell for my view of this, but I'm from the old school of recording <25 years> dont like to have to rely on one piece of gear to do it all, in case something fails. And besides, the more outboard gear you have, the less you will be hitting your cpu with plug ins. Just my opinion

Bob Donald