![](https://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cla-76-compressor-limiter-blacky.jpg)
Plugged In
I’ve gotten the impression there remains some confusion amongst engineers, so let me try and help clarify something.
This is a plug-in:
![cla-76-compressor-limiter-blacky.jpg Cla 76 compressor limiter blacky](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cla-76-compressor-limiter-blacky.jpg)
Waves CLA-76
This is also a plug-in:
![1176ln_front_hq.jpg 1176ln front hq](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1176ln_front_hq.jpg)
Universal Audio 1176
Here’s another plug-in:
![IMG_2977.JPG IMG 2977](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_29771.jpg)
Lexicon 480
Even more plug-ins:
![IMG_3619.JPG IMG 3619](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_3619.jpg)
Garth Brooks FOH
Still more plug-ins:
![IMG_2974.JPG IMG 2974](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_2974.jpg)
Church on the Move FOH
But did you know these are plug-ins, too?
![ssl-aws900-eq-dual.jpg Ssl aws900 eq dual](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ssl-aws900-eq-dual.jpg)
They’re actually built in to this:
![awssmall8.jpg Awssmall8](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/awssmall8.jpg)
SSL AWS900
So these are plug-in’s, too:
![cl5-eq.png Cl5 eq](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cl5-eq.png)
![digicoEQ.png DigicoEQ](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/digicoEQ.png)
![venue-dshow.png Venue dshow](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/venue-dshow.png)
You see, every time you process audio, you’re using a “plug-in”. This is because everything we use to process audio is “plugged in” to the signal path somewhere.
Take this console for example:
![IMG_5441.JPG IMG 5441](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_5441.jpg)
Soundcraft SM-20
Every single one of its chanelstrips literally plugs in to the console.
So it doesn’t matter if you use one of these:
![IMG_2973.JPG IMG 2973](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_2973.jpg)
Or one of these:
![IMG_4690.jpg IMG 4690](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_4690.jpg)
Or if you use one of these:
![1176ln_front_hq.jpg 1176ln front hq](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1176ln_front_hq.jpg)
Universal Audio 1176
Or one of these:
![cla-76-compressor-limiter-blacky.jpg Cla 76 compressor limiter blacky](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cla-76-compressor-limiter-blacky1.jpg)
They’re all “plug-in’s.”
What you should be concerned about is what comes out of these:
![Monitors Monitors](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2516/4149397608_5572e60b0c.jpg)
Or these:
![Rehanging Rehanging](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3288/2963762372_5c9a04741e.jpg)
Or these:
![WOF: Vertecs WOF: Vertecs](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3534/3866328780_83ef87b06f.jpg)
And how it sounds here:
![https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/13020409684_0bd89a35d0.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/13020409684_0bd89a35d0.jpg](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/13020409684_0bd89a35d0.jpg)
Or here:
![https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/14366428322_306a1e23eb.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/14366428322_306a1e23eb.jpg](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/14366428322_306a1e23eb.jpg)
Or here:
![IMG_4722.JPG IMG 4722](http://www.goingto11.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_4722.jpg)
In the end, what we hear is what matters.
Plug-ins are simply the tools we use. They’re hardware and software. They’re built-in and external.
Choose the right tools to do your best work and use them. Nobody in the seats is going to care what they are.
Very well
Love the futuristic touch with the S6L!