Buying plugins is a double edged sword, often sold via marketing hype they can be disappointing as the true test of the worth of a plugin is how often it is used. If you look in your plugins folder, chances are that two thirds of them could be deleted and it would be quite some time before you even noticed them gone! Now there aren’t any universal truths here, as a thread on the digidesign user forum proved – one persons waste-of-time is anothers cant-do-without (which is what ebay if for I guess). But the best way to buy plugins is to (a) be able to trial a fully working version and (b) have a recomendation by someone who uses them often.
One plugin company that I am happy to recomend highly is Massey Plugins. I own two of their plugins (currently ProTools AS/RTAS/TDM only) and would replace them immediately if I was starting over again. But the company also lead by example with their honest, straightforward approach. Firstly, you can download & use the fully working plugins as long as you like, so trialling them isn’t an issue. If you decide to buy them, the actual plugins purchased have a number of additional functions, but the trial version tells you everything you need to know about functionality, sound & how they will fit into your workflow… The other incredibly welcome aspect of the Massey plugins is that they arent expensive – in my mind they come across as fairly priced & I sincerely hope they have sold LOTS of their plugins as their approach deserves encouragement!!!!! So I’ll take this opportunity to recomend the two plugins I own & use often: the L2007 Limiter and the TD5 Tape Delay.

L2007 LIMITER US$89
I used to rely on the Waves L1 limiter, but it has one feature that makes it practically unuseable for me – whenever the Waves L1 is onscreen it takes over many keyboard shortcut that I need when editing. Accordingly I was looking for a replacement & I found it in the L2007… and to my ears it sounds better! Whether it is simply sitting on the end of a mix, taking care of anything going over level or more creative uses including massively cranking level & crushing dynamics the L2007 delivers!

TD5 TAPE DELAY (US$79)
I own 3 real tape delays (a Roland Space Echo 201, a 555 and a HH Electronic) and the TD5 is the first tape delay that gets even close to the real thing in sound or in use. I own a bunch of different delay plugins for Protools and for Ableton LIVE: audiodamage Dubstation, OhmBoyz Delay, Timeless Delay and you know what? The TD5 wins hands down! Its easy to use (some of the previously mentioned delays are practically unuseable without spending a lot of time RTFM!) and sounds great! And I love that ‘vintage’ mode even adds a subtle layer of tape hiss plus when you change delay settings you get that warbled tape sound – brilliant! There are a few features my real tape delays have that I wish (& will request) the TD5 had, but its already 95% of the way there…

So if you have a use for either of these, or any of their other plugins (VT3 Equalizer, CT4 Compressor, THC distortion stompbox or a Tape-Head saturation Plug) then go trial them!

FWIW the versions available for purchase add the following features:
88.2kHz – 192kHz support, Session-restore functionality, Precision text entry controls, Control surface support, AudioSuite support, Save-and-restore functionality, Automation support, Bypass switching and Mono & Multi-mono support