Anybody else going all software?

So lately, for a few reasons, I've been getting rid of all my hardware in favor of software. The first reason is that I can do so much more with software than I ever could with hardware. Using Plogue Bidule as my host, I can route audio and control signals in any way imaginable, splitting my signal into 2 (or 10) parallel effects paths, feed one back to the beginning of the other and control the amount of feedback with the dynamics of my playing (or whatever). I also use Bidule for sound design and keyboard stuff, which has greatly simplified my life, but doesn't matter to you bass guys, I'm sure.

The second reason is price: many amazing and innovative effects are free, and those that aren't are usually pretty cheap - I replaced my EHX 2880 looper with Augustus Loop, which costs $39 as compared to the 2880 which cost hundreds plus another hundred for the controller. This is just one example. For nearly any effect you can think of, there's a software equivalent that sounds as good, can do more, and you can have 10 of them for the price of one (for those of you who use several delays in series, or if you're crazy and you want 6 ring modulators at the same time or whatever).

The third reason is simplicity. I saw myself with a stereo effects path, through many effects, some designed for line levels and some for instrument levels, and things became so complex, with so many cables, running back and forth from the pedalboard to the amps, out the effects sends, back to the pedalboard, back to the amps... It was too much for me. It became such a chore to hook everything up and to carry so much stuff to a gig (not that I play out very often, but still). Admittedly, some folks come up with pretty elegant solutions for this problem, but I never could.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convert anybody. I think for some people, hardware effects, specifically a big ol' pedalboard, will never be replacable. For instance, I'm not a big gain pedal fetishist. There is an assortment of od/distortion/fuzz effects available in software form, but nowhere near the orgasmic smattering that exists in the stompbox world. Although software offers you far more capability to alter effects to suit your taste, those of you who play fuzz after fuzz after fuzz until you find the one for you probably won't find the VST gain effects varied or mojo-y enough. Likewise, I haven't ever found a software emulation of spring reverb that sounds as good as my Premier or Tube Works units, which is why I've kept both (I guess this is the effect I fetishize most over). I also haven't come across a good pitch shifter, except the Whammy in NI Guitar Rig, which is spendy (but the free demo is very usable...)

Getting all set up can be difficult, but if you get a good audio interface (I settled on a Presonus Firebox after trying a couple others) and a good controller (I use the Behringer... yeah, Behringer sucks, whatever, but this thing is built like a tank and has 2 expression pedals), it can be a very seamless affair.

I know a main concern of people is having to depend on a laptop in a performance situation, and this is probably valid. First, I would say get a Mac. Although PCs have supposedly come a long way recently, my Mac has frozen only once in the year I've had it, as compared to every PC I ever had crashing all the time. Secondly, if you play rowdy bars, you probably don't want a laptop on stage. But if you play civilized joints, I think this is less of a problem than people think it would be.

So, anybody heading in this direction? Anybody using a combination of hardware and software (which I tried for a while)? Anybody thinking about trying it?

I'm interested in what you guys mean about the UI. Most effects have just a few sliders or knobs and maybe some buttons, which is the case for stompboxes as well. What sort of interfaces do you come across that you find hard to use?

Regarding control: yes, I use the Behringer FCB1010, which I either plug into the Firebox, or use a little midi-to-USB cable I have, both of which work perfectly. USB is fine for midi, but for audio, I think you need a firewire interface in order to get the best audio with no appreciable latency.

This may surprise you, but I'm using a G4 iBook. 1.2 GHz, 768 mb ram. Definitely not a high end machine by today's standards. I think one key is my interface. Since the ADA conversion is happening in the Firebox, the computer is just processing effects. Some people's plugins are better designed than others in terms of CPU usage, so that's also a factor. Some effects, like pitch shifting, are processor heavy, so if that were something I used a lot of, maybe it would be a problem (although I've used 2 Whammies in series in Guitar Rig, then out to a ring modulator and a long delay without any trouble, so maybe not).

Speak_onion, I've done just what you're talking about. The Firebox has 4 ins and six outs (plus SPDIF i/o if you have a use for that... I don't), so I've used that to send out from a VST effects path, into some hardware effects, and back into Bidule for more software effects. I've also gone into Bidule for effects, out to my amp which was mic'ed, and then sent the microphone signal back into Bidule to record the mic'ed cabinet. It's the ideal interface for me, since it has plenty of i/o, midi, 96KHz sample rate, and is just a little tiny box. And it's powered by Firewire, so one less power cable. I could theoretically play through six amps, too, with multi-tap delays bouncing around the room. I need to make friends with tombowlus...