"Some examples: I like Slate VCC and Voxengo Analogflux Tapebus as analog/saturation plugins a lot, and Vibe EQ as a color EQ."
Are you using this on Individual Tracks? Buses? 2bus / Master?
Depends on my goal; since coloration is pretty much dependent on personal taste and the vibe of the mix, it could be hit or miss on any of those. Vibe EQ for example is something I would try when I want to boost a frequency on electric guitars or synths. I usually don't like boosting on those drastically, because it tends to stick out like a sore thumb, but if I really think that it needs that boost, vibe EQ usually just sounds the way I want it to sound right away. I've never used it on the masterbus though, so don't know how that would work out.
Same goes for the tape saturation. There have been cases where I had it on every track and the mastertrack and it sounded good, but sometimes even a single tapesat on a single track muddies up the mix so much that I just throw it out right away. Generally I just imagine what I want things to sound like, and then I try to pick the tool that is best suited for the job. If I want things to sound vintage, warm, lush, dark, deep, etc, I will probably end up putting a lot of coloring on tracks. If I want things to sound clinical and precise, I might not use any at all.
Pay special attention when putting it on the masterbus, to make sure you are not losing important details in the mix. Especially with the voxengo plug, there can be some clearly audible differences when switching it on and off. Make sure the loudness with and without is the same, because it is very easy to fall for the "louder sounds better" trap here imo.
VCC is the exception, as I put that on every track and the master. That's pretty much what it is designed for (it emulates an analog mixing console) and I like what it does
