I completely get where you're coming from and I'm a big advocate of really learning and mastering a handful of plugins instead of blindly adding more. For podcast editing, do I really need 18 EQs or compressors? No. All I need is one or possibly two good EQs (one surgical one and one for character) and one good compressor. In my opinion, the only noise I worry about is the steady state/constant stuff. Noise floor, HVAC, hums and buzzes. Anything that is consistent in pitch. The other things are pretty standard like reverb, plosives and mouth clicks. I don't worry about anything that requires painting out in the spectral editor. The ear for EQ comes with practice and time, and accurate monitoring. Over the last 2 years, my EQ ear has improved considerably from helping community members and other people with their audio issues. It's helped me more quickly identify the areas that need to be addressed. The more time you can put into developing that skill, the faster it will develop. If you haven't already, check out SoundGym.

I also meant to address the EQ/RX comment. I feel you’re overthinking it. I can’t recall a time where I felt the EQ was impacting RX or vice-versa. Do your clean up and then EQ however the audio requires.

It really does help to have multiple options available. My experience with my audio has provided me with the opposite experience. It just goes to show that because one tool works better in some situations, it doesn't in all. Have you checked out Goyo? I feel it does better than either of them. It's free right now as a beta test and beta testers will get to purchase it for $29 instead of $99 when it launches in October.

@@jesse.mccune I agree, man. It's great to have multiple VSTs, as results vary from source to source. I used Clarity VXpro on a film short where the location dialogue was very windy and pretty much unusable but, basically, it saved the day for that project. :) I did get Goyo (after you mentioned it before). I think it works really well. So, thanks for the heads up.

I think a lot of this has to do with how each model is trained. Some will work better in certain situations where others struggle. I feel we're starting to see some tools pull away from the pack. RX has started to stagnate, especially since they've moved to an annual release schedule. They have the suite of modules that can help in specific use cases, but for bread and butter noise and reverb reduction, there are options that provide better results with less work.

I'd love to hear how it works in that context. It seems we are always fighting reverb when we edit podcasts, so the retain mode doesn't work well in this context.