You’ll get to the finish line faster, retain more objectivity, and ultimately, craft better mixes.
This is one reason I recommend mixing quickly and impulsively. Given enough time, even the worst mix will start to sound decent. This makes it progressively harder to make good mixing decisions. The more time you spend on a mix, the more attached you become to what it sounds like. It’s great to have this one around-you never know when you might need it! The mid and side solo buttons are also useful. While I rarely push the stereo width past 100%, collapsing it to zero is an easy way to check for mono compatibility. While it’s the least sexy of this bunch, it can still be pretty useful. Brainworx bx_soloīx_solo is a no-frills, stereo-imaging plugin. They’re worth checking out too, but SPAN is my favorite.) 3. Voxengo has a few other free VST plugins.