Ok, so I bought the FabFilter eq that everybody raves about, and I found its UI totally off-putting. I never use it, and my go-to is still the Hofa IQ-eq.
And again today, listening side-by-side, I STILL say EastWest Hollywood strings beat everybody else. Spitfire, Cinesamples, CSS. Nobody can beat their sweetness.
Obviously I am a terrible mixer. What is wrong with me!?!? 
Ok actually I’m just eager for conversation…and mostly boycotting you-know-where-book.
Honestly FabFilter is all the rave on their whole range of plugins. I personally haven’t got any though so I can not share any personal experience.
You know, I have a confession. I actually love the stock effects so much in Logic (EQs and Compressors mainly) that those are my go to. Especially after the 10.4 update when those analog modeled EQs were introduced.
About EW Hollywood Strings. I think a reason they might sound better, and I agree they do sound amazing, is that they are so incredibly well produced. With “produced” being the keyword here. I suspect they put a lot of time and expensive gear into giving the entire sound a “finished polish”. And that particular finish is indeed very sweet, and serves the word “Hollywood” well.
There’s several aspects of a library though. The overall sound, the workflow, the playability, the expressiveness etc. I am personally realizing more and more that I hate key switches, and I hate programming in the emotion afterwards. So my dream software instruments would give me amazing expressive control in the very performance. That is why I use a breath controller, and look at new expressive controllers like the Touché by Expressive E. (https://www.expressivee.com/). I want to “perform” the music when I record my parts, not program articulation changes and such. This is the major thing I lack in sample libraries right now.
PS. I edited your title to include a parenthesis just to give some context on the topic.
Personally, I’ve never found a compelling reason to spend 200+ dollars on any single mixing plugin. While I have absolutely no doubt they are top notch and amazing pieces of software, I use EQ all the time and found there is no difference in sound quality or function with virtually any of them. I used the FL Studio Parametric EQ2 for years, and now I use sonible Smarteq2 or the stock cubase eqs. I’m sure I would enjoy the fabfilter plugins, but I also am fully aware of trends and bandwagons (I’ve even recommended them before to someone, due to hype and user enthusiasm rather than personal experience!) and don’t want to necessarily spend that much money on a plugin that does what I can already do. Again, not saying they aren’t worth it at all, and if I had them I’m sure I’d love them, but to me personally I have what I need already. It’s also always going to be jarring to switch to a new brand/interface when you are used to using another.
Have you checked out some tutorials or YouTube vids to see if there is anything you are overlooking as far as function and ease of use?
As far as Hollywood Strings, I agree they are fantastic and often get overlooked. I personally believe the Hollywood Orchestra is the best value in the business, and still one of the absolute best sounding. However, after years of collecting and exploring various libraries, I do have string libraries I believe are much better, both in sound, playability, and ease of use, and I almost never use them anymore. That does not mean they are bad whatsoever, I’ve always preferred Kontakt by a landslide and I think the most important thing is, we all have our own favorite sound and flavor.
I also think this is an important lesson in something I mentioned earlier: bandwagons and trends. I see it all the time: Hollywood Strings are dated, Play engine is the worst thing to ever happen, EW sucks, etc…
I wholeheartedly disagree, while I do have libraries I prefer, people read these comments and then often pass them along as fact, basically like spreading rumors in school. I prefer other libraries and engines, yes, but Hollywood Strings can easily compete with the best of them if I needed them to. I guess I’m also glad that you shared this, because you are judging with your ears, as opposed to online gossip haha. It’s the best way to go, if you love it, screw what others think 
Included eq plugs are every bit as good-sounding as others. All digital eqs sound the same, and they’re all good. It’s all about the UI.
I learned this when I shot out ProTools’s onboard digirack we against a $4,000 analog eq when I first started mastering.
There was zero meaningful difference.
Same with compressors.
“Hollywood strings are dated,” yeah. You hear exactly that.
How on earth is 16 violinists playing a note into some great mics on a scoring stage “dated”? That will sound exactly the same in 100 years.
I actually like play.
I agree with Mike about keyswitching though. I DESPISE it. I seldom use play that way.