The Best Way to Emulate Analog

Use no analog emulation plugins.

Start by thinking about how things were recorded in the analog-only past.  Then consider that in the best tape machines of that era, output sounded very, very close to input.  So use converters where output sounds very, very close to input, and disregard the idea that the magic is in the tape.  

Get your sounds 100% right on the way into the box using an appropriate analog front end (preamp, compressor and eq if needed).  

Mix simply using LCR panning and faders only.

Leave off the plugins. Every plugin you add is one step further away from the analog sound you have captured.