KVR Audio

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Mon Apr 08, 2024 4:36 pm

If there is any amount of wow/flutter emulation, a mix control will always cause phase issues.. as it should.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Mon Apr 08, 2024 4:43 pm

Ah, good point. The full version has a Warble control but I don't know if it allows you to turn it 100% off.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Mon Apr 08, 2024 4:46 pm

I just tried the Essentials version and the only model where you can use dry/wet, or in parallel, is the 'Sweeten' machine. All others have heavy amounts of wow/flutter emulation.

Sweeten model is 100% clean and has no wow or flutter at all. Works perfectly in parallel in Reaper.

harddaysnight · Post by **harddaysnight** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:23 am

I tried out UAD Spark and thought while there was plenty of great stuff, in general was overrated and everything I liked could be found elsewhere, with no reduction in audio quality.

I also tried Luna and thought it was awesome but there was a couple of little things I didn't like about it that put me off - I'd reconsider it if it was on Windows, had some of the wrinkles ironed out, and also I'm not huge on feeling like I'd have to spend infinite money to jump into a new ecosystem, if I want Neve summing and Luna Pro.. I mean just those two on their own would be like $800AUD..

Still, I liked the workflow a lot and would absolutely give it another shot if it was on Windows. I've stopped using my Mac for music. Sounds a bit stupid but it makes sense to me, the PC has way more storage space and is permanently in the same place, has all the USB slots I need etc.. with the Mac, it's annoying plugging in dongles etc..

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:44 am

harddaysnight wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:23 am I also tried Luna and thought it was awesome but there was a couple of little things I didn't like about it that put me off - I'd reconsider it if it was on Windows, had some of the wrinkles ironed out, and also I'm not huge on feeling like I'd have to spend infinite money to jump into a new ecosystem, if I want Neve summing and Luna Pro.. I mean just those two on their own would be like $800AUD..

Luna is simultaneously the best and worst thing. I've basically given up using it for MIDI and now do it all with Maschine and MIDI FX. But the sound is fantastic and I spend a fraction of the time mixing as I used to do.

harddaysnight · Post by **harddaysnight** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 5:05 am

Uncle E wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:44 am
harddaysnight wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:23 am I also tried Luna and thought it was awesome but there was a couple of little things I didn't like about it that put me off - I'd reconsider it if it was on Windows, had some of the wrinkles ironed out, and also I'm not huge on feeling like I'd have to spend infinite money to jump into a new ecosystem, if I want Neve summing and Luna Pro.. I mean just those two on their own would be like $800AUD..
Luna is simultaneously the best and worst thing. I've basically given up using it for MIDI and now do it all with Maschine and MIDI FX. But the sound is fantastic and I spend a fraction of the time mixing as I used to do.

I felt it's very close to being exactly what I want from a DAW. I know UAD doesn't see it as a DAW (I think I read that somewhere).

But it's close to being perfect for me as a DAW, just MIDI was one of the things I didn't love doing in it.

jamcat · Post by **jamcat** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 5:59 am

LUNA isn't really a viable option until it supports VST3 and Windows. Drew has indicated UA is interested in both. It's just a question of when.

Even though I'm mostly on Mac now, I used to be on Windows, and I won't use a DAW that isn't cross-platform. Gotta keep your options open, especially if you're going to collaborate.

secretrobotics · Post by **secretrobotics** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 12:54 pm

I bout the 1176 Classic Limited Collection on sale semi-recently and while I do think they are well-made and sound great, I don't find myself reaching for them over some of my older favorites. The Studer A800 Tape Recorder plugin sounds great as well. It feels like they are in a weird place, marketing/branding-wise right now. You've got a premium brand frequently doing things like "93% discount!" sales. It certainly worked on me and I bought some plugins I didn't need but afterwards it definitely left me with a feeling of... did I just get a crazy deal on amazing plugins or did I just buy a bunch of so-so, artificially inflated-then-slashed plugins...

harddaysnight · Post by **harddaysnight** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 12:55 pm

secretrobotics wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 12:54 pm I bout the 1176 Classic Limited Collection on sale semi-recently and while I do think they are well-made and sound great, I don't find myself reaching for them over some of my older favorites. The Studer A800 Tape Recorder plugin sounds great as well. It feels like they are in a weird place, marketing/branding-wise right now. You've got a premium brand frequently doing things like "93% discount!" sales. It certainly worked on me and I bought some plugins I didn't need but afterwards it definitely left me with a feeling of... did I just get a crazy deal on amazing plugins or did I just buy a bunch of so-so, artificially inflated-then-slashed plugins...

For sure.

The non-sale prices are comically high.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:14 pm

What other plugins sound the same as the 1176 Collection?

The Studer is one of those plugins that sounds good cumulatively. Once you have it on 20+ tracks, you’ll appreciate it. The IK Tape arguably sounds better but it uses a lot more CPU, so the cumulative thing is tough. A good system would be Studers on individual tracks and an IK on the main bus.

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:21 pm

You landed on the good side of the fuzzy middle as I hear it. Their plugins are always at least good and some remain best or near best in class. It’s good you haven’t bought into the hype and scored a deal to test the waters. You could do a lot worse.

secretrobotics wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 12:54 pm did I just get a crazy deal on amazing plugins or did I just buy a bunch of so-so, artificially inflated-then-slashed plugins...

sacer · Post by **sacer** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:26 pm

they now work in softube console

realisation · Post by **realisation** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:35 pm

I have the minimoog, studer and a few other uad native plugins.

I have authorization woes. ie. asking to restart your daw. Why? Asking to open ua connect. why, ua, why? i already have internet access and ilok cloud set up.

I have to treat it like hardware, like having to plug something in. Their authorization system is just too much hastle, i'm just not going to use them very much because of this. I've just replaced studer with softube tape on my master channel and be done with it.

As for the moog, it sounds great, but not knowing if its this time its not going to work is too much for me. I need to just open a plugin quickly while i've got the creative flow. Its blurring - is it going to work or isn't it shouldn't be what i have to deal with. I'm lucky i didn't spend much it was a special deal.

I'm going to try it now before posting just to see what happens..

Blurred image of a minimoog with DAW RESTART REQUIRED.

WTF??? More like.

I've never had this problem with other plugin vendors.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:46 pm

Yes. I've learned to close my DAW every time I close my laptop lid. A really, really, really stupid workaround but better than constantly having authorization issues.

jamcat · Post by **jamcat** » Tue Apr 09, 2024 7:03 pm

Uncle E wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:14 pm The Studer is one of those plugins that sounds good cumulatively. Once you have it on 20+ tracks, you’ll appreciate it. The IK Tape arguably sounds better but it uses a lot more CPU, so the cumulative thing is tough. A good system would be Studers on individual tracks and an IK on the main bus.

Right now I use the UADx Studer 800 on each track and the IK Ampex 440 on the master buss for my stereo mixodwn to "tape." I would love to swap it out with the UADx Ampex ATR-102 if they would ever port it.

I find that the cumulative effect of IK tapes can be overpowering on a mix. But I like how they respond better to the drive level of an incoming signal. What I like to do is drive the gain of a preamp plugin (with no automatic gain compensation!) to hit the tape hard for some rock 'n' roll. The UADx preamps are really good for that and UA does it right, modeling the real preamp behaviour instead of forcing artificial gain compensation on you, which defeats the effect. But the UADx Studer 800 may need its input level boosted to sound "hot to tape" in addition to the preamp drive.

Both IK and UADx Studer models can get an annoying, persistent fizzy top-end on certain types of material, such as distorted guitars. Since both do it on the same material, it must be a Studer thing, and they both must be doing it right. The IK gets a bit more bloat in the bass than the UADx, which you may or may not prefer. Of all the multi-tracks, I actually prefer the Sony/MCI JH24 best. I wish Universal Audio would do that one. I think it would be the clear winner if they did.

UAD still worth it?