uad 2 : is it worth the money ?

[Uncle E]

They've got a few months ahead with their tape plugs if you're being generous (depends on how good you think Waves MPX is), but that's it.

For me, nothing native can yet replace the following:

ATR-102
33609
31102
Harrison
Moog
CE-1
SSL G Buss Compressor

I've had a UAD-1 for years, as well as a UAD-2 Duo. I use them almost exclusively for A800 at this point.

I'm still on a Solo, too, and can get a good number of instances of all the above plug-ins aside from the ATR-102. That's why I mentioned applying the ATR-102 after, because that's how I do it. I'd use the A800 if I had a Quad but, personally, that combination of plug-ins does a lot more for me than the A800 does.

[Uncle E]

You really wanna spend $ 400 on a dsp card to be able to add as little as 3 (!) instances of plugins to a project!?

We sell the UAD-2 Solo Laptop with a PCIe Adapter card for $242. Also, my Solo provides me with nearly all the EQ's, compressors, choruses, and delays I use, all at the same time.

[Uncle E]

And in any situation, even with a real tape machine, you'll have to lay down your tracks one after another to benefit from the "tape machine effect"

I've been meaning to batch process audio tracks through the ATR-102 and then mix them. That seems like the best solution for Solo users.

[budweiser]

I've been meaning to batch process audio tracks through the ATR-102 and then mix them. That seems like the best solution for Solo users.

absolutely agree. Solo laptop + pci adapter for 242 ? Do you ship overseas ? (france)

[SJ_Digriz]

For me, nothing native can yet replace the following:

ATR-102
33609
31102
Harrison
Moog
CE-1
SSL G Buss Compressor

I have the ATR and the 33609 on pretty much every 2-buss these days.

I absolutely love the Moog filter. Not sure why it doesn't get massive cred. It is simply one of the most awesome FX plugs ever IMO.

[Uncle E]

absolutely agree. Solo laptop + pci adapter for 242 ? Do you ship overseas ? (france)

Yes, we ship to pretty much anywhere. Shipping to France will be around $30-40. Enter the coupon code 'forum' on our site to get that price.

[Cyforce]

UAD worth in this time? Hm difficult question. Some years ago, there would be a defintively yes, but now, so many new software has came up in superb quality, like U-He Uhbrik, all the Softube plugins, PluginAlliance, Sonnox, Waves... a mass - of absolutely great stuff aswell as great emulations - that's was the domain of the UAD was.
And the price is currently relative high for a good UAD-2 card(2-4 dsps) and all plugins are only available for an additional effort.

Currently i would say, no - but LiquidMix DSP, this box is still worth the money!
Specially trough the lowered price(179€ for the LiquidMix16 version), and well 179€ for a Firewire based DSP card, packed into a hardware controller and loaded with 60 top-notch emulations of legendary compressors and eqs, no comparision to UAD in case of value-for-money.

I would recomend to take a look on the Focusrite LiquidMix as compressor and eq box, and parallel looking for some nice effect packages from Softube, U-He or others.

[munchkin]

If you buy into UAD then expect to spend a lot of money on hardware because the SOLO won't be enough. Then factor in the cost of the plugins. Anyone on a limited budget is not going to get the most out of this system.

I own 3 x UAD-1 and all the Neve plugins which are very good but there are very good native alternatives. The Nebula tape sims are excellent and compare with UAD. I've not upgraded to UAD-2 because I think the dongle card is a rip off. £1,200 for a QUAD in the UK. Having long term experience of UAD I wouldn't consider anything less especially if I wanted to use some of their more power hungry plugins.

UA make some really good plugins and one or two are unmatched but there are also many native alternatives that compare. I don't think it's worth buying UAD hardware just for a couple of plugins that haven't been matched by native yet.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[idolo1co]

I've been a long time UAD user..started back when the UAD platform was owned by Mackie. When UAD's first couple of "branded" (read famous names like Neve, SSL, etc) started showing up, the cumulative cost of hardware + plugins was on the "premium $$$" side but one could/would justify as the plugin's prices were somewhat on par with the market of other similar quality plugins...you just tended to "forgive" the fact that you had paid a high price for a "dongle"..the PCI card.

The problem now as I see it, is that ever since UA went the "manufacturer endorsed/licensed" route their plugin prices have become absurdly expensive and every time I even think of purchasing one of their newer plugins, I just have to go to their site look at the price and basically laugh myself right out of there and "x" out the window PRONTO!

When the UAD-2 first hit the market I purchased a Duo like the very first week it was made available. Unfortunately it was incompatible with my AMD X2 CPU/motherboard and caused spikes in Nuendo 4 which basically rendered Nuendo unusable until any and all UAD plugins were unloaded, which took forever on my crippled host!

At some point they also decided to make customers pay $50 more for the "upgraded" SSL Channel. if you didn't do the "paid upgrade" I believe the old plugin became "disabled" or non existent in your system profile. At least that's what I could see in my UAD systems profile summary.

Anyway, at this point I've had the UAD-2 for almost 3 years and I have YET to purchase a single new plugin...with the exception of that $50 I paid for the "upgraded" SSL Channel just so I could keep a plugin I already paid for.

So, after paying over $800 for what essentially is a newer dongle, it has become impossible to justify giving more of my hard earned cash to these people. There is no customer discount based on previous purchases and a $25 - $50 coupon once or twice a year when applied to a $350 plugin is well...whatever. Sure you can use the coupons on some of their older/cheaper plugins... but I already own them so utterly meaningless to me...YMMV

[SJ_Digriz]

This is probably going to come across as a UA apologist post, but it isn't intended to be. It's simply to address some of the mis-leading or in one case incorrect information.

I've been a long time UAD user..started back when the UAD platform was owned by Mackie.

I'm not sure Mackie owned the platform. I have a pre-Mackie UAD-1. I had it quite some time before Mackie got involved.

When the UAD-2 first hit the market I purchased a Duo like the very first week it was made available. Unfortunately it was incompatible with my AMD X2 CPU/motherboard and caused spikes in Nuendo 4 which basically rendered Nuendo unusable until any and all UAD plugins were unloaded, which took forever on my crippled host!

That kind of stuff is no fun, but blaming UA because a few of the manufacturers of MBs did (and still do) a piss poor job of implementing buss technologies is kind of silly. I had a very expensive X2 board that wouldn't work for anything. I tossed a $80 board while waiting for a good board on back order. The cheap assed board worked. There are video cards that couldn't be used in some of those boards. It's not like UA did something specific to make it not work.

At some point they also decided to make customers pay $50 more for the "upgraded" SSL Channel. if you didn't do the "paid upgrade" I believe the old plugin became "disabled" or non existent in your system profile.

Not correct, I just upgraded in December to get the additional EQ mode on the channel strip, but I used the original on hundreds of channels up to that point. It was never removed. You just couldn't buy the original anymore. So, new people get the upgraded version only. It's unknown if they will x64 the old version though. I hope for those that didn't upgrade that they do.

There is no customer discount based on previous purchases and a $25 - $50 coupon once or twice a year when applied to a $350 plugin is well...whatever. Sure you can use the coupons on some of their older/cheaper plugins... but I already own them so utterly meaningless to me...YMMV

Again, slightly scewed .. the coupons you refer to are exactly what you are asking for, a discount on the plugs. Also, they have a fairly drastic sale at least twice a year.

I have never purchased a plug at face value. Most of them I've purchased at %50 or less of the listed price. If you are smart, you get the flexi version of the kit and basically get $500 worth of plugs for around $200ish. Throw in the $50 coupons and wait for sale and the cost of ownership is not nearly as bad as people are making out.

[Uncle E]

FWIW, the best way to get into a UAD these days is to wait for one of the promos. For example, if anyone bought an LA-610 in the last 3 months of 2011, they received a free Duo. Given that JRR was blowing the LA-610 out for as low as $1,250 at some points, which isn't much more than what it sells for used on eBay, it was like getting the Duo and all its plug-ins for nearly free. Universal Audio has also had some deals where they gave away plug-ins with the cards, with the plug-in values being almost equal to the cards themselves.

[idolo1co]

Drastic sale..errr..OK...saw nothing along those lines this past year except a $50 coupon and no, it's not the same as a discount based on quantity of previous purchases...but...OK...whatever...to each his own

My UAD-1 box clearly says "Mackie" on it..but..I dunno...whatever..moot point really...was establishing a timeline...some people will nitpick ANYTHING...literally.

I'm not "blaming" UA for my CPU/Moterboard incompatibility so no need to jump to conclusions..it's a fact there can be incompatibilities, is something to be considered and hence was mentioned..at no point did I "infer" I was blaming them....


And I've never purchased a flexi version....hence...only logical conclusion here = I'm not smart...OR...I ALREADY had a card as well as the plugins included in it so made NO SENSE to buy again....$50 coupon or not...cheers

[idolo1co]

One more point, as far as the SSL Channel on MY account, when I looked at my system profiles it was GONE, still present on my DAW because I was concerned to update the UAD software as I was unsure what that particular plugin missing in my system profile would mean if I did update the software on my DAW.

I'm glad someone was around to correct my misleading, incorrect and scewed information.

[Uncle E]

One more point, as far as the SSL Channel on MY account, when I looked at my system profiles it was GONE, still present on my DAW because I was concerned to update the UAD software as I was unsure what that particular plugin missing in my system profile would mean if I did update the software on my DAW.

I'm glad someone was around to correct my misleading, incorrect and scewed information.

Personally, I'm still running the original 4K. I never did the upgrade.