UAD still worth it?

[j wazza]

The plugins itself are good. UAD Spark isn't. It's a workflow killer. That happens because everytime you load a plugin, UAD Connect checks for a valid license and iLok cloud authorization.

Personally, I'm trying to move away from the whole *analog emulation* world of plugins. I'm so glad devs like Sonible, FabFilter, Tone Projects, Cableguys and more exist. Or else we'd have a whole market of just analog emulation plugins with 0 creativity whatsoever.

Agree about online authorisation

I sort of agree that not everything needs to be analog modelled, and I don't like plugins being limited by the hardware it models, digital can add extra features and have better UIs, so why not make use of that? But lots of analog gear sounds great and lots of emulations do too. Tone projects do analog modelling though, kelvin sounds great. Fabfilter supposedly do too but don't sound analog to me.

[db3]

Yes, I already had one TY code which I used to buy Oxide Tape. I received another TQ code in my cart after a short time and I used that to buy API channel. I then received another TQ code.

How long after did they send it? Been a few hours but not got another, I have the June voucher as well but that's 99 minimum spend

They don't always seem to send an email, I found the next code waiting in my cart. It was about an hour later I noticed.

[vitocorleone123]

UAD seems to be just about the only developer who really cares about modeling every nuance accurately.

You don’t have The Scream from Cytomic, do you? Puts UAD emulation to shame (and pretty much every other). Obsessive accuracy that you can tweak - all the components.

Emulation of what?

I should’ve said “modeling”. I’ve never seen a more detailed or accurate model of hardware in software than The Scream. It was just an example.

To be fair, you said “just about”, not that UAD is the only developer that cares about modeling nuances accurately.

[lfm]

The plugins itself are good. UAD Spark isn't. It's a workflow killer. That happens because everytime you load a plugin, UAD Connect checks for a valid license and iLok cloud authorization.

Personally, I'm trying to move away from the whole *analog emulation* world of plugins. I'm so glad devs like Sonible, FabFilter, Tone Projects, Cableguys and more exist. Or else we'd have a whole market of just analog emulation plugins with 0 creativity whatsoever.

Agree about online authorisation

I sort of agree that not everything needs to be analog modelled, and I don't like plugins being limited by the hardware it models, digital can add extra features and have better UIs, so why not make use of that? But lots of analog gear sounds great and lots of emulations do too. Tone projects do analog modelling though, kelvin sounds great. Fabfilter supposedly do too but don't sound analog to me.

How rediculous can it be
- iLok
- realtime online authorizing all the time
- not accepting iLok dongle?
- this still depending on UA hardware processors

Then
- limited number of plugin instances depending how much hardware processing units are used for each plugin
- varies a lot with each plugins how much resources it uses
- hardware as internal card or interface over usb with 4 or 8 processors as I recall. If it was one usb based with 2 only also.

You need at least the 8 processor/whatever versions to not hit the ceiling suddenly loading too many in one project.

I looked at UAD some years ago and then looked for the list how much resources each plugin used. Then some time after that listing was gone, nothing they want people to know obviously.

With todays computers they could just as well made all plugins native and not needing the hardware. Back in the day the hardware was needed to reduce cpu on computer daw, but hardly needed anymore. It's basically a 20 year old concept and how strong computers were back then.

EDIT: seems they have native bundles also today, but not sure how much from plugin line that are there. Must check out a bit more.

Also it seems you can use iLok usb dongle according to this
https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articl ... h-iLok-USB

So might be dependent on which product series you bought.

[LoveEnigma18]

The plugins itself are good. UAD Spark isn't. It's a workflow killer. Everytime you load a plugin, it'll load with a blurred UI. That happens because everytime you load a plugin, UAD Connect checks for a valid license and iLok cloud authorization. And yes, it happens for each and every plugin you load.

Yes, this really sucks. Unfortunately, the only way to get around the being online part is getting an iLok USB key, but even then I am not sure if UA Connect app will continue to load at each new instance of any plugin loaded in DAW.

Installer app launching in this way is the silliest thing I have seen in the plugin world. UA really needs to address this and also add iLok Machine activation.

That said, I just tried this trick and it seems to be working: I simply uninstalled UA Connect app after installing and activating the Native plugins I bought to iLok Cloud and I am able to load plugins without the silly UA Connect app opening/checking in the background. I also restarted my computer once and verified it.

So, guess I will install UA Connect occasionally to check for any updates.

[Lbdunequest]

I was UAD sceptic until i tried after it went Native. Plugins are great, but so are non-uad, just UAD are better (Pultec for example).

[Scotty]

The over generalization that UAD is superior is inaccurate. They have good plugins and they have average plugins. For years the fans were claiming they were top in class and many of the plugins didn't model saturation / harmonic distortion. The non native plugins were hamstrung because a plugin could only be run on one DSP and couldn't span across more than one processor. More demanding models were limited because they couldn't use the power of an adjacent Sharc chip. Finally after years we are are getting native support and VST3 but many of the plugins lack a wet/dry knob and have unscalable graphic user interfaces. One thing is world class with Universal Audio and that is their marketing. They've got that nailed. I've got numerous Universal Audio cards split across two hardware groups and an Apollo interface. I generally avoid using their plugins now. There are often better alternatives and you don't have to carry the baggage of limited transfer policies and overly hyped up prices. I still use their spatial plugins and I have the native plugins installed on one of my machines. They are good but they aren't all that.

[musicproducerdee]

The plugins itself are good. UAD Spark isn't. It's a workflow killer. Everytime you load a plugin, it'll load with a blurred UI. That happens because everytime you load a plugin, UAD Connect checks for a valid license and iLok cloud authorization. And yes, it happens for each and every plugin you load.

Yes, this really sucks. Unfortunately, the only way to get around the being online part is getting an iLok USB key, but even then I am not sure if UA Connect app will continue to load at each new instance of any plugin loaded in DAW.

Installer app launching in this way is the silliest thing I have seen in the plugin world. UA really needs to address this and also add iLok Machine activation.

That said, I just tried this trick and it seems to be working: I simply uninstalled UA Connect app after installing and activating the Native plugins I bought to iLok Cloud and I am able to load plugins without the silly UA Connect app opening/checking in the background. I also restarted my computer once and verified it.

So, guess I will install UA Connect occasionally to check for any updates.

That's good to know. I will uninstall UA Connect too. I am subscribed to Spark (yes, I hate subscription, but I like their plugins) at the moment. So, I might only install UA Connect monthly, when they add new plugins to the subscription or update something.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'll end up getting perpetual licenses for a lot of their plugins, considering they have joined the rest of the plugin world in doing sales that are actually sales. At full price, I'd never buy them.

[dionenoid]

I looked at UAD some years ago and then looked for the list how much resources each plugin used. Then some time after that listing was gone, nothing they want people to know obviously.

You mean this one ? :
https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articl ... -DSP-Chart

Very easy to find, has always been there, and is regularly updated when a new software version is released.

[_leras]

Yes, UAD are right up there. They also have pretty regular sales.

I don’t think they have any bad plug ins, and they model some fantastic pieces of kit.

Not very much is native just yet. A lot of stuff you would still need a card for.

I have a bunch of tools that fill gaps around my UAD plug ins, but the UAD stuff always sounds great.

[_leras]

At full price, I'd never buy them.

They’ve always had pretty good and regular sales.

I think the biggest issue for a lot of kvr people was the cost of cards being a barrier to entry, so many people here had/have never used them, and felt the need to throw mud or talk down.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The good UAD stuff is generally very good to excellent. And by that I mean: stuff developed by Universal Audio, not third-parties. There are exceptions however when it comes to their legacy plugins (LA-3A for example), or their cut down plugins (Pure Plate, Oxide), and their instruments (which lack MIDI Learn, but to make matters worse, feature hardwired MIDI assignments). That stuff isn't quite as top notch as the better UA offerings or stuff from competing plugin makers.

And even taking their best plugins, you could find native alternatives for most that I'd put on par with the UA versions. Heck, DMG Audio's Track Comp2 covers a big chunk of their compressors just as well (or better) in a single $99 product.

But yeah, if you want an 1176 that will sound like an 1176, have the look, and don't need bells and whistles. UA will get you there. Same for their 2A's, Fairchild, Pultec, Neve, etc. You don't need to worry or think too hard about them, nor would you feel like someone does that same plugin way better than UA. They're generally high quality and anything else would just be a different flavor. From that perspective, they're a bit of a safe bet.

[musicproducerdee]

At full price, I'd never buy them.

They’ve always had pretty good and regular sales.

I think the biggest issue for a lot of kvr people was the cost of cards being a barrier to entry, so many people here had/have never used them, and felt the need to throw mud or talk down.

They've never ever had sales as big as the current sales. A few days back, they had $49 sales, I'm pretty sure they've never done that before. I could be wrong though, I don't know everything obviously xD.

As for the card, I still wouldn't buy a card if that's what they needed to run their plugins, no matter how rich I get. I work on a laptop, I like working on the move as well, so that's a big no for me. Being able to just open a laptop and run whatever I want is a big plus for me. I mean the plugins are sure good, but it's not like they aren't replaceable. Every plugin is replaceable.

If anything, the UAD card owners have always felt the need to throw mud or talk down on other manufacturers and their emulations, because they invested heavily in the UAD ecosystem, and felt like it should separate them from the people who buy a $29 plugin and claim it to be as good as the UAD ones. Now that UAD plugins are getting native, those people have become a bit silent

[Scotty]

I've got hardware 1176s, LA2As, SP737s here and clones of Neves. I like the Arturia emulations of the 1176 the best. THe NI VCA 2A by softtube is my favourite LA2A. UA is the only full emulation of the SP737 so they win that one. My Neve comparisons are based on clones but the UA also wins that one but saturation is pretty subtle stuff. I think in terms of the bread and butter classics UA is fine but not exceptional, I like their reverbs and delays.

[dionenoid]

They've never ever had sales as big as the current sales. A few days back, they had $49 sales, I'm pretty sure they've never done that before. I could be wrong though, I don't know everything obviously xD.

Yes they had.

Through the years i bought lots of UAD plugins for between 20 and 50 bucks each. And you'll get new coupons when you spend money, plus personal bundle upgrade prices.

Some of them (usually the newer ones) never get really cheap tho. Altho i did buy API Vision for 24 bucks not long after it was released, i think that was a short running sale on a different single plugin each day or something.

But once you get into their eco-system you get bombarded with sales, coupons and whatnot. It's pretty annoying sometimes, unless there's something that you crave