UAD still worth it?

[LoveEnigma18]

Did you add Ultimate 13 to your cart to see what your price is after upgrade discounts?

Thanks, but I can't add Ultimate 13 to cart since I don't own UA hardware.

Topline Vocal Suite is interesting. I watched a couple of videos, and man, this thing sounds really great and a fast way to get that pro sound on vocals. Tempted to upgrade for sure.

[miloszz]

I have the $199 Ultimate 13 upgrade available as an offer in my account... but I no longer have UAD hardware so I can't buy it (sold the interface kept the plugins since they aren't worth selling).

So I can buy the $500 Signature bundle - and duplicate ~50 plugins I already own. $500 for three amp sims, a channel strip, those silly verve machines, the NEW AND IMPROVED SSLs (that I can upgrade for $10), and the vocal thing.

UAD has managed to make a consumer experience worse than Waves or Plugin Alliance. It's impressive, honestly.

[Uncle E]

Contact their support. Typically they would fix that for you.

[elxsound]

I have the $199 Ultimate 13 upgrade available as an offer in my account... but I no longer have UAD hardware so I can't buy it (sold the interface kept the plugins since they aren't worth selling).

So I can buy the $500 Signature bundle - and duplicate ~50 plugins I already own. $500 for three amp sims, a channel strip, those silly verve machines, the NEW AND IMPROVED SSLs (that I can upgrade for $10), and the vocal thing.

UAD has managed to make a consumer experience worse than Waves or Plugin Alliance. It's impressive, honestly.

Like Unlce E says, hopefully their support will help.

Otherwise, yeah I agree the experience is a piece of shit.

The good news is that you don’t need to own them all.

[nusound mind]

I bought a bundle years ago w/ some cheap, voucher reduced one offs, and now have everything I want probably. The delay box and moog filter I'd get if they go native, but I hear there's issues w/ their new installers plus their manner of doing business lately has turned me off. Glad I have them, though I use them less than I'd expect. One chorus plus Opal & Minimoog get fairly regular use. The API bus comp. too, and the Manley Vox from time to time.

This reminds me I meant to do a reverb shoot see how the UA ones hold up, I tend to use other verbs from force of habit as much as anything.

[miloszz]

They were clear on the last bundle round that they don't discount based on owned plugins - I only got Ultimate 12 because Sweetwater ran a stupid cheap sale for like 48 hours. I definitely don't need any of the plugins enough to get into it with UAD support - I really only want Lion (I liked the pedal a lot, hated the Bluetooth app) but not for $150. Lion + the other two amps + bonus plugins would be worth $199.

I'm just amused at how they did a 180 from 'our plugins are expensive but pretty much always the same price' (certainty makes for a good consumer experience... if you can afford the item) to making every UAD purchase a gamble of timing and deal-seeking like the worst of the other big plugin companies. Worse, even, because of the various overlapping bundles that add significant complexity to the situation.

[comfortablynick]

Surely a good deal if you just own Signature Edition 1 and haven't bought anything else since then.

I bought Manley Vari-Mu, Ampex ATR-102 and Verve Analog Machines separately after buying Signature Edition 1, so I am just evaluating if $199 is worth it for me, especially considering I am only partially interested in Topline Vocal Suite, SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor, SSL 4000 E Channel Strip, and LA-6176 Signature Channel Strip from the new ones.

Only unique thing really is the Topline Vocal Suite, as I have equivalents of the SSL and LA-6176 is probably not essential since I have many channel strips including the other UA ones.

Guess it may be better to wait for $39 deals on these plugins. Black Friday is not that far.

I haven't bought anything since Signature 1, so this is a decent deal for me. I know we'll see something on Black Friday but I doubt it will be better than $199. It is a game of timing now with UA.

I got Signature 1 for less than $199 but I think that was a glitch that only lasted a day or two.

[koalaboy]

I presume the plugins that are in both Ultimate 13 and Signature 2 are all available in Native... as Ultimate 13 says 'Apollo' but clearly has some plugins that are dual format.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

All the Signature 2 plugins are Native. NOT all of the Ultimate 13 plugins have been ported to native yet. If you don't have UAD hardware, then stick to Signature 2.

[koalaboy]

All the Signature 2 plugins are Native. NOT all of the Ultimate 13 plugins have been ported to native yet. If you don't have UAD hardware, then stick to Signature 2.

I have both. I'm just wondering if those in Ultimate 13 that *have* native ports, will include the native license with them, which seems to be the case, so Ultimate is a better deal for me.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

All the Signature 2 plugins are Native. NOT all of the Ultimate 13 plugins have been ported to native yet. If you don't have UAD hardware, then stick to Signature 2.

I have both. I'm just wondering if those in Ultimate 13 that *have* native ports, will include the native license with them, which seems to be the case.

Yeah, why wouldn't they? That's what UA has always done.

Now, if some currently DSP-only plugins get ported to native, and they add a sidechain filter or something, that could mean a paid crossgrade as evidenced by the recent SSL ports. But otherwise, ports have been free.

[zvenx]

So far..
But yeah my understanding is in Ultimate, those that are currently on both dsp and native, you get both.
rsp

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

So far..
But yeah my understanding is in Ultimate, those that are currently on both dsp and native, you get both.
rsp

Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't bank on the other plugins getting ported for free (or at all) if that's the difference between buying or not buying Ultimate 13. I've got UAD hardware and I'm passing on Ultimate. If they port a bunch, I'm sure they'll eventually add it to a Signature 3 bundle (or equivalent) come this time next year. And I'm otherwise not using UAD DSP plugins these days.

[zvenx]

I don't start new projects with DSP, I use the native versions...
Though I think Ultimate which for me arould be at $174, is a great price, but I haven't bought it..
It will give me tons of additional plugins that I am pretty sure I will never use.
rsp

[SiliconDeath]

No. There simply are too many alternatives nowdays that does same or better job, that have better DRM, or don't require the UA program/service to be running in background. Their plugins are ok, but installing and managing them is too much hassle to be worth it (same reason I dislike ikm and softube).