IK and UAD = Serious deals!

[Scotty Ellis]

It's not their products but the utter disdain that they treat their customers with.

A couple of months ago I did a "Custom Bundle of 3 for $249" to get the 3 amps. Shortly thereafter, I noticed I was a dumbass and could've upgraded my Signature Collection for $199 and get those 3 amps and a bunch of extra plugins I didn't have yet. I emailed support. They refunded me the $249 no questions asked so I could buy the Signature upgrade for $199.

Didn't feel like disdain for their customers to me.
Just my two cents.

That may be somewhat encouraging but it doesn't even close to the number UAD Native customers that have multiple duplicate plugins they can't resell. UAD's attitude is "that sounds like your problem".

[zerocrossing]

Their business models are not great, but if you wait for a deal, the deals are amazing.

[sakarik]

UA Connect is horrible.. it just pops up in the middle of recording/editing/mastering and in windows it's elevated prompt (THERE IS UPDATE AVAILABLE FOR UA CONNECT INSTALL NOW), so it blocks everything else (So i'm rather picky when to use UAD plugins, especially NEVER for recording and make sure ua connect is not running then). I've asked them to make it have only notification in the taskbar that there is update available but they simply are not professional enough to make it work. some of the plugins are good, though.

[funky lime]

UA Connect is horrible.. it just pops up in the middle of recording/editing/mastering and in windows it's elevated prompt (THERE IS UPDATE AVAILABLE FOR UA CONNECT INSTALL NOW), so it blocks everything else (So i'm rather picky when to use UAD plugins, especially NEVER for recording and make sure ua connect is not running then). I've asked them to make it have only notification in the taskbar that there is update available but they simply are not professional enough to make it work. some of the plugins are good, though.

you should be able to rename the uaconnect.exe (or whatever it's called) to something else... change the extension to .fuk or whatever you want, to prevent it from running itself. it shouldn't affect the plugins' operation (at least it didn't when i tried, but i used ilok dongle so idk). then just change it back to .exe if you need to update/install

granted that was many months ago when i tried, and only for one or two plugins, so ymmv

[osiris]

I auditioned some sounds in the UAD plugins yesterday and got online, got authorized, but didn't find a sound. So I took the VST out of the track and iLok bugged me with a notification about every 30 seconds that it couldn't connect. Finally found a right click that shut up the iLok notifications. Thing is the DAW just stopped every time this happened. This is why I want a license on my machine.
P.S. You also have to uncheck UAConnect from your Start Up because it put itself in programs to start when Windows does.

[panspOrmia]

UA Connect is horrible.. it just pops up in the middle of recording/editing/mastering and in windows it's elevated prompt (THERE IS UPDATE AVAILABLE FOR UA CONNECT INSTALL NOW), so it blocks everything else (So i'm rather picky when to use UAD plugins, especially NEVER for recording and make sure ua connect is not running then). I've asked them to make it have only notification in the taskbar that there is update available but they simply are not professional enough to make it work. some of the plugins are good, though.

I rename UA Connect.exe to UA DISConnect.exe. When I want to install/update plugs, I temporarily remove the `DIS` in DISConnect.. do my thing.. and then rename it to UA DISConnect.exe again when done. Works like a charm.

[Razzia]

It's not their products but the utter disdain that they treat their customers with.

A couple of months ago I did a "Custom Bundle of 3 for $249" to get the 3 amps. Shortly thereafter, I noticed I was a dumbass and could've upgraded my Signature Collection for $199 and get those 3 amps and a bunch of extra plugins I didn't have yet. I emailed support. They refunded me the $249 no questions asked so I could buy the Signature upgrade for $199.

Didn't feel like disdain for their customers to me.

Do people not like their Cloud or Dongle copy protection approach, along with the UA Connect app? Sure. Those are perfectly valid things to be annoyed by. But I like this new UA with regular sales, and they don't come across to me as cheapskates while doing it.

Just my two cents.

what rubs a lot of people wrong is the nickel and dime-ing.
I could write out a long list, but the short version is, they'll sell you a plugin, then extract a module or one algorithm from it and release it as a discrete plugin, then ask the people who own the plugin for another $50 to use the mini version of the same thing. Or selling plugins at bargain basement prices now and charging people who paid $150-300 years ago to pay for a native port. Leaves a bad taste.

And yes, they don't owe you anything, but most of us are accustomed to dealing with companies who would blush at that sort of double dipping. I don't know anyone else who sells a full-featured plugin as an 'upgrade path' to a little brother version.

I like UAD plugins very much. At the prices they're selling them now I still think it's worth recommending them to people, but I do believe there are legitimate reasons for long time customers to be disillusioned with them.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

what rubs a lot of people wrong is the nickel and dime-ing.
I could write out a long list, but the short version is, they'll sell you a plugin, then extract a module or one algorithm from it and release it as a discrete plugin, then ask the people who own the plugin for another $50 to use the mini version of the same thing. Or selling plugins at bargain basement prices now and charging people who paid $150-300 years ago to pay for a native port. Leaves a bad taste.

And yes, they don't owe you anything, but most of us are accustomed to dealing with companies who would blush at that sort of double dipping. I don't know anyone else who sells a full-featured plugin as an 'upgrade path' to a little brother version.

I like UAD plugins very much. At the prices they're selling them now I still think it's worth recommending them to people, but I do believe there are legitimate reasons for long time customers to be disillusioned with them.

But those are the absolute easiest things to ignore. Like, "oh, Pure Plate is a cut down Plate 140?" Skip. "CrapTape is a cut down version of the already crappy Studer?" Skip. Then they'll include that in a bundle offer anyway, which is how people end up owning multiples of things (then get grumpy about that too).

I feel like there's a good chunk of the plugin market, and I've fallen for this myself, that's just driven entirely off FOMO. It's fine if you don't catch all the Pokemon. You don't have to collect them all.

[Razzia]

what rubs a lot of people wrong is the nickel and dime-ing.
I could write out a long list, but the short version is, they'll sell you a plugin, then extract a module or one algorithm from it and release it as a discrete plugin, then ask the people who own the plugin for another $50 to use the mini version of the same thing. Or selling plugins at bargain basement prices now and charging people who paid $150-300 years ago to pay for a native port. Leaves a bad taste.

And yes, they don't owe you anything, but most of us are accustomed to dealing with companies who would blush at that sort of double dipping. I don't know anyone else who sells a full-featured plugin as an 'upgrade path' to a little brother version.

I like UAD plugins very much. At the prices they're selling them now I still think it's worth recommending them to people, but I do believe there are legitimate reasons for long time customers to be disillusioned with them.

But those are the absolute easiest things to ignore. Like, "oh, Pure Plate is a cut down Plate 140?" Skip. "CrapTape is a cut down version of the already crappy Studer?" Skip. Then they'll include that in a bundle offer anyway, which is how people end up owning multiples of things (then get grumpy about that too).

I feel like there's a good chunk of the plugin market, and I've fallen for this myself, that's just driven entirely off FOMO. It's fine if you don't catch all the Pokemon. You don't have to collect them all.

Fair argument, but less so when they are offering native versions of Pure Plate but not the 140
Or when they designate the relatively recent API Vision strip a 'legacy' version, then charge $50 for the update so you can get a native version, even if you own both Vision and the EQ that they ported into it.
And they just outright charge you a fee for the native version of the SSL strip while they're selling it new for like $30.
And the point of the discrete preamp plugins was to add some color and save DSP. You can't tell me you don't think it's egregious to charge $50 to use a piece of a plugin you already bought.

I'm trying not to play the role of the perpetually disgruntled customer. I like UAD plugins very much, but they essentially do the opposite of rewarding customer loyalty.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I'm trying not to play the role of the perpetually disgruntled customer. I like UAD plugins very much, but they essentially do the opposite of rewarding customer loyalty.

I won't argue with you there. I feel like there are other companies that are worse (one of whom shall remain nameless unless you happen to read the thread title).

On the other hand, they are businesses. It's like cellphone companies. The best deals are ALWAYS for new users. It's just good business I suppose. But can indeed be frustrating.

[_leras]

Fair argument, but less so when they are offering native versions of Pure Plate but not the 140
Or when they designate the relatively recent API Vision strip a 'legacy' version, then charge $50 for the update so you can get a native version, even if you own both Vision and the EQ that they ported into it.
And they just outright charge you a fee for the native version of the SSL strip while they're selling it new for like $30.
And the point of the discrete preamp plugins was to add some color and save DSP. You can't tell me you don't think it's egregious to charge $50 to use a piece of a plugin you already bought.

I'm trying not to play the role of the perpetually disgruntled customer. I like UAD plugins very much, but they essentially do the opposite of rewarding customer loyalty.

Pretty sure this is all due to licensing restrictions and charging obligations.

Pure plate and 140 are the same I believe.

If you have DSP versions anyway then can't be that much hurry to also have them native?

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I personally never use the DSP versions at this point so I understand the desire for native.

[pekbro]

I bought my first UA plugins yesterday, was going to buy some of them months ago, but they kept getting cheaper.

Got 6 plugins for about $10 more than i was
going to pay for a single. I cant complain, so
far anyway.

of course, i wouldnt have been too happy,
had i bought them when i was planning on it.

[Razzia]

Fair argument, but less so when they are offering native versions of Pure Plate but not the 140
Or when they designate the relatively recent API Vision strip a 'legacy' version, then charge $50 for the update so you can get a native version, even if you own both Vision and the EQ that they ported into it.
And they just outright charge you a fee for the native version of the SSL strip while they're selling it new for like $30.
And the point of the discrete preamp plugins was to add some color and save DSP. You can't tell me you don't think it's egregious to charge $50 to use a piece of a plugin you already bought.

I'm trying not to play the role of the perpetually disgruntled customer. I like UAD plugins very much, but they essentially do the opposite of rewarding customer loyalty.

Pretty sure this is all due to licensing restrictions and charging obligations.

Pure plate and 140 are the same I believe.

If you have DSP versions anyway then can't be that much hurry to also have them native?

Pure Plate is the "C" algorithm from the 140 if memory serves

Native versions can be used on my laptop without lugging an apollo around, nor worrying about limited DSP

[zeep]

.nvm