Native UAD Spark VST3 Plugins Out for PC+Mac (UAD Hardware Not Required to Purchase)

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

And the organ is the best vst organ I've tried, not that I've tried a ton tbf.

Best virtual Hammond is still: AcousticSamples B-5 v3 by quite a margin. Requires UVI Workstation and iLok, but holy hell does it sound incredible. I'd put the UA next on the list, then the IK Hammond.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

the hardware seems a bit pointless now, i think they should and will eventually let us buy the native plugins without hardware

It seems very likely that there's going to be a new generation of Apollo interfaces coming out soon where they'll let you switch between DSP and native processing. I'd go so far as to guess that they'll port the UAD plugins to ARM (they likely had to do this for Apple Silicon anyway) and these new Apollo's will be ARM-based rather than SHARC-based, thus allowing for way more DSP power on the cards.

[jamcat]

I've been doing more tests with UAD, and I can definitely say I prefer my combination of IK, Brainworx, Lindell, Arturia, and Relab to UA. One thing I'm absolutely sure of is I would not spend money on a UAD2 card in order to buy-in to UA's exclusive ownership club. And I will not rent plugins.

It is good to know now, once and for all, that I'm not missing out on anything special after all. I doubt I will even be loading up any of these plugins again before my 3 months are up (and I still have almost 2 months left.)

The IK Tape Machine 80 leaves the UAD Studer A800 in the dust. Of course, it does use 3x the CPU. But it is easily 3x times better.

I also prefer Lindell Audio to UA for Neve and API.

[PAK]

They're offering non-rental options now. They have 3 main bundles
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/native-bundles.html

Or you can buy individually.. (with expected higher prices.. )

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

They're offering non-rental options now. They have 3 main bundles
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/native-bundles.html

Or you can buy individually.. (with expected higher prices.. )

Just updated the thread title to include that.

[DrGonzo]

They're offering non-rental options now.

Good news!

[pixel85]

Got an email about it right after I purchased UA Volt 1, which gives me LA2A pack and some plate reverb for free... which apparently costs more than the interface LOL
Even now, when we can buy native versions, I wouldn't buy them for those prices. API 2500 for 164eur and it's -50% promo? Harsh

[mholloway]

They have 'sale' prices that still exceed 150 dollars. That's not going to play well in the now standard Wave / PA world of 20 and 30 dollar deals.

I guess it's nice their whole line is available natively at this point -- it was likely inevitable -- but the prices are a joke. 350 for a single reverb unit? 300 for a distressor emulation? There are far cheaper options for plugins of equal quality elsewhere.

[noiseboyuk]

They have 'sale' prices that still exceed 150 dollars. That's not going to play well in the now standard Wave / PA world of 20 and 30 dollar deals.

I guess it's nice their whole line is available natively at this point -- it was likely inevitable -- but the prices are a joke. 350 for a single reverb unit? 300 for a distressor emulation? There are far cheaper options for plugins of equal quality elsewhere.

Welcome to UAD!

Doubtless Native will follow similar sales policies as the hardware. There’s always sales, but typically they’re not that great. IIRC the Black Friday one is usually the best, last year there was a pretty good bundle deal, the biggest they’ve done. I’d imagine that trend will only continue, plugin prices in general are only headed in one direction.

In general UAD are good, really good sometimes but I’m convinced the only thing that really sets them apart now they’re Native is that the GUIs and branding are spot on. It makes old people feel comfy. I have tons, but I don’t think there’s a single one that is qualitatively better or genuinely unique from other commercial offerings.

[heyheycnv]

28 plugins for $699 is $25 bucks a plugin. I only want a quarter of them though. 6 for $150 and I'd buy. If not then pass.

[jamcat]

At least they finally pulled their heads out of their arses.

[pixel85]

They have 'sale' prices that still exceed 150 dollars. That's not going to play well in the now standard Wave / PA world of 20 and 30 dollar deals.

Which is still more than Volt 1. Seriously, if someone wants to buy LA2A with this promo, it's better to buy the interface, register it and give the interface to auntie or grandpa.

[j wazza]

glad they're allowing us to buy licenses without hardware or renting - I hadn't bothered trying any UAD plugins because of that, now I have tried some and they sound incredible! Bought the studio D chorus.

It's a shame they made it ilok cloud only, just allow machine authorisation! That is already a very secure licensing system, but much better for users to have the choice.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

It's a shame they made it ilok cloud only, just allow machine authorisation! That is already a very secure licensing system, but much better for users to have the choice.

iLok Machine Authorizations were cracked a few years ago, which is why many developers aren't going to that system. So it's not viewed as a secure licensing by many developers. The dongle and cloud have remained secure, which provides a lot of comfort to those devs really worried about piracy.

Frankly, behind serial number, iLok dongle is my next preferred authorization method. It's been stable and mostly unobtrusive (minus the dongle itself poking out of a laptop or USB hub).

[j wazza]

It's a shame they made it ilok cloud only, just allow machine authorisation! That is already a very secure licensing system, but much better for users to have the choice.

iLok Machine Authorizations were cracked a few years ago, which is why many developers aren't going to that system. So it's not viewed as a secure licensing by many developers. The dongle and cloud have remained secure, which provides a lot of comfort to those devs really worried about piracy.

Frankly, behind serial number, iLok dongle is my next preferred authorization method. It's been stable and mostly unobtrusive (minus the dongle itself poking out of a laptop or USB hub).

I didn't know that, thats good to know, but I'd guess about 0.01% of users have a cracked ilok (probably much less), which should be negligible enough in my opinion to allow the 99.99% of legit users to authorise the way they choose

a dongle in a desktop is fine but in a laptop it leads to broken usb ports