Waves or UAD2 Card?

[producersound]

<The big drawback with UAD is you are tied to the card, which for me is not as ideal as running native plugins.>

Not only are you tied to the card like a dongle you are limited by the card DSP.

In 1990's we needed DSP card as the host was unable to do much processing if at all. But since then the native CPU's today are so much more powerful that being tied to a DSP is a shame. The factor between the best DSP and a cheap Intel core is over 100X!

Really the UAD DSP cards as a form of copy protection which limits the user power.

[takeeleven]

problem solved,finally got tech support to fix it.

[Kayo]

I think, DSP serves multiple purposes..

Sure, it does secure plug-in use and distribution, but, also secures survival of a sector of the industry and keeps the wheels of commerce flowing in the audio fraternity. Plus, their incarnations of various hardware boxes is quite commendable, and praised my amateurs, professionals and some legends of the industry, as being very precise and accurate. So, all and all, you are paying for the aforementioned, and to me, that’s worth the handicaps of locked in to the card.

On the other hand, I do feel, commuting processes are getting faster by the quarterly, and soon ones got to have a serious think, if DSP power is the reason for going the UAD way, or is it calibrated plug-in incarnations preference.. like myself etc..

No matter what choice one makes, it looks like, better days ahead for all in the audio fraternity.. as evident even in the freemium plugs out there. Some quite good, even though free!

KAyo

[SWAN808]

:-)

[bee]

Originally Posted by clonewar

Sure. Tell that you everyone who dropped $1500 each on a UAD-2 Quad (up to four supported in one system!) so they could run more instances of plugins that they already own.

Waves subsidizes their ongoing development and upgrade costs through WUP, UA does it though hardware upgrades. With both it still means that at some point you'll have to pay more to run plugins that you already own in the future.

To the OP.. they both make excellent plugins. Do a search here and you'll find tons of topics on the subject.

Clonewar makes a really valid point, either way you do pay for upgrades.

[EddieTheRed]

Originally Posted by Animus

Nebula is "good" if you can put up with the many "cons". It's a real pita to work with ranging from latency to memory and cpu resources.

It's still more convenient than patching in and bouncing a hardware EQ though . . . even if you use it one program at a time, outboard style.

Originally Posted by bmanic

Can't find the Massive Passive on their site. Is it really already released or are you beta testing it?

Velinas has finished sampling the unit and compiled the programs: we're expecting it during January.

Originally Posted by SEB

100% agreethumbsup

Nebula with Angel and AlexB samples have finallly made ITB as good as anything. Especially the tape, eq and console samples.
Waves CLA, Vitalizer and PCM Native completes 2009 as an amazing year for plugs. My EQ, Compressor and Reverb-racks has thinned out big time this year - I have yet to regret any of the sales.
I would add Soundtoys Echoboy and Softubes Focusing EQ with the amazing hi and lowpass filters to this list. And ofcourse Brainworx Dyn EQ for much easier drum eq-ing.

I agree totally.

Nebula EQ, Waves Compression, Lexicon Reverb and Echoboy Delay should get you 95% of the way there . . . Nebula console and tape does the rest.

FWIW, I couldn't mix the way I do without a nice Transient Designer plugin: I'm currently really loving the sound of Conspiracy's Beast+Beauty, if you can track it down it's got real analog mojo.

It's always great (ITB or OTB) to have as many flavours of compression as possible too, but the Waves LA-2A, 3A and 1176 should cover most bases.

I'd recommend a nice mastering/linear EQ and limiter too, and Alitverb if you're doing a lot of acoustic, jazz or classical material.

[bmanic]

Thanks for the heads up on the Massive Passive Nebula sample. I'm looking very much forward to not having to do all the work myself! It's a nightmare to sample EQs.

Oh, and imho the best transient designer at the moment is the Voxengo TransGainer. Can be extremely smooth and punchy on almost any material.

Cheers!
bManic

[b0ssa]

Originally Posted by EddieTheRed

In my opinion, the best compressors on the market are Waves CLA and the UAD Fatso and 33609.

The BEST Comp's on the market for mine are:

CL1b (Softube Native or Powercore)
FET (Softube native)
Elysia mPressor
CLA bundle

[everythinglouder]

Originally Posted by b0ssa

The BEST Comp's on the market for mine are:

CL1b (Softube Native or Powercore)
FET (Softube native)
Elysia mPressor
CLA bundle

Yes, completely agree, and I'd add the Waves API 2500 as the best native compressor for the master bus.

With these options as great as they are, it's nowhere near as enticing to go UAD as it may have been a year ago.

[b0ssa]

Originally Posted by everythinglouder

Yes, completely agree, and I'd add the Waves API 2500 as the best native compressor for the master bus.

With these options as great as they are, it's nowhere near as enticing to go UAD as it may have been a year ago.

It's getting harder to hang on to my DSP systems these days. With Lexicon PCM Bundle more or less replacing my VSS3 and the PSP, Softube & Fabfilter EQ's handling most of my EQ tasks along with the affore mentioned compressors, I'm finding the temptation to sell my Quad, my Powercore X8 & Duende almost irresistible. I'll hang on to my Liquid Mix though as that's still an interesting unit to me, but not sure for how long though.

I have a Powercore 6000 & Express as well but will hang on to those for now as I still use the '6000 plugs along with the Virus synth (which is dedicated to the express card).

[XAXAU]

UAD! I´ve got access to all waves plugs but I only like the doppler.

[saovi]

Originally Posted by EddieTheRed

... the AnalogInTheBox programs (DW Fearn, API 550, Massive Passive) are incredible.

For reverb, I'd wait on the Lexicon PCM bundle (or the new IK Lex480 emulation). Altiverb is unbeatable for classical/acoustic/jazz stuff where you want the sound of a real room, but doesn't do the big, flatering Lexicon thing for rock.

Serious advice: hand on heart, if I had $2000 for new EQ, compression and reverb plugins I'd buy:

Nebula 3 with the AnalogInTheBox EQ's - approx. $100
Waves CLA compressors - approx. $400 from Tony
Lexicon PCM96 plugin bundle for reverb - approx. $1500 from Tony

These plugs really are the best on the market right now.

(I'd also pick-up the AlexB console emulations for Nebula - you wouldn't believe how much bigger, and wider, and deeper they make your mixes sound.)

Hey Eddie, we seem to think alike - I pretty much have all this stuff (Lex, Waves Mercury, UAD w/Fatso, EMT250, Altiverb etc) with exception to the Nebula3 / AnalogInTheBox EQs. I checked out their site but it didn't seem clear to me that DW Fearn, API 550 & Massive Passive were in there? Perhaps they were but chose to not disclose it on their site.

I'm on Mac so I've heard that regardless of the low price for all you get, this can be a royal bear on this platform. Care to weigh in and help a nebula neophyte? How is latency and cpu hit for Nebula?

[EddieTheRed]

Originally Posted by saovi

Hey Eddie, we seem to think alike - I pretty much have all this stuff (Lex, Waves Mercury, UAD w/Fatso, EMT250, Altiverb etc) with exception to the Nebula3 / AnalogInTheBox EQs. I checked out their site but it didn't seem clear to me that DW Fearn, API 550 & Massive Passive were in there? Perhaps they were but chose to not disclose it on their site.

I'm on Mac so I've heard that regardless of the low price for all you get, this can be a royal bear on this platform. Care to weigh in and help a nebula neophyte? How is latency and cpu hit for Nebula?

I've just taken a look and the Massive Passive still hasn't been released, it's still due in the next week or so . . . On analoginthebox.com, if you click on EQs you see the Doc Fear pack, which is the DW Fearn, and if you press the right facing arrow it takes you to the page for the Ape Channel, which is a 550a.

You can download the BAE1073 (same quality) for free from nebula-programs.com

And yeah, Nebula for mac is basically a paid beta. You have to purchase Nebula 3 and NAT3 (PC versions - but don't download the installers) then email Giancarlo, and he looks up your purchase, marks you as a mac user and sends out a Mac installer for Nebula Pro. VST, but it works with wrappers.

Load the plugin and it generates a license file, you send this to Giancarlo and he patches it. You install the new serial and you have Nebula Pro fully working and activated.

You can then download and run any library, including the included official commercial library and the packs from AlexB, cdsoundmaster, analoginthebox etc, and the free Nebula-prorgams presets for nebula commercial (I know, I know).

Hope that helps mate, I know it's not exactly simple but the results are stunning, especially the EQ's and console emulations.

[Clonkified]

I suggest the native approach. I have a Macbook Pro (last gen) and in the current generation they've removed the ExpressCard slot, so no point in getting the UAD-2 solo/laptop for me.

Bought the Sonnox Elite Bundle and demoing some Waves bundles now (and really liking them). Will be able to take those to my future computers without a problem (and I don't complain about WUP - it isn't some new concept in the software industry).

[fossaree]

my 2 cents :
UAD 2
;-)

[saovi]

Originally Posted by EddieTheRed

I've just taken a look and the Massive Passive still hasn't been released, it's still due in the next week or so . . . On analoginthebox.com, if you click on EQs you see the Doc Fear pack, which is the DW Fearn, and if you press the right facing arrow it takes you to the page for the Ape Channel, which is a 550a.

You can download the BAE1073 (same quality) for free from nebula-programs.com

And yeah, Nebula for mac is basically a paid beta. You have to purchase Nebula 3 and NAT3 (PC versions - but don't download the installers) then email Giancarlo, and he looks up your purchase, marks you as a mac user and sends out a Mac installer for Nebula Pro. VST, but it works with wrappers.

Load the plugin and it generates a license file, you send this to Giancarlo and he patches it. You install the new serial and you have Nebula Pro fully working and activated.

You can then download and run any library, including the included official commercial library and the packs from AlexB, cdsoundmaster, analoginthebox etc, and the free Nebula-prorgams presets for nebula commercial (I know, I know).

Hope that helps mate, I know it's not exactly simple but the results are stunning, especially the EQ's and console emulations.

Thanks mate - I'm sure I'm going to end up doing this soon - although there is talk that Massive Passive will be released through UAD-2. Nebula sounds like a better bang for the buck. I might pull the trigger though just to see what all the fuss is about.

[EddieTheRed]

Originally Posted by saovi

Thanks mate - I'm sure I'm going to end up doing this soon - although there is talk that Massive Passive will be released through UAD-2. Nebula sounds like a better bang for the buck. I might pull the trigger though just to see what all the fuss is about.

Nebula'll give you a bigger bang, period.

The EQ's kill UAD/Waves/etc

[meymia]

Waves IMO.

[Graal]

UAD 2 would probably be my choice. (they have really good stuff).

What do you need exactly?

Comps: Waves CLA, Softube stuff, Elysia Mpressor, Fabfilter Pro C, Sonalksis, PSP Oldtimer

EQ: Softube, Fabfilter Pro Q, Stillwell, Waves Q10, IK TRacks 3 singles, Sonnox

Reverb: Altiverb, Lexicon PCM96 plugs, Breverb

Echo/Delay: Echoboy

Other: PSP Vintage Warmer

PS: I've heard about Nebula, Flux and BX Digital that they are really great but haven't had the chance to try them.

I sometimes use the URS stuff too and The Fish Fillets (free).

Cheers!