I'm giving up on UAD. Now what?

[krheatman]

UAD is the way.

Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz App

[cinealta]

Originally Posted by days

It's painful to say it, because in my opinion UAD makes more nice-sounding plugins than anyone else out there. But the fact remains that their under-powered DSP cards have become, in this age of Ivy Bridge and Xeon, not much more than copy-protection dongles.

Cut your losses. Intel Haswell out in 2013, likely 16-cores. Go Waves Native. UAD has great sounding plugins but Draconian copy-protection.

[jdsowa]

Wish I had known about UAD's latency, which makes overdub tracking with plugs enabled an impossibility. Well, makes it a nightmare--as you have to manually realign whatever you record.

[A Fak]

Originally Posted by mista min

You guys do know that they will develop some other card that runs better then their current solution, which in my mind is ENOUGH dsp. There is an advantage to mixing with a DSP card, your computer never misses a beat.

That's what i though they were gonna do when they came out with UAD2 but it was under powered the day it was released. I think we've gotten to a point where no DSP card (while still being able to hit a price point) will be able to keep up with how quickly Native CPU's are improving. And we haven't even talked about latency and portability.

It would be a big step forward for the itb market as a whole if UA drops the card and goes native or at least offer a native option like PT does with rtas and tdm. I'm sure they've looked into it and must of come to the conclusion that they'd lose more in pirated software then gain from native license sales?

[A Fak]

Originally Posted by jjdpro

Waves Ren Comp still finds its way on every project

I still use all of the Ren series from Waves, specially RComp and RVox!

[noiseflaw]

Why not just keep the UAD option and supplement with the Native alternative?... I think you stand to lose more than you would gain by abandoning the platform altogether.

Just continue by adding native plugs and have the best of both worlds.

[greggybud]

The Waves Ren EQ & Compression gets used every day. I suppose you could find substitutions if you look hard enough...especially here at GS, but why?

When a tool like this has continually delivered excellent results, and the user has really learned these tools over the past 13 years, and understands the tools limits and strengths when given any audio application...why change?

This is all about the knowledge of what you can and cant achieve with any given tool. Some of the Waves products are my bread and butter. And some of the UAD are my bread and butter too. Manley Massive Passive is just one of several tools used in specific situations where nothing else gets me to my audio objective. It's not an every-day tool, but incredibly worth having for those special times.

I can understand the OP's point. UAD has become more expensive however their tools have greatly improved. For some of their tools it's the law of diminishing returns. Their marketing strategy is continual sales every month so from my viewpoint the list price is far more than the street price.

[leddy]

I have all the UAD reverbs, and I thought I could not live without them until I found Valahalla Room.

$50 and it kills UAD IMO.

Edit - I should add that the UAD buss comp is hard to beat though. If I need ITB compression, that's my go-to.

Voxengo has good native plugs too.

[eb7]

Originally Posted by noiseflaw

Why not just keep the UAD option and supplement with the Native alternative?... I think you stand to lose more than you would gain by abandoning the platform altogether.

Just continue by adding native plugs and have the best of both worlds.

Yeah, I never understand why people see this as an "all or nothing" proposition. I like the UAD stuff I have now, so I'll keep using it. The new plugins have gotten a bit too pricey for me -- and my Duo is maxed out anyway -- so I probably won't add anything else to my system. But I don't see any need to ditch the whole thing and start over.

[timtoonz]

Stick with UAD. Who cares about dongles or copy protection schemes? UAD sounds better. Done.

I have Waves Mercury, Lexicon and dozens of other Native plugins. But I'd never dream of selling my UAD stuff, unless someday it magically stopped kicking so much ass...

If the UAD2 were a $3000 hardware box that made all the sounds this thing makes, you'd buy it, be happy about it, and brag about owning it.

[days]

Originally Posted by noiseflaw

Why not just keep the UAD option and supplement with the Native alternative?... I think you stand to lose more than you would gain by abandoning the platform altogether.

Just continue by adding native plugs and have the best of both worlds.

This seems to be a theme running throughout a lot of the above posts. It's a valid point, and well-taken.

But, as it stands now, I've already found excellent replacements for all of my UAD plugs except for the Massive Passive and EMT 250. If I can successfully replace those two and sell my card and plugs for a decent price, then I think I can justify the move completely away from UAD.

I guess I had hoped that I would be a able to get more than $1,500 at resale for my Quad and the $2,000 worth of included plugs, but, after doing some more research, that seems unlikely. I'm not sure I'd make the move if all I could get was $1,000.

[ramil]

I am thinking about getting UAD just because of EMT and MP. Talking about native plugins there is one little problem (ILOK) that sometimes may cause issues...

[eb7]

I think you'd get more than $1000. That's about what the card itself is worth with no plugins at all. $1500 is certainly possible if you're patient.

[jrod9900]

Man, I don't know what I'd do without my Quad and UAD pluggies... Quite sad to think about really... And it's too beautiful outside to be sad...

JROD

[ramil]

but thinking from other side you already have all necessary plugins for quality mixing. I wouldnt invest anymore at all for a while

[krheatman]

Originally Posted by ramil

I am thinking about getting UAD just because of EMT and MP. Talking about native plugins there is one little problem (ILOK) that sometimes may cause issues...

Upgrades are free with UAD.They have some great mastering plugins,MP,Fatso,any of the reverbs,the new 1176 stuff is the bomb.I have no regrets and use them all the time.I don't track with them though(analog all the way).And with Native stuff I have not had ILOK problems for a couple years.
Likin' Fabfilter stuff too though,and that new DC8C Klanghelm Compressor.

UAD the MP is worth the price of admission
I use the Studer a lot also,even though I own one.

[days]

Originally Posted by eb7

I think you'd get more than $1000. That's about what the card itself is worth with no plugins at all. $1500 is certainly possible if you're patient.

I'd take $1,500 for them. Heck, with that kinda money, I could buy a new computer with an Ivy Bridge chip. (My current PC is an ancient four years old.)

Come to think of it, I could sweeten the deal by throwing in my UAD-1 card. So, a Quad card, a UAD-1 card, and $2,000 worth of plugins - all for $1,500. That sounds like a good deal to me. Any takers?

[CassidyGT]

Yeah resale value sux. I have a duo and a solo with lots of good plugs incl EMT and Neve plugs in classifieds for $1600. Thats practically what the cards cost so I'm almost giving away the plugs. No bites at all. Amazing.

[kaboom75]

Eventide native
Slate Digital
Soundtoys

Keep your eye on those plug providers best in the business. soundtoys and Eventide are working on 64bit versions.

[CassidyGT]

Originally Posted by krheatman

Upgrades are free with UAD.They have some great mastering plugins,MP,Fatso,any of the reverbs,the new 1176 stuff is the bomb.I have no regrets and use them all the time.I don't track with them though(analog all the way).And with Native stuff I have not had ILOK problems for a couple years.
Likin' Fabfilter stuff too though,and that new DC8C Klanghelm Compressor.

UAD the MP is worth the price of admission
I use the Studer a lot also,even though I own one.

Upgrades are not free. I have to pay $150 for the new 1176.

[krheatman]

Originally Posted by CassidyGT

Upgrades are not free. I have to pay $150 for the new 1176.

It is not an upgrade as far as I am concerned.It is work they put into modeling specific 1176's and has a bunch of sweet presets thrown in.
I used the old one for years now and it did what I required of it,and I would use it again.I put it on every LV with an La2a.

[mista min]

Originally Posted by A Fak

That's what i though they were gonna do when they came out with UAD2 but it was under powered the day it was released. I think we've gotten to a point where no DSP card (while still being able to hit a price point) will be able to keep up with how quickly Native CPU's are improving. And we haven't even talked about latency and portability.

It would be a big step forward for the itb market as a whole if UA drops the card and goes native or at least offer a native option like PT does with rtas and tdm. I'm sure they've looked into it and must of come to the conclusion that they'd lose more in pirated software then gain from native license sales?

If they switched to a GPU chip as the plugin platform it would rock and roll. Even Nebula (the CPU killer) runs well with a GPU or so they say... never done it. GPU's are really rocking it and if you ask me are the perfect solution. One other company who's modular DSP platform is sonic core with it's plenty good for processing 18 Shark DSP chips... though it is a bit high in price.

Also, Pro Tools HDX is quite impressive and is the perfect DSP platform, but costs a pretty penny to get there.

[CassidyGT]

Originally Posted by krheatman

It is not an upgrade as far as I am concerned.It is work they put into modeling specific 1176's and has a bunch of sweet presets thrown in.
I used the old one for years now and it did what I required of it,and I would use it again.I put it on every LV with an La2a.

Glad you are pleased with your purchase.

[kreeper_6]

Originally Posted by krheatman

It is not an upgrade as far as I am concerned.It is work they put into modeling specific 1176's and has a bunch of sweet presets thrown in.
I used the old one for years now and it did what I required of it,and I would use it again.I put it on every LV with an La2a.

Agreed

These are single handedly just about the 3 best compressors available on the market today. Not to mention the Fatso & 33609. Hopefully we'll see the API & Thermionic soon!!!

Originally Posted by CassidyGT

Upgrades are not free. I have to pay $150 for the new 1176.

Actually you don't have to pay anything.

Originally Posted by days

I'd take $1,500 for them. Heck, with that kinda money, I could buy a new computer with an Ivy Bridge chip. (My current PC is an ancient four years old.)

Come to think of it, I could sweeten the deal by throwing in my UAD-1 card. So, a Quad card, a UAD-1 card, and $2,000 worth of plugins - all for $1,500. That sounds like a good deal to me. Any takers?

That's actually a really solid price depending on the plugins. If you have a lot of the new heavy hitters (Tapes, Lexicon, Manley, Fatso) you may even get more. If you add the retail value of all plugins on your cards, deduct 30% (Cost you can buy plugs at on sale - don't add free plugs like LA-2A etc) then divide in half and add it to $1000 (Decent used Quad price) you should be in business. Like I said, the heavy hitters will carry the price.

eg.

$1000 + [($2000 × .7) * .5 ] = $1,700 Minimum IMO

[CassidyGT]

Originally Posted by kreeper_6

Agreed

These are single handedly just about the 3 best compressors available on the market today. Not to mention the Fatso & 33609. Hopefully we'll see the API & Thermionic soon!!!



Actually you don't have to pay anything.



That's actually a really solid price depending on the plugins. If you have a lot of the new heavy hitters (Tapes, Lexicon, Manley, Fatso) you may even get more. If you add the retail value of all plugins on your cards, deduct 30% (Cost you can buy plugs at on sale - don't add free plugs like LA-2A etc) then divide in half and add it to $1000 (Decent used Quad price) you should be in business. Like I said, the heavy hitters will carry the price.

Glad you guys are in agreement.

[jrod9900]

Originally Posted by kreeper_6

Agreed

These are single handedly just about the 3 best compressors available on the market today. Not to mention the Fatso & 33609. Hopefully we'll see the API & Thermionic soon!!!



Actually you don't have to pay anything.



That's actually a really solid price depending on the plugins. If you have a lot of the new heavy hitters (Tapes, Lexicon, Manley, Fatso) you may even get more. If you add the retail value of all plugins on your cards, deduct 30% (Cost you can buy plugs at on sale - don't add free plugs like LA-2A etc) then divide in half and add it to $1000 (Decent used Quad price) you should be in business. Like I said, the heavy hitters will carry the price.

eg.

$1000 + [($2000 × .7) * .5 ] = $1,700 Minimum IMO

Wow, its not enough to bring math into its own rock genre, now we bring math into gearslutz??? Come the eff on! This is not economics class!!!

Lol

JROD

[RiF]

I sold a UAD-2 DUO with >$2000 worth of plugins. It went for 20% less than the retail price of an empty UAD-2 DUO. The residual values for the plugins are near zero, IMHO. Unless you have a fully loaded plugin arsenal, don't expect to get too much.

Later I sold another UAD-2 DUO with about $1300 worth of plugins. It went for the same price.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by CassidyGT

I'm almost giving away the plugs. No bites at all. Amazing.

Yeah, for purchasers of plugs, I think the writing is on the wall. For some manufacturers.......well.....I'm not sure where they're looking, but it's not at "the wall". Native is the way forward.

[joecandy]

There are great mixes out there by people who dont use UAD,
and there are bad mixes out there by people who use UAD.

You dont really NEED it.

[grame99]

There's a guy on the UAD forum whose Quad recently died. Happily, they replaced it. But it made me think: imagine having thousands of pounds of software that can be so easily rendered redundant. I used to love the idea of the DSP taking the strain but never thought about it from the other perspective. All those plug-ins that are suddenly useless once something goes wrong with the card... scary.