Is UAD worth it?

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by PatriotsBiker

My Apollo Twin USB came with a few "Legacy" editions of some classics, like the 1176 and the L2A. How do these compare or stack-up with their newer editions?

FWIW - I did like the L2A legacy on something I tracked recently as a Console insert. (incoming) I'm fairly certain the bulk of what I liked about it was the leveling, as it's name suggests.

I'm pretty well stocked up on Plugin Alliance, Waves and Softube plugs. I've stayed away from being tied too much to the UAD platform for reasons others have stated much better than I could. I do, though, like the idea of getting another couple of Unison offerings. I've only got the stock 610B, which is no slouch, but have not used it much more than I have used it after dialing things in. I need more practice with it before I start demoing other offerings just in case my current short-comings are due to not fully "getting" what all Unison can/cannot do.

The MKIIs are definitely worth getting IMO. Your example about the LA2 in particular. The MKII has the emphasis screw which allows you to roll off some bottom in the side chain only which to me makes it much more usable and smooth on low frequency content. And the 1176MKIIs model the entire signal path including all non linearities, which is especially important for the Rev A which is the dirtiest one.

As for Unison, not sure if it's because it's new, but the new Helios channel is really great. Not only in Unison mode, but even when you drive the line input during mixing, I've found it to be a really great color.

These most recent plugs (Helios, SSL Channel, Distressor) have raised the bar IMO, and I think we are finally achieving real analog feel/sound ITB. I know, I know, people have been saying that for years, but at some point it will actually be true!!

[YYR123]

If I had to, I could justify the cost of UAD simply for the 1176’s and the LA2A’s

They are that good sounding imho

[deanrichard]

The legacy emulations are somewhat dated by today's standards. They are pretty good in their own right, but the newer versions are far better emulations. I think of the legacy products as "broad stroke" emulations, kind of like viewing something from a distance, while the newer versions do a much better job of capturing the details and nuances of the original. They are very close to having the real thing.

Originally Posted by PatriotsBiker

My Apollo Twin USB came with a few "Legacy" editions of some classics, like the 1176 and the L2A. How do these compare or stack-up with their newer editions?

FWIW - I did like the L2A legacy on something I tracked recently as a Console insert. (incoming) I'm fairly certain the bulk of what I liked about it was the leveling, as it's name suggests.

I'm pretty well stocked up on Plugin Alliance, Waves and Softube plugs. I've stayed away from being tied too much to the UAD platform for reasons others have stated much better than I could. I do, though, like the idea of getting another couple of Unison offerings. I've only got the stock 610B, which is no slouch, but have not used it much more than I have used it after dialing things in. I need more practice with it before I start demoing other offerings just in case my current short-comings are due to not fully "getting" what all Unison can/cannot do.

[YYR123]

Yes legacy plugs could be replaced for 3rd party native

But i don’t honestly believe the mk2’s could be

[PatriotsBiker]

Thanks for the tips on those, guys. Sounds like I need to expand my demo list when the time comes.

I like the Waves HLS quite a bit. Sounds like I should demo the Unison version. For whatever reason, I had not hit it off with the now older UAD version. Granted, I didn't spend a lot of time with it.

Not knowing any hardware, it's easy for me to forget that the Softube Summit Audio emulation is not the same thing as the LA2A. That one does have the low end filter on it and has been very slick. That one and the Tube Tech were my first aftermarket plugin purchases. (edit - not including what came with NI VI Komplete. Hmmmm, I bet my new PC can handle that vari-mu now.)

[LDS]

Originally Posted by YYR123

If I had to, I could justify the cost of UAD simply for the 1176’s and the LA2A’s

They are that good sounding imho

I have pondered something along those lines - a UAD Quad PCIe with the 10 plugin bundle and calling it a day...

Out of curiosity, how well do UAD plugins run in a mix if I wanted to record another dozen channels of audio with a 64 sample buffer? Will the UAD stuff do some decent lifting off the CPU?

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by LDS

Out of curiosity, how well do UAD plugins run in a mix if I wanted to record another dozen channels of audio with a 64 sample buffer? Will the UAD stuff do some decent lifting off the CPU?

They run horribly in a mix, and a recent x4000-x6500 Intel CPU doesn’t need help.

They would never run in a session at x64 buffer

Track with them if you have a UAD interface (sure) but I don’t have one - I track with other plugs and then mix with UAD.

Their Delay is like 2000 samples or something ridiculous- it’s all the upsampling that makes them sound good but it comes at a price

[LDS]

Originally Posted by YYR123

They run horribly in a mix, and a recent x4000-x6500 Intel CPU doesn’t need help.

They would never run in a session at x64 buffer

Track with them if you have a UAD interface (sure) but I don’t have one - I track with other plugs and then mix with UAD.

Their Delay is like 2000 samples or something ridiculous- it’s all the upsampling that makes them sound good but it comes at a price

It depends what you are trying to do, I suppose. My Mac isn't exactly new, but I have never hit it's limits while mixing. My curiosity comes when tracking, and specifically tracking while monitoring through plugins within Pro Tools. At the moment my system can handle 10 to 16 new tracks being recorded, each being monitored through a plugin (like S-Gear for example) over an existing session of 30 odd tracks with 3 or 4 dozen plugins, all at 64 samples pretty comfortably. If UAD can't even work at 64 samples, then it sounds like a bit of a step backwards!

[TNM]

don't forget all the good UAD plugins like MKII's add a minimum of 55 samples latency.. In fact UAD's own fender emu adds a hair under 3ms on it's own (so monitoring at 44k through apollo with just that guitar amp is 5ms RTL.. higher than many native systems - and that's with no other plugins added).

UAD is worth it yes, for mixing. Apollo low latency is a complete scam and I have learned this the hard way after a huge outlay (read uad's small print.. 4 plugins in series with zero latency but only if the plugins have no additional latency, so only the 2007 circa Mk1 stuff, very few plugins in the big picture).

My apollo RTL through console is routinely at 8+ms, so, way too high.. just by putting a couple of comps and an EQ.

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by PatriotsBiker

Thanks for the tips on those, guys. Sounds like I need to expand my demo list when the time comes.

I like the Waves HLS quite a bit. Sounds like I should demo the Unison version. For whatever reason, I had not hit it off with the now older UAD version. Granted, I didn't spend a lot of time with it.

Not knowing any hardware, it's easy for me to forget that the Softube Summit Audio emulation is not the same thing as the LA2A. That one does have the low end filter on it and has been very slick. That one and the Tube Tech were my first aftermarket plugin purchases. (edit - not including what came with NI VI Komplete. Hmmmm, I bet my new PC can handle that vari-mu now.)

The Cl1b is quite similar to an La2a. It is actually my favorite La2a based compressor. I have quite a bit of UA stuff, but I don't really use it. Softube is my goto for most of the emulation type stuff. The Weiss mastering compressor/limiter released today is amazing! But Console 1 has turned into my main unit.