UAD 2 card and plugs

I love compression. I'm starting to thing quality compression and EQ are more important to your final sound than the sound input itself. As some of you know, I'm blessed to be borrowing Manley EQ and compression and have learned, first hand, what it can do for your sound.

However, I research the UAD 2 card and plugs and found that it's getting to the point where recording professionals can't tell which is which in blind tests. If that's the case, I can 'own' $50k worth of hardware for about $2k.

Do any of you have any experience with the UAD plugs? Can you comment on their quality?

I haven't but i'd like to hear from those who have also. I was reading about these the other day, all I have to say is WANT. However quite a lot of money involved.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/plugins_for_audio.html

about half way down the page

i would think the firewire box would be more versatile/stable than the card but cant say for sure

I've only played around with one for a short ammount of time in somebody elses studio, but if I ever manage to make any money off my music it's all going toward one of their cards.

i have the UAD quad and all of the plugs with the exception of the new studer emulation (although i'm very excited to give it a try.)

to my ears, everything sounds pretty great. i use the neve 88RS on just about every track as a go-to for basic compression, gating and EQ. the fatso is pretty remarkable on the master buss (and in some cases on instrument tracks.)

you've also got the SPL transient designer which is basically magic for drum sounds / loops.

the stuff is about on par with waves, IMHO... i tried out the full waves bundle when XVX "made it available" for everyone... and liked enough stuff in it to want to go legit, but waves as a company is abhorrent and basically fundamentally evil, so my money went to UAD instead. i've been very happy with it so far.

c

  On 3/8/2011 at 7:57 PM, maus said:

i have the UAD quad and all of the plugs with the exception of the new studer emulation (although i'm very excited to give it a try.)

 

to my ears, everything sounds pretty great. i use the neve 88RS on just about every track as a go-to for basic compression, gating and EQ. the fatso is pretty remarkable on the master buss (and in some cases on instrument tracks.)

 

you've also got the SPL transient designer which is basically magic for drum sounds / loops.

 

the stuff is about on par with waves, IMHO... i tried out the full waves bundle when XVX "made it available" for everyone... and liked enough stuff in it to want to go legit, but waves as a company is abhorrent and basically fundamentally evil, so my money went to UAD instead. i've been very happy with it so far.

 

c

Sounds like a good endorsment to me. I think it was the studer plugin that perked up my interest initally. If you get it let me know how it is.

The UAD plugins are definitely the most comprehensive set of high quality vintage emulations out there, but they are still just plugins when it comes down to it. Don't let the card fool you. There are other native options that are completely on par with the UAD stuff: Waves, Softube, IK Multimedia, etc. (Many people think the Softube 1176 and IK Pultec sound even better than UAD)

There are a few of their plugins that are irreplaceable if you want that particular sound, such as the fatso and emt plate, but it's not like they are a necessity. Plenty of great tools out there.

  On 3/7/2011 at 7:53 PM, acidphakist said:

...getting to the point where recording professionals can't tell which is which in blind tests

Most recording professionals also can't distinguish between compressed mp3s and non-compressed wavs in double blind tests. Does that mean you are okay mixing in mp3 format? Also, most engineers can't distinguish a real guitar amp from an amp sim in double blind tests, but if you've ever used a real guitar amp, you know it's not the same thing. I would get over the idea that owning the UAD plugins is like owning 50k worth of gear. I love software, and think it's amazing how good it can be, but it's still not the same thing as owning the hardware.

Sorry for the double post, but for some reason whenever I tried to edit my previous post it said "permission denied".

  On 3/9/2011 at 6:48 AM, MrSparkle666 said:

Most recording professionals also can't distinguish between compressed mp3s and non-compressed wavs in double blind tests. Does that mean you are okay mixing in mp3 format?

This has to be the most bizarre argument I've ever heard. How would one even go about mixing in mp3 format? It's like saying "bananas are good, but would you want to mix with a banana up your arse?" - not having a go at you, just struck me as an odd thing to say.

  On 3/9/2011 at 6:48 AM, MrSparkle666 said:

Also, most engineers can't distinguish a real guitar amp from an amp sim in double blind tests, but if you've ever used a real guitar amp, you know it's not the same thing. I would get over the idea that owning the UAD plugins is like owning 50k worth of gear. I love software, and think it's amazing how good it can be, but it's still not the same thing as owning the hardware.

I'd disagree with this sentiment as well. The only arguable difference, IMHO, between a guitar amp and, say, amplitube -iis the "feel" of playing through a real amp. This is a pretty ambiguous concept, however, and as a guitar player i personally feel that amp sims started getting the "feel" right about 3 or 4 years ago. To the point that unless im trying to record the vibe of a particular acoustic space, I'd never bother with mic-ing up a real amp anymore. Not only is it finicky business to get it exactly where you want, but you're also then locked in to whatever tone you print to tape (which is not always a negative thing, workflow-wise, but for the most part, flexibility wins in my book.)

Now don't get me wrong, i love the fuck out of some hardware. I've become a modular addict, and am saving up for the shadow hills equinoxe summing amp. But for me, it's really more about the visceral nature of hardware... When it comes down to the final sonic output, the difference between plugs and hardware is fast becoming negligible.

hmm. i think for a serious musician why not get a 2k fix over a 50k one? musicians are mostly starving artist types. even popular artists aren't "rich". unless you own a proper recording studio i can understand why someone might want this uad stuff.

And it's still cheaper than Waves. Fucking extortionists they are.

craziness