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Hi All,
I just wander if you have any experience with UAD-1 powered plugins card made by Univesal Audio and distributed by Mackie? I am mixing almost entirely (except that sometimes i reamp or use external reverb) in Logic Audio 5.10, and I'm a bit tired with the sound quality of software plugins. I heard that UAD-1 sounds really great.
Would it make sens for me to get one? Any thoughts?

My system:
Dual Athlon MP 1800+
Tyan Tiger MP mobo
512 ram (with ecc)
2 HD WD 40GB (8mb buffer) (1 system, 1 audio)
1 HD WD 80GB (8mb buffer)(storage of samples)
RME DIGI 5295 sound card
RME ADI-8DS converters
Matrox G-450 (agp)dual head video card
Yamaha crw-f1 CD-RW
(this system is only used for audio. nothing else)

tnx,

chris

Comments

anonymous Thu, 01/23/2003 - 08:33

Hi Chris...

Run, don't walk to get the UAD-1. It is fantastic! They did a great job of emulating the vintage stuff and as soon as you use them you'll realize why those units are so valued. Worth every penny and more.

Call Christian at Alto Music to get a great price and tell him I sent you... (845) 692-6922

Ron Marinelli...

3dchris Thu, 01/23/2003 - 09:34

Ron! Thanks a lot for such fast and helpful reply!
I need about 2 weeks to "get ready" (cash doesn't grow on my plants:) to get it but I found a forum where I heard excellent words about it. And thank you very, very much for the contact. I hope it will be still valid in about 2 weeks!

life is beautiful when people help each other!

chris

anonymous Thu, 01/23/2003 - 18:25

The UAD powered plugins are the best plugin package availablle, period. The 1176, LA2A, and Pultec emulations are worth the price of admission alone. Plus, it doesn't use any (or very little) of your CPU power so that you can a lot of your other plugins. I also know that Dreamverb, and Cambridge EQ are about to be released. I believe that one of these is free and the other carries a fee, I just don't remember which one is which.

You won't be sorry to take the plunge.

Regards, Abraham

Pez Fri, 01/24/2003 - 09:04

New updates of Logic will be Mac only. I would consider the purchase of the UAD-1 as money well spent. If I were in your shoes I would make the switch now to Cubase SX or Nuendo since it sounds like you have a very fine PC setup to run it. They have a special upgrade price to lure away all the ticked off Logic users that have been abandoned by the mac only change over.
If you've finally got the learning curve of Logic figured out and things are running smooth you can also take the "if it ain't broke don't fix it attitude" or break down and buy a mac. If you do make the switch you'll be surprised how much easier the Steinberg programs are to use. The UAD-1 has tons of users in the Steinberg camp so its been tested very well there. It will also have full delay compensation for plugins in the upcoming (but still vaporware) Nuendo 2.0. I'm not trying to talk you out of what you're using as Logic is a great program as well. There is no upgrade future for it if you remain on a PC however.

3dchris Fri, 01/24/2003 - 11:50

John,
I actually did 2 cds with cubase 5 (on mac) and tested nuendo, but i i found cubase's automation totally unstable. Nuendo on the other hand looks like my grandpa's underware...in other words it's interface sucks in my opinion. I also tried cubase sx but I didn't find it easy. I couldn't even figure out how to synchronize it with external sequencer. In logic it is easy, in cubase sx i found it unlogical. I know it is probably a huge improvement over cubase 5 but i still don't like it. It's just a personal thing.
I also do not think that logic won't support pc anymore...this is not confirmed yet. If they do that they gonna loose the market. It would be their most stupid move in my opinion.

tnx for input!

chris

Doublehelix Sat, 01/25/2003 - 05:48

My *understanding* is that Logic is moving away from VST support in future Mac OS X support. I am not a Logic or Mac expert however, so that may not be totally true. I have also read that Logic has officially dropped support for PCs, but you are right, they could change their minds...

As far as future plans for the UAD-1 supported formats/platforms, I am not sure here...sorry!

anonymous Sat, 01/25/2003 - 12:30

Hey Chris...

Logic6, which will be released in a month or so, is going to be Mac only - OS X & OS 9. It has many new features, like freezing tracks to conserve CPU useage, off-line bouncing, groups and many others.

There is no indication from eMagic of further PC upgrades in the Logic5 realm.

UAD-1 has confirmed they will definitely support Audio Units in the near future.

All major plugin mfgs have confirmed supporting Audio Units and those versions will all be released during this year.

The deal for the UAD-1 from Alto is good any time.

BTW, I'm originally from Hamilton!

Pez Sat, 01/25/2003 - 18:53

3dchris, Logic dropping the PC is already a done deal it's not something that they're thinking about. Just go to Logic's site and look at the system requirements for all the new Logic software. It's already Mac only. Like I said "if you think it ain't broke don't fix it" however you should be aware that Logic has abandoned you on the PC platform. It doesn't matter to them if you think it's a bad move on their part. It's already been done. That's old news at this point. They will still support what you have, you just won't be able to upgrade as they improve their product. If you prefer the Logic interface and you want to upgrade in the future then you are forced to buy a Mac.

3dchris Tue, 01/28/2003 - 06:11

John,
Yeah....it is sad news..i love logic, but i hate macs :) why do I hate macs? casue I don't know anything about them :) ) hehehe. I know everything about PCs...i build them, fix them, program them etc..but mac??? I only know how to use them...nothing else...so I HATE THEM!!! :) ) hehe

I think for now I'll stick with the version of Logic I have and will try nuendo again. What do you think?

chris

anonymous Tue, 02/11/2003 - 12:42

hey, steinberg is not the only way. :) . Don't forget about sonar either if you have to change platforms. I use it all the time and it is great. It has the audio capabilities of tools and nuendo with full misi/soft synths ra,ra. It also works fine with VST plugs via wrappers. It is also fully compatible with the UAD1 AND has automatic delay compensation thrown into the bargain. It really is a serious option (on PC). P.S I don't work or flog cakewalk stuff, I just use it and get a bit pissed off when people see steinberg and logic as the only alternatives.

ALso, if you are using logic and it is working for you...why change? The energy spent in using a new program could be better spent on writing more music! Logic won't stop working just cause it isn't supported. Learning new programs is easy but knowing them takes months. it takes a long time for your audio program to become a creative extension of yourself. There is a lot to be said for that.

MisterBlue Sun, 03/16/2003 - 05:39

I second Hammer's view.

If you are happy using Logic 5.x just roll with it and make music. We all worry too much about upgrades and new features etc. I have concluded for myself that I probably use less than 50% of all the great features in most programs/ddevices efficiently and effectively yet. Adding more features doesn't really help. I am a Logic 5.5 PC user and this is going to be my platform for the next 2 years - back to making music.

I also support the statement that the UAD card is a nice addition. I was, however, a bit disappointed with how quickly it runs out of steam. It can only handle about 1/4 of what the TC Powercore does (which I would recommend for the Reverb alone). Nevertheless, I has some nice algorithms and can be bought for little money these days.

Just my opinion,

MisterBlue.

anonymous Sun, 03/16/2003 - 16:59

I'm using two UAD-1 DSP cards in my DAW. One thing I can say is that when I'm mixing, it is very easy for me to discern a dimensional difference between any native plugin I have ever heard and what I hear when I strap a hardware processor across an insert. My DAW has extremely low latency for round trip conversions (60 samples-1.36ms at 44.2KHz) but I compensate for this anyway so the dimensionality is not due to delay caused by AD/DA latency, it's the *sound of the circuitry*. Somehow, this has been captured with the UAD-1 plugins. I'll probably get another one soon. It's sort of obscene to be able to open up 14 x 1176's on a mix. Hell, I don't think I've ever seen a studio with 14 x 1176's in a rack. The world's a'changin'.

Regards,

Doug Joyce
Animatrix Productions
Durango, CO

lorenzo gerace Thu, 03/20/2003 - 00:44

animatrix

I wonder that must be way cool... :D :eek:

Anyway, I found that there is a substantial difference between thwe real thing and the DSP emulation: surely the UA plugins sound incredibly cool, but (I was discussing this on the Computing forum with another cat) I did a test recently to really evaluate them; I was working on a Pro Tools session and instantiated a Real Verb Pro reverb plugin, and it sounded ten times better then the native plugins from Waves etc, then I hooked up an Eventide Eclipse (digitally via ADAT) and BOOM, the sound of a dedicated hardware reverb box is still (IMO) unreplaceable by a plugin: denser, richer, just 3D; same thing for a couple of tube compressors I had on hand. So my conclusion is that plugins are too cool to argue with, more so if they are hardware DSP based (like UAD), and that you can't get all of the hardware they emulate, but the real boxes are a step apart and when possible I like to mix the two and have the best of both worlds.
Cheers

L.G.

3dchris Thu, 04/03/2003 - 05:36

Gerax,
I second your opinion. I do not believe it is possible to create world class mix without good outboard gear. But I think that UAD-1 can be a real life saver. I think UAD-1's compressors sound much better than most compressor costing oround $1,000 and it beats the hell out of waves. The only units that beat it's sound are the hi end units. And how many hi end units can we afford to have? 1? maybe 2 (at least me:) So I think that if we have 1 or 2 great outboard compressors then we can use it for most critical stuff (vocals, drums, bass) and the synths, guitars and other stuff can be run through UAD-1. Don't forget that if we talk about plugins then it means we mix on the comp. That also means we can take already recorded track and run it again through our outboard gear and record it "wet" on another track leaving our "dry" track untouched in case we don't like the outcome. Our possiblilities our endless now thanks to technology. In my opinion there is no longer an excuse for an engineer to make bad sounding mix if an engineer has a great AD/DA , one great outboard comp and one great outboard reverb. Ups...sorry to go away from the original topic :)
Geee....what a chaotic flood of words....
chris

MisterBlue Thu, 04/03/2003 - 23:55

I am convinced that it is simply a question of time untilplug-inswill match or even exceed the quality of high-end outboard units. Is the UAD-1 there yet? Definitely not. Powercore? Nope, same answer.

Keep in mind that an expensive Lexicon, TC or Eventide unit doesn't do anything else than what the CPU in your computer accomplishes. It calculates digital audio streams from the input signal. If you know the exact algorithm for an expensive Lexicon algorithm there is nothing in the way of generating the exact same output from an input stream using the CPU compared to the dedicated hardware inside an outboard unit. Yes, the converters play a roll. But also there I would argue that some expensive Apogees shouldn't be much behind the ones used on a Lexicon 480 :D .

MisterBlue.

3dchris Fri, 04/04/2003 - 04:52

MisterBlue,
I think that creating a great plugin reverb is closer than we all think. Yesterday I found these messages on PSP's message board

Hello,
Two newplug-inswhere announced during the NAMM show and the Musik messe.
One is the so called emulation of the great 1073 which PSP name will propably the PreQursor. We are going to emulate the unique sound as close as we can in a digital domain. Please note that a real mic preamp of a great quality is still required to record acoustic instruments and vocals
The second plug-in is the PSP MixVerb which is a multi algorithm high quality reverberator. Although it don't use convolution it creates a wide range of quality reverbs via set of very complex reverberation algorithms. To makes things easy the MixVerb have a very simple user interface with enought control from most purposes.

Regards,

--------------------

Mateusz Wozniak
PSPaudioware.com

-----
Hi,
I think we are on a good way to release a powerfull reverb plug-in.
In the case of reverbs the quality demands a lot of CPU and memory resources and this is a case with the PSP MixVerb which uses megs of memory and up to 25% of PIII 800MHz.

Regards,

--------------------

Mateusz Wozniak
PSPaudioware.com

Knowing the quality of PSP plugins (Vintage Warmer!, Lexicon PSP 42 and 84)

The problem is as always - CPU and memory limit.

tnx,

chris