UA says BF is not close, and BF shoots back. I've heard good things about both. Waves does not offer any of thos specific models, but it does have a renaissance package to enter into the foray. I've heard that Waves ren can't touch either BF or UAD.

mitz

quality wise, waves will always compare.. but the uad-1 is a dsp card.. its not taking away from you host cpu..waves do.. i've used both time after time and i mainly use waves in my spot b/c i don't have a uad-1 right now..
a bomb factory copy that works very well and sounds great. nomad factory.. i use the compressors mainly with N2.. they sound very smooth and transparent

Hi
Although far from home, I could not resist to post here..
I do love CB2, from MC DSP. Very little delay into PT TDM environment and not a dsp hungry at all.

Howdy

I wouldn't buy either BF or UA on their sounding "just like" the gear they attempt to emulate. Rather, buy them on their usefulness to you on the system you use. If you use Logic (for example) you can use both. If you use Pro Tools, you can use BF.

Although, see my other note about being able to use VST plugs in PT...whee!

To my ears UAD sounds closer to the hardward they are trying to emulate. As to which sounds better - its strictly a matter of opinion. I like UAD better, but my studiomate prefers BF.

I get more work ;)

bombfactory/sintefex..

i use (real) ureis on a daily basis, and to my ears the bombfactory doesn't even come close..
the sintefex digital hardware replicators though, sound even better than the real ones!! i guess they sampled a better one than the ones we have...the fairchild and summit in the sintefex also sound reaaallly good, i've never used the originals, but i'm guessing they also sound really close to the original...
the uads i've never used...
oh, and i think the waves rcl is one of the best compressors ever...

UAD-1 plugs sounds MILES better than BF plugs......to my ears. No comparison.

YMMV

I've used the UAD-1 previously, and I am happy to report that I was greeted with a positive impact on my recordings straight out of the gate.