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I was looking into buying a UAD card from mackie, if i invest into it, i will buy some additional plugins including the song OXFORD EQ, and anything else worthy, (is it good for mastering), also i heard that you can run other DirectX and Vst plugins on it, (for ex. waves), is this true?

Comments

Massive Mastering Fri, 07/30/2004 - 23:23

I know several who use both -

Which one (or both) is right for you is totally up to you. Put two mastering guys in the same room and they'll rarely see completely eye-to-eye on things. I'm an Apogee guy. I know people who won't touch a converter unless it says Benchmark on it. I like the Manley Vari-Mu. Others prefer the Pendulum.

If I had to pick just one (which I did) it would be the UAD collection (which it was). As I've mentioned before, the Pultec plug alone is worth twice the price of the entire collection.

But even at that, it's only a small part of my mastering tools... I rely much more on the hardware for the "meat" of it, and the software for the tweakability.

TrilliumSound Sat, 07/31/2004 - 05:59

Hi,

I am using both the Powercore Firewire and the UAD-1 on the same PC. There is no problem at all, each of them are using there own processors. I am a Hardware guy too (Manley dude, Benchmark) but like John said, the Pultec on the UAD is worthed alone. I must add that TC reverb is pretty nice too.

Here is the link to UA comparing both contents (Project Pak and Studio Pak):
http://www.uaudio.com/products/digital/projectpak/index.html

Regards,

Richard

Massive Mastering Sat, 07/31/2004 - 09:26

The difference is: MORE PLUGS. And yes, each one is very cool in its own unique way.

UA is one of those outfits that I'll likely purchase EVERY plugin for, whether outwardly useful or not, just to support R&D. That being said, they haven't made an additional plug yet that I don't find useful.

Do keep something in mind - The Fairchild plug - as cool as it is, isn't some magical mastering tool. Maybe among some of the "uninitiated" perhaps, and on some recordings I've used it myself with wonderful results. *Some* recordings.

Soon after it came out, myself and a few other engineers were calling it "Child Abuse" on the forums - Everyone was going ga-ga over it. The Holy Grail and blah, blah.

Don't get me wrong - It's great. It's slick. It (the original Fairchild 670) was made for VINYL. It almost unarguably sounds "vintage." But THERE IS NO MAGIC PLUGIN out there, just as there is no magic technique that works on all recordings.

They are all just tools, with no rules.

TrilliumSound Sat, 07/31/2004 - 13:40

Personally, I do not like the Fairchild Plugin. Comparing it to the UAD LA2, it is not cutting it, even at the mix bus of the DAW. I tried many many times to convince myself that it might be good but... :cry: When you are about to get the magic or what you expect from a comp, it is already to much.

I think that TC Powercore comps are not that good even the MasterX's. Actually, I am pretty disapointed with the compressors with Powercore.