Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

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Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by mjau » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:32 pm

I'm thinking I might pick up the UAD-1 project pack that's out - mostly I'm interested in the 1176SE plug-in, but I'd like to hear about the others too - the reverb, the channel strip, the Nigel amp sim...
I might fork over the $ for the LA-2A or the Fairchild plug too, if they seem worth it.
So...what does everyone think of these plugs? How do you use them? How does the 1176SE differ from the other 1176 plug? Do you consider your UAD card to be a worthwhile investment?
Thanks...

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by chris harris » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:58 pm

the best thing that ever happened to my little computer-based studio!!

I don't know the technical differences between the 1176 and the 1176se... but, the 1176se is perfectly usable in my opinion. It sounds very similar to the 1176.

Also incredibly useful is the compressor in the channel strip. I've put it in for an 1176 before to free up some horsepower and several times actually been happier with the cs1 comp.

I hate eq... not just digital eq, but all eq. So I can't comment much on the channel strip's eq. The Pultec is crazy good, though. I sometimes put it on a channel, just to turn it on. But, if you do need to adjust in the Hi or Lo frequencies, the Pultec will allow you to do some insane boosting!

The La2a and the fairchild are both worth at least twice what they cost.

Nigel is cool on anything but guitar, imo.

I don't really use software reverb, either... but, if I do, the Dreamverb is pretty good.

Does the project pack come with Pultec? I think it's supposed to come with the new Pultec Pro, or whatever the mid band pultec is called.

That card is so totally worty $400, even just for the pultec.

I'd like to see them offer some tape simulation. If they did half as good as they did with the compressors, that'd be a sweet ass plug.
It'd also be cool if they included some weird plugs for sonic destruction.. but, their forte is the analog simulations and they do that stuff great!

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by thecongostudio » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:08 pm

They sound great. I don't like the fact that each plugin takes a huge amount of processing power so that you are very limited with one card. I strongly recommend it!

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by tiger vomitt » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:13 pm

mjau wrote:I'm thinking I might pick up the UAD-1 project pack that's out - mostly I'm interested in the 1176SE plug-in, but I'd like to hear about the others too - the reverb, the channel strip, the Nigel amp sim...
I might fork over the $ for the LA-2A or the Fairchild plug too, if they seem worth it.
So...what does everyone think of these plugs? How do you use them? How does the 1176SE differ from the other 1176 plug? Do you consider your UAD card to be a worthwhile investment?
Thanks...
-1176LN kicks mega ass. the 1176SE kicks large ass, but not as mega as LN. both are equally usable!

-LA2A is very cool but only works on about half the stuff i try it on. i mean in my aesthetic jusgements about it, not reliability. IOW, it's very hit or miss. but when it's a hit it's really fantastic. 3db of compression on a drum submix yields some crazy punch. it's really cool on ac gtr

-pultec is nice on tracks but a weird on mixes. not my fav of the bunch. i dont like the pultec pro at all, but i realize am almost alone in those opinions. whatever!

-the reverbs are better than most reverb plugins but still kinda suck compared to even cheap fx boxes. i almost never use them.

-the channel strip is ok. the eq sounds a lot better than DP's stock eq but it is also not really as flexible. the channel strip's compressor is kinda nice. i do like the reflection plugin tho. it's not really reverb, it's just early reflections. simple and cool.

-im not a fan of nigel AT ALL. every once in a while i'll get a usable vocal sound with it or something. but usually it just kinda stinks. and it is complete garbage on guitars, unless you happen to be into moronic guitar sounds. which youre probably not.

-the Fairchild is intense. quite possible the best sounding plugin compressor ive ever heard. a little tiny bit tricky to use, but so is the real thing (or so i hear hehe)

for the most part the UAD versions dont sound like the bomb factory versions very much. they're similar but not the same at all.

i dont know which version of the card youre getting... i would recommend getting the LA2A, 1176LN, Cambridge EQ and Fairchild in the end. the rest of the plugins are not really much better than your run of the mill vst's floating around out there. some people, especially those on the UAD forum would like to see me shot just for saying that. fuckin nerds!

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by joey » Sat Apr 17, 2004 9:38 pm

Hi there UAD users. I have been thinking of getting the UAD studio pak, it seems like a great value! My only concern is the massive hit the DSP card seems to take when multiple plugins or put to use. On UADs website it gives a list of how many instances of each plug you can run on a single DSP card and things like the cambridge EQ say like 25 instances or something rediculous like that.....either im reading all that wrong or somethings up. All I hear from people who own these cards is how they love the plug ins but hate how they run out of DSP really quickly. Im wondering how many cards i would need to complete an entire ....say 32 track mix with just UAD plugs??? Can someone give me a general example of what is up and running when a normal session maxes out their UAD DSP???
thanks,
Joe

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by Jesse Skeens » Sat Apr 17, 2004 11:04 pm

[quotethose on the UAD forum would like to see me shot just for saying that. fuckin nerds![/quote]

hehe, very true.


I just got a UAD again. Had one the day it came out but sold it when i got some of the real stuff like a Fatso and Daking. Decided to give it another shot and am deffinatly glad I did. I got one used on ebay for 475. Im probably going to buy the Fairchild pretty soon. I just did some comparisons to the Pultect and my Daking which Ill post on the uad forum when someone gives me some space.

The compressors rock. Cambridge seems good but I think Ill stick with Voxengo's GlissEQ. Nigel is ok but seems a little bit plasticy (as do the induvidual effects from it).

Realverb is ok but didnt do much for me, havent tested Dreamverb yet.

Overall though you cant go wrong with it for the price, even if it was much mor expensive.

Jesse

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by Dingo » Sun Apr 18, 2004 6:41 am

great piece of gear. I would probably get two, especially if you are doing 24/96 recording. Higher sample rates use more power.The compressors are great. Reverbs suck especially when compared to convolution but are fantastic when compared to waves. The eq's are also good as long as you don't go crazy with the boosting on the cambridge. It's worth the money. Huge step up from native in almost every case.

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by tiger vomitt » Sun Apr 18, 2004 9:34 am

Jesse Skeens wrote:I just did some comparisons to the Pultect and my Daking which Ill post on the uad forum when someone gives me some space.
i have some extra space on my server. not much but probably enough for a few files. lemme know.

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by KingOlaf » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:11 am

I have the card and use it with DP3. I use the reverb because it's much better than the MOTU ones and I use the compressors accross the mix busses.

Adding any UAD plug to a single track is a nightmare becasue of the latency it creates, so I just don't do it. I've rendered tracks in the past but even then you have to realign the track in the timeline because the latency is rendered as well.

The UA claim that this card will free up processor power on your computer is a joke; I find it to be a huge drain.

Nigel is worthless for tracking guitar because of the latency issues.
You're just what I needed

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by tiger vomitt » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:26 am

that's not true at all about latency. you just stick a plugin (takes up no CPU, even with 30+) on each track without a UAD plugin. not a big deal at all. there are other simple ways around it too.

im not saying it's as easy as not having to do anything (i.e., automatic delay compensation), but it's so not a deal killer! fo real

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by chris harris » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:33 am

anyone know which apps DO NOT have plugin delay compensation??

I thought my Cubase was the last to adapt. but. apparently DP doesn't have it yet.

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by tiger vomitt » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:42 am

i wish DP had it. MOTU is being annoying about adding it.

subatomic pieces, ive been wanting to tell you. i think you posted some music here a while ago. i checked out the song In All Night. i love this song! i didnt care much for the others but this one is soooooo good. it's been sitting on my desktop since. i was trying to find the thread so i could tell you there specifically but i couldnt find it. anyway, nice job!!

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by chris harris » Sun Apr 18, 2004 2:51 pm

wow! thanks!

very nice complement!!

that sucks about dp.

I've been wondering if PTLE will compensate.

Cubase SX would compensate for the delay only on audio channels and not groups, sends, or vsti's, until the most recent version, SX2.

life has been so much better with the powered plugins since sx2.

thanks again.
chris

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by Jesse Skeens » Sun Apr 18, 2004 3:37 pm

tiger vomitt wrote:
Jesse Skeens wrote:I just did some comparisons to the Pultect and my Daking which Ill post on the uad forum when someone gives me some space.
i have some extra space on my server. not much but probably enough for a few files. lemme know.
I found someone on the uad forum who is going to host if but if you want I can send you the zip. Its only 2.5 megs. I ran a loop through it so I have about 10 comparison settings.

jskeens@bellsouth.net

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Re: Opinions on UAD-1 cards?

Post by joey » Sun Apr 18, 2004 7:58 pm

ok, so would it be fair to say that you could complete an entire 32 track (24 bit, 44.1) rock mix with the UAD plugs if you purchased two UAD dsp cards? Also, I am judging from previous posts that the UAD ships with a delay compensation plug in that you can just slap on any track without a UAD plug and then proceed to use say a Waves plugin on that track and not have latency issues??? what if you want to put a waves plug and a UAD plug on a one track....how would that work out??? One last question: would a logical way to mix with two UAD cards be to throw a delay compensation plug on every track and proceed to take them off as you instantiate a UAD plug on that particular track. Sorry for the confused post but i just really want to get all the info i can before diving into the realm of the UAD. thanks,
Joe

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