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Post by Quint on Dec 12, 2018 18:20:04 GMT -6
So I already own UAD Pultec and Harrison. The current BF sale over at Acustica, coupled with my current 20% coupon has me considering picking up either Purple or Honey.
Have any of you compared these two UAD plugins to their Acustica Acqua counterparts? For that matter, might y'all have any other interesting UAD/Acustica Acqua comparisons that might be worth looking into while the Acustica sale lasts a few more days? Maybe Ebony versus the UAD EMT140 or some of the other plate offerings out there?
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Post by veggieryan on Dec 12, 2018 18:32:25 GMT -6
They seem to be pumping out Core 13 updates each couple days so I would wait for that to test since it is such a massive upgrade to sound... Ruby and Viridian just got updates but not much similar to compare to... maybe the UAD Massive Passive vs Ruby are worth comparing being tube EQ's... Of course you can compare Taupe to all the UAD Tape plugins and at 96k it seems to be in a class above to my ear. You can compare El Rey to the Fairchild or LA2 collection for fun as well...
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Dec 12, 2018 19:23:43 GMT -6
I have and use 10 uad chips and a bunch of plugs that I love. With that said, I find some of the AA stuff a step above as well. AA has an alive quality to them that is very addictive. I have and use El Ray, Taupe, Diamond eq and Lift, and Pink2.
I like Taupe over the UAD tape offerings.
I like pink2 over the UAD Api eqs and 2500
After demoing Sand2 (core13) I still like the uad mk2 channel and bus comps better.
Yes they eat cpu like crazy, but I am printing theough them and hardware alot and freezing tracks these days. I really like working this way, and committing to sounds. It helps fight my over tweaking tendencies.
If you are not into print/freeze workflow I would atleast give diamond eq a spin as it is not too bad on cpu and sounds phenomenal to me.
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Post by Johnkenn on Dec 12, 2018 20:30:38 GMT -6
I really, really want to like the AA stuff more than I do...but I just can't get on with Taupe and I haven't heard a compressor that acts like other algo versions...Come to think of it, am I imagining this or can AA plugs not do distortion/non-linear characteristics? I tried the Viridian and I guess the comps were better, but I still couldn't get the grunge and grit I get with algo plugs when pushing them. And on top of it all, they're just kind of a PITA. I do use Gold2 and Pearl2 EQs...
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Post by Johnkenn on Dec 12, 2018 20:54:41 GMT -6
OK...just tried El Rey. That thing is REALLY nice. I could buy that.
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Post by Quint on Dec 12, 2018 21:00:05 GMT -6
I guess I should have mentioned that I already have Gold, Cream, and Taupe.
Pink (API), Viridian (Helios/Telefunken), Magenta (Manley), El Rey (RCA), Ultramarine (Fairchild), Purple (Pultec), and Honey (Harrison) are all of interest.
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Dec 12, 2018 21:14:48 GMT -6
OK...just tried El Rey. That thing is REALLY nice. I could buy that. Yes it is. Took me a bit to really get it but its great. The magic is in the input. Try it on 2bus slowest attack fastest release with the needle barely moving and play with the input knob level. Very classy sounding mix glue. And yea, they dont do obvious dirt yet, but the pink 2 compresser is the best out of the ones ive tried. Super punchy aggressive on drum bus and the mix knob makes it very useful. I really wish someone like UAD would take this tech and make a rock solid platform with it, with external dsp to make it less of a PITA and more user friendly . |
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Post by Quint on Dec 12, 2018 21:39:03 GMT -6
OK...just tried El Rey. That thing is REALLY nice. I could buy that. Yes it is. Took me a bit to really get it but its great. The magic is in the input. Try it on 2bus slowest attack fastest release with the needle barely moving and play with the input knob level. Very classy sounding mix glue. And yea, they dont do obvious dirt yet, but the pink 2 compresser is the best out of the ones ive tried. Super punchy aggressive on drum bus and the mix knob makes it very useful. I really wish someone like UAD would take this tech and make a rock solid platform with it, with external dsp to make it less of a PITA and more user friendly . I wonder how the El Rey compares to the Ultramarine? They're both similar type compressors, as I understand it. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Dec 12, 2018 22:42:14 GMT -6
It’s not a magic elixir, though. Another tool in the box. I actually went to buy and kindve talked myself out of it.
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Dec 12, 2018 23:11:35 GMT -6
Of course, by magic I meant it does a unique subtle thing that my other tools don't do. Not that its going to somehow transform a bad mix. Maybe in core 14.
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Post by avgatzeblouz on Dec 13, 2018 9:25:12 GMT -6
Yes it is. Took me a bit to really get it but its great. The magic is in the input. Try it on 2bus slowest attack fastest release with the needle barely moving and play with the input knob level. Very classy sounding mix glue. And yea, they dont do obvious dirt yet, but the pink 2 compresser is the best out of the ones ive tried. Super punchy aggressive on drum bus and the mix knob makes it very useful. I really wish someone like UAD would take this tech and make a rock solid platform with it, with external dsp to make it less of a PITA and more user friendly . I wonder how the El Rey compares to the Ultramarine? They're both similar type compressors, as I understand it. El Rey is way more colored. The compression action is more advanced too. They have hinted at an update for Ultramarine that could implement the Unfairchild. That would be frickin' awesome. |
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Post by Quint on Dec 13, 2018 10:29:45 GMT -6
I wonder how the El Rey compares to the Ultramarine? They're both similar type compressors, as I understand it. El Rey is way more colored. The compression action is more advanced too. They have hinted at an update for Ultramarine that could implement the Unfairchild. That would be frickin' awesome. The thing is, I have the UAD Fairchild too. I also have the UAD API EQs, which compare to Pink. I don't want to buy duplicative plugins, but I have noticed a positive improvement going from UAD to AA for those few AA plugins which I have compared to UAD. So it certainly gets you wondering about other UAD/AA comparisons which could me made, such as that which could be made between each company's respective Fairchild plugin. |
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Dec 13, 2018 12:46:04 GMT -6
El Rey is way more colored. The compression action is more advanced too. They have hinted at an update for Ultramarine that could implement the Unfairchild. That would be frickin' awesome. The thing is, I have the UAD Fairchild too. I also have the UAD API EQs, which compare to Pink. I don't want to buy duplicative plugins, but I have noticed a positive improvement going from UAD to AA for those few AA plugins which I have compared to UAD. So it certainly gets you wondering about other UAD/AA comparisons which could me made, such as that which could be made between each company's respective Fairchild plugin. I felt the same way. Then I tried pink2 and immediately bought it. Take advantage of the sale you wont regret it. Killer plug. Havent tried the ultramarine yet, but I will definetly once its updated |
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Post by avgatzeblouz on Dec 13, 2018 13:58:46 GMT -6
The thing is, I have the UAD Fairchild too. I also have the UAD API EQs, which compare to Pink. I don't want to buy duplicative plugins, but I have noticed a positive improvement going from UAD to AA for those few AA plugins which I have compared to UAD. So it certainly gets you wondering about other UAD/AA comparisons which could me made, such as that which could be made between each company's respective Fairchild plugin. I felt the same way. Then I tried pink2 and immediately bought it. Take advantage of the sale you wont regret it. Killer plug. Havent tried the ultramarine yet, but I will definetly once its updated Be careful, they could increase the price if they ad more devices. A fairchild Eq would not surprise me. |
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Post by Quint on Dec 13, 2018 20:22:57 GMT -6
The four AA plugins that probably interest me the most right now are Purple, Honey, Pink, and Ebony. The UAD counterparts would be Pultec, Harrison, API, and EMT140.
Any thoughts on those direct comparisons?
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Post by the other mark williams on Dec 14, 2018 0:01:41 GMT -6
It’s not a magic elixir, though. Another tool in the box. I actually went to buy and kindve talked myself out of it. This is exactly what I did. Three times in the past 10 days. To talk myself out of it, I reminded myself that I could only run 1-2 at a time, and to even do that, I had to increase my buffer to 1024. But it does sound great. |
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Post by Mister Chase on Dec 14, 2018 11:06:32 GMT -6
Really enjoy the Honey(Harrison) demo I just loaded up. It shows only about 1% cpu usage which is fine, but my goodness, it is very slow to react. I gotta give a good second or two when engaging buttons or turning knobs.
Sounds great, though. Honestly, the UAD Harrison is no slouch. Great EQ. The Honey just edges it out a little I think.
Hoping UAD makes a MkII Harrison and channel strip. That would probably be a better comparison of tech.
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Post by avgatzeblouz on Dec 14, 2018 11:08:14 GMT -6
Since I transferred all my Acquas on an M.2 drive, everything is much smoother.
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Post by Mister Chase on Dec 14, 2018 11:14:28 GMT -6
Hmmm interesting. I'm on an SATA 3 SS drive. I know M.2 is faster but, I wouldn't think that much so.
In any case, not quite worth it to me yet to spring for a stick drive. Good sound, though.
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Post by m03 on Dec 14, 2018 12:40:40 GMT -6
Hmmm interesting. I'm on an SATA 3 SS drive. I know M.2 is faster but, I wouldn't think that much so. Potentially 5-6x faster if we're talking about the latest generation consumer grade stuff: www.velocitymicro.com/blog/nvme-vs-m-2-vs-sata-whats-the-difference/I'm using last years high-end Samsung NVMe unit and I don't have the problems with delay when switching things like preamp models that a lot of other people describe. |
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Post by mjheck on Dec 14, 2018 13:18:25 GMT -6
I’ve had some success using both - running the UAD and their Nebula counterpart in series. I do this on busses as sends for efficency to not cripple my 2012 iMac, but I’m sure it would work at track level. I think of it akin to pushing signal through the various stages of a console rather than just a preamp. I will also throw the Airwindows interpretation of these on as well as it seems to take a different, more reductive approach that also helps.
MJH
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