UA’s HIC Discounts, Danexit and counseling

I think equating food service and technology is an apples to oranges situation.  Technology ALWAYS becomes less expensive. At the onset a VCR cost $1,000-1400. But you could eventually buy them for $60-100.  Early adopters of anything pay a premium.  It's just how it is. 

I'm not trying to argue, and I don't mean to sound aggressive. We disagree, and that's fine

Looks like the "loyalty" emails are out.  It's honestly a pretty good deal (about $25-30/plugin) but I'm pretty sure I don't need 10 or 20 more UAD plugins (I already bought most of the ones I wanted or will ever use and even then I only use some of them regularly), so I probably won't be doing anything based on the offer.  But maybe better late than never.  At least they tried lol.

Yeah - I got a 10 for $299 or 20 for $499. Fair. I just don't think there are 10 plugins I want.

I'll tell you one thing.

UA and their "business practices" make a very good argument for buying hardware instead of software. 

I'm done with buying software (and DSP hardware) that has ZERO intrinsic value and can be made virtually worthless at the whim of a marketing department
and the company bean counters.

You need a heck of a lot less hardware to sound fabulous compared to loading up with plugins that make a heap of promises but never quite deliver.

* I had a great hardware studio.

* I morphed to a digital set up.

* I'm morphing back to a great hardware studio.

The bit in the middle was "an interesting experience" that's the most positive thing I have to say about it.

The only software I still dig is FX .... reverb, delay, modulation etc.

Plugin mix EQ and compression .... a bit of a "meh" let's be honest.

I guess I just haven’t used hardware eq enough to really hear much of a difference. But I use eq mostly for cutting and correction. I feel like I can do that much easier with plugs. I’m not saying that as a fact - just that I’ve mostly gone the software route over the last 20 years. Like - I seriously doubt I could tell the difference in a GML adding 2db at 5khz and Pro Q-3 +2 at 5khz. At least that’s what I’ve always thought.
I do remember talking to roundbadge about master bus things that make the most difference and he thought a great HW EQ was a big difference maker. At least that’s how I took what he was saying. I wouldn’t doubt something like that would be awesome - but I’d think the benefit you’re getting is running your stuff through a bunch of big fat transformers.

It’s a sad reality but you’re spot on. There are certain pieces of gear that I don’t like mixing without but at this point I’m invested in them just because I enjoy them and enjoy working that way. Definitely not good business at this point though 😫

You've pretty much followed the exact same path as me. Although it evolves..

> I had a great HW studio with a console

> I bought into the only use plugs & interface kool aid, hardware doesn't matter. This also results in "interesting" aka crap results.

> I buy some cheap(ish) HW clones, not sure what they were trying to emulate. Sounds nothing like the originals, just like a lot of plugins so HW / SW it's all the same rubbish to me.

> I purchase a Shelford + dust off a Tele 2A, now my recordings sound great. Nothing else has changed besides from dumping a crappy mixing desk..

> I finally find some plugins that make tons of positive influences, half of them aren't actually trying to emulate anything but I'm 100% fine with that.

> Now spurred on by this hybrid approach I buy more HW + more plugins wondering if I should have stopped at the point above. As, ultimately a part of me realises that in the grand scheme of music today pro audio is just the art of pissing money up a wall.

I type all of this whilst looking at another Carbon..

The thing with plugins is that the potential is often severely limited by cpu cycles. Just having the option of being able to load up a session with something like Satin all over vs some lower cpu tape plugin is a big deal. Lately I've been replacing instances of Dopamine with Satin's Type A preset and that was big-Satin is a marvel of a plugin. With UAD, putting the Culture Vulture and Harrison Eq I just got in the sale has made a huge difference as well. UAD does have some plugins that are capable of fullness and smoothness beyond most others. The DSP is helpful in maximizing cpu cycles available. Next thing I'm going to get is a new computer build with a 14900k processor. Of course, I'd rather have something like 50k to buy a bunch of 500 series racks and getting hardware versions of things I use like the 902, tape, Type A, 1176, etc. Get multiple Culture Vultures for sub-mixes. That would be something, but it's not viable. Instead, I'm trying to hone my mixes so that the hardware I have available has its potential maximized when used across the whole ITB mix. You can really get a lot out of a little if you just stick to things you're willing to commit to.

Above all, the quality of the recorded tracks is paramount. With well-recorded stuff, I don't hear anywhere as big a difference when using something like Dopamine vs Satin. This is the reason a lot of these highly regarded pros can get away with using stuff like a CLA76 all over everything as opposed to the much better UAD 1176. Of course, everyone here already knows that. I'm just reporting back what I notice in my experiments. It would probably be a while before I'm in a situation where I can compare recordings done with hardware and an Aurora N vs my Apollo Twin and Unison plugins.

UAD clearly needs something new besides Waves/PA prices. Need to come up with ways to push the limits of plugins. Satin is over a decade old and still holds up. Surely there has to be a way to improve upon that with modern tech. I'm not sure what the most state of the art plugin is, but that's the one that springs to mind when asking myself that question. UAD going native should be about them pushing limits as they are no longer shackled by what fits on a Sharc chip.

When I started using the TDR plugs, I realized that UA no longer had a hold on the best plugs. And it seems that UA has gone to just putting in plugs made by others that they just host as powered plugins - which is nice - but no longer shows UA as a leader in making amazing plugs. And as stated over and over again, CPUs today are obviously much better than when the UAD cards came out.

What I appreciate about UA - they really got the ball going on very good sounding plugs, and then others had to compete by making plugs that were equal to or better than UAD.
And that competition has sparked many new plugs. (Some spark plug joke in there somehere ) So, that is good. But now, it seems like there is so much competition with amazing plugs, that UA can no longer be a standard bearer. Another example is the CPU world where AMD is pushing Intel - leading to better and better CPUs and hopefully eliminating all native plugin issues.

And then there is hardware like the Swift eq mentioned above, that are just beyond plugs for the time being.

And finally there is Wes Audio who figured out how to make the best of hardware and software.

Ok - end of rap.

Good point, but you have to also be aware that the cost is going to the tech and the analog. I wasn't overwhelmed by their bus compressor other than how cool all the recall and switching was. The mid-side monitoring was great. Sonically, sounded solid but wasn't the ticket for my ears. YMMV.