I knew there was a reason I liked this channel, never saw you mix but could tell you always has valid points, hopefully the plugins I purchased can be used natively without a subscription and my octo 8 can be used if I do run out of power on my cpu
Bought my Distressor in 2009 for $1600.00 cdn. Now they're $2300 cdn. My U87 has also gone up as well as my Great River ME-1NV. I've held on to them forever simply because they'll always work regardless of technology. Always keep some solid hardware versions of the necessities just in case. :)
I just bought the yearly sub. $149 and before that I had bought $500 on Sofhtube. And getting some Ruper Neve 542's its crazy. Thanks Barry for all your work love your channel....
I’d bet the real reason the servers were overwhelmed today was that people who already own UA plugins wanted to get native access. It was evident from the conversations that most people didn’t realize the native offerings were limited to 9 plugins and 4 instruments. I can’t see UA seeing large numbers signing up for this until that changes. Compared to what Plugin Alliance offers, this deal Is pretty weak. Even compared to Slate this deal comes up short. As for the vitriol you saw, I think that has to do with the direction people see UA heading in recent years. It’s been a long time since UA introduced their flagship X16. Since that time it appears the focus is on the lower-end consumer. Offerings like the Solo, then the Volts, then they roll out that $80 Chinese mic that they’re rebranding and selling for $300… all that stuff can start to add up.
Agreed. The server isn't even allowing me access to all the plugins I own. Still waiting for my 1176 and LA2A plugins to show up. Interesting selection of plugins as well. Their tape echo is very superfluous compared to echo boy and Ableton's echo and others. 224 hasn't aged very well. Would have preferred to see Capital verb and 140. The 1176 and LA2A's are going to be a big draw. Really needed to add the pultec and 670 to this at launch. Those are plugins that are clearly better than any current native offerings. UA's instruments are also incredibly weak compared to other developers and not attractive launch offerings.
@@JimCaputoMusic Plugin Alience is dope however Reason Plus is better and that's My chosen DAW been using it 15 years. Reason has Released 3 very nice devices since the start of there service a sampler, a Rythem computer, and this week an Advanced Vocoder. If they keep comming up with new and useful devices 1 to 3 times a year it's worth it.
I just mixed a large session using only UADx plug ins on my base M1 pro 14" MBP. My CPU meter in logic was at maybe 15%. Even through Rosetta they run insanely well. Better than some M1 Native plugs from PIA.
Can I run these spark plug ins along side other plug-ins that or powered off DSP at the same time, inside of the same Ableton session? Are you able to pick and choose if you’re using the native one or a DSP powered one
I was an original UAD-1 owner in 2002 and it was obsolete and unsupported within a decade. I decided then that outboard gear was a better long term investment than plugins and that still applies today.
As a UA user invested in hardware and software for a long time now I'm satisfied that I got what I paid for. As for this new development, I'm going to give it some time to fully understand what this means to me as a user. I can't change it either way but on the bright side (eventually) it will allow me to take the 40 plugins I already own to different hardware which could be interesting.
The main target for these plugins is to support the Volt & Volt2 which have no DSP processing. If you own the Apollo chances are you'll probably stick to the higher priced plugins that use DSP.
I'd rather have the DSP advantages of running the plugin's within the Apollo system, the unision plugin's change in specific ways only if run that way.
Hi Barry, What if someone bought an Apollo, then purchased the Analog Classics Pro Bundle, then created an account with Spark, they would then have those plugins as UAD-2 and Native UADx versions. What if then they chose to return the Apollo but kept the UAD-2 plugins? Then they'd be able to still use the native UADx plugins. A loophole, perhaps. But for someone who has spent 10s of thousands on their platform only to find out that they only use 5 of their plugins on a regular basis, neither the subscription nor the DSP option (with the new Mac M1 chips killing it) seem like viable options anymore. What do you think?
The first thing I’d say is that everything in your system that you loved a week ago still performs the same way. No reason to fall out of love. I think some people are over reacting to the news. Not suggesting that you are, but it’s important to talk about. As far as if you own the plugins that are included with Spark, you will get those Natively for free. Now, as to if you sell your DSP, but retain the plugins, that’s a good question that I can’t confirm either way. My guess is yes you can continue to use them natively, but I’m not sure about UA’s official policy. UA chimes in, in this thread all the time, I suggest you ask it there. gearspace.com/board/new-product-alert/1376805-universal-audio-announces-uad-spark-uadx-native-subscription-service.html
Great video Barry. You are right, hardware retains value and some exceed value. All my api hardware, and vintage hardware has all gone up way beyond the purchase price
Barry we you work for UAD. You come out of no where with a channel complaining about them not have their plugins running natively and then all of a sudden they do it. You don't fool me, but i welcome the change. I'm happy i don't have to plugin my interface every-time i want to use one of their plugins.
This video is such an eye opener!! And so well explained. Thank you so much thank you so much 🙏🏻 for making this quality useful content for us wo are not as experienced as you in the audio world 😊😊
I bought a UAD-2 Quad Core PCIe card quite a few years ago. Not because I was concerned about the DSP aspect but because I wanted access to the quality of their plugins. I am still impressed with the sound of their plugins although I am shifting back to some analog outboard gear after doing some comparisons between the two formats. I don't track with plugins very often. The only client I have to please is myself so I can track something without having to have every effect known to man on the signal when recording. Guitar effects are about the only thing I track with and most of the time they are coming from a modeler or hardware of some kind going in. I have a hardware verb and compressor so I can print them, or not, while tracking vocals or whatever. I am not butt-hurt by UAD going native. I am using an old computer with an old version of Pro Tools and it does everything I need it to do so why would it matter to me?! I already have more recording capacity than I will ever use so why should it matter? I have been recording for over 40 years so I have a very good handle on the process but I am still learning new things every day about how to do it. I still have a lot of room to learn more about how to use what I already have without adding new distractions like getting more plugins.
I know people be will annoyed at the $20 a month for the small amount of plugins currently available. However if you do the $150 a year instead of monthly, that’s works out to only $12.49 a month which actually seems pretty good price wise!
How do I make the sparks plugins work on the apollo my apollo plugins are expired, which I thought they came with the apollo whole reason I bought the thing.
Good call Barry! I like my UAD gear and plugins and think the subscription option is cool. I use UAD historically and added plug-in alliance bundle a couple years ago during a great sale. Seems to be the best of both worlds to mix and match perpet and subscription plugins.
Good video Barry. Right now the value is not there for new users, very few plugins for the money. But this is certainly a good move from UAD. It will be a hassle to have to instantiate native or DSP versions of the same plugins for awhile.
As a Windows user I’m annoyed they didn’t hold back and release it, but as a Cubase user I’m happy as the native plugins are VST3, so that means they are likely to work through the VST3 updates. The subscription is too expensive for so few plugins that I mostly own anyway, but I’ll buy plugins outright again to have them work native VST3 with Cubase, especially now Cubase 12 allows multiple PCs on 1 license (I can run Cubase + native UAD on the laptop)
windows always came last with UA. they know their audience. Anyone rich enough to throw money at locked down mac eco system is gonna be more willing to fall for a locked down dsp plugin eco system too. especially when Slate exists.
idk I only love their interfaces for their sound and the "analog" like workflow. You can really focus on your sound in console. when I switch over to logic I am mostly down with my recording sound and can focus on the recording itself. The restriction of the DSP when mixing is frustrating and now with my M1 max MacBook I don't really see the use of DSP. Thes MacBooks are so powerfull that I never really have to freeze (pre-rendering) any tracks until there are UAD Plug-ins on it. With this update I feel Free now 😄
I believe some of the UAD hardware purchasers feel as if they're about to lose a competitive advantage. It's like a studio owner buying a Telefunken U47 and an ELAM 251 for 20k plus only to find out other studios are getting similar results with modeling microphones. They experience buyers remorse because they feel cheated. But technology will continue to level the playing field where you can't expect a certain price point to separate you from the competition.
I was actually most excited over that they AT LAST decided to update to Apple Silicon. Would be really nice if they decide to include the guitar amps in the subscription, since many of them are absolutely amazing.
@@johanandre5338 Please show me how to run Luna without Rosetta. Console..yes. Luna, not "yet" according to UA tech support. Thus my decision today to move back to Logic.. I've waited long enough. And at least for some on Reddit, installing v10 brings PAIN and suffering.
@@musiccreation1198 You are absolutely right. Luna is STILL running in Rosetta. My mistake. I've installet v10 and had no problems though. The only thing was on the Spark release day when the servers was overloaded... :)
@@johanandre5338 Thanks for the update. Seems a few people have had serious issues with the new software versions and Connect...with plugins "disappearing". UA Support inundated, so I'll wait a while before checking it out.
I left Logic X(native) for Luna(dsp) because I got tired of changing the buffer size every time I switched from mixing to tracking and back to avoid latency. Will I be returning back to these days of manually changing buffer sizes if I return to Logic X using native Uad plugins? I run a M1 (10 core CPU)
The UAD zealots don’t feel special anymore so they are overdriving their rage levels to 11. The fact many of them are claiming the DSP version sounds different even though they process identically just shows they’ve dimed out their confirmation bias.
Soooooo, what about those 3rd party uad plugins? Think I'll be in the box, dirt, burnt by that time. 1/2 year later I'm still waiting for plugin fixes.
Horatio Bannister 0 seconds ago I am confused, can i luanch Luna and record and mix a project WITHOUT a uad interface (without apollo) if I subscribe to Spark? How do I luanch Luna without a uad interface? Or is Luna still only available to use with a uad device?
Eventually I think so too, the question is what price. The problem they have is people now get to compare, it will be interesting to see how they are all holding up today. Fun times for sure!
True that. It's the nature of the game. I use a Apollo Twin Duo and always used the plugs sparingly to balance between UAD DSP and whatever native plugs I'll use.
It would be nice though if Universal Audio would state the cost of a Spark subscription ANYWHERE on their website?, just endless buttons for the 14 day free trial? I can't even find the price in US Dollars let alone the price for me here in the UK So frustrating!!
@@CraigScottFrost Hi thanks Craig, my problem is I live in England and I can't find the prices in £s, prices here are rarely a simple translation of the currency at the current exchange rate
@@tylerdengler6960 unfortunately this isn't typically what happens in the UK, usually the dollar price is just replicated in Pounds, making it 30% more expensive for us, plus our purchase taxes of 20% on top of that
Thanks for this quick turnaround (I was waiting to hear your thoughts on Spark after you called your shot). I’m in the market for a new Mac (Studio?) and Interface. Now that I know Spark isn’t the answer to all my needs - any recommendations on an interface (Thunderbolt or USB 3) for a bedroom producer / songwriter, who tracks with too much autotune and other plugins and needs no/low latency?
This is a great step for UAD. I own a twin x duo and it’s a must for vocal tracking imo. But I never mix tracks with uad plugins because when I’m on the go, or without an outlet, I use a bus powered focus rite Scarlett 2i2. Uad Spark means I’ll be able to mix with UAD plugins without worrying about using the twin x. However, I don’t know if that workflow fix is worth $20 a month to me. My current workflow with focusrite and previously bought waves plugins works just fine. Will have to see how much improvement spark gives me.
Hey Barry, great video and I totally agree. It is a smart move for UA to make and it’s good for those of us who have not had access to UA plugins. Also, UAD users should not be upset at all. They’ve had great products whether you’re talking about the preamps on the Apollo as well as some of the best plugins out there! Not to mention the many years of ability to run taxing sessions through the DSP. So no sympathy from this guy and UA should not feel sorry one bit! That said, I am moving towards a hybrid model and hope to use less and less plugins in my home studio journey. My goal at this point is to slowly invest in select outboard gear such as Warm Audio stuff, 32 channel mixing desk (with something like a Presonus 48/48 interface) leaving me only with using Logic stock plugins and the third party plugins that I currently own. No subscription plans for this guy! It may be a great option for some but I don’t see the long-term value for my desires and needs. But to each their own! Look forward to your posts. Adam
I don’t feel it was that great of news. Let’s remember that UAD plugins are heavy on DSP and for what I saw it’s the package that comes for free with the purchase of any Apollo? Both the LA-2A and 1176, Neve 1073, Api channel strip and the tape plug-in plus some instrument plugins. I don’t know I wasn’t too excited to see that. Hopefully the catalog will grow. Anyways good to see they’re at least going in a different direction.
Some of these plugins come with UAD heritage edition interfaces (non-heritage ones come with the legacy versions, which are not very impressive by today's standards). That said, the plugin list is very short for now.
I'm half way through the video, I'd of liked to of seen what's included earlier. EDIT you did show all of it towards the end 3rd of video so Thankyou for that.
Barry, so I’ve got a 110 track session with subgroups and parallels and 5-6 master bus plugs that are high latency.. now I need to overdub some Lvox and ElGt’s…. if I don’t have Dsp how in the world am I going to do this without bouncing a 2 track into another session and flying back in the overdubs to mix session ?
Well I can tell you I do that quite regularly. The thing here and you knew it probably before you typed it, you should disable those high latency master bus plug-ins while you’re tracking. There’s no need for that in the tracking process. Now I’m curious to know what high latency plug-ins you use on your master bus. The ones I use are incredibly efficient.
@@BarryJohns gotcha ,, phoenix , ampex ATR, massive passive or chandler curve bender. Inflator, ozone. ML4000 , OTT, and pro L2 (with some oversampling. It’s a lot I know but everyone is just doing a little bit. . If you kill the master you kill the excitement. I’d rather bounce a two track and overdub than loose the master bus. But DSP aloes me to keep it in one session. I may be the odd ball out who feels this way..
Alan it sounds like you’re trying to master as you’re mixing. That’s not a good workflow. I’m not here to tell you how to do things, but you may wanna reconsider that somewhat.
@@BarryJohns yes sir.. for me it always needs to sound like a record. And my headphones mixes better sound like a record too. One chance to impress its a competitive world.
I'll try to see what the hype is for UA plugins. But I have so many other emulations of these plugins from other companies. So these have to be VERY good for me to keep them over my waves, plugin alliance, softube, kit plugins, etc
Hi Barry Loving your channel. You don’t mention the unison slot function of UAD hardware. For me that still has unique value. Curious to know what your take is. Get that you might not see this or have time / inclination to reply though 😂
Well Barry, not too long ago, we discussed about UA and back in the day they certified me they would never go native since they considered their hardware as a copy protection system, and you were hoping they would go native (I was hoping too)… but you got it right. I guess they changed their mind or they lied to me because they didn’t wanted to leak any info, either way, you were right. That’s a good thing…
So, am I understanding correctly that if you already own say, an Apollo and UAD plug ins, you'll get access to the UADx version of all the plugs you already own (provided they're available as UADx) without paying any subscription fee?
One thing to be aware of...they are NOT Apple Silicon native. They are CERTIFIED to run on Apple Silicon, but the actual plugin code is x86_64 and runs under Rosetta2 translation.
You’ll always need the UAD hardware for unison they’re actually different than regular DSP or the new native versions. They actually change the impedance and circuit modeling on the unison enabled inserts. They don’t even work on the non unison enabled inserts on the same interface.
The main thing I hate about Universal Audio is that they don't care about Windows users. Every product they release they always support MacOS first. Even though they said Windows native support is coming later in the year, but they said the same for Luna, and it still haven't arrived yet.
or how bout them cutting of service to russian customers... i hope they get hacked ... still wont use their plugins as there are inferior to so many other companies... overpriced trash ,,,
@@simonslee73 it’s starting to become more common and I don’t see the hassle with Thunderbolt since LUNA first came out when Macs were still on Intel chips and Thunderbolt is Intel’s technology. It’s the same thing for Windows with Thunderbolt and the x86 architecture from Intel. The real problem/challenge is coding for the OS since Windows and Mac differ in those terms.
My understanding is that USB3 is too slow latency wise for Luna (along with Windows handling of audio) and that they needed thunderbolt 3 as a minimum for speed, but I could be wrong on this
@@simonslee73 I think you are since both options are capable of lower latencies. The only difference is that Thunderbolt transfers data a lot faster hence why a lot of Thunderbolt interfaces have DSP included in them. My guess is with the coding since coding a program for both OS’s are very different.
I'm coming out with a video tomorrow and I just want to say before it's posted. I said EXACTLY what you just said about DSP. 🤣 If you use a lot of Virtual Instruments, DSP may still be something you need. But if you're tracking a lot of raw audio, the newer computers are more than fast enough to not need it.
do you have any test comparisons? i’m on the fence about ditching my Apollo and going in a different direction, but i haven’t found many direct comparisons in latency/CPU usage
@@BarryJohns that’s precisely my point; tracking. Lots of people invested in UAD with Unison instead of buying hardware, so they need/want the DSP on the front end.
@@delmixedit That's what people need to understand, I've been tracking through plugins for a very long time natively. Unless a person has a dinosaur computer, DSP of any kind is simply not needed. That said, under not circumstances would I ever commit a plugin to tape on the way in, there is zero benefit to that, unless a person is limited by the amount of DSP needed. I have DSP in my carbon, I can track through plugins all day with zero latency, I never use it, because I never need it. My buffer stays at 32 all the way from tracking to final mix. Latency is and has not been an issue for me for a long time.
@@delmixedit no, that would be a very long video. I have many videos demonstrating it on the computer. The computer has no idea if it’s tracking a live player or me speaking nonsense into a mic. Also, I would never want to track a band through plugins, way more important to focus on the tracking aspect as there is no benefit to do so for everyone but a singer who will need compression and reverb. I can track 30 or more tracks at the same time with a 2010 computer.
The best overall subscription for me will be access analog's cloud subscription for hardware at $20 or $35 a month! That will be the primary reason for my UAD hardware for plugins to go down in value.
The only problem is that the plug-ins upsample to 192 kHz so I hope the quality of the plug-ins is exactly the same because the DSP required for that is intense
@@BarryJohns FYI upsampling in this context is nothing to do with what sample rate your sessions are at. Certain plug ins internally upsample the signal to a much higher rate (192 for example) in order to allow the algorithms to work with much higher precision. Then after processing, it's converted back down to the session sample rate at the plugin output stage. Upsampling is pretty common for certain types of audio processing where it can really make a difference in quality - such as filters, especially with high resonance. UA aren't the only ones who do this, lots of native plug ins also use upsampling, such as synths like Diva when you set them to the highest quality modes. It does put a higher hit on the CPU, but the accuracy of processing you get out of the algorithms is better. Not all UAD plug ins use oversampling, but you can usually tell which ones do - it's the ones that introduce significantly more latency.
am done with uad , i spent over 5k with my hard earned money to have a competitive edge sonically and now everyone and their mothers can have this! so long
You can bet now that the 1073 is ported (back) to native that they’ll be dropping the Neve console emulation soon. I never really thought I needed DSP, In fact When I bought my first Apollo I didn’t even know anything about their plugins I just wanted a better interface then after I got it and dove in was when I decided I liked the ability to commit different preamps and I really liked the unison technology. I also liked the ability to cascade them. I’m a big UAD fan but my buddy has an Axe I/O that frankly was very impressive so I totally don’t think it’s for everyone. I definitely put weeks of thought in before expanding going between ADAT or adding Apollos, at the end of the day I decided I could get clean preamps from anywhere but I really wanted to be able to have unison on anything I chose so that is a nice feature with 22 preamps.
this video shows you didnt have any prejudice towards ua, you critiqued that old bisness model and applauded the new ( for them) one, applaude you for that. I totally agre, the subscription model is expensive for now, if they include most of their stuff that be great since i only bought like 4-5 of their plugins and have no satellite. The possibility to have native ones along your dsp ones is exciting, i loaded a 20 track session with 10 api visions and 10 studer and my mac mini was barely around 10% cpu usage.. awesome. (That also shows how outdated the sharcs chips are tho).
@@dumaswalker3687 they must’ve had a typo under the spark release yesterday, I actually have a screenshot where it said that their M1 certified. Maybe they got put up in error. Not sure.
@@levondarratt787 not even close to true. All modern DAWs will use as many CPU cores as are available to them, just open the CPU meter on Logic and you'll see. You can work on far far bigger projects on an M1 Ultra Mac Studio than you can on an M1 MacBook Air. The only thing that's the same is the single core performance.
Don't sleep on McDSP. I know they got ripped a new one over on the gearspace forum for their V7 release but hell, I got a year long sub for like 70 bucks TOTAL, for their entire catalog during their Halloween sale back in October and their plugins are killer and super efficient in terms of CPU usage. Had a slate sub for a while, it was fine but nothing to write home about in MY opinion, although people seem to love it. However, I got tired of being tied to the VTM and I really only used a few of the modules regularly and once I found alternatives to those few modules that I liked, I kicked Slate to the curb. I'm also subbed to PA for a whopping 9 bucks a month which isn't shit. Huge variety in that bundle and admittedly there is some filler in there for sure, but I meticulously went through the installer and picked what I needed and didn't even bother with the rest. Between that and McDSP, I'm covered, but of course I own several other plugs from other companies. Having said that, I would even prefer to spend 15 bucks a month for the SSL subscription than UAD at this point. That sub is no slouch either. With that said, who knows what the releases will look like from UAD in terms of Spark? They did add a couple of things recently, but they've said themselves on the gearspace forum that there is no set time for Spark releases. The attitude from the UAD rep was more or less "there is not set time, I can't tell you anything really and you can either take it, or leave it." Throw another 10 plugins or so in there and maybe it will be more enticing, however, that's IF they don't try and increase the monthly sub price. I've said all that to say this, even IF and when they add more plugs to Spark, the gap between UAD and it's competitors is really, really small at this point in time. Over the course of an entire mix, you would be hard pressed to find anyone able to correctly pick a mix done entirely with UAD over a mix done with only PA, or McDSP etc. That's just facts.
Plugin Alliance has some really good plugins and for 250.00 for the year. This plugin market is going to get really really competitive and by that, companies will need to get really price competitive.
I can't believe how insane people can get over subscriptions. The people that have paid a big lump of cash tend to believe that make them superior & that those who prefer subscription models are too poor to afford to pay for a license. So when a subscription comes out they resent it because their supplier just made the same digital tool they paid hundreds for is only 10 bucks a month or whatever. It pisses them off because their ego no longer get's to feel better than those who subscribe instead of purchase. It pisses them off because others are getting the same tool for less than they paid. So they pretend to hate subscriptions because it levels the playing field & those that think subscriptions are bad hate a level playing field. They hate that they can no longer brag about having that plugin because anyone can get their hands on it for a few bucks & that just twists in their gizzard to the point where their jealousy gleams a bright green color. In other words "it's all about ego" folks.
No shit. Those same people are oozing with hypocrisy as they are probably like most of "Merica" and literally RENT just about everything they have access to. Unless they pay for EVERYTHING is cash money, then their opinion is nothing more then ego latent hypocrisy. "Heh, yea man, I rent the place where I live, I rent my car, I rent my health insurance, I rent my utilities, I rent netflix, hulu, amazon prime, pandora, I rent my cell service, etc etc you know basically everything in daily life, but HELL NO! I WILL NOT RENT PLUGINS! THAT'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE!!!" The lack of self awareness is hilarious with those folks. And before anyone claims "that's not a fair compression" Yes, yes it is. You can't literally rent shit left and right (shit you can't afford outright, hence why you have to essentially RENT it) while at the same time baggin on folks who rent plugins is for 15 bucks a month as opposed to shelling out hundreds at a time for single plugins. With that said, I have no dog in the fight. I have many plugins I own outright, and I have 2 plugin subs and I use them all equally and don't evne think about it at the end of the day.
I am so fcking happy that ive resisted to the UAD world until now. Last year, there where some moments i was so close to order one. Now i will wait until it is available for windows, than i will test it. But even if it works fine, the countervalue i will get for this 20 bucks/month at the oment, is not enough in my opinion. I also have the Slate and the PA Megabundle and i think there u get much more bang for the buck.
You were absolutely right about them going native! I sincerely did not think they would do this anytime soon.
I knew there was a reason I liked this channel, never saw you mix but could tell you always has valid points, hopefully the plugins I purchased can be used natively without a subscription and my octo 8 can be used if I do run out of power on my cpu
Bought my Distressor in 2009 for $1600.00 cdn. Now they're $2300 cdn. My U87 has also gone up as well as my Great River ME-1NV. I've held on to them forever simply because they'll always work regardless of technology. Always keep some solid hardware versions of the necessities just in case. :)
Distressors are still going for 1600.
Check Sweetwater and Vintage along. Anyway, at the least it has held its value
@@Hugoknots Distressor = $2300 Canadian.
Agreeeee to what you said..a lot talented individuals out there who could not afford it, now can. God bless you buddy
@@talenwaver I missed that part haha my bad.
@@Hugoknots0
UAD user here, M1, I must say loud, Your 4K video are well done. Brawo!
Thanks, I’ve been working on it!
I just bought the yearly sub. $149 and before that I had bought $500 on Sofhtube. And getting some Ruper Neve 542's its crazy.
Thanks Barry for all your work love your channel....
I’d bet the real reason the servers were overwhelmed today was that people who already own UA plugins wanted to get native access. It was evident from the conversations that most people didn’t realize the native offerings were limited to 9 plugins and 4 instruments. I can’t see UA seeing large numbers signing up for this until that changes. Compared to what Plugin Alliance offers, this deal Is pretty weak. Even compared to Slate this deal comes up short.
As for the vitriol you saw, I think that has to do with the direction people see UA heading in recent years. It’s been a long time since UA introduced their flagship X16. Since that time it appears the focus is on the lower-end consumer. Offerings like the Solo, then the Volts, then they roll out that $80 Chinese mic that they’re rebranding and selling for $300… all that stuff can start to add up.
Agreed. The server isn't even allowing me access to all the plugins I own. Still waiting for my 1176 and LA2A plugins to show up.
Interesting selection of plugins as well. Their tape echo is very superfluous compared to echo boy and Ableton's echo and others. 224 hasn't aged very well. Would have preferred to see Capital verb and 140. The 1176 and LA2A's are going to be a big draw. Really needed to add the pultec and 670 to this at launch. Those are plugins that are clearly better than any current native offerings. UA's instruments are also incredibly weak compared to other developers and not attractive launch offerings.
I am looking at the Spark subscription VS Reason Plus..
@@HOLLASOUNDS
Look at Plugin Alliance. Top notch plugins and a much better subscription deal.
@@JimCaputoMusic Plugin Alience is dope however Reason Plus is better and that's My chosen DAW been using it 15 years. Reason has Released 3 very nice devices since the start of there service a sampler, a Rythem computer, and this week an Advanced Vocoder. If they keep comming up with new and useful devices 1 to 3 times a year it's worth it.
I just mixed a large session using only UADx plug ins on my base M1 pro 14" MBP. My CPU meter in logic was at maybe 15%. Even through Rosetta they run insanely well. Better than some M1 Native plugs from PIA.
eishhhh....cant wait to do that mate. so only LA2A and 1176 and on yeah? so far....
Which plugins were that?
@@gkiss2030 plate, api, neve, 1176, student, la2a. Pretty much everything they bundled
So, on the vanilla M1 I can expect about 20-22% CPU load (rough estimate), because the M1 Pro is about 30% faster.
Still a very nice value.
How much RAM Is on your M1 mac? Mine has 8gb. I’d love to know.
Can I run these spark plug ins along side other plug-ins that or powered off DSP at the same time, inside of the same Ableton session? Are you able to pick and choose if you’re using the native one or a DSP powered one
I was an original UAD-1 owner in 2002 and it was obsolete and unsupported within a decade. I decided then that outboard gear was a better long term investment than plugins and that still applies today.
Naw software is the future, if companies decide to do it 🙄🤦♂️ instead they decided to limit us and Nickle and dime us. No innovation either 🤦♂️
As a UA user invested in hardware and software for a long time now I'm satisfied that I got what I paid for. As for this new development, I'm going to give it some time to fully understand what this means to me as a user. I can't change it either way but on the bright side (eventually) it will allow me to take the 40 plugins I already own to different hardware which could be interesting.
The main target for these plugins is to support the Volt & Volt2 which have no DSP processing. If you own the Apollo chances are you'll probably stick to the higher priced plugins that use DSP.
I'd rather have the DSP advantages of running the plugin's within the Apollo system, the unision plugin's change in specific ways only if run that way.
the quote goes "you can't have Kate and Edith too!" lol
Love your content and you’re always on point Barry !! Keep it on, you deserve way more subs!
Barry.. awesome! Amazing. Congrats on the premonition!
Thanks!
Hi Barry,
What if someone bought an Apollo, then purchased the Analog Classics Pro Bundle, then created an account with Spark, they would then have those plugins as UAD-2 and Native UADx versions. What if then they chose to return the Apollo but kept the UAD-2 plugins? Then they'd be able to still use the native UADx plugins. A loophole, perhaps. But for someone who has spent 10s of thousands on their platform only to find out that they only use 5 of their plugins on a regular basis, neither the subscription nor the DSP option (with the new Mac M1 chips killing it) seem like viable options anymore. What do you think?
The first thing I’d say is that everything in your system that you loved a week ago still performs the same way. No reason to fall out of love.
I think some people are over reacting to the news. Not suggesting that you are, but it’s important to talk about.
As far as if you own the plugins that are included with Spark, you will get those Natively for free.
Now, as to if you sell your DSP, but retain the plugins, that’s a good question that I can’t confirm either way. My guess is yes you can continue to use them natively, but I’m not sure about UA’s official policy.
UA chimes in, in this thread all the time, I suggest you ask it there.
gearspace.com/board/new-product-alert/1376805-universal-audio-announces-uad-spark-uadx-native-subscription-service.html
Facts! Real talk. I love my Apollo no matter what.
Great video Barry. You are right, hardware retains value and some exceed value. All my api hardware, and vintage hardware has all gone up way beyond the purchase price
I’m interested in the unison technology , should I be?
Barry we you work for UAD. You come out of no where with a channel complaining about them not have their plugins running natively and then all of a sudden they do it. You don't fool me, but i welcome the change. I'm happy i don't have to plugin my interface every-time i want to use one of their plugins.
This video is such an eye opener!! And so well explained. Thank you so much thank you so much 🙏🏻 for making this quality useful content for us wo are not as experienced as you in the audio world 😊😊
Question! Having a hard time finding this info, so I’m turning to you!!!! Does UAD Ultimate 11 working with third party DAW’s?
I bought a UAD-2 Quad Core PCIe card quite a few years ago. Not because I was concerned about the DSP aspect but because I wanted access to the quality of their plugins. I am still impressed with the sound of their plugins although I am shifting back to some analog outboard gear after doing some comparisons between the two formats. I don't track with plugins very often. The only client I have to please is myself so I can track something without having to have every effect known to man on the signal when recording. Guitar effects are about the only thing I track with and most of the time they are coming from a modeler or hardware of some kind going in. I have a hardware verb and compressor so I can print them, or not, while tracking vocals or whatever.
I am not butt-hurt by UAD going native. I am using an old computer with an old version of Pro Tools and it does everything I need it to do so why would it matter to me?! I already have more recording capacity than I will ever use so why should it matter? I have been recording for over 40 years so I have a very good handle on the process but I am still learning new things every day about how to do it. I still have a lot of room to learn more about how to use what I already have without adding new distractions like getting more plugins.
I know people be will annoyed at the $20 a month for the small amount of plugins currently available. However if you do the $150 a year instead of monthly, that’s works out to only $12.49 a month which actually seems pretty good price wise!
I'm a Reason user and Reason plus is $20 a month you get every one of there devices plus the DAW or use as plugin in another DAW.
Hey Barry, What windows PC competes directly with the new Mac M1 & M2 ? Thanks,
How do I make the sparks plugins work on the apollo my apollo plugins are expired, which I thought they came with the apollo whole reason I bought the thing.
Good call Barry!
I like my UAD gear and plugins and think the subscription option is cool. I use UAD historically and added plug-in alliance bundle a couple years ago during a great sale. Seems to be the best of both worlds to mix and match perpet and subscription plugins.
Great vid, nothing wrong with a rant!
You totally did predict it!
Good video Barry. Right now the value is not there for new users, very few plugins for the money. But this is certainly a good move from UAD. It will be a hassle to have to instantiate native or DSP versions of the same plugins for awhile.
As a Windows user I’m annoyed they didn’t hold back and release it, but as a Cubase user I’m happy as the native plugins are VST3, so that means they are likely to work through the VST3 updates.
The subscription is too expensive for so few plugins that I mostly own anyway, but I’ll buy plugins outright again to have them work native VST3 with Cubase, especially now Cubase 12 allows multiple PCs on 1 license (I can run Cubase + native UAD on the laptop)
windows always came last with UA. they know their audience. Anyone rich enough to throw money at locked down mac eco system is gonna be more willing to fall for a locked down dsp plugin eco system too. especially when Slate exists.
Was waiting all day. For your response I was thinking where the hell is Barry lol
Hi Barry! We have an Apollo X8p, an Apollo Twin quad and a Satellite Octo. and we are happy with this new step of UAD. 🤓👏🏻👍🏻
idk I only love their interfaces for their sound and the "analog" like workflow. You can really focus on your sound in console. when I switch over to logic I am mostly down with my recording sound and can focus on the recording itself. The restriction of the DSP when mixing is frustrating and now with my M1 max MacBook I don't really see the use of DSP. Thes MacBooks are so powerfull that I never really have to freeze (pre-rendering) any tracks until there are UAD Plug-ins on it. With this update I feel Free now 😄
Man, you called it! Pretty happy with this move. I got out of UAD a few months back but this might get me back in at a reasonable price.
I believe some of the UAD hardware purchasers feel as if they're about to lose a competitive advantage. It's like a studio owner buying a Telefunken U47 and an ELAM 251 for 20k plus only to find out other studios are getting similar results with modeling microphones. They experience buyers remorse because they feel cheated. But technology will continue to level the playing field where you can't expect a certain price point to separate you from the competition.
3:16 Haha.... yeah... i did this and have no regrets... No problems since... Luna runs flawlessly... cool video man ✌🏼
I was actually most excited over that they AT LAST decided to update to Apple Silicon. Would be really nice if they decide to include the guitar amps in the subscription, since many of them are absolutely amazing.
Apple Silicon natively? I don't think so. From the Spark UA page: "Supported Processors - Apple M1 with Rosetta"
@@musiccreation1198 well, console and luna is not running in Rosetta anymore so I guess its a typo on the webpage. 😛
@@johanandre5338 Please show me how to run Luna without Rosetta. Console..yes. Luna, not "yet" according to UA tech support. Thus my decision today to move back to Logic.. I've waited long enough. And at least for some on Reddit, installing v10 brings PAIN and suffering.
@@musiccreation1198 You are absolutely right. Luna is STILL running in Rosetta. My mistake. I've installet v10 and had no problems though. The only thing was on the Spark release day when the servers was overloaded... :)
@@johanandre5338 Thanks for the update. Seems a few people have had serious issues with the new software versions and Connect...with plugins "disappearing". UA Support inundated, so I'll wait a while before checking it out.
I left Logic X(native) for Luna(dsp) because I got tired of changing the buffer size every time I switched from mixing to tracking and back to avoid latency. Will I be returning back to these days of manually changing buffer sizes if I return to Logic X using native Uad plugins? I run a M1 (10 core CPU)
Yes you still have to change buffer size.
what if youre on pc but have an apollo i cant run the plugins through my console?
The UAD zealots don’t feel special anymore so they are overdriving their rage levels to 11.
The fact many of them are claiming the DSP version sounds different even though they process identically just shows they’ve dimed out their confirmation bias.
Apple Silicon natively? I don't think so. From the UADx System Requirements page: "Supported Processors - Apple M1 with Rosetta"
Soooooo, what about those 3rd party uad plugins? Think I'll be in the box, dirt, burnt by that time. 1/2 year later I'm still waiting for plugin fixes.
What's the does it mean to go native???
Great vídeo. Servers being overwhelmed could be many reasons though 😂
Horatio Bannister
0 seconds ago
I am confused, can i luanch Luna and record and mix a project WITHOUT a uad interface (without apollo) if I subscribe to Spark? How do I luanch Luna without a uad interface? Or is Luna still only available to use with a uad device?
What are your thoughts on DSP for live streaming rather than introducing latency via plugins and computer processing?
I think UAD is going to charge more for a full package plan subscription,
and that will include all their plugin
Eventually I think so too, the question is what price. The problem they have is people now get to compare, it will be interesting to see how they are all holding up today. Fun times for sure!
@@BarryJohns well am doing the trial to see how that works
True that. It's the nature of the game. I use a Apollo Twin Duo and always used the plugs sparingly to balance between UAD DSP and whatever native plugs I'll use.
It would be nice though if Universal Audio would state the cost of a Spark subscription ANYWHERE on their website?, just endless buttons for the 14 day free trial?
I can't even find the price in US Dollars let alone the price for me here in the UK
So frustrating!!
@@CraigScottFrost
Hi thanks Craig, my problem is I live in England and I can't find the prices in £s,
prices here are rarely a simple translation of the currency at the current exchange rate
@@CraigScottFrost $19.99/month. $149.99/year. Similar to Slate Digital’s pricing.
@@watchtheskies from converting it to your currency, it’s a little over 15/month if you pay monthly and a little over 114/year if you pay annually.
@@tylerdengler6960
unfortunately this isn't typically what happens in the UK, usually the dollar price is just replicated in Pounds, making it 30% more expensive for us, plus our purchase taxes of 20% on top of that
@@watchtheskies what purchase taxes do you have outside of a sales tax?
Thanks for this quick turnaround (I was waiting to hear your thoughts on Spark after you called your shot). I’m in the market for a new Mac (Studio?) and Interface. Now that I know Spark isn’t the answer to all my needs - any recommendations on an interface (Thunderbolt or USB 3) for a bedroom producer / songwriter, who tracks with too much autotune and other plugins and needs no/low latency?
This is a great step for UAD. I own a twin x duo and it’s a must for vocal tracking imo. But I never mix tracks with uad plugins because when I’m on the go, or without an outlet, I use a bus powered focus rite Scarlett 2i2. Uad Spark means I’ll be able to mix with UAD plugins without worrying about using the twin x. However, I don’t know if that workflow fix is worth $20 a month to me. My current workflow with focusrite and previously bought waves plugins works just fine. Will have to see how much improvement spark gives me.
You get the plugs for free
Hey Barry, great video and I totally agree. It is a smart move for UA to make and it’s good for those of us who have not had access to UA plugins. Also, UAD users should not be upset at all. They’ve had great products whether you’re talking about the preamps on the Apollo as well as some of the best plugins out there! Not to mention the many years of ability to run taxing sessions through the DSP. So no sympathy from this guy and UA should not feel sorry one bit! That said, I am moving towards a hybrid model and hope to use less and less plugins in my home studio journey. My goal at this point is to slowly invest in select outboard gear such as Warm Audio stuff, 32 channel mixing desk (with something like a Presonus 48/48 interface) leaving me only with using Logic stock plugins and the third party plugins that I currently own. No subscription plans for this guy! It may be a great option for some but I don’t see the long-term value for my desires and needs. But to each their own! Look forward to your posts. Adam
This will be worth it for the 1073 preamp. It's easily the most authentic 1073 plugin I've heard.
I don’t feel it was that great of news. Let’s remember that UAD plugins are heavy on DSP and for what I saw it’s the package that comes for free with the purchase of any Apollo? Both the LA-2A and 1176, Neve 1073, Api channel strip and the tape plug-in plus some instrument plugins. I don’t know I wasn’t too excited to see that. Hopefully the catalog will grow. Anyways good to see they’re at least going in a different direction.
Some of these plugins come with UAD heritage edition interfaces (non-heritage ones come with the legacy versions, which are not very impressive by today's standards). That said, the plugin list is very short for now.
I'm half way through the video, I'd of liked to of seen what's included earlier. EDIT you did show all of it towards the end 3rd of video so Thankyou for that.
Barry, so I’ve got a 110 track session with subgroups and parallels and 5-6 master bus plugs that are high latency.. now I need to overdub some Lvox and ElGt’s…. if I don’t have Dsp how in the world am I going to do this without bouncing a 2 track into another session and flying back in the overdubs to mix session ?
Well I can tell you I do that quite regularly. The thing here and you knew it probably before you typed it, you should disable those high latency master bus plug-ins while you’re tracking. There’s no need for that in the tracking process.
Now I’m curious to know what high latency plug-ins you use on your master bus. The ones I use are incredibly efficient.
@@BarryJohns gotcha ,, phoenix , ampex ATR, massive passive or chandler curve bender. Inflator, ozone. ML4000 , OTT, and pro L2 (with some oversampling.
It’s a lot I know but everyone is just doing a little bit. . If you kill the master you kill the excitement. I’d rather bounce a two track and overdub than loose the master bus. But DSP aloes me to keep it in one session. I may be the odd ball out who feels this way..
Alan it sounds like you’re trying to master as you’re mixing. That’s not a good workflow. I’m not here to tell you how to do things, but you may wanna reconsider that somewhat.
@@BarryJohns yes sir.. for me it always needs to sound like a record. And my headphones mixes better sound like a record too. One chance to impress its a competitive world.
ups, I just bought an octo satellite last week on Amazon, then you think is a good idea to return it ?
I'll try to see what the hype is for UA plugins. But I have so many other emulations of these plugins from other companies. So these have to be VERY good for me to keep them over my waves, plugin alliance, softube, kit plugins, etc
I'm confused, are all uad plugins compatible running native as long as you own the plugin ?? or only a selected few
Only a few.
Wtf uad still being sleezy to the final drop.
@@tommymai3062 yup
Clairvoyane. Well done.
Well Said Barry
Isn't today when Spark for Windows lands? Haven't heard a thing today yet.
Just announced
What about if you buy a DSP plug in now? Do you get the native version of it for Free perpetually? Very curious about that.
Yes
Hi Barry
Loving your channel. You don’t mention the unison slot function of UAD hardware. For me that still has unique value. Curious to know what your take is.
Get that you might not see this or have time / inclination to reply though 😂
if own all those plugins as uad2,do i still need to pay for a subscription every month?
Well Barry, not too long ago, we discussed about UA and back in the day they certified me they would never go native since they considered their hardware as a copy protection system, and you were hoping they would go native (I was hoping too)… but you got it right. I guess they changed their mind or they lied to me because they didn’t wanted to leak any info, either way, you were right. That’s a good thing…
So, am I understanding correctly that if you already own say, an Apollo and UAD plug ins, you'll get access to the UADx version of all the plugs you already own (provided they're available as UADx) without paying any subscription fee?
Yes
The fact that I’ll have api 2500, 1176 and LA2A Native is stunning.
I mean free since I already own them.
One thing to be aware of...they are NOT Apple Silicon native. They are CERTIFIED to run on Apple Silicon, but the actual plugin code is x86_64 and runs under Rosetta2 translation.
The key of staying with DSP for us is the UNISON feature. If in the future you can use console and UNISON with Spark, then is officially a good thing!
You’ll always need the UAD hardware for unison they’re actually different than regular DSP or the new native versions. They actually change the impedance and circuit modeling on the unison enabled inserts. They don’t even work on the non unison enabled inserts on the same interface.
The main thing I hate about Universal Audio is that they don't care about Windows users. Every product they release they always support MacOS first. Even though they said Windows native support is coming later in the year, but they said the same for Luna, and it still haven't arrived yet.
or how bout them cutting of service to russian customers... i hope they get hacked ... still wont use their plugins as there are inferior to so many other companies... overpriced trash ,,,
I think Windows with Luna is going to be tough technically as it will likely only work over Thunderbolt which is not very common on PC
@@simonslee73 it’s starting to become more common and I don’t see the hassle with Thunderbolt since LUNA first came out when Macs were still on Intel chips and Thunderbolt is Intel’s technology. It’s the same thing for Windows with Thunderbolt and the x86 architecture from Intel. The real problem/challenge is coding for the OS since Windows and Mac differ in those terms.
My understanding is that USB3 is too slow latency wise for Luna (along with Windows handling of audio) and that they needed thunderbolt 3 as a minimum for speed, but I could be wrong on this
@@simonslee73 I think you are since both options are capable of lower latencies. The only difference is that Thunderbolt transfers data a lot faster hence why a lot of Thunderbolt interfaces have DSP included in them. My guess is with the coding since coding a program for both OS’s are very different.
no channelstrips?
The API as well as 1073.
It's a good choice of plugins. one plugin missing is a autotune like plugin.
Im so glad i still have my old native setup of waves mercury...
No monthly subscription fee for me.
I’ve always researched what makes sense for your money and your workflow not what’s more popular or what’s more expensive.
Has anyone been experiencing overheating on your Mac using the UAD Spark plugins
I would like to know if their plugins will now work with AMD processors since AMD has shifted the CPU landscape.
I'm coming out with a video tomorrow and I just want to say before it's posted. I said EXACTLY what you just said about DSP. 🤣 If you use a lot of Virtual Instruments, DSP may still be something you need. But if you're tracking a lot of raw audio, the newer computers are more than fast enough to not need it.
do you have any test comparisons? i’m on the fence about ditching my Apollo and going in a different direction, but i haven’t found many direct comparisons in latency/CPU usage
Great video very helpful
I got offered 'Free' native plugins in spark? I dont understannd why i would need it if i got the f'n apollo
Really, now you can actually use those plugins a lot more with no limitations like you have with the Apollo.
I nominate you to Chair the Ministry of Common Sense for the next term. Great video.
lol Bary awesome video hope you are doing awesome my brother love the video
Again, you have hardware so you don’t need as many plugins on the front end as someone with zero outboard.
Are you tracking full bands?
I use hardware for tracking, very little for mixing, even though it seems like I have a lot, it doesn’t go very far with 80+ track sessions.
@@BarryJohns that’s precisely my point; tracking. Lots of people invested in UAD with Unison instead of buying hardware, so they need/want the DSP on the front end.
@@delmixedit That's what people need to understand, I've been tracking through plugins for a very long time natively. Unless a person has a dinosaur computer, DSP of any kind is simply not needed. That said, under not circumstances would I ever commit a plugin to tape on the way in, there is zero benefit to that, unless a person is limited by the amount of DSP needed. I have DSP in my carbon, I can track through plugins all day with zero latency, I never use it, because I never need it. My buffer stays at 32 all the way from tracking to final mix. Latency is and has not been an issue for me for a long time.
@@BarryJohns have you done a video of you tracking a full band fully ITB with plugins without DSP?
@@delmixedit no, that would be a very long video. I have many videos demonstrating it on the computer. The computer has no idea if it’s tracking a live player or me speaking nonsense into a mic.
Also, I would never want to track a band through plugins, way more important to focus on the tracking aspect as there is no benefit to do so for everyone but a singer who will need compression and reverb.
I can track 30 or more tracks at the same time with a 2010 computer.
The best overall subscription for me will be access analog's cloud subscription for hardware at $20 or $35 a month! That will be the primary reason for my UAD hardware for plugins to go down in value.
Very well spoken!
The only problem is that the plug-ins upsample to 192 kHz so I hope the quality of the plug-ins is exactly the same because the DSP required for that is intense
Like .0005 of users record at 192, more at 96, but the majority are at 44.1 or 48.
@@BarryJohns FYI upsampling in this context is nothing to do with what sample rate your sessions are at. Certain plug ins internally upsample the signal to a much higher rate (192 for example) in order to allow the algorithms to work with much higher precision. Then after processing, it's converted back down to the session sample rate at the plugin output stage. Upsampling is pretty common for certain types of audio processing where it can really make a difference in quality - such as filters, especially with high resonance. UA aren't the only ones who do this, lots of native plug ins also use upsampling, such as synths like Diva when you set them to the highest quality modes. It does put a higher hit on the CPU, but the accuracy of processing you get out of the algorithms is better. Not all UAD plug ins use oversampling, but you can usually tell which ones do - it's the ones that introduce significantly more latency.
am done with uad , i spent over 5k with my hard earned money to have a competitive edge sonically and now everyone and their mothers can have this! so long
You can bet now that the 1073 is ported (back) to native that they’ll be dropping the Neve console emulation soon. I never really thought I needed DSP, In fact When I bought my first Apollo I didn’t even know anything about their plugins I just wanted a better interface then after I got it and dove in was when I decided I liked the ability to commit different preamps and I really liked the unison technology. I also liked the ability to cascade them. I’m a big UAD fan but my buddy has an Axe I/O that frankly was very impressive so I totally don’t think it’s for everyone. I definitely put weeks of thought in before expanding going between ADAT or adding Apollos, at the end of the day I decided I could get clean preamps from anywhere but I really wanted to be able to have unison on anything I chose so that is a nice feature with 22 preamps.
Great studio!!!
Thanks!
this video shows you didnt have any prejudice towards ua, you critiqued that old bisness model and applauded the new ( for them) one, applaude you for that. I totally agre, the subscription model is expensive for now, if they include most of their stuff that be great since i only bought like 4-5 of their plugins and have no satellite. The possibility to have native ones along your dsp ones is exciting, i loaded a 20 track session with 10 api visions and 10 studer and my mac mini was barely around 10% cpu usage.. awesome. (That also shows how outdated the sharcs chips are tho).
Great vid but I don’t think they're Apple silicon M1 native. At least not yet. They do run on M1 machines using Rosetta. Double check that.
Website facts say they are M1 native, I’m only talking the native versions, not sure about the DSP versions
This is from UADs website:
“UADx Plug-Ins installed on M1 Macs run under Rosetta.
Full UADx plug-in support for Apple Silicon Macs is coming soon.”
@@dumaswalker3687 they must’ve had a typo under the spark release yesterday, I actually have a screenshot where it said that their M1 certified. Maybe they got put up in error. Not sure.
I got new M1 20 core 64 gpu I’m good with native
@@levondarratt787 M1 ultra i never in life recorded with out delays until now
@@levondarratt787 i do it all video music pictures edit
@@levondarratt787 not even close to true. All modern DAWs will use as many CPU cores as are available to them, just open the CPU meter on Logic and you'll see. You can work on far far bigger projects on an M1 Ultra Mac Studio than you can on an M1 MacBook Air. The only thing that's the same is the single core performance.
The bigger question is.. how will this change LUNA?
Yes, that will be interesting
Don't sleep on McDSP. I know they got ripped a new one over on the gearspace forum for their V7 release but hell, I got a year long sub for like 70 bucks TOTAL, for their entire catalog during their Halloween sale back in October and their plugins are killer and super efficient in terms of CPU usage. Had a slate sub for a while, it was fine but nothing to write home about in MY opinion, although people seem to love it. However, I got tired of being tied to the VTM and I really only used a few of the modules regularly and once I found alternatives to those few modules that I liked, I kicked Slate to the curb.
I'm also subbed to PA for a whopping 9 bucks a month which isn't shit. Huge variety in that bundle and admittedly there is some filler in there for sure, but I meticulously went through the installer and picked what I needed and didn't even bother with the rest. Between that and McDSP, I'm covered, but of course I own several other plugs from other companies. Having said that, I would even prefer to spend 15 bucks a month for the SSL subscription than UAD at this point. That sub is no slouch either. With that said, who knows what the releases will look like from UAD in terms of Spark?
They did add a couple of things recently, but they've said themselves on the gearspace forum that there is no set time for Spark releases. The attitude from the UAD rep was more or less "there is not set time, I can't tell you anything really and you can either take it, or leave it." Throw another 10 plugins or so in there and maybe it will be more enticing, however, that's IF they don't try and increase the monthly sub price. I've said all that to say this, even IF and when they add more plugs to Spark, the gap between UAD and it's competitors is really, really small at this point in time. Over the course of an entire mix, you would be hard pressed to find anyone able to correctly pick a mix done entirely with UAD over a mix done with only PA, or McDSP etc. That's just facts.
Should I buy 1 uad plugin for $150 and I own it "or" should I pay (1 year) $150 to rent their native uad plugin collection??? 🤔
I will have a video out this weekend on that subject.
UAD Unison technology and ARM inside of LUNA is where it's at. My Apollo with Octo Satellite, with LUNA and UADx if needed is awesome.
Plugin Alliance has some really good plugins and for 250.00 for the year. This plugin market is going to get really really competitive and by that, companies will need to get really price competitive.
And at year's end you get credit towards plugin purchase too.
I can't believe how insane people can get over subscriptions. The people that have paid a big lump of cash tend to believe that make them superior & that those who prefer subscription models are too poor to afford to pay for a license.
So when a subscription comes out they resent it because their supplier just made the same digital tool they paid hundreds for is only 10 bucks a month or whatever. It pisses them off because their ego no longer get's to feel better than those who subscribe instead of purchase.
It pisses them off because others are getting the same tool for less than they paid. So they pretend to hate subscriptions because it levels the playing field & those that think subscriptions are bad hate a level playing field.
They hate that they can no longer brag about having that plugin because anyone can get their hands on it for a few bucks & that just twists in their gizzard to the point where their jealousy gleams a bright green color. In other words "it's all about ego" folks.
No shit. Those same people are oozing with hypocrisy as they are probably like most of "Merica" and literally RENT just about everything they have access to. Unless they pay for EVERYTHING is cash money, then their opinion is nothing more then ego latent hypocrisy. "Heh, yea man, I rent the place where I live, I rent my car, I rent my health insurance, I rent my utilities, I rent netflix, hulu, amazon prime, pandora, I rent my cell service, etc etc you know basically everything in daily life, but HELL NO! I WILL NOT RENT PLUGINS! THAT'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE!!!" The lack of self awareness is hilarious with those folks. And before anyone claims "that's not a fair compression" Yes, yes it is. You can't literally rent shit left and right (shit you can't afford outright, hence why you have to essentially RENT it) while at the same time baggin on folks who rent plugins is for 15 bucks a month as opposed to shelling out hundreds at a time for single plugins. With that said, I have no dog in the fight. I have many plugins I own outright, and I have 2 plugin subs and I use them all equally and don't evne think about it at the end of the day.
I am so fcking happy that ive resisted to the UAD world until now. Last year, there where some moments i was so close to order one.
Now i will wait until it is available for windows, than i will test it. But even if it works fine, the countervalue i will get for this 20 bucks/month at the oment, is not enough in my opinion.
I also have the Slate and the PA Megabundle and i think there u get much more bang for the buck.
I use to be a dealer and they once said they would never go native
You nailed it!!!!!