UAD compressors from Waves

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
So, thanks to Miro's link in the vst thread, I picked up Waves LA-2A and 1176 Black/Bluey compressors for under $80 total on a huge sale. Great deal, especially since I wanted to try them out for vocals and drums. I'm liking the la-2a after the 1176 on vocals since the la-2a's attack/release aren't really what I prefer alone. And putting it after the 1176 lets me adjust the 1176's A/R to what I usually aim for, which is a 20-30ms A and 5-10ms release. Then the la-2a just cleans it up a little with a small 2-3db GR for flavor and slight leveling.

Anyways, the point of posting in here was to see what you mastering doods thought of these tools on the master bus. Just curious your thoughts here and how, if at all, you'd go about setting them up including chain and purpose of either. I understand their 2500 is probably the more ideal/suitable choice for master bus use, but I have seen/read both occasionally used on the master. Thoughts?

thanks!
 
I've used LA2A's (both hardware and soft) as a mono parallel, but I can't really imagine a mix asking for either on the main buss...
 
Those are both awesome on vocals, drums, bass, etc.... but I can't imagine running an entire mix through either of them.
 
I had good results once with the La2a on the mix bus, but only once.
Turns out it happened to be pure luck the attack/release timing was a fit for the song.
 
I tend not to use much compression on the master bus. Maybe I'll use a dB or so on the compressor in the Slate FG-X at less than 2:1. I do my compression on tracks, and once in a while on a vocal bus. My go-to compressor these days, at least on my partner's PT setup, is the MJUC.
 
My go-to compressor these days, at least on my partner's PT setup, is the MJUC.

I think I have a mini-version of that, without all the extra features. I like their DC1A a lot and use it on drums and vocals quite a bit. I'm also trying that one on the master bus for very small GR. Obviously I'm still learning, but I seem to like using the compressors that I can dial in A/R options first on the master and then use another, like DC1A, after it for slight leveling.

So it seems those 2 UAD's aren't used by you guys a lot for that purpose. Figured as much, was just wondering. Thanks for chiming in.
 
I figured he was referring to Universal Audio, who makes the LA2A and 1176. Even though that's UA, which owns UAD, but UAD is the digital side of the company.
 
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