UAD-1 Project VS Studio VS Ultra

  • Thread starter Thread starter Myriad_Rocker
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Myriad_Rocker

Myriad_Rocker

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I'm thinking of getting one of these. I know I'll get one of them for sure. I'm just not sure which one I should be shooting for. I've heard so many good things about the UAD-1 but there's really no place where I can listen to it or try it out. So....which one should I be shooting for? I know there's a lot of price difference and the lower you go, the less plugin's you get....

Anyway, just looking for some opinions.

Thanks!
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
I'm thinking of getting one of these. I know I'll get one of them for sure. I'm just not sure which one I should be shooting for. I've heard so many good things about the UAD-1 but there's really no place where I can listen to it or try it out. So....which one should I be shooting for? I know there's a lot of price difference and the lower you go, the less plugin's you get....

Anyway, just looking for some opinions.

Thanks!
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If you go for the UAD-1, in the past they've had promotions where you get a free LA2A with the Project Pak, something to think about if you're on a budget :)

The Studio Pak doesn't make sense to me, because you still don't get the Precision EQ and Limiter. I'd rather buy the Project Pak and spend the extra $500 getting those and maybe the Pultec or 1176LN (assuming you got the free LA2A), or step up to the Ultra and get everything (except, oddly, the Boss Chorus).
 
It's almost worth it to just go ahead and get the Ultra then, right? Wish I could get it for cheaper than 1199! haha! :)

I don't know that I want to wait around until they include the LA2A for free in the project pak. I might wait around if they included the Precision EQ and Precision Limiter!!! :D ;)
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
It's almost worth it to just go ahead and get the Ultra then, right? Wish I could get it for cheaper than 1199! haha! :)

I don't know that I want to wait around until they include the LA2A for free in the project pak. I might wait around if they included the Precision EQ and Precision Limiter!!! :D ;)
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:D Don't hold your breath . . .

Going on my six-month old memory from when I demo'ed the plugs, the Pultec Pro was really nice. I still need to buy that. It's a great sound in very few knobs. I wasn't overwhelmed by Dreamverb, I like the Realverb just fine although all the presets are way too wet. I use the LA2A constantly, and I freakin' love Nigel. The channel strip seems very useful in mixing mode because you can run 8 or 10 of them, but I've mostly used the UAD plugs on finished mixes.

Somehow I didn't pay attention to the Precision tools when I had the demo, probably because it didn't have a vintage name . . . then everybody starts raving about 'em :o I couldn't have afforded them anyway :(
 
I think they are still offering the LA2 as a freebie with the Project Pak. Go to uaudio.com to check it out.
I got the Project Pak a few months ago (with the free LA2) and then sprung for the Pultec add-on and the Plate140. It would have been nice to get the full 1176 and the Cambridge EQ in the Studio Pak but I didn't see the need for the Fairchild or Dreamverb. The 1176SE does a fantastic job if you don't need heavy compression. People who use heavy compression say that the 1176LN does a better job than the SE. YMMV.
Ah heck - get the Ultra Pak if it's in your budget.
 
I've got the UAD-1 (got it back when it was still Mackie). Out of all the plugins that I use the most are EX-1 (basically the 5 band EQ + Compressor section of CS-1 channel strip) and 1176LN, followed closely by LA2A. In fact the EX-1 is what I use instead of the Cubase EQs. Very effective and musical. 1176LN does wonders, specially when you abuse it :D (as tkingen mentioned 1176SE works well at subtle settings, but doesn't take well to abuse as LN does) One of my favorite uses for 1176LN is using it on bass, and crank up the input as to get that nice distortion that helps so much in bringing the bass sounds into focus (by bass I mean things like sine subbass, 808 kicks, not electric bass). LA2A is incredibly transparent, you can push it really hard before things get out of hand. As for the reverbs and delays... well they have no right to be as bad as they are considering they're running on a dedicated DSP. Both Realverb and Dreamverb are just horrible. Haven't had experience with the Plate reverb, so can't comment on it, although people that have used it, seem to be satisfied w/it.

Nigel is great (and like the CS-1 it also allows you to just load individual sections of it), I like the phaser, and even the compressor, although it's limited, it's got its own character. I just wish the Amp/Cabinet section also ran in stereo, as I tend to use it on things other than guitar sounds, so stereo processing would definitely expand its usefulness in that regard.
 
noisewreck said:
Both Realverb and Dreamverb are just horrible. Haven't had experience with the Plate reverb, so can't comment on it, although people that have used it, seem to be satisfied w/it.
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For me the major issue is that the presets are terrible--like I said, way too wet, and they could stand a lot of other tweaks too. If you have the time to invest playing with settings (of which there are too many), they can be nice.

Better than the Yamaha reverbs I had before, anyway.
 
Well, crap. I'm still torn between the Project and the Ultra. I like the price tag of the Project Pak but I like all the extras of the Ultra....and I question whether I'll use all the stuff on the Ultra....
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
Well, crap. I'm still torn between the Project and the Ultra. I like the price tag of the Project Pak but I like all the extras of the Ultra....and I question whether I'll use all the stuff on the Ultra....
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I got both; got the project pak first, then just HAD to get the ultra . IHMO, you won't regret it either way you go.
 
mshilarious said:
For me the major issue is that the presets are terrible--like I said, way too wet, and they could stand a lot of other tweaks too. If you have the time to invest playing with settings (of which there are too many), they can be nice.
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That's the thing though. I hardly ever use presets with anything. I just don't like the sound. They are too grainy. They may work OK for some really short room sounds, but other then that... like one reviewer stated "they tend to fill up space instead of creating one"... the guy (don't remember which magazine it was) hit the nail on the head with that comment as far as I'm concerned. To each their own though... Me, I'm happy with the KDFX reverbs in my Kurzweil and the reverb ensembles in Reaktor (Space Master, R66).
 
I agree here, I'm not sure I would actually use the reverbs on mix down, at least I haven't yet. I love the processors. I do use the verbs when tracking though, and often to fool around with when first tackiling a mix. I think I may just not be good enough to get them to work on mixdown. I'm sure they'd have their place in the hands of someone better than I.

And hey! Me too! I love the Kurzweil effects :)
 
fraserhutch said:
I agree here, I'm not sure I would actually use the reverbs on mix down, at least I haven't yet. I love the processors. I do use the verbs when tracking though, and often to fool around with when first tackiling a mix. I think I may just not be good enough to get them to work on mixdown. I'm sure they'd have their place in the hands of someone better than I.
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Well if it gets to the point where it's a chore, that defeats the purpose.

Anyway, I think everybody agrees they never sold any of these cards on the reverbs. Perhaps the Plate reverb will be their model for the future--emulation seems to be their best bet.
 
I think a lot of people may be disappointed with Realverb Pro because it's not a Lexi type reverb. Plus, there are nice reverbs available from other vendors. But reading the manual for Realverb gives the impression that it may not have been designed to compete with the other reverbs. It was intended to be more of a room simulator and it does a decent job of emulating a small acoustic environment. The audio sample on UA's website with the sax sounds great.
Still, the Plate140 and Sonitus Reverb tend ot get more use around here.
 
mshilarious said:
Well if it gets to the point where it's a chore, that defeats the purpose.

Anyway, I think everybody agrees they never sold any of these cards on the reverbs. Perhaps the Plate reverb will be their model for the future--emulation seems to be their best bet.
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That's it - I didn't get them for the verbs......
And while I may not use them for the final mix, they come in very handy for trying things out, something that is not to be overlooked in its convenience. And the fact that I have yet to get great verb sounds from them certainly should NEVER be construed as meaning that no one else will be able to :)

In the end anyways, I have several excellent outboard reverb units that I would use anyways.

I should have mentioned that the plate is the exception to my above statements - it is quite nice and I do use it.
 
You guys are really making me second guess my future purchase.. :rolleyes:
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
You guys are really making me second guess my future purchase.. :rolleyes:
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Get the project pak. the worst that will happen is that you'll go slutty for the ultra pak.

I don't regret my purchase for a minute :)
 
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