Universal Audio Plugins

I really don't like how they are doing their plugin models any longer. 1) Always tied to hardware which becomes obsolete in 5 years. Upgrade or lose plugins. 2) Not easy to use plugins on multiple computers. 3) External hardware require receptacles. No mixing off the grid. 4) Plugins prices are lowered over time, losing your equity 5) Plugins are sometimes given free with new hardware, losing your equity 6) Some Plugins become obsolete, with loss of unsupported hardware (UAD-1) 7) Promise to transfer becomes obsolete with loss of server support (UAD-1, UAD-2 next?) 8) Multiple plugins of similar type (i.e. 1176) lose original equity. Then they become only available as a bundle. Then the bundle price is lowered. I could go on, especially with the 4 hardware failures I've had from the hardware end of their business, lying to me over the phone (making promises they break), etc but in short, I'm DONE with them. As much as I've not liked how WAVES did their business, at least you can use them on any computer, at any time, and they last forever. I'm only getting software that isn't attached to hardware from now on. The high Prices I paid for UA came at the assumption you had equity to sell if you didn't like them. But that turned out to be a lie too.

I've proved on 5 computers that UAD-1 clashes with Fast Track ULTRA drivers, causing random blue screens of death. Remove ULTRA, stops, or make UA inactive, stops. Both active: Blue Screen at some point. Maybe 24 hours later, but it happens. One UAD-1 overwrote my WAV files!! Put random spike noises all over the file that was PROTECTED! Another UAD-1 was dead on arrival. Ditto with an LA-610, dead compressor. The replacement 610 gauge won't respond on COMP after only 40 hours of usage. Their hardware is buggy at best in my experience. I've owned 8 Universal Audio hardware products and literally 4 were messed up and had to be replaced. I have WAVES from before UA, so I use them. Recently got FabFilter Pro Q and LOVE it. I'll have to check out Voxengo stuff. Thanks for the tip!

Have you put those points to Universal Audio? It would be interesting to hear their views.

my 2 cents [or less] worth: UAD used to be a 'solution' to deal with a lack of computer power, back when that was a real problem. these days, I don't see it as a 'real' problem. for way less than the cost of their flagship products you can build a whole new pc with more than enough cpu power to run just about any plugins you want, including a slew of nebula instances. ummm let's see, that was about 1.35 cents worth... hahaha

People have been bitching about this stuff for years. It does no good. They are who they are. I'm not a fan of their business model either, particularly when I was forced to purchase new hardware with a new computer just to use plugs I'd already purchased. But for many, me included, the quality of their plugs justify the investment. There are lots of quality alternatives these days. If you like them, use them. But to beat an anti-UAD drum is a waste of time. DB

I have addressed some of these issues. Back in the early 2000's Universal Audio fell over backwards to accommodate you. Since 2009, they could care less. I've been lied to, bullshitted and then ignored. When I did start complaint about UA the first few times I had issues, literally NO ONE chimed in with my point of view. Literally every commenter said "Love Mine, Never Had a Problem, Don't know what you're talking about" Now here I see others had the same issues, and the irrefutable logic of hopi is what I was thinking but didn't put into words. So while it won't change UA, it did put my situation into perspective, and certainly may aid others looking into plugins to know the ups and downs. Last item: Bitching. I think of this as saying something over and over. I challenge you to read anywhere another person who said their WAV files were overwritten, their LA-610 (2 in a row) had hardware issues, and that they were lied to by customer service. I don't even fear a libel suit, I can prove it. That's not "bitching". Those are facts, ma man.

I have three rules I follow when it comes to plug-ins: 1) No hardware (dongles or cards). 2) Diversify like you would a 401k so you're not as affected by a specific vendor having issues, changing policy, getting bought out, or going out of biz. 3) Transfers have to be allowed. It's my hard-earned $ after all...

UAD plugs are not cracked...pretty good for them. You don't have to buy UAD, pretty good for you. UAD makes some of the finest plugs available. Now they have Unison technology which makes the hardware software communication for pre amps first in class. It is a feature that really is amazing. Free telephone support, forever....

I own an Apollo and I love it. I realize the costs and am fully aware of the consequences of a platform like this. They just sent me a boatload of free plugins, the hardware runs without hiccup and they sent me a free thunderbolt card. I'm pretty happy.

I got the original UAD TDM bundle when they made PT TDM only and they ran on the PT hardware. The 1176, LA-2A, and EQP-1A. These are still hands down the best versions of these plugs. The newer Waves versions approached them but still really don't make the cut at all. If you need a fast, clean, fidelity preserving compressor and/or an EQ that you can get away with the occasional boost with, these are still unmatched. But here in 2014 it seems very silly to be able to run out of processing power after just a dozen or so plugin instances. What with the rest of the system having literally unlimited plugin instance ability! The system is still cheaper than a rack full of analog 1176's I suppose. But UA really needs to catch up and go native before they start getting ignored. I remember their TDM versions stopped working in Protools v8 when they went to rtas and started using their PCI card. I recall continuing to use v7 because I could get 3 times as many TDM UA plugs up vs their new rtas/PCI versions.