PSA: Universal Audio plug-in sale

[David MacNeill]

If you have an Apollo interface then you probably have already seen their daily emails, but if not, UA is having their annual holiday sale on many of their plug-ins. I picked up a couple this week and with each discounted purchase (one-half to one-third off regular price) I received an additional $25 off code for the next one. These are superb, world-class hardware emulations of the finest vintage and modern recording gear around. The Century Tube Channel strip is particularly great for getting excellent vocal and acoustic guitar tone with minimal fiddling. I also love the Pure Plate Reverb for this purpose as plates are particularly well suited for voice and acoustic instruments like guitar and piano. Both of these can be had for less than a Benjamin each.

BTW, I have no connection to UA — I just love their recording gear.

[jim1960]

UAD plugins can be very expensive unless folks plan and are patient. The most economical way to pick up the more expensive plugin offerings from them are to buy a "custom bundle" when they're running a sale.

For example, right now the "3+1" bundle will net you four plugins for $100 a piece, the "6+2" bundle will net you eight plugins for about $88 a piece, and the "10+3" bundle will net you thirteen plugins for about $77 a piece. That's cheaper than the more expensive plugins ever get when on sale individually.

For the less expensive plugins, it pays to be patient and wait for those to go on sale. I picked up a bunch of the cheaper ones in last year's New Year's sale. I had a $25 coupon that was replaced every time I bought a plugin. So I was able to combine the sale price and the $25 coupon over and over.

To give you an idea of how much you can save by being patient, these were some deals I got by combining sales and coupons over the last year:
Sound Machine Wood Works $299/$80
Friedman Buxom Betty $149/$53
Korg SDD-3000 $199/$80
Softube Amp Room Bundle $199/$44
Brainworx b x_saturator V2 $199/$34
ENGL E646 VS $149/$24
ENGL E765 Retro Tube $149/$24
SPL Vitalizer $249/$54
EMT 250 $249/$49
elysia mpressor $199/$24
SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor $299/ $75
Fender '55 Tweed Deluxe $199/$29
Sonnox Oxford Inflator $179/$64
Neve 1081 $249/$0
UA 610 Tube Preamp & EQ Collection $299/$24
Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection $299/$49
Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery $199/$94
Pultec Passive EQ Collection $299/$99

[Cocobolo Kid]

A great alternative to the UA plugins, without being dependent on UA hardware, is Plugin Alliance: https://www.plugin-alliance.com
UA and PA actually sell some of the same plugins from Brainworx, Elysia and others. Plugin Alliance is always running sales and rewards their good customers with free monthly vouchers. They are definitely less expensive than UA. There have been many months where between the 75% off sale and my free $50 monthly voucher that I got premium plugins for free. Like UA, you have to be patient and wait for the plugins you want to go on sale.

I used to own UAD quad and octo PCIe cards but had technical issues when I upgraded to Windows 8. I had the worst technical support experience of my life with UA, to the point I decided to sell all my UAD hardware and plugins at a big loss. I owned 30 or more UAD plugins, and honestly feel the PA plugins are of the same quality. Each site/company offers plugins unique to them, but both have a great variety. I am definitely not knocking the quality of the plugins from UA, just the lack of support and unprofessionalism I personally experienced from their company.

You even get six free plugins for free when you create a new, free account at PA. I am not affiliated with PA, just a happy customer.

Another good site that I have purchased from is: https://plugindiscounts.com. I got Izotope updates for less than buying directly through Izotope, even when Izotope was running a sale.

[David MacNeill]

Originally Posted by jim1960

I had a $25 coupon that was replaced every time I bought a plugin. So I was able to combine the sale price and the $25 coupon over and over.

I have only been able to use one coupon code per purchase. Were you able to use multiple codes? There are still a few plugs I’d like to buy.

[David MacNeill]

Originally Posted by Cocobolo Kid

A great alternative to the UA plugins, without being dependent on UA hardware, is Plugin Alliance:

Do any of these support UA Unison technology or execute from UA hardware DSP chips?

[Cocobolo Kid]

Originally Posted by David MacNeill

Do any of these support UA Unison technology or execute from UA hardware DSP chips?

They are just standard VST 2/3 (and possibly AAX but I am not a Pro Tools user) plugins that use your computer CPU. Modern CPU's like the Intel Core i9-9900k I use are a lot more powerful than the SHARC chips used on the UAD hardware. Even with lots of plugins and virtual instruments loaded, I have never come close to pushing my CPU's limits.

[David MacNeill]

Originally Posted by Cocobolo Kid

Even with lots of plugins and virtual instruments loaded, I have never come close to pushing my CPU's limits.

I always find a way to max out my 3.1Ghz Core i7 MacBook Pro, but then again I use 24-bit/88.2Khz resolution.