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Old 07-23-2020, 07:28 PM
pjbelsch pjbelsch is offline
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Default Must have UAD plug ins?

Just want to see what everyone feels are absolutely necessary plug ins for vocals and acoustic guitars for UAD Apollo.
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Old 07-23-2020, 07:47 PM
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I'm not sure there's a bad choice. On guitar, I often use the LA-2 compressor. The tape emulators are useful, I have the Ampex ATR-102. I also find the SPL Vitalizer useful sometimes. All the reverbs are good. I often use the Capital Chambers,EMT 250, or Lexicon 480. The Pultec EQs are nice as are the Neve EQs. but really, it depends on what you like and what you need, I'm not sure there are any to stay away from.

Unless you're in a rush, look for their twice a year sale, where you can get 4 plugins for about the price of 1 or 2, depending on that you get. Good for getting the more expensive ones.
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Old 07-23-2020, 08:04 PM
pjbelsch pjbelsch is offline
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Originally Posted by Doug Young View Post
I'm not sure there's a bad choice. On guitar, I often use the LA-2 compressor. The tape emulators are useful, I have the Ampex ATR-102. I also find the SPL Vitalizer useful sometimes. All the reverbs are good. I often use the Capital Chambers,EMT 250, or Lexicon 480. The Pultec EQs are nice as are the Neve EQs. but really, it depends on what you like and what you need, I'm not sure there are any to stay away from.

Unless you're in a rush, look for their twice a year sale, where you can get 4 plugins for about the price of 1 or 2, depending on that you get. Good for getting the more expensive ones.
I have 50% off until august 20th. I am looking at the Neve preamp as a recommendation from a friend. I really only do, acoustic guitar, vocal (baritone) and I would like maybe 1 plug in that can be universally used if I am recording a drum or an organ or something.
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Old 07-24-2020, 05:34 AM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
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This is not the best time to buy most of the UA plugins. There are two big sales they run every year. One in June (you just missed it) and another for Black Friday. During those sales, they have enhanced custom bundles at a discount:
4 plugins for $399
8 for $699
13 for $999

So for this 50% off sale, any plugin that will cost you more than $100 can be had cheaper in November if you include it in a custom bundle in November.
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Old 07-24-2020, 07:20 AM
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Not for recording but for mastering: I use their Precision Limiter in my mastering chain and it is fantastic.

Bob
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Old 07-24-2020, 08:16 AM
pjbelsch pjbelsch is offline
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Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
Not for recording but for mastering: I use their Precision Limiter in my mastering chain and it is fantastic.

Bob
I have no idea how to master, I am just coming from using a Scarlett to a Apollo with some bare bones recording
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Old 07-24-2020, 08:59 AM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
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I don't use a ton of UA plugins these days but the ones I use most in mixing are:
1176
Ampex ATR-102
Fairchild
Ocean Way Studios (for re-micing on vst instruments)
Pultec
Teletronix LA-2A

Capital Chambers is a more recent addition than the others so I haven't used it a ton but it's an amazing reverb. Just for poops and giggles, last year I did a quick mix of a song with Capital Chambers on every track. It's a really lush and beautiful sounding reverb.


Chandler Curve Bender is on every master I do. I love this plugin so much that I'm not sure I'll be able to resist buying a real Curve Bender some day.
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Old 07-24-2020, 07:01 PM
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Cocobolo Kid Cocobolo Kid is offline
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Default UA

I used to own a UAD2 Quad and most of their plugins. When I started having Windows driver issues with the UAD2 PCIe card, and received extremely poor customer service from UA, I sold all my UA gear and plugins.

I switched to Plugin Alliance, and have been extremely happy. They just started a Mega bundle where you get access to 100+ quality plugins (totaling $19,000) for only $249 per year. Their plugins are every bit as good as the UA plugins and you can use them all for a year for the price of one UA plugin. No extra hardware required either. They also have 75% off sales on individual plugins regularly if you prefer to own them instead of being on the yearly plan.

I am not affiliated with Plugin Alliance in any way. I am just a happy customer. Here is their website:

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/

If you do stick with UA, I would definitely try the Manley Massive Passive EQ for acoustic guitar. That, and their plate reverbs, were my favorites.

Good luck whichever way you go.
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Old 07-25-2020, 07:16 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pjbelsch View Post
Just want to see what everyone feels are absolutely necessary plug ins for vocals and acoustic guitars for UAD Apollo.
I don't have UAD so listen to those who do for specific ones.
In general while nothing is "absolutely necessary"
for guitar and vocals you will likely eventually "want".

In no particular order of importance

#1 multi-band EQ with movable bands and Q (width) adjustment
# 2 a compressor with ratio, attack, and release time, adjustments
#3 a good reverb with user definable pre delay time and reverb length adjustment (run in parallel)
# 4 a look ahead brick wall limiter for final mastering (understanding that only in simplistic general terms, "Mastering" is simply getting the final mix ready for publication) So unless you send your mixes out to a pro Mastering engineer, it could be said you will either intentionally or by omission, be "mastering"
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Old 07-25-2020, 10:12 AM
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You know you can try any plugin free for 2 weeks, right? So I'd just try any you think are interesting before you buy. Then when you buy something, it resets the trial status, so you can try anything again for 2 more weeks.


Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post

#1 multi-band EQ with movable bands and Q (width) adjustment
# 2 a compressor with ratio, attack, and release time, adjustments
#3 a good reverb with user definable pre delay time and reverb length adjustment (run in parallel)
# 4 a look ahead brick wall limiter for final mastering (understanding that only in simplistic general terms, "Mastering" is simply getting the final mix ready for publication) So unless you send your mixes out to a pro Mastering engineer, it could be said you will either intentionally or by omission, be "mastering"

For a parametric EQ, the Cambridge EQ is nice, and I think it may be one of the free bundled plugins? I don't tend to use much EQ on guitar, at least, and when I do, I tend to favor the EQs with "color", like the Neve 1073 or the Pultec. For just straight, clean EQ, the channel EQ in Logic works fine, and whatever DAW you have probably has one as well.

UAD has at least a dozen compressors. Personally, the one I find most useful is the LA2, which is an opto-style compressor and does not have the controls Kev suggests. But it just sounds good on everything.

Reverbs are one of UADs strong points, again, about a dozen emulations of classic reverbs, from EMT plates to Lexicon to rooms, like the Capital Chambers and Ocean Way plugins. All sound very good to me.

The Precision limiter is good, tho I tend to just use Ozone for that.

I think where UAD shines the most is with plugins that emulate the strong character of classic hardware. The more vanilla stuff can be handled elsewhere, parametric EQ, limiting, transparent reverb. It's when you want reverb, EQ, compression, etc, with a distinct character to it that the UAD plugins tend to win over other alternatives. Those plugins don't always have some of the expected controls - they exhibit whatever quirks the original hardware had, which is what gives them their distinctive sound.
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Old 07-25-2020, 02:25 PM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
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I’m not sure if expanding on what I’ve already said will be helpful, but on the chance it is, here goes. I agree with Cocobolo Kid in that the Plugin Alliance deal is a very good one. I don’t think their selection is as useful as UA but for the things you’ll use the most, they have some great plugins. I’m not a fan of subscription services but that’s my own issue. For others, subscriptions might make sense.

I agree with everything KevWind said but I’ll go along with Doug Young regarding the compressors. Some of the classics don’t have all those adjustment options but they’re still excellent compressors.

I also agree with Doug in that UA does a great job emulating the classics. I liked their LA-2A emulation so much I wound up buying a pair of clones from Audio-Scape. And I liked mixing into the SSL G Buss compressor on my master bus, that I bought a clone of that unit too. At this point, however. there are more plugins I use that are outside the UA universe than in.

These are the plugins I’ve used the most:

SURGICAL EQ
Acon Digital Equalize – I used this for many years because it was the one that happened to be on sale when I was shopping around for something with a bigger interface than what I’d been using.
Fab Filter Pro Q3 – I switched to this about a year ago. There’s a lot to learn with this eq and I’m not getting its full benefit yet, but it’s easy enough to use for subtractive purposes.

TONE SHAPING EQ
UAD Pultec
Ozone 9 Dynamic EQ
Kush Clariphonic – The Kush is a newer addition and it has really raised my mastering game. The first time I tried it was on a track from an album I had mastered that I had just sent to a client for approval. I was so blown away by what this specialized eq could do that I asked my client to hold off on approving the masters, reworked all the songs with the Clariphonic, and sent them to her without telling her what I’d done. I had an extremely happy client after she A/B-ed the tracks.

COMP
UAD Fairchild 670
UAD LA-2A for vox, Gray version for acoustic
UAD 1176

UAD SSL G Bus Comp – This used to live on my master buss before I bought the hardware unit.

LIMITER
Ozone 9 Maximizer – For years I used the Avid Maxim but there are better choices out there now. I’ve found the Maximizer to be an excellent limiter that never feels like I’ve tossed a heavy blanket over a mix.
Note – I’ve never used the Precision Limiter that Bob Womack recommends so this isn’t a knock on that plugin.

REVERB
Audio Ease Altiverb
LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven
UAD Capital Chambers – Between these three, I can almost always find what I want.

Eventide T-Verb – In some rare cases the ability to control mic placement in a space is needed and this reverb does that.

Honorable Mention to Valhalla Vintage Verb because for $50 it’s a really nice reverb. Not quite up to the top three on this list but in terms of value, it’s a good buy.

DELAY
Sound Toys Echoboy is about as good as it gets.

There are some specialized plugins I use sometimes.
Waves CLA Bass – This is an oldie but a goodie and sometimes it’s all I need for get a bass track sitting the way I want it.

Eventide Fission – for controlling transients.

Oeksound Soothe – to remove harshness

Metering – Levels by Mastering the Mix has become my favorite.
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Old 07-25-2020, 02:46 PM
gwlee7 gwlee7 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
Not for recording but for mastering: I use their Precision Limiter in my mastering chain and it is fantastic.

Bob
I got this one after you had mentioned it before. It is exactly what I hoped. Nice, boring, and perfect.
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Old 07-25-2020, 03:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jim1960 View Post
I liked their LA-2A emulation so much I wound up buying a pair of clones from Audio-Scape.

....

Oeksound Soothe – to remove harshness
How does the hardware compare to the UAD LA-2? I've often felt like doing that - with the idea that if I liked the emulation, surely the real thing will be even better, if less flexible.

Soothe (not UAD, of course) is one of my new favorite finds. Works great on guitar - subtle, but nice. I'm doing some mixes with violins, and it's even more useful there.

I've also been using Limitless instead of the Ozone maximizer a bit lately. Still learning it, but it seems to work well.
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Old 07-25-2020, 03:36 PM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Young View Post
How does the hardware compare to the UAD LA-2? I've often felt like doing that - with the idea that if I liked the emulation, surely the real thing will be even better, if less flexible.
That was my logic as well. I can't say it's a really dramatic difference overall but the upper frequencies are much more pleasant coming from the hardware unit. They have a sweetness/smoothness advantage over the plugin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Young View Post
Soothe (not UAD, of course) is one of my new favorite finds. Works great on guitar - subtle, but nice. I'm doing some mixes with violins, and it's even more useful there.
I'm not at all surprised you're saying that. It's quite useful on any track where there's some harshness up top. I reach for it a fair amount when mastering.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Young View Post
I've also been using Limitless instead of the Ozone maximizer a bit lately. Still learning it, but it seems to work well.
I was unaware of that one. I just tool a quick look at the product page. Does that act like a multi-band compressor? The interface reminds me of that kind of thing. I really need to sit down and figure that tool out. I own the Fab Filter multi-band but I haven't invested the time in it yet.
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2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood
2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar
2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce
2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce
1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce

along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos.

YouTube
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  #15  
Old 07-25-2020, 04:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jim1960 View Post
I was unaware of that one. I just tool a quick look at the product page. Does that act like a multi-band compressor? The interface reminds me of that kind of thing. I really need to sit down and figure that tool out. I own the Fab Filter multi-band but I haven't invested the time in it yet.
Yes, it seems to serve as a final mastering limiter, but it's multi-band. Pretty complicated under the hood, and I haven't worked it out much yet, but just checking out some of the presets, it seems useful. I don't usually use multi-band compressors, but this seems to produce good results.

The FabFilter stuff is also nice, the only one I've bought is the EQ, which also seems very useful. I use Dynamic EQ much more often than just straight EQ, and this seems to combine the ideas well. Still new to that one, too, tho.
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