UAD Apollo gear use [spinoff topic]

With both the Arrow and the Apollo 8 I get somewhere between 3 and 5 ms of latency for each plugin depending on the plugin when I set the block size to 64 samples in Bitwig (at a 44.1 kHz sample rate).

As you can see, things do obviously add up when you add multiple subsequent UAD plugins in series in a single channel.

You really do want to keep you buffer size low. This is what happens when I change the block size to 256 samples:

You can also increase the sample rate. Here I changed to 96 kHz with a block size of 64 samples:

Of course increasing the sample rate means you run out of DSP capacity much soonerā€¦

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In my rather limited testing I would agree that the Tweed 55 and even basic Marshall UAD plugins sound better than the models Iā€™ve tried in Guitar Rig 5 Pro, particularly the cleaner tones (which are mainly what Iā€™m after). I wish NI would update Guitar Rig with some better modeling, but it sounds like NI is not as interested in competing in that particular market anymore.

I hooked up my El Cap and Flint in front of the Arrow last night and they sounded really good with the Tweed. Iā€™m contemplating keeping those to save the Arrow processing power for the amp sim and tone shapers (preamps, compressor, etc). Iā€™m going to borrow my buddyā€™s Deco this weekend to see how the tape overdrive sounds. If it works well I may just permanently park that trio in front of the Arrow.

I still havenā€™t used the 14-day demo period that you get for the UAD plugins, so I also plan to compare that setup to the UAD plugin versions as there really is something appealing to me about fewer cables and more desk space. Still though, Iā€™m beginning to realize how prescious that DSP processing power is, so maybe basic guitar effects should be kept external.

Anyway, Iā€™m loving the UAD stuff so far!

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some words on Waves Update plan ā€¦ I bought the API bus compressor for 149 EUR 2 years ago ā€¦ Version 9.2. I did some tests agains the UAD version and the difference was not that much - except the ā€œoldā€ mode in which the Waves version has a bit more Saturation - which I liked as another sound option.

Last week I finally upgraded my macbook pro 2011 to 2018 and wanted to install the Waves plugin ā€¦ but that doesnĀ“t work anymore ā€¦ because Waves is now on 10.x ā€¦ even legancy installer dont work. I mean what the hell? You know ā€¦ you will donĀ“t have a problem like this with any of the UAD plugins. You bought it and it will work from now and in the future (hopefully) on every OS you are using. Even when you switch from Mac to Windows (with Satelite USB3).

UAD discontinued and abandoned support for their UAD-1 cards, but yeah Waves update plan sux big time

In case you havenā€™t noticed thereā€™s a high quality mode for GR5 that I think is off by default. Click the ā€œHiā€ button by the cpu meter, of course it will use some more cpu but it does sound betterā€¦ I get some pretty great tones without ever using any of the amp sims, just the preamp on my interface and then through a rack of GR5 fxā€¦

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I didnā€™t know that! Iā€™ll give it a shot. Open Mike always popping up with the good advice. Thanks.

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The Strymons sound great in front of the Arrow with the Tweed 55 in Unison mode. At first I thought the Decoā€™s saturation sounded fizzy and horrible, but I realized that itā€™s pretty easy to overload the input on the Arrow, so once I backed that down everything sounds great. By adding just a touch of the doubling effect on the Deco you can really thicken the tone a lot and if you bump up the effect you can get into that 1950s Les Paul/Chet Atkins territory (not that I have 1% of their chops but I love that guitar sound).

I want to give the Oxide tape plug-in a try though and do some A/Bā€™ing with other UAD plugins (and now G5, thanks Mike!). It is tempting to make my buddy an offer and just park the three Strymons in front of the Arrow though. I lot could be done with those three boxes.

Thank you for this! This is really not at all that bad. Hmmm.

Yea, that is rough.
Iā€™m still on Waves v9.3 and Sierra.
And I kinda lucked out that I could stick with Sierra on the refurbished 2016 MBP I just bought.

I really wanted to give the Scheps Omni Channel a try, but that requires v10 and Iā€™d have to shell out a good bit to update my other plug-ins to v10. Real sticky program they got.

Donā€™t use the Waves Central Legacy installer. You donā€™t need to purchase WUP, you can still run 9.2 (and up to 9.9.2), just download the standalone installer for your plugins, and use the current Waves Central to install

https://www.waves.com/support/how-to-install-waves-v9-92

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My wife got me an Octatrack yesterday (LOVE!) and in trying to work out how to flexibly route my synths and vocal chains through to the octa for sampling I really frustrated with the lack of midi support in Apolloā€™s Console as I have to use the mouse to send individual tracks to Cue 3 (which Iā€™ve mirrored to Line Out 7-8, which goes into the Octatrackā€™s Input AB). Nearly pulled the trigger on a Console 1 Mk2 for that reason last night, but decided to sleep over it. so this morning I came up with a workaround.

I set up an instance of Ableton Live with minimal recording buffer (32 samples) as follows: All tracks on Console I am mirroring in Ableton accordingly (eg Analog 4 goes into Line In 1&2, so thereā€™s an audio track in Ableton with ext.in set to Line In 1&2 etc). Set monitoring for each track you want to be able to sample from to IN (in Ableton). Set up an AUX Track in Ableton that Iā€™ve called ā€œCue 3ā€. Set its behaviour to ā€œpreā€ (so that it sends the signal from track to aux regardless of the fader setting on the track being sent). Route the AUX Track ā€œCue 3ā€ to Apolloā€™s Virtual Inputs 1&2 (link them up in Console for stereo). In Console, set up a Cue (in my case Cue 3) that is set to ā€œCUEā€ (NOT ā€œMixā€) and mirrored to - in my case - Apolloā€™s Line Out 7&8 (or whatever line out your using). Now turn down the track fader for Virtual Input 1&2 all the way (otherwise the signal will end up in your main mix) and turn UP the Cue 3 Send fader (or whichever Cue you chose) for the same Virtual Input 1&2 track. donā€™t forget to set the Send behaviour to ā€œPreā€ in Console as well.

With this setup, any track I send to my Aux track ā€œCue 3ā€ in Ableton will be isolated for sampling in the Octatrack (or MPC1000 or whatever else you use for sampling) while the main mix remains up and running unchanged. And since Ableton can be controlled via MIDI, using a controller with MCU Control (or even just a regular controller with itā€™s faders/knobs mapped to the individual tracksā€™ Aux Channel Cue 3 sends) allows me to decide what to isolate for sampling on the fly by turning a knob on my midi controller.

Also worth mentioning that I am still running all ā€œmonitoringā€ / live signal through the Apollo Console, so thereā€™s no added latency to the main mix. And with the buffer set to the lowest (possible for your machineā€¦I run a speced out 2011 Macbook pro and 32 samples is just about ok) the audio going into the sampler wonā€™t suffer much latency either so sampling timing is still accurate.

hope this helps someoneā€¦I just wish UAD would enable / integrate MIDI or OSC control into Console, would turn it into a killer live rig & effects boardā€¦but ok.

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What are peopleā€™s thoughts on the SVT-VR? Iā€™m contemplating getting rid of my bass practice amp and just using the UAD.

I have also heard that some people say itā€™s one of the better amp models for guitar as well, particularly in terms of cleans. Iā€™m thinking I could skip upgrading the Marshall plugin and maybe just grab this for bass and hopefully for guitar as well.

If so I might be able sell my bass practice amp, my Tech 21 VT bass DI, and my Catalinbread SFT.

Iā€™ll answer my own question. I demoed the SVT VR, the Oxide, and the EMT140.

The Oxide doesnā€™t really do it for me so far. It doesnā€™t bring enough to justify the price for me. Perhaps Iā€™d like or of their other tape emulators better, but I donā€™t really have much spare processing power on the Arrow.

The SVT VR is fantastic. I almost like it more on guitar than bass (with the mids turned up and the high switch on). This will be a great alternative to the Fender Tweed, and with those two Iā€™m covered for the guitar tone Iā€™m into. With some reverb it can get really old school sounding, almost like something off of the Excello label. For bass, it will definitely cover the sounds I was getting with my pedals and I think I can safely get rid of my practice amp.

The jury is still out on the EMT140. The default setting is way over the top for guitar. I have found a couple of sounds I like, but I almost find the stock reverb that comes with the Arrow easier to dial in. Iā€™ll mess around with it more this weekend, as it may just be a case of me not knowing what Iā€™m doing yet. The bummer is that it takes up too much processing power to use with the Tweed, so I may have to give it a pass and stick with my Strymon. Weā€™ll see.

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Oxide is pretty subtle - I track with it often.

But the Ampex ATR-102 is amazing IMO : I have it strapped to my mixdown buss for everything, from warbly fuckedness to just lovely full mastered sound. worth every penny.

Nice Iā€™ll demo that one as well since I just got another $25 off coupon and the sale is still going.

Subtle is definitely the word for the Oxide. To be honest, Iā€™m usually more a fan of subtle effects than over-the-top stuff, but in this case it just wasnā€™t doing enough to make me think, ā€œwow, I need thisā€.

Oxide is the least subtle of the three tape emulations in my opinion! On a full mix it changes things pretty drastically. The Ampex is far gentler on a full mix. Studer somewhere in between. They all can be driven into the red though.

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ampex plug sounds so good. iā€™m using it on everything

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After years of using the EMT140 as my go-to plate, I have switched to Little Plate by Soundtoys. It just sounds lusher. For UAD verbs, the Lexicons and the AMS Neve are great though.

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Cheers, I think Iā€™m bumping up against the limits of my UAD processing power, so I may need to hold off for some of the nicer reverbs. If UAD comes out with a Thunderbolt 3 version of the Satellite, I could see myself picking up one down the line.

My buddy ended up giving me the Deco as a Christmas present, so for guitar at least, Iā€™ll stick with my three Strymons (Flint, El Cap, Deco) up front and use the Arrow for amp sim and preamp, EQ, etc.

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Question: what are peopleā€™s thoughts on the Century Tube Channel Strip? Does this bring much to the table that I wonā€™t get with the included analog classic bundle and the Neve preamp? It seems to get quite good reviews.

Iā€™m thinking about maybe grabbing one more plugin since they just added another 10% off to the holiday sale and I have a $25 off coupon. Itā€™s between this and the EM-140, as thatā€™s beginning to grow on me and I think it could be useful for running with my micā€™ed amps and on vocals.

Ah, uad do a great job at sucking people in with their coupons and 10% off deals!
Otherwise I donā€™t use any of the channel strips from uad, I just mix and match the comps/ eqs etc.
Iā€™ve heard great things about it tho.

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