Time for a UAD card?

Hi all,
I've decided to sell my Mackie Control Universal Pro. It's too unstable in Sonar and my recent touch screen purchase has negated a lot of what I used the MCU for.
 
I've had an eye on UAD stuff for a long time, and I'm wondering if now is the time to buy one with the cash raised from the MCU? There are so many options that I honestly get confused. I hear that with some cards you'll only run a few instances of a plug and the card is maxed. I have a powerful machine and never stress with tons of native stuff, so I am concerned about the UAD limitations. I know a lot of you have them, so I figured I'd ask here for advice on getting into the UAD world...

I've been a long time user of UAD and they, by and large, are top notch plugs. However, with only a handful of exceptions, I would not recommend buying into the system now. Their plugs are too expensive compared to other top notch vendors (I.e. Fabfilter, Waves, Nomad Factory,etc...) and require an expensive "dongle" to boot.

Just my two cents. YMMV.

Thanks guys! I searched this forum before I posted and there were similar threads but a few years old. Seems you guys haven't changed your minds in that time. I see that the razor is expensive as well as the blades to get into this. :) Maybe I'll pick up a single core used to just play around with it a bit...

I only have a solo card and there are some plugins I really like (DBX-VCU, the EMT reverbs, Harrison/Pultec EQs). I think if you can be patient and disciplined enough to buy the plugs you want when they go on sale, it's a good deal. If I were starting over I would have waited until they were giving away a duo or quad with a mic preamp/channel strip and jumped on board then.

Thanks Larry - looks like he only ships in Europe. I'm going to look into transfer fees on UAD stuff. As the rest of the guys say - it looks like it can be really expensive. If picking plugs up used is an option, that would make it more attractive...
 
Craig, have you found the solo card to be limiting in resources?

No worries at all, thanks for looking! :)

I've gotten my UAD Solo and Quad cards as premiums when buying other pieces of UA hardware.  The Solo was free with the UA 710 preamp and the Quad was free with the UA 6176 channel strip.
 
I've bought some UAD-2 plugins and I really like them.  UA is sending me discount codes on a fairly regular basis and I use them in conjunction with seasonal sales.  I don't think I've paid full price on any of them.
 
But you have to be patient.

smallstonefan
 Craig, have you found the solo card to be limiting in resources?

Yep - even though I have pretty old UAD plugins, I can't run as many of them as I'd like. And only having a solo means I wouldn't even think about buying any of the power-hungry plus.
 

if you need DSP or cpu power : yes , if not , stay away .....in the native world you will loose nothing and if you think those plugins will make you mix better , the problem is not plugins ;) 
 
great acoustic, monitor , layout , ergonomy , ect ..will make an higly underesimated diffrence !!

smallstonefan
mod bod - you have any issues running a solo card?

No, not any other than it made a quad card attractive. 
 
BTW, I love the Cooper Time Cube delay and the EMT 140 plate reverb.  Catch those when they are on sale.

There are so many great UAD plug-ins, it's difficult for me to imagine working without them.
 
Among my favorites (this week anyway) are the Cooper Time Cube, the dBX 160, the 1176, the EMT 140 plate, the Cambridge EQ, and... well, those are my favorites. I have a pair of the Solo cards, and my only regret is that I can't pick up an Octo today.
 
There are a handful of plug-ins that are available in both UAD and native formats, and since I am a little light on UA DSP power I use the Maag EQ and SPL Transient Designer as native plug-ins today.
 
I've been using UAD plug-ins since the days when they were sold by Mackie... so I might be biased.

I bit on the recent UAD Octo sale (with the $700 coupon) and was sold by the EMT plates, Lex 224, etc. Look to be using them quite a bit this summer.
 
Anyone use the UAD's Neve collection? They weren't on sale this past month and decided to consider it for their next sale. I already have the Waves V-Series and the Scheps 73 and don't know if it's worth adding those. I did get the Neve 33609.

Kroneborge
With a baby on the way, I'm afraid there went my music budget...

AND HOW...start hiding pennies now...

yorolpal
I've been a long time user of UAD and they, by and large, are top notch plugs. However, with only a handful of exceptions, I would not recommend buying into the system now. Their plugs are too expensive compared to other top notch vendors (I.e. Fabfilter, Waves, Nomad Factory,etc...) and require an expensive "dongle" to boot.

Just my two cents. YMMV.

Ditto.  I finally sold mine when I found it would cost me $300 to get more than 2-3 reverbs at a time.  That would pay for the Lexicon PCM Native pack.

My card shows up today - WOOT!
 
I'm most interested in trying the Echoplex. I have an EP3 that I FREAKING LOVE and nothing has captured it yet. The IK version is probably the closest so far and I think I can tweak Echoes a bit more, but really nothing can match the real thing. This card would be worth the purchase if the Echoplex is that faithful.
 
Related story...
I once needed some tapes for my Echoplex a few years back and bought from a company that I knew was run by Mike Battle's son. Mike Battle was the original creator of the Echoplex. The tapes didn't arrive, so I called to ask about it one evening. A lady answered the phone and I asked her about tapes. I heard her move the phone away from her face and say something like "dad, there's someone here asking about their tapes" and I said "OMG are you talking to Mike Battle? Can I talk to him?" She was surprised but put him on, and he was surprised too. :) I told him he had a bunch of fans in Omaha and we were greatful for this awesome device he built and that we kept them going still. He passed away a year or two later. I hope I always remember this story - it happened so fast and was just so cool...