UAD-1 vs. host based plug ins

Aside from performance improvements, do the UAD plug-ins sound "better" than host based plugs such as Voxengo, Waves, Sonitus and PSP Audioware? I am trying to decide if I should take the leap into UAD-1 world for the increase in performance, but if the plug-ins are a step up from the ones I mentioned, that would convince me. Any thoughts from those that use both?

My experience is YES, but the UAD plugins a far fewer than Waves. I do not think you can get getter compressors (LA2A, 1176, Fairchild) in any other type of plugin. The Precision Limiter is also very highly regarded. Even more so than the L2 and L3.

Many of the EQ's are very good too. The Cambridge is excellent. Other than that (EQ & Compressors) the other plugins are very good, maybe comparable to the other plugs.

How are the reverbs?

They're good. The Plate 140 is really nice. If you can swing it, get the studio PAK.

Thanks,

ORIGINAL: j boy

Assuming that they would charge enough dough to satisfy their accountants, why doesn't UAD offer their plugins in a native version (for laptop applications)... anybody got any insight?

Because the UAD-1 card works as a dongle. Some claim that is why the can put the effort into developing such nice effects.

I got one UAD-1 card for their compressors and Pultec, and I got the TC Powercore for the reverbs. It seems to be the general opinion that it is along these lines the two competitors beat each other. Still they both have great effects in all areas. UAD-1 colored/vintage ones, and Powercore clean and transparent. You will soon discover that you run out of resources with just one card, so I decided to do it this way with two cards.

i'll be the contrarian here .. I did the UAD Ultrapak .. and it's on Ebay ... I never warmed
to it and with the exception of the Plate 140, plug-in to plug-in, the Waves stuff sounds
better to me. Plus, you can't just get one UAD .. you run out of gas on one UAD
pretty darn quick (at least with my typical usage).

So, I'm gonna spend the money on software and CPU rather than special hardware for a bit.
I like what I'm hearing better and it's a more general solution (IMHO).

Lastly, I do a lot of stuff on my laptop .. the UAD is a very poor choice for this type of
setup. I know they have some weird kind of toaster box you can drag around .. but
that sort of defeats the purpose of a portable rig. And having to mix stuff on the
one box that has the hardware doesn't make me happy. So, I'll chalk it up to
a learning experience.

jeff
ps: i'll let the Waves haters tell you why it sucks .. cause dongles just don't tick me
off that much.

I stayed with all native plugs (mostly Voxengo) because I didn't want the hassle of tracking latency issues or hardware configuration. I know each generation of PC hardware will get faster, so my plug in performance will only improve over time, whereas UAD performance will stay the same.

On a separate thread I got some great feedback on native coloration EQ's that are up there with UAD (URS, Hydratone).

I have not heard of any native comp that matches the UAD, but if anyone has suggestions, please post!

I got one UAD-1 card for their compressors and Pultec, and I got the TC Powercore for the reverbs

I have heard this over and over as well. I started to get the Powercore as well and then UAD came out with the Plate 140. But I would like to hear powercores. THink I'll check it out now-but it's expensive isn't it?