Totally agree with Freddie here, the dsp card thing is no longer the viable path it used to be.

And while I do understand Craigs points about UAD business decisions, I have to say I disagree with these decisions and do not see them as purely business advancements.

The "model" UAD sold ALL of us, is a dsp card that they would write plug-ins for.

SO we buy the cards, buy the software...

I have PCI and a PCI-x cards all UAD-1 software.

So lets think through the business model here...

I do understand the idea that making computer hardware is a limited opportunity window, you need to make hardware for time-limited platforms because of how quickly the technology changes...I get that.

But we have had 64 bit architecture for as long as we have had PCI-X...it has been a clear market path for EVERY platform that 64bit was the future and this information is old old hat.

So UAD supports pci-1e (or express whichever you prefer) with new hardware, this is a bus technology was always 64 bit...it is not simply legacy 32...

Here's my point, there is no reason to limit the delivery of 32 bit into a 64 bit environment, they have been doing it for years, and yes its not exactly apples to apples, I understand the underlying OS makes difference, however to no longer support UAD-1 in a 64 bit environment is not simply a "coding" issue because they have delivered PCI-e which required some sort of coding "wrapper" to get the stuff across the bus in the first place.

This is where I go back the the model they sold us..."We give you hardware and write code for it across a lot of platforms, we do our best to support this in a ton of hardware environments, and we give you software that uses our hardware in you machine"

Its hardware PLUS software if it wasn't my LA2A and 3A and Precision Eq and PLate 140 would have come free with a higher hardware cost...the implied model says I am not just buying HARDWARE I am also buying CODE...

If they stopped supporting the actual physical hardware, saying we have no control over how clean your electricity is, therefore our capacitors are not warrantied, no one would buy their stuff...

I see the software argument as no different.

A case has been made about legacy hardware...but UAD-1 is not simply pci hardware, it is also pci-e and it is software...if they are still supporting the bus architecture with hardware, then by default the software should be supported as well.

There are plenty of current motherboards that will utilize a UAD-1e card...you can go online and buy a UAD-1e card at Guitar Center NEW for about 2k...and for the record you do not buy the card from them anyway you buy it from a dealer, so the UAD-2 card is bought the same way, ALWAYS from a dealer never direct.

We can pretend this is just a business decision that is about evolving technology, but it isn't that cut and dried...

If UAD needed to stop support for the UAD-1 then they should stop selling it NOW...

But I notice they have not.

The fact that the UAD-1 is still on the market from authorized dealers tells me that is NOT about support/code/progress...it is about money.

Which I will not be giving them anymore of.

As a customer you have the responsibility to spend your money where you see fit, where you get the most use for your investment. I have no issue with anyone that is upset with UA's decision concerning the UAD-1 card.

But I do take exception to people who wish to tell UA how to run their business. We run into this all the time, many of the developers that we depend on make decisions that infuriate us. So be furious, vote with your wallet! But can we maybe dial back the meanness just a little?

And for those who find native plug-ins that meet their requirements I say good for you!

But again I think a little civility wouldn't hurt!

To my ears there is nothing on the market that sounds as good as the UA versions of hardware like the 1176, dBX 160, Lexi 224, Ampex and Studer tape decks, etc. I'm not saying your ears are made of some soft metal, or that your taste is in your mouth... I'm only saying that to my ears I prefer the UA emulations over any that I've tried, and I have tried many, whenever demos are provided. And it's probably important to note that I grew up with a lot of this hardware, and that working with tape and very limited quantities of hardware has certainly shaped my workflow, and informed my tastes.

FWIW, I do not think that the UA emulations are the end-all of plug-ins. I still use plug-ins from Waves, PSP, Voxengo, dbAudioware, Cakewalk, and even my Kjaerhus stuff, which I realize will eventually have to go away. In fact I only use the UA compressors when I want the track to sound like it went through some specific piece of hardware. Most of the time I use Voxengo Crunchessor, the Kjaerhus Golden Compressor, or Waves C family of compressors because they do things that the old hardware won't do. But none of them will do what the UA emulations will do...

It's good to have so many choices!!!! ESPECIALLY if you can remember having only two or three compressors for 8 tracks<G>!

I hope I didn't come across as uncivil, that is not my intent, I was simply suggesting that the UAD business decision cannot be laid at the feet of simply changing market technology.

You cannot buy Windows 2k from Microsoft, since they no longer support it they no longer sell it.

UAD should do the same.

If it is purely a hardware/code issue with advancing platform incompatibilities then by all means stop support, but stop selling it through your vendors as well.

And here's a little prediction for all the UAD fans, there will come a day when they no longer support UAD-2...in fact they may make a decision to stop selling DSP stuff altogether.

Based on the business model that most people seem to be supporting here...they could do it tomorrow with absolutely NO responsibility to you the customer...and you would all be ok with it.

Apparently.

I don't recall exactly which post caused me to post about civility...

Here's the thing - UA has discontinued selling the UAD-1 card some time ago. If some vendors still have them in stock there is probably nothing UA can to to prevent them from selling them.

And, if you want to, you can still use the UAD-1 and ALL the plug-ins that were supported on the UAD-1 by simply using any version of the software prior to V6.1. I may even give it a spin, since my slave machine is XP/SP3/x86.

What you can't do, post v6.1, is run a mixed system. You need to use v6.4 or later if you want the 64 bit drivers and plug-ins. And I think the 64 bit drivers were part of one of the earlier versions, probably the one where they dropped the UAD-1 card.
Do I wish I could still use my UAD-1 and GigaStudio3... you bet. Am I a little torqued that I can't? On yeah!

But at least UA seems to be on-the-ball enough to stay in business...

You might want to report people still selling the UAD-1 cards... I don't think that's kosher.

All of the major vendors are still selling UAD-1, hence my main point.

ALL MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS FOR UAD...

Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Zzsounds, Musicians Friend...

This is about money.

And to note, they haven't even discounted the price...you still pay the premium cost for the card/pak/software.

But I dare you to buy it NEW today install it and update.

I'm just suggesting this is less than honorable and UAD is not clean in this.

Indeed !!

Shoddy business practices continue...

Digging my Slate VTM - my exodus off UAD has begun.

Just saw that indeed you CAN buy brand spankin' new UAD1s from Guitar Center.  YIKES.

http://www.guitarcenter.c...WRWXGP&cagpspn=pla

Psychobillybob


If UAD needed to stop support for the UAD-1 then they should stop selling it NOW...

But I notice they have not.

The fact that the UAD-1 is still on the market from authorized dealers tells me that is NOT about support/code/progress...it is about money.

Which I will not be giving them anymore of.

To be fair...UA stopped selling UAD-1 cards around four years ago. The only UAD-1 related product GC is selling (because I presume it's the only one left in inventory) is the "extreme pack," which had ALL UAD-1 plug-ins current as of version 4.5. That version was released in November 2006. The fact that it's still "on the market" means it's been sitting on GC's shelves a long (long) time, not that UA is still selling them.

While it's conceivable that someone who's committed to a 32-bit system might consider paying $2K for a UAD-1 card and all 4.5 plug-ins on the assumption it would be amortized over a period of a couple years, I think it far more likely that any remaining extreme packs will be blown out before too long just to get them out of inventory.

Psychobillybob


All of the major vendors are still selling UAD-1, hence my main point.

ALL MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS FOR UAD...

Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Zzsounds, Musicians Friend...

This is about money.

And to note, they haven't even discounted the price...you still pay the premium cost for the card/pak/software.

But I dare you to buy it NEW today install it and update.

I'm just suggesting this is less than honorable and UAD is not clean in this.

Your premise is wrong. Neither Sweetwater nor zZounds have any UAD-1 cards for sale. If you search for UAD1 or UAD-1 on the Sweetwater site, you're re-directed to UAD-2 products. On zZounds, you're directed to a product landing page which says the UAD-1 has been discontinued, and recommends alternatives.

I went to google and did price searches. The ONLY references I could find to UAD-1 cards for sale was the single outdated item at GC/MF, and used versions on eBay.

The UAD-1 card has been a dead product for a long time. That doesn't mean UA shouldn't support it, which is a separate issue. But your claims regarding it being sold currently by UA to all their major distributors, and therefore the conclusions you derive from those claims, are wrong.

How about Lick my love pump, or shark sandwich?