2022 interface and DAW

[garp]

I am uad user since 1999 , one of the first uad1 user with lot of plug ins (and expense) and even winner of the uad mix contest against blockbuster productions of the time , and now i just tell you that they just .... SUCKS with nearly zero feedback on bugs and reports, i am just done with such scammers ! I have loads of problems using their hardware correctly without playing with bugs and limitations. I STRONGLY RECOMMAND NOT BUYING SUCH TRASH PRODUCTS

 

[kags]

I have good experiences in general with UAD hardware and software. They have had a few glitches, as do many software companies, which is frustrating when time is money (or creativity). That said, some UAD plugins have a limit on the sample rate they will process. For instance, in a session at, say 176 kHz or 192, the Manley Vari-Mu will down sample to 48 or 96 kHz ( I forget which). This was a deliberate decision by UAD to limit required processing power while maintaining sonic integrity, but it is not published and I only found this out because I noticed it during a mix. I happened to be watching an RTA for no particular reason during a 176 kHz project (don’t ask me why it was done at that rate). I contacted UAD and Manley and was told why this happens.

I’m otherwise happy with UAD, except we have bought into a Shark-based system that is long in the tooth.

While we have analog hardware that works for half a century, digital stuff is lucky to last a few OS updates….

 

[Script]

While we have analog hardware that works for half a century, digital stuff is lucky to last a few OS updates….

+1

 

[garp]

UAD hardware is full of bugs with AMD ryzen processor and the UAD2 Pci express even not regonized in my system that forced me to buy a Satellite quad that is working on even days ... sometimes. I bought my RME adi8 ds in 2003 and it's still in use 20 years later, proof that if they want, they can.

 

[Whoops]

I have two UAD Satellite units, one Quad and one Octo, they always worked flawlessly.
I also have 107 UAD plugins and never had any bug, all of them always worked great.
have this systems with pugins for the last 8 years.

UAD has the best plugin emulations of hardware in my opinion, the plugins sound fantastic.

As per my experience I can only recommend UAD products

 

[iomegaman]

I just picked up a second Satellite UAD Quad but it is also FireWire...so I have 2 Firewire extra DSP devices to go with the Ultimate 12 plugin package we have...

Here's the deal with UAD and computers: Non-Mac computers are always a crap shoot with Thunderbolt...FireWire still exists in the wild for PC's but Mac has depreciated it and the last UAD FW device requires Catalina or a Windows PC to run (we have one of each)...

So modern UAD Apollo devices that are thunderbolt will be a roll of the dice on a Windows PC since Intel owns and developed TB with Apple...it will require an INtel driver...gonna be a crapshoot with an AMD mobo...

So why in hell would I pick up ANOTHER quadcore FireWire satellite? Because it was only $60 and we have found a way to create a "UAD server machine" using DSP and going into our main DAW via Audiogridder or Dante if we need it...just upgraded AudioMovers Omnibus and it adds network AVB and NCI so we have 3 ways to network the DSP to our DAW if we want.

The guy who sold it just upgraded his Studio One daw and the firewire drivers no longer work for him...and frankly I don't think he knew how to use a Quad Satellite...he was only using it for the Marshall Amp plugin which is a terrible reason to own a legacy firewire device.

Along this thread I spent an entire weekend a few weeks ago trying to get Cakewalk Sonar X2 to work...I was an avid Cakewalk user with them when 12Tones sent the DAW out on floppy Disks...stayed with them up to Platinum...that program suck donkey balls now...crashed my computers so often I forgot that anormal screen was not all blue with white code dumps...

My Sonar download links still work and the program had great potential but Bandlab has spent the last 5 years doing bug updates...5 years of getting rid of buggy code and it still crashes my computer...I spent more on Cakewalk than any other DAW and oyu coud not pay me to use it...Avid looks like a saint compared to Bandlab...especially with the new suckscription model...at least Avid listens even if it does take several years to correct.

I paid for Reaper because I am a capitalist and it helps to have competition...but mainly we are a ProTools shop and Logic, then Luna...which is ok for tracking but absurd for anything else.

After doing this for over 20 years ProTools is actually the most sound DAW we have used as long as you follow their requirements...we just toss them $200 a year to stay current with our perpetual stuff and another $50 for the yearly plugin bundle...its relatively painless in the long run.

We're on modern Apple appliances, M1/M2's...but keep a hefty Mac Pro Cheese Grater with a thunderbolt card in it (titan Ridge) and an older Catalina Laptop as well as a Windows 10 machine just to port over projects from older DAWS/OS's...

I can't remember the last time we had any issues with our DAW or system...the biggest problem is obviously storage and we're planning on building/getting some kind of Network Attached storage server.

 

[Wavelength]

I have the Cosmos ADC in my regular test set. It does what it claims. Vey low noise and distortion. Frequency response is not too bad. From memory, the -3dB at 384kHz SR is 85kHz.

A bunch of my audio guys use the Cosmos with the autoleveler for testing and find it very good. Always wondering about autoleveling and digital guitar pedals. Are they using them or companders, or nothing???

 

[abbey road d enfer]

A bunch of my audio guys use the Cosmos with the autoleveler for testing and find it very good. Always wondering about autoleveling and digital guitar pedals. Are they using them or companders, or nothing???

Auto-levelling is a distant cousin of floating point, but when floating point is fast enough to be considered real-time, auto-levelling is a very slow process.
16+bit processing has enough resolution to preclude the need for any analog companding, but the early 8 to 14bit systems made use of companders.
Auto-levelling is needed in instrumentation because the range of measurement exceeds the dynamic range of even the best digital systems.

 

[Wavelength]

I would disagree completely. A compander and auto-leveling are pretty much the same. They take an input level and adjust to get the most bit wise information out of the signal and return it to the same level if output by a DAC.
There are no floating point ADC or DAC chips made. They are all either Linear, PCM or DSD and in any case to get them to floating point some DSP or Processor needs to make that conversion. BUT!!! the level is still the same and takes on no adjustment to the input or output of the analog signal. Therefore the conversion is not optimized to it's fullest.
Ok I design in three camps here, High End Audio, ProAudio and Guitar Amps and pedals. Take for instance the digital guitar pedal. Now this can be used in line with other pedals from the guitar to the amp. The signal can be really low. It can also be used in the FX loop which can be anywhere from 1Vac rms to 15Vac rms. This is where a compander or auto-leveling system is really required.
In the case of ProAudio (and limited High End Audio ADC units) the engineer is the auto-leveling as they would adjust the signal to optimize the input to the interface.
The only advantage that FP has is the conversion need not take place in the DAW.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I would disagree completely.

You may.

A compander and auto-leveling are pretty much the same.

The BIG difference is that one operates almost real-time (at least invisible to the user), when the other has to wait for a usable measurement to be made before making the decision to change gain.
A compander is not real-time perfect either. The effects of attack time are well-known.

They take an input level and adjust to get the most bit wise information out of the signal and return it to the same level if output by a DAC.

You completely misunderstand what I meant. I didn't say that converters produced FP output. I used FP as an example of dealing with a signal that has a range much higher that the media can provide.
An auto-leveller such as in Audio Precision manages to handle signals from about 250-300mV to 80-160V by scaling them in a signal path optimized for 250-300mV. In addition it signals the software its status, which allows it to calculate the actual input level.
An auto-leveller acts on the signal as a variable exponent, keeping the mantissa in an acceptable range, hence my comparrison with FP.
If the auto-leveller had a way of signalling its value, it could be used at the end of processing for restoring the actual level.

Now this can be used in line with other pedals from the guitar to the amp. The signal can be really low. It can also be used in the FX loop which can be anywhere from 1Vac rms to 15Vac rms. This is where a compander or auto-leveling system is really required.

You use compander and auto-leveller as if they were the same. I don't. Probably because I'm not an English native speaker.

 

[Newmarket]

I Take for instance the digital guitar pedal. Now this can be used in line with other pedals from the guitar to the amp. The signal can be really low. It can also be used in the FX loop which can be anywhere from 1Vac rms to 15Vac rms. This is where a compander or auto-leveling system is really required.

You're going to have other problems if your guitar / bass FX loop has a level hitting 15Vac RMS (>40V pk-pk).

 

[Wavelength]

You're going to have other problems if your guitar / bass FX loop has a level hitting 15Vac RMS (>40V pk-pk).

Sorry I don't offer FX loops because there is no specification and that's the problem.

 

[Newmarket]

Sorry I don't offer FX loops because there is no specification and that's the problem.

My point was that no fx loop loop on guitar / bass kit runs at "15Vac RMS".

 

[Wavelength]

My point was that no fx loop loop on guitar / bass kit runs at "15Vac RMS".

Matchless DC30 comes off the EF86 channel unbuffered. This is mentioned a ton of times on That Pedal Show and why Dan had this designed.
https://shop.thegigrig.com/collections/essentials/products/underliner

 

[Newmarket]

Fair enough. What sort of level coming out of that ?
Anyway I'll re-phrase : "no fx loop loop on guitar / bass kit that I can afford runs at "15Vac RMS"

 

[musipol]

With the majority of pedals operating from 9v supplies, that loop is truly a Kludge “above” all kludge’s.

 

[Pinokio]

not a small learning curve but great imo is reaper.
with a background in logic and pro tools. I think its nice how can tweak it to your needs.

 

[fazer]

not a small learning curve but great imo is reaper.
with a background in logic and pro tools. I think its nice how can tweak it to your needs.

Reaper is interesting and so customizable. I’m protools user but retired from the business now and debating renewal. Reaper has caught my eye.

 

[btyreman]

cubase user here for 20+ years, it's my favourite DAW, I won't change because I know all the shortcuts and commands. I'm a big fan of audient and SSL interfaces as well, I use the audient iD22, great AD/DA, preamps and very stable.

 

[Quantum J Audio]

I am uad user since 1999 , one of the first uad1 user with lot of plug ins (and expense) and even winner of the uad mix contest against blockbuster productions of the time , and now i just tell you that they just .... SUCKS with nearly zero feedback on bugs and reports, i am just done with such scammers ! I have loads of problems using their hardware correctly without playing with bugs and limitations. I STRONGLY RECOMMAND NOT BUYING SUCH TRASH PRODUCTS

Couldn’t disagree more