considering a second card.. should a Powercore be included?

[Jlacck]

I know this is a UAD-1 Forum, and I'm considering buying a second UAD-1 card in the very near future. However I'm trying to decide if I should also pick up one of those Powercore Elements that are still floating around. (or perhaps get the Powercore in lue of a second UAD-1 card).

However, my question is... in your opinions, do you think the Powercore is really worth it now a days. In several forums, people seem to knock TC for their outrageous prices (at least in comparision to UAD-1) yet those who can afford it still say they only use it for a few plug ins. So based on that, my perception is:

1.) either the Powercore is worth those few plugs that some people seem to be partial to, or
2.) its probably a waste of money if its only good couple for a few plug ins.

I'm mainly looking for something to handle vocal reverbs (to take the heat off my lone UAD-1 card and my PC's CPU) as well as a few more flavors of EQ. Powercore would seem to fit the bill, but I don't know how their standard EQs sound. Can anyone offer a bit of insight as to some ways to spend an extra $300-$500 for my DSP needs?

 

[.mr chris]

we have 4 UADs and 2 PoCos ATM. this might be a *hint* 8)

 

[Jlacck]

Hello Mr. Chris. Would you care to explain a little bit about how you are using the powercore in conjunction with the UAD-1. I understand that they compliment each other pretty well, but are there any areas where they overlap?

 

[Akis]

I have 2xUAD-1 and 2 Powercores (mkI and II).

I mainly use the UAD's for:

1176LN
LA-2A
Fairchild
Plate 140
Some Nigel FX modules
CE-1
RS-1

I mainly use the Powercores for:

VSS3
DVR2
NonLin2
ClassicVerb
MegaReverb
Virus
Powercore 01
TC EqSat
TC ChorusDelay
Sony EQ
Sony Dynamics
Tubifex
Intonator

I guess you get the picture...

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

Personally, there are only a couple Powercore plug-ins that I use all the time (VSS3 & MD3). However, I really do use them all the time, with every mix I do. People who own the Oxford Inflator consider it indispensable, as well.

Regarding the PoCo plug-in prices, most of them go for $179 so it's not a big difference from the UA plugs, although the ones mentioned above are pricey (figures, eh?). Then again, before VSS3 came out, Classicverb was IMO the best software reverb available so you're still good right out of the box. The 247 is a great alternative to the UAD-1 compressors.

 

[RobPain]

My opinion is that the Powercore is worth it. I think the higher end models are cheaper than a year or two ago (although you can easily spend the difference on the plugins that are available). Yes, the plugins can look expensive if you try and compare them to UAD's offerings, but the other way of looking at it is compared to the hardware you'd otherwise have to buy to get the same quality, a Powercore and some optional plugins represents good value for money. That's my opinion anyway

In terms of vocal reverbs, I take it you want to try some flavours other than the Plate-140? In that case, you probably can't go wrong with VSS3. And as Eric said, even Classicverb is very good.

Moving on to EQs, the EQSat plugin is pretty good out of the box. For me though the Sony Oxford EQ is amazing. If you want new flavours, the URS plugins seem to be well rated so make sure you investigate them too.

If you're thinking about Powercore, the plugins that you simply cannot get equivalents of in the native or UAD world are the reverbs, the Sony Oxford plugins and MD3. OK, that may not be a comprehensive list, but those are (for me) the most notable.

 

[Jlacck]

hmm...., it sounds like the Powercore's forte seems to be more less as a reverb card. I personally don't use a lot of reverb in my mixes but my engineer does. So I'm basically looking for more tools to use so that he can have more items at his disposal when I bring him in to touch up my mixes.

I tried the UAD-1 Plate, but I couldn't get my hands around how to use it so my demo trial came and went without me having a chance to really know what it sounds like. I haven't even demoed my Dreamverb yet. However, my understand is that it is adequate as a reverb plug.

I guess its true as they seem to say... UAD for comps and EQ, Powercore for reverbs.

 

[.mr chris]

PoCo ONLY: Sony Inflator, Sony Transmod, TC Helicon Intonator HS, Character and yes, the classicverb is also cool

and yes, I will buy more UAD cards as soon as the 4 cards per system driver limit is \"history\"...

and yes, sooner or later you will *want* to have the URS everything EQs and the Comps...

and check out Princton Digital's, Room2016


HTH,
.chris

 

[Rich_Elam]

\"Regarding the PoCo plug-in prices, most of them go for $179 so it's not a big difference from the UA plugs\"

Am I missing something? When I look at the TC site, everything is at least $250 (and anything really good is way more). Should I be buying from somewhere else?

 

[Akis]

Yes, you should be buying from JRR. They usually list them for $199 and after the 10% forum discount (just type 'forum' in the coupon section of the on-line ordering form) it goes down to $179. They ship them via e-mail, so you pay no shipping/tax.