Kevin Reiter
Member
I really love this company for their products and all the quality they put into their products. I have the 2-610 preamp and 2 UAD-1 cards which i like a lot.
What i don't understand: most of the people here in the forum seem to nearly explode when there is a new Namm Show and can't wait for UA to release new products. And in the last months i read a lot of people complaining about the lack of power of the UAD-1, they should raise the card limit, that they sell old technology, they will loose customers, etc.
A Nemann U-47 tube mic is very old technology. But it sounds phantastic. Yes there are modern mics with less noise floor, more features that cost not very much.
But there are people who still spend 4-8 thousand dollars for a 60 year old mic and make great records.
Why is that?
The EMT 250 or the 140 reverbs are considered as some of the best sounding reverbs. People pay 8-10 thousand for a working EMT 250.
And imagine: They can use only ONE instance in their mixing sessions !!!
ONE !! Its not very mobile, cause its so heavy. You have to be careful with them.
Think about that.
A lot of great engineers tell you in interviews, they use as little EQ as possible for normal corrective EQ approach. Bruce Swedien says he almost never uses compression (because of the loss of transients and the killing of the overall drama of the music).
I tell you what:
If i had the luck to own 2 great Neve preamps i would just love them and respect them. They do not have all the new features like DA conversion, soft limiter, deesser, whatsoever. but they just sound great.
for me it's just the same with the UAD-1. I really like the fact that it is a cheap old video chip that runs the best plugins that i know.
When mixing mostly i choose a UA plugin first, because they sound very musical to my ear. They sound as if they are done for making music and i realize, that the people who developed those plugins are not just simple technical people. They have good sets of ears.
I would not sell an old U-47 or an old Neve preamp, just because there are more powerful, feature loaded new preamps.
Slow is good!
Don't get crazy if you own a 2 Ghz Computer with 4 UADs and a POCO and UA needs another year for a more powerful solution.
Thats a lot of power! I only have 2 cards. They could be faster maybe, i don't know.
If i run out of UAD-power i have to use my creativity and my imagination. Thats a fact that really turns me on. I like challenges and i like limitations.
They let you get creative. how do do what you want with the limit you have. And the brain starts working. Isn't that great.
I doesn't mean that this is the easy way...
How did the people that recorded the first hendrix album or the beatles with just 4 tracks and some EQ and 4 compressors (not on every channel).
Led Zeppelin on 8 or 16 track. listen to dark side of the moon.
It's the way how the people that used the (limited) equipment, that made those records possible.
For me the UAD-1 plugins sound really great, most of the plugs are version 1.0 not in 3.2.11r4.
Just put in one of those fantastic underpowered cards in your computer and use your ears. The sound is wonderful.
And they will sound wonderfull in 10 years from now with the same old underpowered video-chip. Thank you for that fact.
Kevin from Berlin
What i don't understand: most of the people here in the forum seem to nearly explode when there is a new Namm Show and can't wait for UA to release new products. And in the last months i read a lot of people complaining about the lack of power of the UAD-1, they should raise the card limit, that they sell old technology, they will loose customers, etc.
A Nemann U-47 tube mic is very old technology. But it sounds phantastic. Yes there are modern mics with less noise floor, more features that cost not very much.
But there are people who still spend 4-8 thousand dollars for a 60 year old mic and make great records.
Why is that?
The EMT 250 or the 140 reverbs are considered as some of the best sounding reverbs. People pay 8-10 thousand for a working EMT 250.
And imagine: They can use only ONE instance in their mixing sessions !!!
ONE !! Its not very mobile, cause its so heavy. You have to be careful with them.
Think about that.
A lot of great engineers tell you in interviews, they use as little EQ as possible for normal corrective EQ approach. Bruce Swedien says he almost never uses compression (because of the loss of transients and the killing of the overall drama of the music).
I tell you what:
If i had the luck to own 2 great Neve preamps i would just love them and respect them. They do not have all the new features like DA conversion, soft limiter, deesser, whatsoever. but they just sound great.
for me it's just the same with the UAD-1. I really like the fact that it is a cheap old video chip that runs the best plugins that i know.
When mixing mostly i choose a UA plugin first, because they sound very musical to my ear. They sound as if they are done for making music and i realize, that the people who developed those plugins are not just simple technical people. They have good sets of ears.
I would not sell an old U-47 or an old Neve preamp, just because there are more powerful, feature loaded new preamps.
Slow is good!
Don't get crazy if you own a 2 Ghz Computer with 4 UADs and a POCO and UA needs another year for a more powerful solution.
Thats a lot of power! I only have 2 cards. They could be faster maybe, i don't know.
If i run out of UAD-power i have to use my creativity and my imagination. Thats a fact that really turns me on. I like challenges and i like limitations.
They let you get creative. how do do what you want with the limit you have. And the brain starts working. Isn't that great.
I doesn't mean that this is the easy way...
How did the people that recorded the first hendrix album or the beatles with just 4 tracks and some EQ and 4 compressors (not on every channel).
Led Zeppelin on 8 or 16 track. listen to dark side of the moon.
It's the way how the people that used the (limited) equipment, that made those records possible.
For me the UAD-1 plugins sound really great, most of the plugs are version 1.0 not in 3.2.11r4.
Just put in one of those fantastic underpowered cards in your computer and use your ears. The sound is wonderful.
And they will sound wonderfull in 10 years from now with the same old underpowered video-chip. Thank you for that fact.
Kevin from Berlin
