Does UA have enough pedals to put out a Multi-FX/Modeler?
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MirrorProfiles
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In 2025, I totally agree. And UA clung onto old school pricing using the success of their Apollo interfaces to justify recording through DSP plugins without noticeable latency. There are still some situations where that can be useful but it certainly didn’t need to be the only approach for them for so long.
But going back 15-20 years all plugins were way more expensive and you’d typically pay twice as much on top of those expensive plugins for Pro Tools TDM versions (which were DSP powered and required additional hardware to run a limited number on). UA are far from the only company to transition from selling $300+ plugins to selling for $29 - it’s almost an industry wide trend for every single plugin company that has been around since those days.
Check out these (especially TDM) prices:
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“ If I was an SSL aficionado I’d be hard pressed to make a decision between the Waves Native SSL plug-in collection and the DSP-driven SSL Duende. Both offer great plug-ins at not-so-competitive prices. I guess that’s my major gripe: the price. The Duende gives you two plugs-ins for $2299 and the Waves SSL 4000 Collection gives you three plugs for either $2795 (TDM) or $1395 (Native) – pretty expensive when you consider the Universal Audio UAD-1 and TC Electronic Powercore (both of which are cheaper and give you a greater selection of plug-ins out of the box). Having said that, if you must have some SSL in your arsenal but can’t afford to scrape together the thousands needed for even the most clapped-out SSL hardware, the Waves SSL 4000 Collection is an excellent place to start.”
UA being considered expensive is more to do with them stubbornly not getting with the times, largely because people were still happy to pay more for their plugins vs the competition. They’d worked themselves into being desirable, much in the way customers are happy to pay more for Fractal in return for knowing they have the highest quality from a reputable company.
QQQ
Roadie
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FTW!!
Most talk about the lack of midi, lack of updates and anything else but actual tone/sound.
I don't really disagree with any of the complaints presented, but they IMO are the best sounding on the market as far a digital goes.
Every choice in the end is a compromise. I'll use whatever fits best the gig I'm in that's within my budget.
I don't really disagree with any of the complaints presented, but they IMO are the best sounding on the market as far a digital goes.
Every choice in the end is a compromise. I'll use whatever fits best the gig I'm in that's within my budget.
Whether they are the best sounding is debatable. Is that a blanket statement that applies to all UA pedals or are you referring to a specific amp model?
Richard_G
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Btw @Tito83 — I seem to recall that one of the things you like about the UAFX amp pedals is their input sections and how they connect/react to your guitar. What real tube amps do you like the input section of — i.e., what do you compare the UAFX amp pedals to?
PS: This is not a “trick question.” I own and love an Enigmatic pedal (and used to own a Dream and a Ruby as well). I’m genuinely curious.
PS: This is not a “trick question.” I own and love an Enigmatic pedal (and used to own a Dream and a Ruby as well). I’m genuinely curious.
ian_dissonance
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it’s weird to think that others copied them in copying hardware.
Are they?
Richard_G
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I’d love to get tips on things that are genuinely better. I’m not talking about things that just come with less hassle or are cheaper, but things that are truly better.
nicolasrivera
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They’ve got to sort out the MIDI problems first. After that, they can move on to designing the multi-FX unit.
sashimi
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I do think UAD plugin emulations of their own compressors and many EQs and channel strips, reverbs, and tape emulation are better than a lot of the competitors I have tried. But when it comes to amp modeling I am not totally convinced.
And with regard to the original question, is there enough for a full blown modeler? Not even close, what do they have, 5 or 6 amp modeling pedals? They would get ripped to shreds by critics if they released an all in one modeler with 5 amp models.
And with regard to the original question, is there enough for a full blown modeler? Not even close, what do they have, 5 or 6 amp modeling pedals? They would get ripped to shreds by critics if they released an all in one modeler with 5 amp models.
In the way I'm saying, no, there's no debate. It's IMO, and that's it. There's only "I play, if I like A better than B, then that's it". Before going digital I spent years playing amps through a reactive load with IR's and everything was great. I thought "If that's ok, then a real top tier modeler will also work" and I was mistaken. After an Axe-fx Standard, Helix and Fm3, none gave me the same tone or feel. UA was the one that it for me. And I don't really even care for measuring X or Y, that's not how I chose my favorite icecream, that's also not how I think about sound.
I like every amp food group. They're just for different things. Different tools for different jobs. There's no point in giving a Vox AC30 to a metal player, just like giving a Dual Rectifier to a traditional blues player.
I just think every UA offering sound and feel very very familiar to what I know similar real life amps sound and feel. That's it.
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Richard_G
Roadie
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You are probably right. And it is sad, really. Too many people count the number of amp models and think that’s the most relevant metric.
I know, I know — we all pick our 5–10 go-to amp models, and those choices will differ. So yes, we want to choose our 5–10 from a large pool of options. I agree. I’ve been a Fractal user and fan for close to two decades. I like that approach.
But it’s still sad if a product were to be deemed irrelevant just because it only had five amp sims — even if those were fantastic, flexible, and covered the ‘major food groups’.
MirrorProfiles
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Look at the IK, Arturia and Slate product lines and tell me with a straight face that they didn’t even slightly look at what UAD offer and think “we should release a native version”. There’s tons of others who’ve followed their product line as a blueprint, its more than 1176/pultec/la2a’s being mainstays in studios.
Competition is good, but it’s definitely a case of a lot of them looking over their shoulder at UAD. I’ve heard directly from several other companies where they’re directly comparing their own products to UAD’s as far as a reliable benchmark to validate their accuracy.
Things are definitely more even now, but it’s still rare that other companies do a better version than UA’s own. Usually, at best it’s equally as good (speaking more about their product line in general than just amp sims). Do you disagree?
