Hi!
I heard that if you own some of the plugins in UAD Spark, you can use them natively without paying the monthly subscription. That made me think... When I find a cheap offer on eBay or something, I could buy it and then use the plugins without the hardware?

Saldy i didn't find any information so I hope that someone here can help me.

 

From my understanding thats right. You dont need monthly subscription when you already bought those plugins already.

 

Yes, if you have UAD hardware then you can buy the plugins from their shop.
IF these plugins have been ported to spark, then all you need is iLok or cloud. And you have a perpertual licence for said plugins.
I'm currently mixing on the road with UAD plugins without any UA hardware...

They have a good sale right now. Saying that because it will cost a bit.

 

yes, if you own the plugins with the "hardware system" you can use all of them with Spark, freely and on (if I am not wrong) 3 devices. I use on 2.

I just dont understand what you mean with "buy on ebay", keep in mind that UAD plugins can't be sold WITHOUT THE HARDWARE. So if someone is trying to "sell a package of plugins" he probably doesnt know or more likely it is a scam

You can sell your ENTIRE package of plugins but only if you sell hardware registered on the same account. NOTE: "the WHOLE package" of plugins, you cant sell 1 or 2.

The chance is: to find a cheap Satellite PCI card, even a 2 COREs, with a bunch of plugins and then use it to run the Spark plugins natively.

SPOILER: it is not easy. The UAD workflow is a bit strange to understand until you are out of it... at least it was for me. I have been buying plugins before the Spark start, luckily all transfered to the new system, so I now use all "for free" and natively without limitations

 

Thank you! This was precisely the reply I'm looking for. As a long time UAD user, what is your opinion on the plugins?

 

Personally I haven't been a heavy user of UAD sound cards. Always ITB. But working with such beautiful plugins natively without limitations is definitely a great thing. At least for me.

 

You should check out YouTube for this one (Compare plugins to Waves, PA etc.).
UAD still have some plugins that are kinda "unique" i would say. For me just as an example the distressor comp is really sick.

And also in MY opinion, you sould be kinda experienced with mixing & mastering. If you dont know how to mix/master stuff properly you will not be able to pull out the full potential of those plugins. For example you should know what you can do with a pultec eq etc. and yea i know there are also for some plugins good alternatives out there but still.

So yeah in my opinion when you decide to get UAD stuff you should be good in mixing/mastering because if you dont know how to use a specific hardware emulation you could also just use for example a normal stock EQ/Comp.

 

I've been on the UAD ecosystem since 2014. I haven't really used my Spark plugins that much. The plugins are great, as much as Waves or Brainworx, or Softube. The important thing for me is recording tracks with the plugins on, committing to the sound on the way in, and getting 2ms of latency if the system is well setup. On the computer roundtrip I can go as low as 32ms, 16 if I record at 96kbps. My computer is a 2014 Mac Mini and I get to fare as well as with an HD system.

I agree with @luminosity. The Distressor is so good. The Massive Passive and the Culture Vulture are also second to none in the plugin world. I haven't checked lately, but I guess those plugins haven't been ported to the Spark environment. Have they?

 

Interesting! I tried the UAD spark and I liked the compressors, the tape and the reverb, but I think they could improve the interfaces, for example: a real dry/wet knob on the reverb, not these buttons.

There are Plugins that i use since years because they are so good (soundtoys) and because of echo boy I was never even looking for another delay. With compressors and reverbs, this is not so easy.

My goal is to find a Plugin suite that ends my GAS like soundtoys did with echoboy... If just they would add the distressor to spark already.

 

thats another game : )

I am not telling that I dont wanna talk about this topic, many people consider UAD as just hype, but Spark is giving the chance to everyone to try before buy. It's annoying sometimes to talk publicly about UAD plugins because who doesnt own it tend to say "its just merketing hype" and stuff like that. When I entered the UAD world it was a bet, but now I can say that I won it.

It's not true that the plugins are more expensive than all the other best developers, if you are good and patience you can buy during time using the monthly discount they give you and the opportunities during the year. Also, the demo system gives you the chance to try the plugins deeply before buying.

The sound? Oh well, some plugins just sound magical, cant explaine better. Other plugins sound "normal", but the average is very high. I also like the graphics, have to say, all cloned 100% from the machines. It is also on old resolutions, have to say, you cant change the dimensions, but who cares, all are big enough

The support is very very good, they answer whitin 1 day or 2, sometimes faster if you have an urgent problem.

I can only say that it is a good investment

 

uad spark has big issue on pc user at the moment after there updating . and they can't fix it ,,if any body from the community can share the older vst3 files would mean a lot , or at list preserve that. as it turn out replacing the old version would solve the problem

 

Yes, that's true. They really f**ked up whole SPARK for Windows with latest update
Go to UAD forums and look for the thread "CPU usage skyrockets after latest SPARK update"

One of the members posted the possible workaround and the link with older VST3 files.

I am not planning to use this method personally. But I am giving UA support hard press to fix this sh*t ASAP.