Metaphoric. Mostly aimed at adding numerous sorts of subtle impurities to make sound 'slightly esoteric'.
Overcomplicated design with plenty of 'unclassified' controls, in the end having their own share in overall distortion.

 

When i compared UBK-1 to Arousor and SKnote Disto, it was obvious there was something "fishy" with UBK-1 sound.
Strange stereo flutter and fuzzy clipping (i keep notes when i test plugins)
NOTHING like creamy distortion.

So to me, it is a NO for the whole Kush.
UBK-1 cost 150 bucks ... NO WAY with this sound !
This is not serious.

I don't even understand how ppl cannot hear it ... it is the first thing i heard, and it never disappeared whatever setting.

But on the other side, i'm doing AB blind tests since Nebula V1

If ppl can't hear the difference, WHY paying 150 bucks ?
Almost all concurrent products are around this price.

Try this freeware too :
https://www.kiiveaudio.com/plugins/Xtressor-NUKE-p498505074

 

unfortunately, this has been my experience as well. there was a time when they would have been very competitive, but with all the crazy stuff that is out nowadays they just kind of pale in comparison. Goldplate though was never to my liking, and always sounded pretty bad to me (the extra cpu usage was just a bonus reason not to like it). As far as the company owner himself though; dude is awesome. He is probably the only plugin developer/youtube personality type person that I've looked into the music of and actually liked. He gives tons of helpful yet off the beaten path tips in his mixing advice videos, and the music he does with his significant other has tons of character and isn't just a straight copy of some other band.

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2023

The opposite is also true..
With all those Esoteric controls and moody/colorful saturated tones,
Kush plugs do actually sound different.

But that doesn't make them necessarily better,
or more Accurate in technical terms.

So it's more of a Color/flavor thing..
One may be after a certain topology of Comp,
but feel the standard implementations are bland, or limited in some/way another..

Well, then you've got Kush with a completely different/bonkers alternative approach to that topology.

So in that aspect they deliver,
you know the plugs will work, but be and sound different..

You've got a similar tool, but with a different Color,
hence the success

 

I see the point.
But on my side, i can get different flavors for a lot less ... even for free.

When i pay 150 bucks for a Distressor plugin, it SHOULD sound like a distressor.
UBK-1 is FAR from it

You want compressor "taste" ?
try RoughRider 3 freeware

https://www.audiodamage.com/pages/free-downloads

 

Novatron has been an integral part of my sound for years, I never reach for another compressor in my drum bus and in my master bus. In my opinion it is their best plugin.

 

to be fair, ubk-1 is like over ten years old. that being the case though...they're still asking $150 for it?

 

It's only $15 a year on average so it's not so terrible if you look at it that way.

 

^^^^^^^ that

 

It's a cool company when you first meet it, but it gets fatigating the more you work with his tools, in my experience. Omega saturators sounds like stompboxes, not preamps (huge input gain). It's cool when you use on a single or some channels, but NEVER try to build a Kush console with Omega. UBK compressor sounds like a joke for me, some tools are fancy and don't deliver the sound fast, without oversampling it aliases as fuck (almost different plugins with and without OS) and they sound two dimensional for me. The only plugin i kept on my arsenal was NOVATRON on the drum bus, because it's snappy and got a character i like for gluening and grooving. Gregory is a great musician BTW.

 

They just sound harsh. I'm sure they can be tamed and for the right music they're probably perfect but I moved on.

 

Not really a problem since they all can be Soothe 2 perfection later on.

 

I actually like some of the Kush plugins. Wouldn't compare the UBK-1 to a Distressor. Better comparison would be to the Sly-Fi Deflector. Still not a Distressor though.

Kush plugins I use:
Omega A on the drum bus. Just adds a little heft. Don't like the other transformer plugins.
Reddi DI Box. Nice to add a touch more bass to any DI track.
Silika. Great sounding drum bus compressor. Be sure and turn the Diode clipping section down though.
Blyss Master channel Eq. Used on the master bus. For the right song, can sound amazing.

 

I like the plugins. I like the guy. I like his music.

Brought to you by Carl's Jr.

 

When at first they were made available at that other place I was really excited to try them out fully for an extended period of time, but within a few days I found that they were not going to help me translate my mind's eye to my ear's delight...and so they were reabsorbed into the universal binary.

 

Last edited: Feb 27, 2023

Kush are one of my favourite companies. Their plugins match my taste really well

If you make stuff that's crunchy or vintage of lo-fi then they should be one of your go-to's

 

His pluhins are great and he looks cooler than Disco Stu. I use his plugs to adding some coloration to my metal tracks in post.

 

i never have cpu issues on my M1... that must be a PC thing or something

 

I have no idea why someone would compare UBK against a Distressor, since UBK is a completely different design and doesn't claim to be a distressor clone either. Imo, UBK is really unique and great - especially on drums. But thanks for the plugin tip.

 

wasn't the distressor "clone" the sly-fi deflector by Kush?