I don't even know at this point...

So I got the UAD Studio bundle for 169$ on sale, I like the sound, but what bothers me is I have to order an iLok dongle (iLok Cloud isn't that great for me), which here is going to cost me in the ballpark of 70$, also I have a Macbook Air with two type-c ports, one usually used by the charger and the other by my sample library ssd, so I'd have to use my usb hub and all of that is just too annoying.

And so I thought: should I try to refund the UAD and go buy FX Collection 4? I have been missing the dry/wet knobs, the easy authorisation with no iLok Cloud popups...

Yet, if I stay with UAD, I could sell a lot of my other plugins...which I actually love. I got a lot of Softube stuff for very cheap (I have like 13 plugins from them, including heavy hitters, like two model synths, harmonics, opto, two comps, etc and I haven't spent over 100 on all of that or so I think lol).

And so I feel so clueless...

Originally what won me over with UAD were also the instruments...but honestly Ravel is just not good, the rhodes is fine, but has a very particular sound to it, which isn't super useful. The organ? Rarely useful for me.

What is a better long term investment? UAD's "better sound" (which is in some cases, not really better, but just different, I like Softube dbx more and Arturia's 1176 more than UAD), but with lots of iLok Cloud/dongle hassle or Arturia and others with perhaps not as good of a sound, but still very much decent?

Maybe I just kind of regret buying UAD at this point. It is better in some cases, but the difference is small and the hassle is big. That about sums it up. The marketing is truly good and all the big producers using them definitely helped sell them to me.

 

I had a UAD-1 and had the essentials for it. In reality, the performance was NOWHERE near what was spec'd out by UA and we had many a heated conversation about it. As far as upgrading, they pretty much fucked everyone with a UAD-1 in the ass by calling the plugins for said device "legacy" (a cute little corporate trick to disavow responsibility) and flat denied any eligibility for replacing them with the natives. So as far as UAD is concerned I'll be waiting until the scene supplies the cracks because I refuse to connect any production machine to the internet let alone deal with a piece of shit iLOK.

 

Last edited: Apr 9, 2024

So far only R2R can deal with iLok, as far as I know. They could have done it long ago just like their other iLok releases but chose not to. I wouldn't hold my breath to see UAD stuff on the sister site unless other groups also figure out the bypassing methods.

 

you should try to get the refund.
if you feel kinda regret for the shopping their plugins, then refund should be your first option

 

Never used UAD, but I do use Arturia , and like it a lot. You'll still need a hub though if you are using an Arturia Midi controller. I like the fact i can select samples using the controller (center knob) and having a dedicated organ and piano key is nice as well.

You can download the demo from arturia, I think it runs 15 or 30 minutes before you have to restart it or something. The sister site has the better "test" software, its unlimited and will really give you a feel for using it.