Sure, but reputation doesn’t necessarily equal best, it just means they got there first. They paved the way when there was almost no competition. Now some "boutique" developers are pushing things in ways those legacy companies rarely do. UAD etc plugins aren’t bad, many are great, but they’re also coasting on nostalgia and brand recognition, while some of these smaller companies are actually advancing things, and pushing what is possible.

 

@Guitarmaniac64

i dont know why i´m even getting triggered, dont go around your life thinking bad about every "DANCE" person, there´s brains outhere that are chewing data for 24-7 and they need counterbalance for that to "null" the chaos, it is not just musicianship in question..or better vs worse, we cant have "strat thru the leslie" all day long, we need everything there is in the human spirit...

 

You're arguing about data, and who uses what DAW. There are guitar players who use FL and play better than many people on here. There are people who play drums but only make hiphop. There are people who play none of them and use nothing but a wave editor and make better music than almost everyone here.

It doesn't matter at all what other people do or what they use to do it, or to simply record it. Except R2R, of course. Maybe there are bigger reasons for them (or VR) to not release Protools. Unless you are all aware of some DAW that has never been released, you are probably barking up the wrong tree and arguing about something that is completely irrelevant.

 

It's fun to guess about what this could be. I can't wait to find out what it actually is.

 

The countdown is on

 

Oh i dont i just happened to see that post and why not answer since apperently the O.P doesnt really know much about what happened outside his/hers little "bubble" he/she lives in.
And as long as i live i will try to wake those people up and say hey there is a world outside your world.

It is quite funny i met a young lady at work a few weeks ago and said hey listen to this (and played some of my music) she said oh is that ROCK?
I said yes and she said you know rock is gonna be dead soon NOONE listen to that anymore.

I said no way rock/metal & progressive rock/metal etc still sells billions of records to people all over the world who like that kind of music.

And the genre had a little renaissance as people want newly made music on vinyl LP (like in the old days they also go and search for OLD music made in the 60,s 70,s 80,s that isnt famouse.
Now does those who like that dance music do that?
NO WAY they listen for a song 1 week then its OLD and forgotten.
Rock/Metal people can listen to every song on a record that was made 50 years ago

And Rock/Metal/Prog (and hey even Pop/Blues/Jazz musicians counts aswell of course) artists that make new albums often get a request from fans that they want them to print the new album on vinyl how cool isnt that?

 

Last edited: Oct 6, 2025 at 7:42 AM

i personally work with plenty of "real musicians" that use Ableton. FL, maybe not so much, but Ableton absolutely. To be honest, i can't believe this sort of rhetoric still comes up. There is a lot of dance music that uses live instruments, and there is even more that people still play in using midi controllers.

 

That kind of opposition just feels silly and far-fetched. I love for example first experiments with electro and house of the early ’80s and unknown garage bands from the 60s, krautrock and dance latin freestyle, it really just depends on the person. After all, rock n roll is basically a dance genre.

Spoiler: *

 

Last edited: Oct 6, 2025 at 9:45 AM

Get Ready!!

 

Last edited: Oct 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM

Sure, if we're talking about plugins that seek to go beyond the original versions, there might be "better" alternatives. But if you want a dead on clone of the real hardware unit in plugin form, that is also licensed by the official manufacturer, I still think UAD can't be beat. And of course you have things like Capitol Chambers, Hitsville Reverb Chamber, and Sound City studios that you literally will never get anywhere else because of their proprietary room modeling technology that goes beyond just using IRs. And honestly for me, I feel that extra bit of reassurance when I use a UAD plugin that is a licensed emulation. Hell, Even the SSL models done by SSL themselves aren't as good as UAD's versions in terms of realism. UAD knows what they're doing and they've been doing it for decades. Just because they're the "old guys" in the plugin space doesn't mean their software is dated by any means, sonically anyway. The DSP plugins could still use a visual update for high res monitors.

For me, even being able to access UAD plugs makes me "feel" like a pro, even though obviously no plugin will make you a professional it's just like a status symbol. I'm not a seasoned studio veteran but I grew up watching Pensado's place and other engineers and producers as a teenager (I'm 27 now) and I'd always see that little UAD DSP meter on the bottom corner, always felt like it was such a cool thing to have on your screen and I really associated it with true pros. I was able to get my hands on a used UAD arrow and even with all the problems on windows I've loved it, and of course being able to have that sweet sweet dsp meter on my monitor. Unison tech is amazing and it really does let you get the tonality of real preamps without spending thousands. And now... If there's a chance I can have it all for free? Oh boy. There's enough Kontakt string libraries out there, I don't think VSL is that important. And it wouldn't be as impactful as UAD getting cracked. UAD getting cracked is like the absolute holy grail of cracks I think.

 

Last edited: Oct 7, 2025 at 8:03 AM

Honestly the echoplex plugin was such a let down. I bought it as well thinking it would be useful but I find myself rarely using it primarily because it doesn't even have stereo ins and outs... I get they're trying to be faithful to the real thing but cmon, no stereo? However I will say that their Korg SDD-3000 delay has very easily become my #1 delay for guitars now. Even though the repeats aren't stereo the modulation of them is just so perfect I couldn't think of any other better delay for guitar. And it makes sense that it is because it's the same one used by U2. If you can ever try it out I highly suggest you should.

 

I would agree here but the thing is UAD plugs are still relevant because the lengths they went in terms of modeling the hardware, and the fact they're designed for an architecture that allows for high resolution processing of audio at ultra low latency (the SHARC chips) means that even though they may be "old", they're still just as relevant and they STILL hold up today as the sort of "reference" models of hardware emulation plugs. They just sound that good, I've never heard anyone complain that UAD plugins sound not good literally ever. The only thing the smaller companies are doing is giving you more features on top of what was already there. Which is nice sure, but if you just want the officially recognized emulations of the hardware, from a sonics standpoint I still think UAD cannot be beat. And they still make new plugins too, like Sound City Studios, Capitol Chambers, Capitol Mastering Compressor... So it's not like they aren't still improving how they do their modeling and emulation. If they wanted to be like the smaller studios and really go above and beyond the original hardware, I have no doubt that they could, but that's not really their goal when they hardware emulation plugins.

 

pure marketing

A marketing trick to sell regular IRs packaged with a pretty studio image

 

Last edited: Oct 7, 2025 at 8:27 AM

I just can’t hold it in any longer! What’s R2R’s Halloween gift? I’m sooo excited to find out!
24 days left

 

good one ...

What do you mean "casual" and "fun"? R2R releases are a serious topic, a way of live... a cult, in fact

 

K'd releases, serious bzns.

But, umh, "seriously"... this is really the best part of gongs and other anticipated releases. The speculation! It's like we're waiting for the second coming, all of us... I think the internet weirdos got the date of Rapture wrong recently... we're still waiting... mmm waiting...

GET IT ON, BANG A GONG, GET IT ON

 

If I were a betting man, I'd bet on VSL. I think the last libraries released were in Giga Format, none in proprietary format.

 

Yep, some were converted to Kontakt but from Giga.
The problem could be how big are the current VSL libs.

 

I hope R2R gives us some clues these days regarding the "legendary monster". They're usually proficient at building suspense and being cryptic.