Yes, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but I think it would be a miracle if all of these were updated.

 

I don't think it's addiction, it's a way to make cleaner cracks and less work for themselves. For instance, they way they've done Ableton is very elegant. They have modified a Visual C++ runtime (vcruntime140_1.dll) that Ableton links to and provided a keygen. Now as the Ableton binary is not modified at all when a new version comes out not much needs to be done... use the official Live installer, copy that runtime file to the Live program directory and... that's it.

R2R doesn't have to do a thing anymore at this point... and it will work for the entire major release series (12) at least. Ableton can't realistically change their copy protection scheme mid-series as it would be a fairly big undertaking and it would invalidate a lot of legit licenses. And they can't really control what they link to (the runtime in this case), and refactoring that would again be a big risk.

Had they patched the binary itself they would have to do it for every update or not release updates at all. Sure, there's other teams releasing Live with a different approach, but that's beside the point.

It's very clever.

 

I remember that. I'm pretty sure it was just a demo reset exploit. I don't think it was a official scene release, nor was the demo's binaries patched or cracked by a group.

So I'd say it's fair to assume that UAD is the only "Legendary Monster" that has never showed up officially on the ware scene in any form. There are other products from other companies that haven't shown, up but calling them "legendary" would be a stretch.

You could make an argument for it maybe being VSL, but I doubt it, as their products have shown up in numerous ways over the years.

 

Last edited: Oct 9, 2025 at 12:38 AM

I think it will be Windows 10

 

Yes... I remember this, when I first saw it I was like NO WAY until I figured out you still needed the hardware to run them. But I'm certain they had some kind of workaround like that at the time.

 

I just don't think so. The way their reverbs sound don't sound the same as something like Altiverb 7, which I actually use a lot and is great but, it still doesn't come close. And particularly when they give you option to swap the speaker setups in the rooms and the mics, like with the Capitol Chambers plugins, I'm pretty sure they're also modeling the microphones and the speakers themselves too, along with the nonlinearities that come from the speaker drive/cone cry etc... and the subtle saturation that those old mics provide if you push them enough. And in addition to this from what i've read they also simulate the reverb purely from the room geometry itself... So there's no way a simple sine sweep of a room into an IR file would be able to do that. That's why when you change the mic position in capitol chambers or hitsville, it takes a second to process because it has to recalculate all those things on the fly. If it were just morphing between IR files it would work without even needing to take that one second to process.

 

It makes you wonder how literally anyone can really take that nfo file riddle anyway. They could do Altiverb 8, and you could say it has both never been done before, and it is also an old monster. Its been out almost three years as v8 already.

I don't think it is "fair to just assume" that it will be UA at all. It's almost too obvious, or likely that they would even make a big deal about it.
It might be a surprise.

 

I think these could be the native ones too. But something like the Poco bypass for the dsp maybe is possible now. That for me was one of the highlight of the last years.

 

Update: The GONG is broken, it is in for repairs

 

Last edited: Oct 9, 2025 at 9:22 AM

I sort of agree with you but also do think UAD isn't the be all and end all, speaking as somebody who owns most of the native stuff and has trialled the rest. I do love Capitol Chambers (Hitsville I wasn't as big of a fan of) but if you want THAT vibe, it's nothing Sunset Studio from IK can't recreate. Do they sound exactly the same? No. Will they both give you that vibey motown-esque chamber sound? Yes. Sound City I can not speak for as I've not tried it and for my needs it doesn't interest me.

You are correct though, their emulations are good. Their 1073 is the closest thing I've heard in the box to the Heritage clone I owned by quite a stretch. That being said I returned my Apollo Gen II for a reason, and now have a Neve 88m. I personally do not rate their Unison technology that much and still think if you are like me and record stacks of live instruments, a proper transistor/tube analogue based preamp currently can not be beaten. Just my opinion though and everybody has different requirements.

Despite claims UAD is blacklisted for whatever reason, I'm hoping it is indeed them. I just hope on the chance it isn't, people don't whine too much and attempt to flame R2R. Those people doing that need to go and buy legit if it is that important to the point of berating people giving you stuff FOR FREE. I am however intrigued as to why UAD is blacklisted?

 

Spoiler: Source: Grok KI

As for why UAD ends up "blacklisted" in these circles so often, it's mostly down to their rock-solid (and kinda aggressive) DRM setup. They tie everything to iLok—either a USB dongle or cloud-based licensing—which makes cracking a nightmare for groups like R2R. iLok's got layers of server checks, periodic pings, and hardware verification that can brick unauthorized installs if it sniffs something off, like mismatched licenses or offline mode glitches.

Universal Audio's whole ecosystem (Apollo interfaces, Spark subs, native/UADx plugs) is built around this to protect their IP, but it means they're a prime target for crackers who see it as a challenge.

 

One thing I'll say against UAD and one of the main reasons I'd like to see it cracked is actually more to do with their business practices and pretty shockingly bad customer service more than anything. Should you have any technical issues with your UAD stuff, which I have had and continue to have, they very often come off as condescending and patronising whilst dealing with you.

I have a few examples of my own and offer good insight into why this stuff needs the R2R treatment:

- After returning my Apollo Gen II of which I was VERY underwhelmed by, I had a myriad of transfer issues regarding the device that meant I lost access to every single UAD plug-in including my native ones, due to them being linked with a machine I no longer used. You'd think clearing this up would be a simple case of contacting UAD and getting them reinstated. It wasn't. I had to message these people 4 TIMES and go through their stupid AI assistant to even talk to a real person. When you've spent over £500 on plug-ins, you expect to be able to access them. I made it very clear over the emails I had sent which plug-ins SHOULD and SHOULD NOT be on my UAD account as some that came with the Apollo to this day STILL say I own them, when I don't. It means that should I want to purchase the LA2A collection for example, I can't on my current account as it says I already own it, when I don't. Now, should I activate that LA2A licence and use it, I'm guessing the moment my account is looked into that stuff will disappear suddenly. It is an absolute mess.

- My account claims I can not install Luna due to something about a demo or licence being expired, but Luna is meant to be free. I've tried everything to fix this but gave up in the end. I could contact UAD about it, but I know I'll be kept waiting and then given a patronising answer about why I'm stupid when they finally decide to respond.

- When I returned my Apollo, the whole way transfers work is ridiculous. Essentially, I can not transfer a device out of my own account, I have to wait for somebody else to buy the returned Apollo and then THEY have to submit a transfer. My UAD account still says I own an Apollo, and that is the only reason the Neve 1073 plug-in I paid for works. As soon as somebody purchases that Apollo and registers the transfers, I'll go into a session to find my 1073 no longer works because "I don't own any UAD hardware", despite the fact it has worked without any for months now. My only option to get it back at that point is to have to purchase a used Arrow or Apollo which I DON'T NEED, or subscribe to Spark when I ALREADY OWN THESE PLUG-INS. THIS is why I hope R2R finally come through on UAD. As a paying customer of their stuff, I like the plug-ins, but my experience of their BUSINESS has been absolutely awful.

Also, to anybody contacting them or having to deal with them, don't let them play ignorant about your past issues with your account. They use a piece of software called Zendesk to deal with customer queries. It just so happens the company I work for has started using this exact same software including my department. They have to ability to "merge tickets" from every account that contacts and see every single past request (or tickets as ZD calls them) and what your issue is/was. Everything is archived and recallable. Do not let them fob you off.

Anyways, that's my experience with them over. I don't mean it to come off as hating on them because their plug-ins are great, but if ever a plug-in vendor needed the R2R treatment, it's these guys. :D

 

Clever Algos dont need seconds try Eventide Tverb algos no delay whatsoever, of course Capitol Chambers plugin not pure IR-based they modeled some signal paths of Capitol gear, but that second is needed to load a bunch of static high samplerate IRs and it's the first sign that IRs are highly exploited here, more of that it could be done twice for mics and for the room.

 

Last edited: Oct 9, 2025 at 12:41 PM

What @moonlightfiasco wrote will be a deterrent to buying UAD products, as they are now online, visible to everyone around the world. Thank you for your true and helpful story; it's good to share the pain.

When a user wants to buy UAD, they often read reviews, tests, and forums. I also bought UAD Connect and one product, and installing it is a real nightmare. You sit in front of the screen and can't believe what's happening, or not happening. What now? Nothing happens. Completely perplexed and at the mercy of the software, maybe you click on it again – after a few minutes, it's suddenly installed and usable.

A general comment on online support today? Online FAQs are becoming less human-centered every day, and some online customer service representatives sometimes give poor advice based on their low pay grade. The whole thing is based on cost-cutting and profit maximization; the customer is no longer king, but a victim of the new system.

They can talk to the AI on a hotline or fill out lengthy online forms, search for the serial number under the device and write it down, and finally try to submit the form with an unreadable CAPTCHA. When they use a magnifying glass and finally succeed after three attempts, they look away for another hour, and of course, without email, nothing works. It will stay this way, and due to cost pressure, forced rationalization, and AI, it will even intensify and become more common.