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Post by doubledog on Oct 9, 2024 12:36:39 GMT -6
I own the UAD-2 SSL plugin bundle and just got an email that to get the new native version I would need to pay $9.99. I mean that's not an exorbitant fee but I'll guarantee you I paid a lot more than that for the DSP version. For all of the previous DSP plugins I own, I got the native version free. Just another one of those stupid decisions that UA is making to piss off their existing customer base (aka loyal customers).
When I open a session to mix I'm often finding that "pissed off" feeling makes me reach for a non UAD plugin. Not always, but often enough that I'm learning how to get the sounds I want with other plugins. Basically the same thing I did with Waves when they went all-subscription for a minute. At least they had the sense to revert. Nothing makes sense with UA these days.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Oct 9, 2024 12:59:20 GMT -6
"We added sidechain"
Real explanation from UAD. Actual quote.
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Post by andersmv on Oct 9, 2024 13:02:33 GMT -6
I'm guessing there was some licensing issue with SSL now that they're doing their own plug-ins. I doubt this was a money grab, it was probably literally what they had to do in order to push out the "new" native version. Who knows...
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 13:03:21 GMT -6
"We added sidechain" Real explanation from UAD. Actual quote. How much for front chain? |
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 13:05:33 GMT -6
I'm guessing there was some licensing issue with SSL now that they're doing their own plug-ins. I doubt this was a money grab, it was probably literally what they had to do in order to push out the "new" native version. Who knows... Then they could just be upfront about that. That's one of the many frustrating things about UA these days. It's the need they feel to treat their customers like children, idiots and fools, as if customers can't see thru the bullshit when UA does things like this. Customers can handle the truth and aren't dumb. UA can piss off for thinking otherwise. |
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Post by copperx on Oct 9, 2024 13:22:49 GMT -6
I'm guessing there was some licensing issue with SSL now that they're doing their own plug-ins. I doubt this was a money grab, it was probably literally what they had to do in order to push out the "new" native version. Who knows...
Exactly my thoughts. They probably have to pay SSL for the native port, and giving it away for free wasn't possible anymore. They're calling this an "enhaced" port, or whatever.
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Post by copperx on Oct 9, 2024 13:27:54 GMT -6
I'm guessing there was some licensing issue with SSL now that they're doing their own plug-ins. I doubt this was a money grab, it was probably literally what they had to do in order to push out the "new" native version. Who knows... Then they could just be upfront about that. That's one of the many frustrating things about UA these days. It's the need they feel to treat their customers like children, idiots and fools, as if customers can't see thru the bullshit when UA does things like this. Customers can handle the truth and aren't dumb. UA can piss off for thinking otherwise.
UA should rebrand as a plugin-only company. A lot of the issues stem from having to support their hardware, which uses outdated technology, and from how they've misled customers in the past. If they focused solely on software, these problems would disappear. Hardware isn't their strength anymore. When was the last time you heard of a great UA preamp or converter? They're riding on their legacy but can't compete in hardware development anymore. I wish they'd just give it up. Keep doing the pedals, perhaps.
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Post by kcatthedog on Oct 9, 2024 13:34:02 GMT -6
I thought pricing on the native ssl and Channel strip odd.
Neither are actually new plugs , old uad2 code ported to uadX and no one would pay list price for them: personally, I think $149 too high, but that’s UA.
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 13:35:28 GMT -6
Then they could just be upfront about that. That's one of the many frustrating things about UA these days. It's the need they feel to treat their customers like children, idiots and fools, as if customers can't see thru the bullshit when UA does things like this. Customers can handle the truth and aren't dumb. UA can piss off for thinking otherwise.
UA should rebrand as a plugin-only company. A lot of the issues stem from having to support their hardware, which uses outdated technology, and from how they've misled customers in the past. If they focused solely on software, these problems would disappear. Hardware isn't their strength anymore. When was the last time you heard of a great UA preamp or converter? They're riding on their legacy but can't compete in hardware development anymore. I wish they'd just give it up. Keep doing the pedals, perhaps.
Yeah, can't say I disagree. I mean, they already are basically giving up in analog hardware. No one is actually going to buy a $6,000 LA-2A. Raising the price to that level was just UA making sure no one would actually want to buy one (and therefore UA wouldn't have to keep making/supporting them), all the while getting to keep riding on that legacy for the purpose of selling plugins. I mean, in principle, I don't want them to give up on the Apollos. I think it's a great idea, and the integration with Luna is really cool. However, in practice, if this is how it's going to be, and if they are going to continue to gaslight DSP customers, then just be done with it. |
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Post by bgrotto on Oct 9, 2024 13:40:09 GMT -6
Agreed it’s a bummer move by uad, but it’s understandable. Just wish they handled the PR better. The rep on GS replying to complaints (annd even some non complaints) comes across as totally unprofessional and more than a little bitter. Not a great look for uad OR for the rep.
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 13:49:34 GMT -6
Agreed it’s a bummer move by uad, but it’s understandable. Just wish they handled the PR better. The rep on GS replying to complaints (annd even some non complaints) comes across as totally unprofessional and more than a little bitter. Not a great look for uad OR for the rep. Yeah. The rep you speak of is Drew Mazurek. He handles all of the public interactions on the various online forums. He even posts here, on occasion, although he's thankfully been absent from RGO for the last few months. The way you describe him is just how that guy is. He's awful. |
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Post by bossanova on Oct 9, 2024 14:03:10 GMT -6
I own the UAD-2 SSL plugin bundle and just got an email that to get the new native version I would need to pay $9.99. I mean that's not an exorbitant fee but I'll guarantee you I paid a lot more than that for the DSP version. For all of the previous DSP plugins I own, I got the native version free. Just another one of those stupid decisions that UA is making to piss off their existing customer base (aka loyal customers). When I open a session to mix I'm often finding that "pissed off" feeling makes me reach for a non UAD plugin. Not always, but often enough that I'm learning how to get the sounds I want with other plugins. Basically the same thing I did with Waves when they went all-subscription for a minute. At least they had the sense to revert. Nothing makes sense with UA these days. I like my go-to UAD sounds, and haven't found a way to get quite the same results elsewhere, but I feel the kind of thing you're talking about when I'm not connected to the internet and go to open a session. None of the plugins that I own perpetual licenses for will load because UAD insists that I be connected to the internet, every time. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Oct 9, 2024 15:53:36 GMT -6
You should be able to have authorizations on your computer.
Is this for uadX or uad2 plugs ?
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 15:59:36 GMT -6
Somewhere, mixed up in all of the hires below, lies a lot of the problems. When you look at where these guys came from, I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that things have gone tits up. They're all either big tech people or guys that came from other audio/music companies with less than stellar reputations. My money is on Gupta (Amazon) and/or Bigay (Izotope), but I imagine it's all of them, to one degree or another. Ruzicka and Kaplan haven't been there long enough to truly fuck things up, but they respectively came from Avid and Live Nation 🤮 before that, so give it time... 2019 Allan Timms VP Engineering, came from Logitech www.uaudio.com/press/releases/2019/allan-timms/2021 Sandeep Gupta COO, came from Amazon www.uaudio.com/press/releases/2021/sandeep-gupta-joins-universal-audio-as-chief-operating-officer/2022 Gordon Mattingly CFO, came from Arlo/Netgear John Bigay CRO, came from Izotope www.uaudio.com/press/releases/2022/universal-audio-expands-leadership/2024 Dana Ruzicka COO, came from Avid Ethan Kaplan CDO, came from Fender Music, Live Nation Labs, Warner Music Group www.uaudio.com/press/releases/2024/2024_july_UA_new_leadership/ |
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Post by kcatthedog on Oct 9, 2024 16:16:00 GMT -6
That list of hires tells another concerning story: one engineering guy, everybody else exec admin/numbers: fender guy, who knows?)
An indicator of why/how UA is losing its client focus, more inwardly navel gazing?
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 16:22:01 GMT -6
That list of hires tells another concerning story: one engineering guy, everybody else exec admin/numbers: fender guy, who knows?) An indicator of why/how UA is losing its client focus, more inwardly navel gazing? I could be wrong, but I want to say that Bigay guy was around when Izotope got run into the dirt. Edit: Yep. He was around at Izotope when all of that shit happened a few years ago. I don't remember all of the details. I just remember a lot of unhappy people. As an example: www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/comments/mgn9ey/wtf_has_happened_to_izotope/ |
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Post by doubledog on Oct 9, 2024 17:49:09 GMT -6
I own the UAD-2 SSL plugin bundle and just got an email that to get the new native version I would need to pay $9.99. I mean that's not an exorbitant fee but I'll guarantee you I paid a lot more than that for the DSP version. For all of the previous DSP plugins I own, I got the native version free. Just another one of those stupid decisions that UA is making to piss off their existing customer base (aka loyal customers). When I open a session to mix I'm often finding that "pissed off" feeling makes me reach for a non UAD plugin. Not always, but often enough that I'm learning how to get the sounds I want with other plugins. Basically the same thing I did with Waves when they went all-subscription for a minute. At least they had the sense to revert. Nothing makes sense with UA these days. I like my go-to UAD sounds, and haven't found a way to get quite the same results elsewhere, but I feel the kind of thing you're talking about when I'm not connected to the internet and go to open a session. None of the plugins that I own perpetual licenses for will load because UAD insists that I be connected to the internet, every time. not saying I don't like the sound of UAD plugins - I do and I still do use them but then sometimes I purposely go looking for something else I can use instead (and sometimes I know it has to be the UAD plugin) If you have a physical iLok (they don't cost much) you can definitely go unplugged. I do it all the time - in fact most of the time. UAD-2 DSP plugins authenticate to my UAD-2 hardware, and UADx to my iLok. |
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Post by doubledog on Oct 9, 2024 17:51:56 GMT -6
That list of hires tells another concerning story: one engineering guy, everybody else exec admin/numbers: fender guy, who knows?) An indicator of why/how UA is losing its client focus, more inwardly navel gazing? I could be wrong, but I want to say that Bigay guy was around when Izotope got run into the dirt. Edit: Yep. He was around at Izotope when all of that shit happened a few years ago. I don't remember all of the details. I just remember a lot of unhappy people. As an example: www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/comments/mgn9ey/wtf_has_happened_to_izotope/Obviously UA is not the only one that is restructuring for maximum short-term gains (i.e. profit for investors or shareholders) and we all know what that usually leads to in the longer term (which may only be a couple years or less for some) |
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Post by Quint on Oct 9, 2024 17:59:58 GMT -6
Obviously UA is not the only one that is restructuring for maximum short-term gains (i.e. profit for investors or shareholders) and we all know what that usually leads to in the longer term (which may only be a couple years or less for some) Yeah, it's a very worrying sign, for sure. UA is now a tech company, and basically has been a tech company for at least the last few years. |
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Post by bossanova on Oct 9, 2024 18:09:58 GMT -6
You should be able to have authorizations on your computer. Is this for uadX or uad2 plugs ? I sorted this out with Drew on RGO in the past. If you only have the native plugs (I guess that's UAD X?) you have to be online (and allow UAD Connect to phone home) when you open the DAW to get them to run. Drew confirmed that this is the case and that there is no interest in changing that at this time. *Or* have a physical iLok, but that's not worth it to me. If I've paid for a VST and I already had to install the proprietary installer/authorization software in addition to the VST itself, I think it's unreasonable to require me to be online or have a hardware dongle connected at all times. That's my take, and I get that it might not be shared by everyone here. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Oct 9, 2024 18:16:59 GMT -6
Well, remember ua connect is always “spying” on you, so ironically the ilok is less vulnerable.
UA had info on its website about setting your authorities to manage which I thought meant you didn’t need the cloud, but I think that is in ilok.
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Post by bossanova on Oct 9, 2024 18:20:12 GMT -6
Well, remember us connect is always “spying” on you, so ironically the ilok is less vulnerable. UA had info on its website about setting your authorities to manage which I thought meant you didn’t need the cloud, but I think that is in ilok. Yeah, at the end of the day it's just annoying and it is pretty rare that I would be somewhere with absolutely no internet connection whatsoever. It's just the principle of the thing. It's more worrying that UA Connect is always going and is very aggressive about relaunching itself and pushing for updates. For what it's worth, a brief consultation with Google shows that no one has managed to crack them yet, which means their authorization/protection approach is doing what they need it to do. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Oct 9, 2024 18:27:26 GMT -6
TBF, I'm no longer providing UA cash, so there's that. I'm not boycotting or anything, I just have got everything I need.
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Post by kcatthedog on Oct 9, 2024 18:27:38 GMT -6
Sure, I’ve never had a problem with ilok, cept it’s botched relaunch like 5 year’s ago, so I very comfortably use ilok.
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Post by doubledog on Oct 9, 2024 21:54:21 GMT -6
We've gone off-topic again, but I don't see any difference in UA expecting you to be connected to the internet to use iLok cloud vs. Avid expecting you to do the same with Pro Tools. If you are using iLok cloud then you have to be online, right? Or you use physical iLok and then they both can authenticate locally and without internet. That is what I do. I like that other plugins (like PA, Waves, IK, and more) can authenticate to a local drive (I put it all on a removeable USB drive) but they don't all do that. Either way I can be offline and it doesn't hurt.  |
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