UAD Owes Us An Apology For The Voice Of God

[Matt-Steele]

You guys have to realize that UA is catering to the people who used the original hardware unit and want a faithful recreation of that specific unit.

You know there are guys out there that have tweaked their EQ curve in an attempt to replicate what the hardware unit did and that magic from the hardware just wasn't there! LOL!

UA just don't make plug ins for the hell of it! These are plug ins that their customers have requested.

Don't be upset at UA if you were silly enough to fall for this plug in. It's your own fault. Although, maybe it's possible that the LL unit had the most perfect bass bump eq curve ever right?

 

[El_Gato]

Well, I see no crime for the UAD part and the video tone is a bit over the top but I guess it's useful information nonetheless.

Also, if people tried to recreate the hardware and failed, then obviously the soft plugin is not really accurate when you can get there with a simple EQ.

That's a bigger market-hyped rip off than beats headphones

 

[HOFX]

I wonder if some poor bastard at UAD spent massive amounts of time modelling the hardware, crafting custom algorithms and really pouring their heart and soul into it - just to find his hard work amounted to nothing more than an EQ curve?

Looking at the hardware version and what it does, I'm wondering why people weren't using EQ in the first place to mimic it? If the answer is non-linearality and analogue warmth, I don't think you want that applied to your low end and introducing phase problems.

 

[ArthurD]

The only controls on the plugin are "Frequency" and "Amplitude" so there's nothing else to really test lol.

I mean "center", "100" and "flat"

 

[Kazrog]

Here's my two cents, as a developer, having given this some more thought...

This whole thing really centers around what the goal of the emulation was. If the goal was to replicate what the hardware is doing under idealized laboratory spec circumstances, then perhaps this is a perfect achievement of that goal. Obviously, in real life, even the most linear of hardware isn't totally linear, but perhaps whatever nonlinear characteristics that are present in the hardware VOG are subtle to the point of being inaudible? I haven't used the unit (or the plugin for that matter), but Little Labs is generally known for producing meticulously clean sounding gear. I'm sure you can distort a VOG (you can distort any analog gear) - but is that something that people use it for, does that have a desirable sound? I'm asking because if that's the case, I've never seen anyone mention it...

We've come to expect that any analog modeling plugins out there are going to saturate to some degree, but there are an equal number of analog pieces out there in the wild that were designed with absolute sterility in mind (and that achieve that goal remarkably well.) UAD's marketing in this case is perhaps part of the issue (depending on how you interpret their specific verbiage.) Resonant high pass filters are useful tools, in any case. People pay for "pro" preset packs all the time in the plugin world. Something as open ended as the standard parametric EQ in a DAW won't "steer" your decision making to the same degree as something like VOG. Sometimes constraints make for better creative choices.

This morning I was a bit shocked by this - I'd even felt that UAD had violated some kind of imaginary code of ethics for plugin developers - but the more that I've thought about it, the more I realize that this may not be that big of an issue. Not every engineer out there is talented or experienced enough to arrive at these kinds of EQ settings without a nudge in the right direction.

 

[BLUElightCory]

I don't see the issue here. The VOG was always advertised, at least by Little Labs, as a simple (extreme) EQ filter, if it sounds good what's the problem? It's not like there isn't a demo period.

 

[Matt-Steele]

Looking at the hardware version and what it does, I'm wondering why people weren't using EQ in the first place to mimic it? If the answer is non-linearality and analogue warmth, I don't think you want that applied to your low end and introducing phase problems.

EXACTLY! Well said!

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Most of the time I use cubase stock eq plugin just because I am too lazy to open one in inserts but after seeing this, I am a proud user of cubase stock eq!ahah

Joking aside, I really use cubase stock eq a lot and I dont hear some night/day difference for others eq´s, only downside is to be limited just to 4 bands.

 

[Matt-Steele]

Most of the time I use cubase stock eq plugin just because I am too lazy to open one in inserts but after seeing this, I am a proud user of cubase stock eq!ahah

Joking aside, I really use cubase stock eq a lot and I dont hear some night/day difference for others eq´s, only downside is to be limited just to 4 bands.

I used to use it all the time too before I got my DMG stuff. It works and sounds great and was super easy to just grab and tweak.

For Cubase 7 though, I'm not a fan of the new GUI so now that there are lots of channel choices, I don't use any other at all. :/

 

[Sethis]

That probably happens more often that most would think. Placebo apps are everywhere, you just have to convince yourself that they work or blame your ears. And to be honest, the plugin does indeed what it promises, it enhances the low end. If you need one-click-plugins to do that then it's probably your problem.

 

[Plec]

wow...
If you think that's a rip-off, I suggest you check out Waves SSL and take a look at what that one actually does and start beating yourself up if you bought it for the price it was when it came out when you could've had the exact same thing for $50.

 

[rvs0002]

Or you can always just grab the free version in the next few days...

http://forum.recordingreview.com/f35/bark-dog-free-7-days-only-59708/

 

[Jind]

I'm in the camp with those that don't understand what all the fuss is about. I tend to have very low opinions of "buyers remorse" rants as they almost always end up being the result of some jackass that bought something they had done absolutely zero research before hitting the PURCHASE button upset that it's not what they thought it was. I also never really understood the constant complaining over the price of products when people complain that somethings value seems unrelated to the price asked - it's real simple - if you don't think something is worth the price asked, DON'T BUY IT!!!!!!!! no one's twisting your arm.

Call me unsympathetic to poor purchase control individuals

 

[indecizo]

I'm in the camp with those that don't understand what all the fuss is about. I tend to have very low opinions of "buyers remorse" rants as they almost always end up being the result of some jackass that bought something they had done absolutely zero research before hitting the PURCHASE button upset that it's not what they thought it was. I also never really understood the constant complaining over the price of products when people complain that somethings value seems unrelated to the price asked - it's real simple - if you don't think something is worth the price asked, DON'T BUY IT!!!!!!!! no one's twisting your arm.

Call me unsympathetic to poor purchase control individuals

I agree. Everyone selling their stuff is going to hype their products. That you fall for it, and then you rant on how you could have paid less for something else to do the job...your fucking loss. That's why one should always research before buying anything.