Results are in, voting is closed: A is hardware. B is the plugin.



****Check later in the thread for more comparisons, especially the ones with a converter loopback on the UAD version starting at post #59, also quoted below.******

Here is a quick test I did with a drum loop and another with a full mix, applying a eq curve. One is the UAD2 non-mastering version. One is the real hardware unit. I also maxed out the Gain on both the plugin and the hardware, and there is also post compression or limiting on all these samples. Can you pick which is the hardware? The hardware is the same letter in each test.

Drum loop:
http://www.animusmundi.net/songs/MPdrumA.wav
http://www.animusmundi.net/songs/MPdrumB.wav

Here is the original drum loop with no eq: http://www.animusmundi.net/songs/MPdrum_raw.wav

Full mix:

http://www.animusmundi.net/songs/MPmixA.wav
http://www.animusmundi.net/songs/MPmixB.wav




Another thing to note is I guess the hardware is at an arguable disadvantage since the ADA is a Fireface, since I didn't feel like hooking up my Rosetta as its doing duties as a DAC.

WOHHH

I could not listen at proper listening level but from my first impression I would say ....NO IDEA differences are too subtle to say in blind which is which.

I will listen again tomorrow but it seems that UAD did a great job.

EDIT.... they also nearly null out.... WOW.....

They sound very close but I think A just sounds a little more natural. That being said I have never heard the real thing before at lease live.

Sound the same to my ears!

B sounds more open.. especially in the highs. so I pick B to be the real thing.


edit: I just read you comment about the Fireface being in the chain with the hardware so maybe the hardware is A if the FF is screwing up the conversion.

To my mind, B sounds more natural though.

A is more creamy on the highs, A is the hw for me

B is indeed more open in the highs but A to me has a little more depth overall so I think A is the hardware.

To be honest couldn't really care if I'm right or wrong they both sound very close and fantastic.

Also what converters where used? to do the DA/AD

i did a quick listening on my laptop....
and i think that uad is the A loop.

uad plugs have a hi-end sheen on them... a more silky sound.

they did a very nice job tho.

just my 2 cents.

Lets pray that B is not the Plug In....
Anyway all this is critic on a high level.

Smack my ass and call me judy.heh
Plug Ins will go their way....WOW.... I never thought that will happen.

I bet if we could AB files of the unit UAD had there the game would get so close that we hardly could hear anything....

Keep em coming guys. i will reveal before I go to bed late night (or should I keep it going longer?). I will also do a vocal ABX.

Guess this is wrong.. but when there is subtle diffrences that can not be obious turned apart.. I go with my emotions.. and there I have to say that A i Hardware.. sounds I tiny bit deeper..

You can if you listen closely hear differences.. but those could just as easily be converters etc.. or pure imagination..

A does sound more 'tubey' in the lows and mids though.. I'd be very happy to accept either. A is probably the plug-in though as it sounds a lot like what I have going on here right now.. demoing the MP now.

Lets run it also with vocals.

I will see some disappointed HW owners.heh

sounds very close for sure! I felt that there was something a little weird going on with a so chose b to be the hardware. playing with the demo i am very impressed though i can see there is a real learning curve with this thing for anything other than simple one band boost/cuts.

well, judy times are changing...this is a new era "hi-end plugs"

i think if they do manny of those cpu munching plugs we need beter cards..

UAD 3 .20, 30 , 50 times the power of the UAD 1 card

A is real MP

B is UAD

I've been using UAD a long while I've come to know the sound. You can hear it on the snare......it's an annoying thing that is in all their plugin EQ's.

Hope I'm wrong but I don't think I am.


Sounds good though....real good, I'm just being picky

If A turns out to be the Plug-ins I'm sold.

I went with B for the hardware.. studio has already been turned off for the day but on my laptop speaker A is a lil bit sibilant on the cymbals.

rsp

went ahead and posted a full mix with the MP as master eq in my original post. Exact same eq setting as the drum loop was applied with a limiter at the end of the chain. Hardware is the same letter in each sample.

I'm going with 'B' for the hardware.. but it's certainly not night and day.

still to me there is a lil harshness in A that I don't' hear in B.. so I am saying B is the hardware.
rsp

Surely a tube based mastering EQ plug' must sound open so I must believe that the hardware is B. BUT...... ..based on the comment made earlier about the possible effects of the Fireface converters I'll say that A is indeed the hardware and B the plug-in. lol.

Serioously though.. I'll commit to my original choice of B as hardware...

Yeah the Hats in A sound a touch 'harsh' whereas in B they are way more transparent.

Both sound really good but im gonna go with A as hardware and B as UAD, either way i think im sold

After hearing the full mix I'm changing my vote to B hardware even though I already voted for A.
Either way they both sound great but prefer B now.

B sounds like the Massive Passive transformer outputs to me...dulls the sound, softens the transients, more width. Did you use the balanced or unbalanced outs? Unbalanced is more transparent. Both sound good though.

balanced

What's up hardware-only freaks?
Can't you guys tell which is which (or even spot a difference) since the difference is "huge" between the "real deal" and the "crappy soft emulations"?

Once again, thats going to be fun! heh

Use both. I take it by the comment you don't.

So when do we get the answer ?