Man... And relab is minimal?

On my 6-7 years old i5 I barely notice it.

That’s the biggest lie I ever been told :D

Interesting, because their VSR-S24 is very CPU-demanding on my rigs.

Yes, the VSR24 is more demanding, but even that I would prefer native as it still has a more reasonable native consumption than the ua 480 on the uad cpu...

UA 480L is 60% of one chip... I have 12 chips to play with currently. Not bad for a primo reverb.

Realizing the S24 is not the LX480, I have sessions where just adding it (S24) pretty much overloaded the CPU, so I could not reliably run it at all. (I had some crashing issues, too.) And I’m talking about on 3 different rigs.

I remember having the LX480 back when it was part of the Slate subscription, and it was good. But I wasn’t in UA world at that time and never did a direct comparison. Anyway, if the Relab is less demanding on the CPU than the VSR-S24, that’s a plus.

Nice trolling

Sure, his comment doesn't hold up in reality, but it's probably best not to revive that old post and give it extra attention (like I've just done, doh!).

I keep buying plugins hope to sell my 480's - the plugins never seem to work out for me there is always snorting missing - I recently did a project using both UAD and Relab - then went into the studio and hooked my Lexicon to the mix matched the settings and in the mix the hardware still rules. I can't put my finger on it is just sits in so much better.

Maybe the "snorting" is the problem.

You're right However, what's worrying is that 10 people liked his post...some really gullible people here geez, they are UAD dream customers.

There are many people (I'm not entirely exempt) who vote with their hearts. I'm still a softy for hardware, especially those boxes that set me back a few thousand $$. And for a while I didn't *want* software to properly emulate hardware; it hurt my investments.

While some hardware reverbs have been successfully emulated (the 480, for instance), there are others that haven't. I'll go on record any day with my dissatisfaction for Eventide's plugins vs. their hardware counterparts. So, in that instance, I'd have to agree with others. The 480 though... I'm entirely content with my plugin options.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there. People have emotional attachments to certain things. Also, maybe they prefer to work with a physical box.
The only way I ever decide if one thing is better than another is blind test. Because I, too, am fallible.
If I can consistently pick one thing out over another, repeatedly in a blind test....I will make a conclusion.

My guess here is that they all sound great, with minor differences that almost everyone would struggle to pick out in a mix.
People who own certain interfaces will gravitate to one, people who are all native will gravitate to another, whilst people who spent thousands on a box will gravitate to that.
Then of course, they justify their choice.

I happen to like the Relab a lot. I am all native and in the box. I would probably love the UAD too, but I don't need another.

The way the Relab gels with the source is the no.1 thing I like about it. It is a very dated sound now, but it is still cool and usable.

There's also something emotional about surrounding yourself with a bunch of expensive boxes that specialize in specific tasks. It gives you a sense of power that a sparse room does not. Even though the computer has the potential to do what the hardware can, if not more, staring at your Mac's Applications folder doesn't provide the same visceral effect. When I see my Eventide hardware lighting up and crunching numbers, I do kinda think it's alive and doing something special. Put that against a bit-for-bit equivalent in software (unfortunately, this doesn't yet exist) and I'm more likely to feel for the hardware, and that has a chance of spilling into my opinion of what I'm hearing. Emotions can completely rewrite our memories -- I think we're at risk of having that happen in the present moment, too.

Well put! We live in accelerated society that runs much faster than the natural clocks of humans. This speed is destructive. Hardware slows the operator down in a good, almost soteric way, while fostering better concentration and deeper commitment.

We both agree that hardware slows you down. I don't agree it fosters better concentration, in fact I would argue that for most it creates an unnecessary distraction. But if you're someone who benefits from it, that's a good thing. I also agree that there is something satisfying about being surrounded by a lot of hardware, even if I'm not using it.

If it's too many it'll distract and hamper. But if the hardware collection is moderate, it does seem to add to one's focus because of its (hardware's) inherent limitations. I approach hardware as musical instruments, can't say this about plug-ins. They're algorithms for me. It's a different relationship. I have two setups in my studio, one is hybrid, the other one in-the-box. Keep switching between them (project-dependent) and enjoying both.

There are pros and cons for each. I must admit that I did like having a row of physical knobs above the console's fader when I wanted to eq or compress. That wasn't distracting. But having to recall all the hardware for a remix was *definitely* a distraction. Buying a fancy reverb for $4k was brilliant, but only stereo. Buying a very close approximation for $300, with a (relatively) unlimited number of available instances/channels, and instant recall, was also brilliant.

I don't think Al Schmitt is going to sell his hardware in favor of the software emulations of that hardware, but how much would his work really suffer if he did?

I've seen and heard it so many times with guitar players. Famous Guy A gets incredible tone. Regular Guy A matches all his hardware but sounds nothing like Famous Guy. Famous Guy A plugs into a completely different rig yet still sounds like Famous Guy A. I think it's ok to admit that our work isn't make/break based on the proximity of these emulations to their hardware counterparts. Al could remix Peel Me A Grape by Diana Krall, using software, and who'd know the difference?

Al would know

Even if you got a Solo and only the 480 plug it’s a relatively inexpensive way to get basically a 480. Particularly with high end live applications. IIRC the 480s we toured with in the 90s were $15k plus. And they could be a PITA to maintain going in and out of trucks and air cargo containers. With a UAD box that doesn’t happen.

These days I can get the 480 on Dante and get it in and out of any desk that uses Dante or if nothing else with an RME AES or MADI interface. If you want plugin 480 or Distressors, whatever get the QUAD and it's still an easy, relatively inexpensive way to do it.

In relab have you tried switching the different main outs settings? Analog (noise) should probably come closest to hardware.

I used to be all for UAD. But seriously these days most of the stock DAW plugins sound leaps and bounds better than the expensive UAD plugins. I demoed the Relab and it does sound great. Much better than the UAD. But I have a Bricasti M7 now and that sound leaps and bounds better than anything plugin I have ever heard.

UAD is all about choosing wisely. ATR-102, RMX-16, SDD-3000, EP-34, 1176 Collection, Helios mk2, API 560. Those are just some examples of the great UAD plugins. If you want to use things like the tape and channelstrips you must be mindful of DSP load.

are they actually emulations? or are they just implementations of the the original algorithms? Those old algorithms are well documented there is nothing special about them.

if you run the 480l plugins through a good console they will sound like the hardware

Yea I tried that maybe the SSL 9080K I use is not a good enough console....

those don't sound that bad

There was an interesting A/B between the M7 and the LiquidSonics SeventhHeaven plugin. They were remarkably close, with some people having a hard time discerning between them. And I find their Cinematic Rooms to be a subtle step above Seventh Heaven. Plugins have definitely arrived. Stock DAW vs. UAD is another thread, and no doubt one that would be highly flammable.

Hi Elambo,

Could you share the comparison link please?

Thank you,
Daniel.

It's not something I'd saved but it was part of a large Seventh Heaven thread so it's likely easy to find.