UA Platform

[Guest]

Pro Tools user last 20 years, used to love it when it was PT 6 back in the day. It's so bloated now and I just find it annoying and ugly.

I'm thinking about a change and have been eyeing up UA Luna because it looks good, from what I hear it sounds good but most of all it's a daw for just music.
I'm going to hold off buying an Apollo because they're at the end of their life plus, I don't want to be tied to a physical interface just to mix which I want to do on the laptop with headphones. I'm optimistic UA will open Luna up to a wider audience soon though.

I don't own any UA plugins but I really like what they do as a company, they appear to be very focused, shrewd and know their audience. Unlike Avid.

I'm wondering what other users think of the UA eco system? Are their plugins among the best emulations do you think? Is UA a sound company?
If Luna becomes available to me I am thinking about the switch and going all out UA hoping to end up with something reliable and tight and a worthy investment.
And any Luna users here? Would love your thoughts especially if you've come from Pro Tools to Luna.

[forumuser824818]

I've been with UA for many years - They are in a huge transition moving away from DSP to native processing ( CPUS are now way ahead of DSP chips in terms of power ) and with that comes some really powerful deals

Currently you can try spark ( all native ) for 0.99p per month - set it to monthly and you can pause or stop as needed

https://spark.uaudio.com/

You won't get Luna ( This requires a UA interface still at this point ) but it will give you a feel for the whole range of devices on offer

My guess is they are not attracting enough subscribers as also the entire store seems to be on sale for the moment - This is causing me to pause my Spark Subscription and just buy the things I want from them - saving me another sub this year

I feel your frustration with PT - It's common in the whole space - I think in the same way Windows has always struggled historically with the need to service legacy, PT ( and logic ) suffer the same problem and a brave clearout may be needed

Just recently I converted a commercial project from Ableton to Bitwig and was completely blown away - when you can code a DAW from a more modern starting point and not worry about the workflow from the past, amazing things can happen . It may not be in your sphere but as the demo is free, I'd highly reccomend you at least take it for a test drive - If I were starting fresh, I'd use Bitwig

All the best and good luck ! - James Wiltshire - F9 Audio

[Aled Hughes]

If you’re not an Apollo or UA plugins user then I don’t see what you’d gain my moving to Luna, especially if it’s tied to UA hardware!
I think (may well be wrong) that the only major selling point that Luna has over other DAWs is the integration with UA hardware and software.

What makes you think the Apollos are at the end of their life?

[OneWorld]

I'm a UA user, have been for a long time. But a lot of the time I use it because it's there and because I paid for it. However, the stuff is getting a bit long in the tooth and I wonder is it worth trading up, I like the look of Luna but because it is tied to hardware, what happens if the hardware becomes extinct or un-supported. I guess at some point that is inevitable.

[Guest]

I've been with UA for many years - They are in a huge transition moving away from DSP to native processing ( CPUS are now way ahead of DSP chips in terms of power ) and with that comes some really powerful deals

Currently you can try spark ( all native ) for 0.99p per month - set it to monthly and you can pause or stop as needed

https://spark.uaudio.com/

You won't get Luna ( This requires a UA interface still at this point ) but it will give you a feel for the whole range of devices on offer

My guess is they are not attracting enough subscribers as also the entire store seems to be on sale for the moment - This is causing me to pause my Spark Subscription and just buy the things I want from them - saving me another sub this year

I feel your frustration with PT - It's common in the whole space - I think in the same way Windows has always struggled historically with the need to service legacy, PT ( and logic ) suffer the same problem and a brave clearout may be needed

Just recently I converted a commercial project from Ableton to Bitwig and was completely blown away - when you can code a DAW from a more modern starting point and not worry about the workflow from the past, amazing things can happen . It may not be in your sphere but as the demo is free, I'd highly reccomend you at least take it for a test drive - If I were starting fresh, I'd use Bitwig

All the best and good luck ! - James Wiltshire - F9 Audio

Thanks, I'll look at bitwig. I was looking around earlier in the week at screenshots of daws and they're all so cluttered. I' very much into a less is more approach and Luna does look nicer.

[Guest]

If you’re not an Apollo or UA plugins user then I don’t see what you’d gain my moving to Luna, especially if it’s tied to UA hardware!
I think (may well be wrong) that the only major selling point that Luna has over other DAWs is the integration with UA hardware and software.

What makes you think the Apollos are at the end of their life?

They're using old chips now, they're at the end of their life so considering their price I'm not sure it's the best investment.
I read Luna, while it does need Apollo to authorise and certain functions, now has core audio support and can be used on a laptop not connected to an Apollo. This leads me to think it's only a matter of time before Luna is opened to a wider audience. I get the impression UA have kept it pretty exclusive while they develop it to the stage it's ready to compete with a wider market.

[ore_terra]

My humble studio was Apollo based for a few years.

Now I dont use any UA plugin, and with a presonus quantum 4848 and a M1 Macbook Pro I can track with 2ms latency monitoring through cubase with more plugins as inserts than my 2 Apollo 8P’s and my 2 satellite quads allowed…

The plugins are good. I did miss some of them for a while.

[Aled Hughes]

If you’re not an Apollo or UA plugins user then I don’t see what you’d gain my moving to Luna, especially if it’s tied to UA hardware!
I think (may well be wrong) that the only major selling point that Luna has over other DAWs is the integration with UA hardware and software.

What makes you think the Apollos are at the end of their life?

They're using old chips now, they're at the end of their life so considering their price I'm not sure it's the best investment.
I read Luna, while it does need Apollo to authorise and certain functions, now has core audio support and can be used on a laptop not connected to an Apollo. This leads me to think it's only a matter of time before Luna is opened to a wider audience. I get the impression UA have kept it pretty exclusive while they develop it to the stage it's ready to compete with a wider market.

I see. Personally I wouldn’t invest in a system in the hope that’ll it eventually do what you want it to, and I’d be surprised if the Apollos won’t continue to be made and updated - I don’t think it’s that long ago since the most recent ones. Are you maybe conflating then with the UAD2 cards that have indeed been around for a long time? UA seem to be slowly moving from them towards native plugins, but the Apollos are something newer altogether.

I have and use Bitwig, and it’s very good at what it does, and if you just want to make your own music then it could well be just the ticket. But it isn’t as well developed as the other major DAWs for general audio work and editing.

For most of my work I use Reaper. There’s a lot you can do to de-clutter the interface and it’s extremely capable, and cheap too.

I also use ProTools, Pyramix and DaVinci Resolve on occasion when the need arises as well at Bitwig, but Reaper is their equal on most tasks in my opinion (Bitwig not as much maybe, because it takes a different approach, much more similar to something like Ableton Live)

Aled

[Chromeman]

I also tried UAD Spark @99c for 3 months and recently received a link to download and authorise Luna which I currently have running on my Macbook Air - no UA hardware required. It's a nice clean looking GUI but I can't see any benefits in swapping from my existing DAW which is Logic. YMMV.

[sonics]

The plugins are good. I did miss some of them for a while.

Is there anything you didn't replace satisfactorily or improve upon?

[Guest]

I also tried UAD Spark @99c for 3 months and recently received a link to download and authorise Luna which I currently have running on my Macbook Air - no UA hardware required. It's a nice clean looking GUI but I can't see any benefits in swapping from my existing DAW which is Logic. YMMV.

That's really interesting and was what I was suspecting UA might do to open the doors to Luna, making it part of a spark subscription is a great move.
I get why you're not really bothered being happy with Logic but great news, exactly what I am looking for.
I really think UA are going to take a big chunk of Pro Tool's userbase with Luna.

[ore_terra]

The plugins are good. I did miss some of them for a while.

Is there anything you didn't replace satisfactorily or improve upon?

Ocean Ways reverb.

Also the pultecs, until I found Ruletec version.