VK Shootout: Urei/Universal Audio 1176 Compressor vs. Reproductions, Plug-Ins, and Pedals

#Urei1176 #UniversalAudio #Urei #Avid #OriginEffects

Performances by Olivia Millerschin (Vocals), Dustin McLaughlin (Electric Guitar), and Bryan Reilly (Bass and Drums).

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VK Shootout: Urei/Universal Audio 1176 Compressor vs. Reproductions, Plug-Ins, and Pedals

[JamesStMichael]

Anybody wanna tell me why the Pedal Sounded better than the Hardware Reissue LN and Damn near as good as the Urie?!? I'm perplexed. Im thinkin now of getting the cali76 and tracking vocals with it!

[wyrlismike]

you guys did a great job matching the general sound cause i noticed the settings changed quite a bit between the different processors. i have a vintage blue stripe and a warm audio 76. i love them

[underpressureman]

That Stacked Cali Origin is Crazy for a pedal!!! I want's one!

[royoommen]

The UREI was my fav. The reissue was noticeably brighter, and not my preference. I will definitely be checking that Cali76 out, as that was the big surprise for me! Least fav on all sources was the BF.

[SethBrandMusic]

From time to time I try to fool myself into thinking plugins can keep up...while I think you can make great records with anything if you're good...when A/B'd...hardware just smokes plugins. Plugins always have a very digital, fake, cloudy and mucky sound to my ear. The hardware stuff, while each one sounds different...always sounds more open and deep...more real. I'm currently in the process of going back to a hardware setup :) With that said...I think mixing ITB with plugins is just very different, and requires more steps, a different approach, and different mindset to get things sounding like a record. They are all tools...so pick yours and master it. For me...I'm going back to the hardware approach!

[ArthurStone]

None of the plug-ins sounded as appealing as the hardware. The Cali pedal was awesome. Love to see an 1176 hardware shoot-out with the Wes Audio _MIMAS. Thanks and best : D

[andigisler]

On the drum room, the difference between the vintage 1176 (instant Bonham) and the reissue (stiff and flat) was pretty brutal. The Cali76 is great for guitar, I might try mine as a mix insert now. Love my two LA-3A reissues and thought about getting a Warm Audio 76 but maybe the pedal is good

[faraitheprod]

What desk is that at 0:11? It's such a nice design.

[sirbyron]

Would have been nice to hear the "newer" UAD 1176LN REV E. The "Legacy" is the first edition which to me doesn't sound anything like REV E. Thanks for the shootout though! Appreciate!

[thesoundhub]

Urei is awesome. Definitely liked the best

[homeworldmusic]

Through the crap sound chip on my laptop, every example sounds the same in my headphones. I'm sure it would be different through my Komplete 6 interface, but I see why most of the benefits of great processing are lost in the current reality of streaming, phones as playback sound systems, etc

[MLaurence]

Mostly was interested in the guitar section for these demos. VK is definitely pushing the hardware here. The hardware sounds great, but they had the attack and release all the way to 5 on the plugin demos. Would've been nice to see them at the same setting, lowest attack and fastest release

[flyjohnson]

For starters the best 1176 UAD plug in is the REV E -you should have used that one. That said the REV D on this is clearly the "warmest" and is just a nice vintage goop. The reissue here is cleaner and sounds super close to the UAD 1176 plug used here. Cali stacked is better and warmer than the regular Cali -would like to hear the big Cali with the transformer in this mix. Protools BF 76 not in same league.

[kevindietz]

I liked different compressors on different sources, no one unit stood out to me as the best across the board. However...for my money, nothing beats a nice hardware compressor for a little squeeze on the way in.

[XChristianNoirX]

Damn. UAD just got creamed by everybody... Even pedals and Pro-Tools. Over and over again, it's the same story. Even some low end hardware keeps beating UAD in shootouts making you reconsider the UAD pricing structure. IMHO it's time to drop those prices like Waves. Make you ffel like their plug-ins and hardware will be outdated in a year or two and it's money down the tubes.

[Sonicsmith]

As for plugins, the IKmultimedia sounded beefier than all the rest I'v tried which includes the Waves, Softube and even UAD themselves. And I don't mean marginally!

[ChrisDN]

The UA reissue adds a brightness to all sources I'm just not fond of.
The BF76 sounds bad on everything. I don't know what it's doing to the mids but I kinda hate it.
The Stacked Cali76 didn't sound good on the drum overheads.
Everything else sounds really great in its own way.
The regular Cali76 and the UAD plugin are expectionally close to the Urei through my speakers.

[brianvillage]

id love to see the uad summing extensions vs their respective analog counterparts...

[chrisdelacerda]

What does the red switch on Urei do? Seen this switch on some people's 1176. Thanks for this video ! :)

[tubical]

Hmm a VK video without any comments, jet....;) Anyway thumps up for this one, well done :)

For me, the hardware is what i expect, it would have been nice if you had also added the 1176 cone from Warm Audio...the UDA emu is usable but also noticable different, very much noticable on the drums...the proTools is ok-ish but don´t watch that meter it has a delay and also give wired readings sometimes....The footpedals are hard to judge as i can barely see their settings and also if you set them up by ear only it´s ok, but if you do so, you can´t compare it 1:1 to all the others as you simply don´t know if you dialed them up all the same way....but their overall performance is ok as

Also i know why i DIY :) for the retail price of one UA hardware Comp, i can build about six units myself, of course i already built two Field Effect Type controlable gain stages and also complete VCAs (the gain reducing section of a compressor is more or less a simple VCA) and i can combine it with several detectors and ENV-gens i also already done as well. The main problem with FET stages is, that their parameters spread a lot...you need to buy about 100 or alike to get about 20 which have a close enough "mate" for stereo use...and still then you need to tweak your design a lot until both units perform just the same and this procedure takes time and you also need to know what you´re doing, or they won´t do the same thing, after all.