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UAD-1 Card Vs TC Electronics Powercore?

The UAD plugins are so smooth, that's what I like about them. You can do automation on them and it sounds really smooth - no "zipper noises" or other artifacts. Try the phaser, the flanger, the choruses... smooth is the word. I mainly just use the Cambridge EQ though - and sometimes the Pultec, and the LN1176 for compression on drum tracks.

And the card has become very cheap. I have two of them, paid quite a bit more than what they cost today.
 
Agreed. I had one in a G4/533/os 9 before they upgraded the card to work in a G5, so after waiting for months for the card to be compatible and run in os x, I sold the computer and card as a package deal.

I assume they've resolved the voltage problem so it now works in G5? Because I really miss it and want to run it in logic.
 
Patrick de Caumette said:
The guitar module might not be as good as the PC (I haven't heard the PC guitar module yet) but I got some great guitar tracks from UAD Nigel anyway.
Click to expand...

Hmm - so the powercore is supposed to have a slightly better guitar module? I can't decide which to get :o but I've heard nigel is pretty cool.
 
OK, it seems that the only way to get the best of both worlds - the bright Euro reverb and the smooth dynamics plugins - is to have both the Powercore and the UAD.
I guess ultimately in my situation I would like to see the UAD PCI card and the new compact Powercore firewire solution on my G5. In order to do this in a way that maximizes my hardware I would have to decide if the Powercore would go on theFW400 buss (that has the audio interface) or the FW800 buss that has two drives with all my sample libraries on it. (I record to a second internal SATA drive.)
Anyone have any opinions or knowledge on this matter? I understand that the FW buss theoretically can handle many more devices but I wonder about the day-to-day reality of this. My first inclination would be to put it on the FW400 bus with my audio interface since during mixing it would be less active than the other buss with the libraries.
This has been a good thread. Thanks for all the input.

Regards,
Jack
 
<sorry 'bout that - I didn't tweak forum settings in this one - its fixed...>
 
Jack Weaver said:
OK, it seems that the only way to get the best of both worlds - the bright Euro reverb and the smooth dynamics plugins - is to have both the Powercore and the UAD.
I guess ultimately in my situation I would like to see the UAD PCI card and the new compact Powercore firewire solution on my G5. In order to do this in a way that maximizes my hardware I would have to decide if the Powercore would go on theFW400 buss (that has the audio interface) or the FW800 buss that has two drives with all my sample libraries on it. (I record to a second internal SATA drive.)
Anyone have any opinions or knowledge on this matter? I understand that the FW buss theoretically can handle many more devices but I wonder about the day-to-day reality of this. My first inclination would be to put it on the FW400 bus with my audio interface since during mixing it would be less active than the other buss with the libraries.
This has been a good thread. Thanks for all the input.

Regards,
Jack
Click to expand...

I wonder though how well the tc and uad interact? That would be a really cool set up if you can get it to work. Good luck! And let us know how you did.
 
Thanks for all the great information everyone is contributing, its hard to know which card to get!

One question I have, does the PCI card (UAD or Powercore) immediately take on the sample rate set in your sequencer or does it process audio internally at a higher sample rate (96kHz I would imagine) and then spit it back out at the host speed again?

Thanks.
 
Scott, why do have to ask complicated questions?
Just play your keyboard and be still :wink:

Seriously, I don't know if the UAD samples at a higher rate or not.
Whether you record at 41 or 48 Khz the card sounds great. I know some of its plugs (the Pultec) works at 64 bit oversample.
 
Hey be nice! I just said nice things about you on NS. :)

LOL!


I guess the main thing is that these FX sound so great, so I really shouldnt worry about it....
 
Patrick de Caumette said:
Just play your keyboard and be still :wink:
Click to expand...

The technical road term is "shut up and play yer guitar" :P

Actually - the more I think about this issue the more I'm leaning back towards the UAD-1 PCI Card. It's cheaper, the plug-ins are great, and the options are fantastic - like the Cambridge EQ and the Precision Limiter. I have Altiverb so I may go this way to start. If I want more I may seriously look at the TC Powercore Compact Firewire box.
 
But wait...there's more!

Yes, I do want both systems too - the UAD PCI card and the Powercore Compact. I spent some time investigating tonight and it's not quite as smooth as I thought for my particular circumstance. I would like them both to work on my G5 with Logic and Pro Tools 002R (LE).

UAD got back to me and told me that it's OK to install both AU (Logic) and RTAS (PTLE). However Powercore does not support either RTAS or VST>RTAS Wrapper.

So if I want to use Powercore I'm going to have to mix in Logic. Since that's what I'd prefer to do that's kinda OK but I sure don't appreciate being locked in to that answer.

Compromised yet still smiling,

Jack
 
PF,

The list price in USD is $995 for Compact.

You could get the Element version for a little more than half that (with dealer discount) - although you won't get all the new-fangled effects proceessing plugins. You would however get the great reverbs which IMHO is the best part of the package.

Best regards,

Jack
 
Hey Jack,

Where did you get the price for that? I've been looking 'round and haven't located it. Music store? Which one?

Thanks,

Chris
 
Hi,

I got the price for Powercore Element by a Google search. I forgot which place it was. However, they simply displayed the list price.

Also...more info from TC directly regarding the Pro Tools LE:

"Yes, the Powercore Compact -- as well as the Firewire -- will work with both desktops and laptops as it connects via Firewire400. The included plugins come in the VST and AudioUnits formats which means you will need to purchase the VST>RTAS wrapper from www.fxpansion.com in order to be able to use the plugins in ProTools.
Although the usage of plugin-wrappers is a configuration not supported by TC, I know of several commercial studio projects done with ProTools LE and the Powercore, with great success."

So evidently they don't support RTAS - but they do. Ah, the ambivalence of the promise of modern techology. So what do think that means?
My guess, "We don't want to support Digidesign because they are big and powerful and we have had some products that in the past that were competitive with their products, but psst, hey buddy, it does work."

TC is very fortunate that make a great reverb algorithm. And thery really do.

Regards,

Jack
 
Yeah, I know what you mean.

I have the Performance Set and the Cube and couldn't stop wanting the other so I just bought QLSO Platinum strings when they were on sale for 30% off a couple of weeks ago.

You know, some manufacturers have just half of the best stuff.

Now since it looks like I'm gonna get the Logic upgrade I'm pretty swamped with learning curve issues. Really it's not only the learning curve on the techonology, but a major amount of time and energy to get a keen appreciation of all the wonderful ways to use these great new tools. Each sound has it's own place. Each software feature allows for new work methods.

Preaching to the choir...

Jack
 
Before you get the Logic upgrade, wait. There is currently an issue with new AU authorizations with Native Instruments stuff (including QLSO) - NI is currently working on doing the updates. In other words, your NI plugs may not work in Logic 7 yet!
 
Darn...if we aren't off on to another whole topic string.

That's my way of saying I sure would like to hear more about this Logic/AU/NI stuff before I begin to beat my head against the wall over it.

However, it may not be totally fair to those who might want to continue talking about the UAD/Powercore conumdrum. Maybe the admin can move this for us?

BTW, thanks for the heads up on this.

Jack
 
Let's get things back on topic.

I found it really interesting that the Powercore Compact was $995. I assume that its because it has double the capacity of available plug ins since its double the price of the card?
 
Frederick - check out the information page on TC Powercore:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/default.asp?id=3994

According to the site, PowerCore Element (PCI Card) includes nine standard plug-ins:
  • Classic Verb ? classic reverb processor
  • Mega Reverb ? TC reverb processor
  • Chorus/delay ? modulation multi-FX
  • EQSat Custom ? parametric EQ
  • Vintage CL ? channel compressor/ limiter
  • 24/7 C ? virtual limiting amplifier
  • Voice Strip - voice processing channel
  • PowerCore 01 ? synthesizer
  • Tubifex - guitar amp simulator.
PowerCore Compact, the new portable PowerCore solution, also includes:
  • Master X3 - virtual incarnation of the TC Electronic Finalizer?
  • Filtroid ? dual ?analog? filter bank
  • Character? - brand new plug-in from Noveltech, which identifies and enhances characteristics in the instrument- or vocal source
The PowerCore Compact comes with a 266 MHz PowerPC and two 150 MHz Motorola DSPs each with 512 Kb Ram, and it connects instantly to computers via FireWire connectors. According to TC, multiple PowerCore Compacts can be combined with each other or with several PowerCore FireWires and/or PowerCore Elements for even more power. Like all PowerCore devices, PowerCore Compact supports any VST or Audio Unit based digital audio workstation. It has the capability to run multiple reverbs, virtual Finalizers and other high-end effects simultaneously (although I'm not finding a performance comparison chart between the element, compact and firewire versions.)
 
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