Which DSP card?? TC or UAD

For seeking technical help with Digital Performer and/or plug-ins on MacOS.

Moderator: James Steele

Forum rules
This forum is for seeking solutions to technical problems involving Digital Performer and/or plug-ins on MacOS, as well as feature requests, criticisms, comparison to other DAWs.
Post Reply
User avatar
daddyunicorn
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: so cal

Which DSP card?? TC or UAD

Post by daddyunicorn »

Thinking about getting the POwercore card or the Firewire version. On TC's site I notice they purposely do not make any mention of DP. I think they might be in bed with Apple.
Does anyone have experience with POwercore and 4.6? On a G5 dual 2.? 10.4.3? Like how many plugs can you really use. How do they deal with latency.
Help would be appreciated. Oh and also, is the X3 Virtual finalizer reall like the real Finalzer?

dgd
greeny
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Amsterdam

Post by greeny »

Today I use a firewire powercore with dp4.61, dual 1.25/G4, OS 10.3.8, and motu's pci424, and it works just fine. I've been using the powercore firewire since dp4.12. DP takes care of plugin latency compensation. I even use a somewhat older version of TC's software (1.9.3) as it works very well and I could not be bothered to upgrade... bla bla blah... they're at 1.9.5 or .6 today. I love the TC plugs and may be using a dozen or so during mixes along with Waves and motu plugs. The X3 is pretty good but I believe the X5 is more transparent - and another 250 euro's! UAD I know very little of other than all the great reports here on this forum, the ultra-pack seems to be the one to get... cheers.
Alix
User avatar
emulatorloo
Posts: 3227
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Iowa

Re: Which DSP card?? TC or UAD

Post by emulatorloo »

daddyunicorn wrote:On TC's site I notice they purposely do not make any mention of DP.
Last time I looked there were technotes on their support page regarding setting up Powercore and digital performer.

I have the PCI card and it works fine w DP.
Splinter
Posts: 945
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Post by Splinter »

2 different flavors really. The UAD is more vintagey and classic. The PoCo is modern and "slick." I had a PoCo and liked its sound (it got stolen with my computer), but that was before ADC and I hated to deal with shifting tracks. These days, it would be well worth it. The VoiceStrip and ClassicVerb are very nice! The PoCo also uses a much more powerful DSP chip than the UAD, so you can get much more out of it. That said, I've considered getting a UAD, because I'm wanting more more compression options and between the 1176LN, the LA2A, and Fairchild, I would have plenty of flavor to pick from. The Plate140 and Pultec look yummy as well.
Astia
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Lappeenranta, FINLAND
Contact:

Post by Astia »

Both of them work fine. If I had to choose only one of them, I‘d go for the PoCo. Isn‘t the X3 code exactly the same as in Finalyzer?
G5 2x2.75GHz, 4G RAM, OSX 10.4.5, DP4.61, Mach5, 2408mkIII, 1296, ExpressXT, AutoTune3, Waves Renaissance, PowerCore mkII, UAD-1, 2-1176, Distressor, LA2A, TLAudio VTC, Mackie DXB200 w/3xUAD-1..
Rokrok & siihen ralliin!!!
User avatar
digidan
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Contact:

Post by digidan »

I currently run both the powercore firewire and the uad-1. Both are great, but I definately get more use out of the uad-1. I think the uad is much more user friendly than the poco. They don't seem to charge as much for upgrade plugins either. You will definately get mixed answers on this subject, but the skinny is powered plugins work well, and are worth the money whichever you decide.
tim57var
Posts: 89
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact:

Post by tim57var »

I started with the UAD, then added the powercore (new PCI MkII). Having both is the best, of course. I like UAD for EQ and compression, and PoCo for Verbs. However, i was disappointed with the X3 plug- it isn't quite the Finalizer that I hoped it would be. It's ok, but a little more harsh than the hardware model. VSS3 reverb on PoCo is kileer!! Good luck.
MacPro 8 core/DP 5.12/Mach5v2/HD192/24io/(2)2408 Mk3/(2)MTP AV/UAD-1/Powercore/Spectrasonics/NI Komplete/BFD/Ivory/Arturia/Plugsound Pro/Dimension Pro/Nord Stage88/Gigastudio/V-Stack/MacBook Pro
papisax
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Post by papisax »

I own the TC Electronics Firewire Powercore and the UAD-1. IMHO:The stability of the UAD-1 and the quality of the plugins, especially the 1176, LA-2A, the cambridge EQ, and the precision EQ, completely blow the TC stuff away. I am so diappointed with the TC that I want to sell it. The only thing that the TC has going for it are the reverbs. They are excellent. Take care.

Papisax
chrispick
Posts: 3287
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Post by chrispick »

digidan wrote:You will definately get mixed answers on this subject, but the skinny is powered plugins work well, and are worth the money whichever you decide.
I agree. If you do a lot of mixing, it's worth the high investment just to take some of the load off your processors. That these third-party items also contribute great sound is an additional reason.

I only have an UAD-1 myself, but find it indispensible as a mixing tool. Like others have said, its compressors are really great. Easy to use and sound great. If you want some vintage gear flavor to add to your mixes, then UAD-1 is the way to go.
teesav
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: la
Contact:

Post by teesav »

Splinter wrote:2 different flavors really. The UAD is more vintagey and classic. The PoCo is modern and "slick." I had a PoCo and liked its sound (it got stolen with my computer), but that was before ADC and I hated to deal with shifting tracks. These days, it would be well worth it. The VoiceStrip and ClassicVerb are very nice! The PoCo also uses a much more powerful DSP chip than the UAD, so you can get much more out of it. That said, I've considered getting a UAD, because I'm wanting more more compression options and between the 1176LN, the LA2A, and Fairchild, I would have plenty of flavor to pick from. The Plate140 and Pultec look yummy as well.
I haven't tried the PoCo yet. I do have the UAD with every plugin they make. I love it! It's very warm sounding. Reverbs are nice. The Precision mastering limiter is great! I'm using it with DP 4.61 and I have a very slow G4 but I'm bumping up to a dual processor G5 soon.
westla
Posts: 447
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Post by westla »

I'll echo what others have alreasdy said. I have both, and it's all personal taste, but that being said, I think the UAD is great for comps and EQ but useless for reverbs. Where as the PoCo is great for reverbs, but not as good for comps and EQ. Although you can buy the Sony Oxford EQ as an upgrade.

If you can only buy one, I'd say go with the PoCo. Great sounding verbs and passable EQ's and comps.
sstillwell
Posts: 127
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Contact:

Post by sstillwell »

I guess I'd have to add...

Useless for reverbs EXCEPT for the Plate 140 (emulation of an EMT plate reverb). That thing is a monster!

Scott
westla
Posts: 447
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Post by westla »

sstillwell wrote:
Useless for reverbs EXCEPT for the Plate 140 (emulation of an EMT plate reverb). That thing is a monster!

Scott
You're absolutely right ... I forgot about the Plate 140 ... that is great sounding. But as far a natural room emulations ... UAD, not so good.
hudmanbtr
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Bakersfield, Ca.
Contact:

TC Powercore?

Post by hudmanbtr »

I've got the dual 1.25 G4, OS 10.4.3 DP 4.6.1 1 Meg RAM. when I load plug ins, the computer crashes. Any ideas?
Post Reply