Universal Audio レビュー 

If you don’t mind wasting a couple of days of money and valuable studio time along with unhappy clients and musicians then go ahead a buy UAD. I wish I never bothered… Had to send musicians and music clients home for second time now as my plugins won’t open due to THE worst, archaic payment and plugin interface on the market coupled with no customer service or help.

Very unprofessional. The plug-ins themselves are great but considering there is barely any customer support I would avoid UAD at all costs! There is no direct customer support email address, just a patronising, moron, bot who forwards your support request and a customer support team that takes 48- 73 hrs if you’re lucky..

Considering UAD are raking in the money (being they are one of the most reputable brands in music) you’d think they’d use some of that profit to employ some humans who actually reply within a 24 hour period, but not UAD.

I struggle to understand how they think this is acceptable in the modern professional music world. Even the lesser reputable brands (their competitors) have much easier systems and more so, real customer support (which is required less as their systems of payment and plugin interfaces actually work). A simple Reddit or Google search shows how many other people are extremely dissatisfied with UAD and their non existent customer service, some of which dating back years- but UAD dont seem to care. Sadly UAD have succumb to what seems a giant money grabbing corporation who have lost sight of their purpose. I will in future, spend my money on some of the newer up-and-coming plugin companies who use up-to-date systems and actually have customer service team that care. UAD are living off their old reputation and will swiftly be replaced by some of the newer brands that understand the demands and urgency of needing your tools on demand a standard requirement of modern engineers and producers. Avoid UAD like the plague- you’ve been warned. Absolutely disgusted with my experience and how incredibly unprofessional UAD are.

Their hardware and plugins are some of the best in the industry. I had some teething problems setting up my account with software issues, but their support was excellent (Dominic) and sorted it out really quickly.

Extremely terrible company, zero work ethics. I bought a Volt 2 audio interface especially for the plugins that come with it. Most of the plugins require ilok which is a true pain. But on top of all, this thing is broken from the factory. 5V power input won't work. This interface doesn't come with a suitable cable for your macbook. You have to buy a new USB C to USB C cable if you want to power it through your laptop. If you do, it simply drains the energy and you'll have to charge your laptop every 20 minutes. Second option is that 5V power option but it is simply broken. I bought 2 new adapters, 2 new USB A to Barrel cables. No solution. Won't turn on. This was the first time I purchased from uad and I assure every single flying bird on this planet that I'll never even say their crappy name in a single sentence. Shame on you uad. And people say they are well known. Well known for what? Extremely faulty products?

I have had Apollo Twin USB for 2 years, and i have yet to record any audio. When i first got the product 2 years ago i installed all the software and drivers and the plugin lagged and froze and crashed my system ( 16 gig ram / 6 gig gpu )

i gave up and 2 years later i decided to give it another go. Ive been back and forth with support for over a week. Delete, re install, user admin, change accounts, blah blah. My computer runs all my software and apps perfectly fine. But there is literally nothing i can do to use this well over 1000 dollar product. UAD Console and Connect are the worst music apps ive ever used. Id like to say the plugins sound nice but ive never used them

I had bought plugins with intend to use them natively, 1,5 year later i bought a soundcard of off them. When i tried to register these plugins i unintentionally registered them to my friend’s “twin” (i didnt now was in my account), these plugins are then locked to the hardware they were bought for. I contacted customer support and explained my problem. A guy named Sam responded to my email very fast, he then got a more detailed explanation of my problem and immediately moved over the plugins, so that they were registered to my soundcard. - Problem solved

I am more than disappointed with this company and especially with their fatal customer and pricing policy. A provider that promises customers who buy one of their extremely expensive UAD plug-ins that they can later upgrade to the native version free of charge and then charges them 49€ is not trustworthy for me. What is going on with this company? Aggressive marketing obviously takes precedence over cultivating long-term customers.

When I ask why I am being asked to pay again, I receive a list of the price catalog from customer support:
„We offer customers who own the UAD-2 (DSP) version of both the SSL 4000 E Channel Strip Collection and SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor Collection the opportunity to upgrade to the native versions of these plugins for just $9.99. Customers who own one of these two plug-ins can upgrade to the full SSL 4000 Series Bundle, which includes the native versions of both plug-ins, for only $49.“

The offer of a really nicely designed audio-interface, the 176 VOLT, as promoted by one of their stockists, for a very reasonable price and with an apparently industry-standard compressor and free software was too great a bundle to go elsewhere.

The software includes a DAW called Ableton Live Lite, which, although free, doesn't come with a decent de-esser and which you have to pay over-amounts for should you decide to purchase a plug-in as an alternative solution; and it only comes with eight recording tracks. If you are a vocalist who performs with much sibilance then this bundle is not for you.

The compressor on the interface turned out to be so hissy (ground-floor noise) that it was unusable and the replacement had a faulty power-port.

The stockist suggested that the model was made for the price rather than to a standard and I couldn't agree more. I own an M-Audio Firewire 410, bought over ten years ago, and it has never developed a fault (it can't be used because its connections and drivers are old).

Those who work for Universal Audio are polite and helpful and reply to emails in quick time; this is all very well, however, when the equipment itself is of a poor quality.

Was very excited at first. Until I had a problem.
Awful customer support which I interpret to mean they don't take their customers professionalism seriously. I need my recording studio to work dependably. If I do have an issue, I need professional help and I need it fast. With this company there support is incredibly poor. Your basically on you own 95% of the time. They want you to trouble shoot your problem with their answer bot and when that doesn't work wait around for an email that could show up at anytime or never. Their other solution is to go online to their support page, So basically read a book. Any product is only as good as its support. Probably going back to Pro Tools.

Unethical software seller. They have sold products that have quickly become obsolete and unusable. They aggressively advertise promotions then immediately slash prices after the promotion has ended and customers have invested. They sell individual products then within weeks bundle them in to packages containing the same products for far less cost - they provide no prior notice of intent to do this. They provide no compensation for customers who have overpaid as a result of these unethical pricing strategies. They promise customers ownership of product versions then break that promise by charging when new versions become available, sometimes adding a minor feature to claim it’s a ‘new’ product and justify the charge. They provide discount coupons but then price products so coupons don’t qualify - coupons expire before they can actually be of meaningful value to the customer. They require software to be running on your computer while their products are in use, which is intrusive and unnecessary. Their products are average at best. Customer service is slow and very unhelpful. My review is not based on a single experience but a year of dealing with them. They are tight, petty and increasingly irrelevant. Awful company.

Been team UAD for about 10 years now, love it, these plugins sound stellar and very hardware-like, never had any serious issue with the hardware either, my first Apollo bought back in 2014 is still working just fine :)

Now almost exclusively use the Spark Collection UAD Signature Edition and loving it !

Best sounding plugins and interfaces, worst software/activation experience of my life. Cracked software worked better in 2001. I haven't been able for Ableton to recognize the plugins the first time it opens ever. And I've gone from multiple OS, UAD and Ableton versions. iLok gets stuck. Sometimes no plugin works. Sometimes only the ones you need the hardware to work. I have spent just today about an hour trying to open a session with everything working. Granted is a big session but I've had to restart Ableton 4 times, re-authorize all plugins a couple of times, restart, all that. And this is my project in my home studio. Imagine have this happen with a client. I have an M1 Max Pro, BTW. Not like I'm with a 10yo computer trying to make crazy stuff.

Console is very much not user friendly, I was stuck with customer support to set up Console to work with OBS, while watching kids stream with a a USB microphone.

So, if you want good sound, go ahead. If you want reliability, go somewhere else. I would not trust their software or interfaces in a complex scenario or live situation. Imagine you play a gig in a venue without internet, god forbid. At this point in time I'd say use the plugins you can use without their hardware and buy an interface from another company. Good pres are nothing if the rest is a mess.

The internet model most audio companies rely on is infuriating. How I miss the old days where you had an offline system and you truly felt like you had a place for making music. Plugins were a part of your system, not some cloud depending trash. Now everything is tied to some IT system that generates constant issues with updates and incompatibilities. And all this I suppose to avoid piracy. We all had to pay the price of companies' greed, because in the end, professionals and people who make money will always buy, a big amount of aficionados will too, and just a bunch of kids will crack, to eventually become either the professionals or aficionados that will.

UAD was the target of my frustration, but this goes for most plugin companies and iLok.

Have to say after I initially bought software then realised I had bought the wrong packages Chris from customer care refunded me and gave me my original coupons back so I could get the discount on the stuff I should have ordered. Lots of negative feedback on here but I’ve found them to be exceptional. And their software is fantastic.

I love UAD plugins, but having to spend £50 on an iLok and having to use up another USB port on my laptop just to use the plugins offline is crazy. I use UAD plugins on most of my projects, but can't even use them without internet connection.

Get rid of iLok !!!

I have rarely experienced a weaker and more customer-despising company policy than that of UAD. As soon as you need their help, it takes up to 5 days to get answers. I had to send in my Apollo X6 because it stopped working. After that, the interface disappeared from the face of the earth. I didn't get any information as to when I would get it back for about 1.5 months. Then one day it was suddenly in the post without notice. That was it for me with this brand. No question, if their software and hardware works, then it sounds good, but if you are treated like this and in this way as a longtime customer, then I have to say. No thanks!

I can't believe thee people are in business. They can't provide a download in 2024? They have stolen, yes STOLEN, about $90 from thus far. They won't get another dime from me. I paid for downloads that do not down load and then the company does nothing to help you out. United Audio are thieves. Sue me for Slander, Truth is my Defense and it is the only recognized defense. You are a bunch of filthy low life animals.

soft installers are waste lf time dont buy this gear if you work not play in studio

UAD customer support is virtually non-existent. They put a robot in their front line in order to stall and say that a human being will get back to you within up to 72 hours. However nobody ever calls you and even if they did it would be at An Inconvenient time. This is totally unacceptable and just to tell the world there are other sound cards out there that can do the same if not better and don't cost as much and have real customer support. I'm finished with universal audio. Won't you follow?

Absolutely terrible installation proces. I can not get my plugins running no matter what I. And YES - I have contacted support, and they are absolutely useless. Out of all major plugin manufacturers out there, UA has to be the worst. I have had no issues with Slate Audio, Waves, Spitfire, Arturia and Softube, but with UA i can't even install my plugins, because their install center won't even launch. Everything has been a hassle. Support takes 4 days to answer and gives no constructive advice. Everything is tangled up with iLok. And the worst thing - they WILL NOT give you a refund, no matter what. Stay away!!! I just wasted 50 dollars on nothing.

Only company that sends me 10+ pop ups i have to patiently sit and press "OKAY" every time i open a project with their plugins. I bought some plugins long time ago, but stopped using them because the "having to have my interface connected" was such a big pain when going from studio to studio. Not to mention the chips in the inerfaces are incredibly low quality, it seems more like a scam to get you to update to quad core, than a company actually trying to make a good product. Please UA, toggle off these notifications. It's okay that plugin dosen't work. But i don't want to spend so much time, just pressing "okay" over and over again...