r/universalaudio

Full disclosure - IANAL, and I spend my free retirement time building apps which will often fall in and about the Universal Audio ecosystem. I won't say more than that so there's no confusion of commercial intent.

TL;DR - UA Connect EULA v11 dated Sep 3 hurts customers and stifles innovation.

I worked almost 15 full years in the software business. For big software companies, that many of you have probably heard of. I was there for the move to cloud, then to subscription, then to predatory practices which made me (along with the incredible promise of AI) to leave the industry entirely.

I was outspoken about the insistence that the only way you could be a good software company was to move to cloud all the way back in 2013. I was even more outspoken in 2015 when becoming a SaaS company was literally the only way you could raise funds.

Neither cloud, nor SaaS was good for customers. I was most aware of this from the cyber-security ad big data and analytics perspective. I advised several startups during the pandemic, who had 0% chance of surviving pre-customer without a big fat "Subscription-based, cloud-first" business model. Maybe you (UA) and I were talking to some of the same VCs and consultants and advisors. I don't know. I advised my startups that it was a BS strategy designed to use the three mega-scaler cloud providers stock as an instrument for circular investment which would ultimately benefit the big venture capital firms and destroy thousands of amazing products, companies, and founders. You can judge if I was right.

I opened UA connect this evening to see what needed updating, and I was presented with a new click-through UA End-user License Agreement. I have issues.

1. The text is deliberately long (single body all languages), complex, and inaccessible to copy paste, and serves no "review offline" methods.
2. No prior versions (even the most recent) are available to diff. UA serves all prior versions (for now) but doesn't list them. I had to find them via internet archive. This is shady and makes it impossible to understand whats new.
3. There is a buried "ancillary OX, UAFX, Volt, or UA Microphone agreement" at the very end which, to my knowledge, only exists on the mandatory click-through agreement with UA Connect on Mac. If I am missing the honest duplication of these terms in the public pdf of version 11, or anyway really, please LMK. Burying it and hiding it isn't a good look.
4. New in version 11 is explicit terms against scraping, and robots. I am fine with this. But next in the list is "automated access." This likely prevents other applications from connecting via APIs. You must recognize that soon every one of your customers will be able to build their own, customized software, workflows, apps, and more. This likely isn't just an issue for AI, but could affect using tools like curl to automate your studio.

I think UA has a closing-door opportunity to embrace the future, forget the self-serving BS that the money is selling, and embrace the inevitable future and disruption coming for the dinosaurs that cling to these old business models. You make AMAZING software and hardware. Don't ruin your own legacy by supporting practices which ultimately disenfranchise creative people and perpetuate the wealth and technology gap.

-Undecidicide (Drew knows where to find me)

Hi everyone,

I just purchased a UA Volt 1 to transpose some of my loops and ideas into full songs using Reaper. I used to do music production fully digital with free plug-ins because I was too poor for gear.

I was excited to set up the Volt 1 to get back into production after a long break and try recording guitars for the first time.

I paid $200 CAD and there was nothing obvious on the box about what came next.

When I plugged in the device, Device Manager updated with the icon that there was no driver - as I expected. I requested Windows to find the driver automatically and it couldn't - also no big deal.

I went to the UA website and they don't post the drivers for their hardware under the Support or Downloads sections. Weird.

I realize I have to download their fucking app first. Not a deal breaker, but annoying.

Then, I have to make an account with them by giving them my email. Apparently UA uses this and telemetry to market other products and promotions to me based on my usage of the Volt 1. There was no easy way I could find to opt out of this.

I still haven't installed UA Connect and will probably just return the Volt 1 now.

I was considering asking people here for the driver, but I feel I shouldn't have to. I feel UA is bullying their customers to opt into being identified and tracked for marketing (i.e., extra, continued revenue for UA). If I get the driver from someone else and keep using the Volt 1 without the app, it feels like I'm still partially enabling this.

I'll probably return this device and get one that doesn't do this. Has anyone else had similar experiences? It seems like all types of creative software are farming their users for data these days. I first noticed it with graphic design software from Adobe and I'm really upset to see it coming to audio production. I can't see any argument by UA for requiring this other than greed. Anti-piracy doesn't apply because they make hardware that is used by software from other vendors.

Fuck UA.

Anyone know a fix for the rendering error that can happen with uad plugins in cubase. Seems random. I also randomly get a fatal error with amplitube 5. All other plugins are fine.

I disabled the high dpi scaling in cubase as read that was a fix for the uad rendering error but hasn't fixed it.

I’m a producer and recording artist. I make my own beats and write/record my own songs over them, so far I’ve also mixed my own stuff. Luckily, my father owns a studio that is well equipped so when he’s not in there I spend late nights recording and mixing my own stuff. I pretty much taught myself but developed a workflow for recording myself and mixing. Now that I’m spending most of my time at university I want to upgrade/invest in my personal setup. I currently have the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 3rd gen and a cheap mxl 990 for bedroom recording and I hate everything about my vocals when recording on it. Even for demos I can never get it to sound bearable enough if you know what I mean so I want to invest a little. My budget is around 500 for new or used mic and interface. I threw an offer for a used at 4040 mic $200 flat so that leaves me with more or less $300. I’m between a used Apollo solo(thunderbolt 3) for around $330-350 or the newly announced volt 2 max at a flat $300z I know nobody really has their hands on the new interface yet but there’s a few things on my mind while trying to make a decision.

1. I like the idea of onboard dsp with the solo for printing plugins like pre amps/compressions

2. Im scared I won’t be satisfied with the onboard effects/presets that the new volt max’s supposedly come with( scared of wishing that I went with the solo instead afterwards)

3. On top of reason 2, my laptop is a bit basic. A M1 MacBook Air 8gb of ram and 256gbs of storage. So far it has been serving me well enough for my production/starting beat ideas but I fear once I get into recording vocals and adding different plug-ins for light mixing that my laptop will start to struggle even for demos. My thought process is that the Apollo would help mitigate this potential issue but I could be wrong.

4. Everyone from small independent artist to even big professional seems to speak highly/swear by their Apollo solos when not in studios so I am leaning towards it more.

5. The Apollo solo is now coming up on being 7 years old so I’m scared I buy one and a new version gets announced soon or the gear just being too outdated in general. My dad thinks I should go with the new volt2max instead.

6. Also buying a used Apollo I would like to get the heritage plug ins if possible. Places like guitar center label their used Apollo solos as the heritage edition but I want to make sure it does come with the plug ins or can be transferred.

7. I’m not too worried about the amount of inputs/outputs. The extra IO on the new volt is cool but not very necessary for me rn and I don’t see it being so at least for my intended needs.

My main thing is trying to figure out if I really NEED dsp with Apollo or if it’s just a want. Am I better off just going with the new volt gear? Not in a big rush to make a decision in terms of choosing an interface. I plan on pulling the trigger on the mic right now but willing to wait and see what people think of the new volts. I’m even considering just buying the volt, trying it out, and returning afterwards if I feel unsatisfied. Just curious to hear your guy’s thoughts.

Also if you have any other mic suggestions in that price range used or new ($2-300) feel free to share aswell. From personal experience I’m not a big fan of the Sm7b. It’s not bad per say but it always feels underwhelming with my voice. I also don’t really like the Neumann m 147, it sounds too harsh on my voice. I normally go with the sterling st55, probably the cheapest mic in my fathers collection but my go to/favorite out of any mic I’ve used personally. I also record mainly alternative rnb and hip pop. Sorry this post is all over the place. Thanks for reading!

Hello , I just bought an Apollo Twin USB laptop, but I can't install it. What could be the problem? I'm using Windows 11.

https://preview.redd.it/va1shen7neth1.png?width=891&format=png&auto=webp&s=acf34e98b097f009ba26437467487f5b5b02bfc9

Anyone else can’t use Luna after move to Luna studio?
Features are working properly anymore!

Luna Studio 3.1.0.4581
MacBook Pro M4

On a Mac running Monterey (supports volt 2) can’t register product so can’t access plug ins etc.. been at it all day with chat gpt.. can’t get it to work, think I’ll send it back , anyone had this, iloc etc installed