UAD Free LA-2A

[Pingafuego]

https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/comp ... essor.html

[selig]

OK now, we finally get a decent LA2a in Reason for everyone (FREE)! I'd jump on this if I didn't already have it (and love it).
Everyone needs a decent LA2a in their tool kit IMO.

[MarkTarlton]

mac os users will need 10.15 or above to d/l

it's a great plug in!

[avasopht]

I'm in

[PhillipOrdonez]

F yeah

[dvdrtldg]

Be interested to see how this one stacks up against the Cakewalk RE version

[amanitamix]

Yep, this one kicks some serious ass alright. Thanks for the tip-off

[joeyluck]

Be interested to see how this one stacks up against the Cakewalk RE version

After some initial tests, I definitely prefer the Cakewalk RE-2A/CA-2A. Which is no surprise as it's been my favorite over any other emulation. The UAD sounds more aggressive at the same settings. Could just be a matter of using lower settings... But for a compressor I reach for because it's gentle and not as aggressive, I'd much prefer a wider range of gentle.

Also, the R37 screw on this is fake? I can't get it to turn. No tooltips or values for anything either, so I can't tell if it's a parameter other just trying to turn it.

R37.png (122.93 KiB) Viewed 24924 times

Why put it on there if it's not going to do anything? Or am I missing some advanced setting not mentioned in the manual? Do I need to buy a screwdriver? Lol

[ProfessaKaos]

This is actually a new plugin and not the same as in the LA-2A Collection, so if you upgrade to the collection you will have 4 LA-2A's from UAD.
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... 367dc5e0cb

[Arpeg]

This is actually a new plugin and not the same as in the LA-2A Collection, so if you upgrade to the collection you will have 4 LA-2A's from UAD.
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... 367dc5e0cb

And now we get this Crossgrade offer from PiB : https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... Compressor.
£49 for this bundle by crossgrading the FREE LA-2A - Includes LA-2A collection, Pultec Passive EQ collection, polyMAX synth, Century tube channel strip and more.
Massive Bargain?? Seems so to me

[dan_g]

And now we get this Crossgrade offer from PiB : https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... Compressor.
£49 for this bundle by crossgrading the FREE LA-2A - Includes LA-2A collection, Pultec Passive EQ collection, polyMAX synth, Century tube channel strip and more.
Massive Bargain?? Seems so to me

looks very promising. maybe i will pull the trigger on this.

[DaveyG]

It's not a compressor I particularly need but I just tried and failed to install it. The Pace licence installer got all the way to the end and then failed on component registration with an error code that gets no Google hits and their UA Connect program will not run without Pace. What's weird is that I already have Pace installed and running for other stuff so the Connect program shouldn't need to install it.

Either way, I'm not going to chase it - I probably wouldn't use the compressor anyway but it does make me wonder if I'd have the same problem if I decided to treat myself to a UAD interface and/or software some day. (Don't get excited Giles - I have no plans to do so any time soon!)

[selig]

Be interested to see how this one stacks up against the Cakewalk RE version

After some initial tests, I definitely prefer the Cakewalk RE-2A/CA-2A. Which is no surprise as it's been my favorite over any other emulation. The UAD sounds more aggressive at the same settings. Could just be a matter of using lower settings... But for a compressor I reach for because it's gentle and not as aggressive, I'd much prefer a wider range of gentle.

Also, the R37 screw on this is fake? I can't get it to turn. No tooltips or values for anything either, so I can't tell if it's a parameter other just trying to turn it.

R37.png


Why put it on there if it's not going to do anything? Or am I missing some advanced setting not mentioned in the manual? Do I need to buy a screwdriver? Lol

This IS a feature on the “full” version, and pretty useful to adjust the high frequency compression amount.

https://media.uaudio.com/assetlibrary/t ... _@2x_1.jpg

As for your comparison, setting the knobs the same doesn’t work on hardware (!) and doesn’t work between models in my experience. Folks said similar things about various Pultec emulations, and I tested them and found you COULD match things easily if you ignored the knob position and went with the ‘sound’.

That said, for the LA-2a from UAD it comes the closest to matching the typical setting on the original hardware which is probably why I gravitate towards it. But I would be willing to bet if you just used it without comparing it to the RE-2a you’d naturally adjust it to where it sounded good to you instead of setting the knobs like you’re used to doing and wondering why you didn’t like the sound. The same thing happens to me when I work on the RE-2a - I start with the settings I’m used to using and quickly realize that’s not the sound I’m used to getting, and make adjustments from there. Which interestingly enough is how you work with the various vintage hardware you’d likely encounter in a studio or rental house because each one can vary quite a bit even between similar models. Gotta love hardware…

[QVprod]

Be interested to see how this one stacks up against the Cakewalk RE version

I have the LA-2A collection. Came free with an Apollo. It has an added saturation that you don’t get with the RE-2A. May not work for everyone but I happen to like it. Like Joey mentioned, it does compress more at lower values, but as Selig mentioned I just adjust accordingly.

[selig]

Be interested to see how this one stacks up against the Cakewalk RE version

I have the LA-2A collection. Came free with an Apollo. It has an added saturation that you don’t get with the RE-2A. May not work for everyone but I happen to like it. Like Joey mentioned, it does compress more at lower values, but as Selig mentioned I just adjust accordingly.

But I hope that's not a reason to not prefer it over the other. I mean, when you audition two things or A/B the before/after you always level match so you're not comparing two different things at different levels.

I tried a few things since I have the full collection and the Cakewalk RE. Compared to the default RE-2a settings you need to lower the Peak Reduction from 60 to 50. Interestingly, 50 is where I typically run the hardware version on vocals, with the gain at 30. And almost magically, you get the same result as with the RE-2a in it's default setting. I'm comparing the "silver" version. If you compare the original version (the oldest model) you get pretty much the same settings as the RE-2a, so maybe they used that one as their model?

As for saturation, you definitely get saturation from both models, fairly equally according to some quick tests. My settings are RE-25 Gain=40, Peak Reduction=60, 10 dB reduction on a signal hitting -12 dBFS. On the UAD version use Gain=30, Peak Reduction=50, also 10 dB gain reduction. When set roughly this way I can't really tell much difference between them. But yea, I'm definitely biased because these positions on the UAD are exactly how I've always used it, and the Cakewalk version always felt a bit odd to me in that respect. But that says more about expectations than anything, they really can be made to sound pretty much indistinguishable from each other IMO.

[QVprod]

I have the LA-2A collection. Came free with an Apollo. It has an added saturation that you don’t get with the RE-2A. May not work for everyone but I happen to like it. Like Joey mentioned, it does compress more at lower values, but as Selig mentioned I just adjust accordingly.

But I hope that's not a reason to not prefer it over the other. I mean, when you audition two things or A/B the before/after you always level match so you're not comparing two different things at different levels.

I tried a few things since I have the full collection and the Cakewalk RE. Compared to the default RE-2a settings you need to lower the Peak Reduction from 60 to 50. Interestingly, 50 is where I typically run the hardware version on vocals, with the gain at 30. And almost magically, you get the same result as with the RE-2a in it's default setting. I'm comparing the "silver" version. If you compare the original version (the oldest model) you get pretty much the same settings as the RE-2a, so maybe they used that one as their model?

As for saturation, you definitely get saturation from both models, fairly equally according to some quick tests. My settings are RE-25 Gain=40, Peak Reduction=60, 10 dB reduction on a signal hitting -12 dBFS. On the UAD version use Gain=30, Peak Reduction=50, also 10 dB gain reduction. When set roughly this way I can't really tell much difference between them. But yea, I'm definitely biased because these positions on the UAD are exactly how I've always used it, and the Cakewalk version always felt a bit odd to me in that respect. But that says more about expectations than anything, they really can be made to sound pretty much indistinguishable from each other IMO.

Haven’t done a scientific comparison I’ll admit. More of a feeling. Around 50 is what I’m used to using on any emulation previously ( I think Studio One’s fat channel version is a bit higher) but at default I’m barely going above 20-30. Using the Silver one as well.

[joeyluck]

Yeah I hate fake controls lol. Why put it on there if it's not going to function? It's especially confusing on a plugin with no tooltips.

Computer Music's post was "there's no catch..."
Well...haha

[ArcoZ]

This thing rocks! I've always dreamed about LA2A from UAD. And ... I've got it.

[miyaru]

As the tittle says: it ain't free forever, it is only a demo! It was online advertised in Musicradar. I installed it, and it is a demo. If you want to use it longer than 2 weeks, pay $163,= !

So if you do not want to demo it, don't go for the hassle of installing it......

[miyaru]

The website is confusing, I read it over and over again..... Can anyone shed a light on this?

[avasopht]

The website is confusing, I read it over and over again..... Can anyone shed a light on this?

Sure, ... But I'll need to take your CC details before I give you my free advice, of course

[WarStar]

For anyone that did grab the free LA2A, UA has a killer upgrade bundle for $49

Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection (3 plug-ins)
Pultec Passive EQ Collection (3 plug-ins)
Century Tube Channel Strip
Oxide Tape Recorder
Galaxy Tape Echo
Pure Plate Reverb
PolyMAX Synth

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... page-nosto

[dan_g]

also i find it a bit confusing why there are two bundles on PB that cost the same and also have the same plugins.

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... o-1-higher

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... ge-nosto-2

whats up with this?

[jam-s]

There's also the bigger (and more expensive) mix edition bundle here which includes more FX and API stuff for ~$200 + tax: https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... FREE-LA-2A

Also some note for users of older CPUs: The free LA-2A simply crashes when your CPU does not have AVX instructions.

[QVprod]

But I hope that's not a reason to not prefer it over the other. I mean, when you audition two things or A/B the before/after you always level match so you're not comparing two different things at different levels.

I tried a few things since I have the full collection and the Cakewalk RE. Compared to the default RE-2a settings you need to lower the Peak Reduction from 60 to 50. Interestingly, 50 is where I typically run the hardware version on vocals, with the gain at 30. And almost magically, you get the same result as with the RE-2a in it's default setting. I'm comparing the "silver" version. If you compare the original version (the oldest model) you get pretty much the same settings as the RE-2a, so maybe they used that one as their model?

As for saturation, you definitely get saturation from both models, fairly equally according to some quick tests. My settings are RE-25 Gain=40, Peak Reduction=60, 10 dB reduction on a signal hitting -12 dBFS. On the UAD version use Gain=30, Peak Reduction=50, also 10 dB gain reduction. When set roughly this way I can't really tell much difference between them. But yea, I'm definitely biased because these positions on the UAD are exactly how I've always used it, and the Cakewalk version always felt a bit odd to me in that respect. But that says more about expectations than anything, they really can be made to sound pretty much indistinguishable from each other IMO.

Haven’t done a scientific comparison I’ll admit. More of a feeling. Around 50 is what I’m used to using on any emulation previously ( I think Studio One’s fat channel version is a bit higher) but at default I’m barely going above 20-30. Using the Silver one as well.

Update: the HF knob was the culprit on this. Sounds about the same as the Presonus Fat channel version.