Very nice review, with a lot of information to help the reader understand what type of machine UA modeled and what options the plug in has to offer. However there was a hole in the review that many would want to know the answer to. How does it compare to the UAD Studer on a 2 bus. Use the UAD Ampex on a 2 bus with a certain tape at 15 ips and compared it to the Studer with the same tape, and speed. Even playing with the bias on the Studer to see how close it can get to the Ampex plug character. I personally have had great success using the UAD Studer at the mastering stage. Usually with different settings than I would normally apply on multiple tracks on a song. I wondered about this plug in, but have not had the change to demo it yet. Hmmm.

I have tried the Waves Kramer plug in that use to have the Ampex name to it. It offered a thicker sound compared to the Studer, but I was not convinced I would benefit from it since the Studer has some many flavors even though it was only $99. The UAD Ampex though seems to offer more flexibility than the Waves version

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revelationsoundstudio.com

Just received my copy for SOS and read Paul's review. As usually Paul offers great details on a product regardless if it is a hardware compressor or a plug in. However I agree the elephant in the room is how does it compare to the Studer or Waves Kramer (Ampex) plug in. I know when SOS's Sam Inglis wrote a review on the Waves API plug ins he compared them to the URI API plug ins which I appreciated. He also did not say one was better than the other, but he gave the facts on the differences visually, as well as sonically.

I do like the sound of Waves Kramer tape plug in as well as the $99 price. I purchased it as well as the UAD Studer. I found it different enough to be useful. I know Bob Olhsonson was called upon to help with the Waves older Ampex tape plug in and I think they did a great job with it.

Granted the Ampex is a 2 track machine UAD modeled compared to the Studer 16 track machine which has a different purpose. However these are both plug in effects, so shame on Paul for providing more insight on this matter. His punishment should be no more Christmas cookies until Christmas Eve.

They don't really compare, in that they model different units, that sound different, and used for a different purpose. The only similarity is that there is "tape" modelling going on in both but that's quite a wide area.

The UAD Ampex is more directly comparable to the Waves MPX, similar units, similar purpose etc.

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They don't really compare, in that they model different units, that sound different, and used for a different purpose. The only similarity is that there is "tape" modelling going on in both but that's quite a wide area.

The UAD Ampex is more directly comparable to the Waves MPX, similar units, similar purpose etc.

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We know that, but what is the different character with the UAD Ampex. All tape modeling provides a similar effect to the music. Some compression, and altering the sound (EQ) to some degree. When comparing the UAD Studer and UAD Ampex on a 2 bus mix with the same tape and speed I found the Ampex has _______ and _____ while the UAD Studer has more of a _____ and _____. If Paul filled in these blanks it would have helped the readers a lot on having a better understanding of the character of each plug in. The better understanding would help us decide if this type of plug in would be useful for us.

I doubt the UAD Ampex was even released when that review of the Studer was written, to be honest....

I think there is some confusement. The Studer was out when the UAD Ampex was reviewed, so we are stating it would have been nice to have a comparison of the two plug ins on the UAD Ampex reveiw. Even nicer to mention the difference in character in sound to the Waves version even though they are modeled on different machines.

Edited by Keef R. (20/12/11 08:04 PM)

If you're choosing between the Studer and Ampex, can't you just use the free demo? To do justice to comparisons, you'd have to take several different tape emulations (Waves and UA aren't the only games in town) and possibly real tape machines and hardware sims too... which I imagine would be rather impractical for a review of this size.

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If you're choosing between the Studer and Ampex, can't you just use the free demo? To do justice to comparisons, you'd have to take several different tape emulations (Waves and UA aren't the only games in town) and possibly real tape machines and hardware sims too... which I imagine would be rather impractical for a review of this size.

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True, but we are talking about the review, not what you can check out yourself. The review did not compare it to the UAD Studer or Waves Ampex which was a disapointment to many. Other than that aspect, Paul did his usualy great review on explaining the plug in with great detail.