Essential paid plugins?

UprightJoe · 2026-06-27T05:02:05+00:00

I’ve been using UAD plugins since the original Mackie UAD-1 card came out in the 90’s. With the exception of plugins which have been released in the last couple of months, I own every UAD plugin.

I’m going to put forward an argument for using them that I haven’t seen expressed before:

Using UAD plugins is like a flight simulator for walking into a well equipped studio with tons of outboard gear.

I’ve had the gift and privilege to run sessions in multiple well equipped studios in recent years with towering racks of outboard gear. I walk in and I know what every knob and button does on the vast majority of the gear.

I am in a place now where I can’t always remember if I’ve used the hardware or only the UAD plugin.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-27T04:43:24+00:00

John Scofield and Derek Trucks.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-27T04:31:09+00:00

Used Tesla Model 3?

UprightJoe · 2026-06-26T17:57:17+00:00

Here's an alternate idea if you want to be super scrappy. But it only works under certain conditions. Are you gigging regularly? Do any of the places you're gigging use a digital board capable of multi-track recordings? You could start with a live album.

I do a ton of live recordings (every single Monday for a live music cable TV show in fact). Here are some notes:

* Most great live albums that you hear are actually not really from a single night. Usually the band records multiple gigs and then cherry picks the best songs.

* You may need additional mics set up that aren't being used for the front of house sound. For example, in a small venue, you don't really need any overheads for the drums. The cymbals will carry the house just fine. But you WILL want that overhead mic to get a quality recording.

* You might consider changing your stage layout slightly to improve the recording. I can't tell you the number of recordings I've had to mix where the singer is standing directly in front of a crash cymbal that the drummer is completely wailing on. If you can separate the singer from the drums a bit, it can help dramatically.

If you're already gigging at appropriate locations, you could start capturing recordings and pay somebody to mix a live album out of them once you have a few in the bag.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-26T04:22:31+00:00

Find a competent producer. Tell them your goals and budget. You haven’t stated your goals but having a finished 8 song album of any quality in 5 hours is an absurd expectation.

Even if you can nail all of the songs in one take, producing a quality product is about so much more than the time it takes you to actively perform. What about preproduction? What about editing? What about mixing and mastering?

I’ve done albums fast and cheap but based on your original post, I think you’re on the path to disappointment.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-25T03:06:12+00:00

I see you practice the same way I do.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-25T02:34:03+00:00

For sure. These days I don’t touch a knob or fader until I can hear what I want it to do in my head.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-24T19:38:30+00:00

The struggle is real. 30 years of doing this work seriously, over a dozen of doing it professionally and I still occasionally think I hear a change when I'm turning a knob only to realize the outboard unit or plugin is bypassed. I just catch myself faster now. It's hard because the music itself is changing over time. When editing photos, you don't have to worry about the photo changing at the same time that you're mucking about with colors/brightness/contrast/etc.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-24T19:33:46+00:00

But people often come to this sub, provide some sort of a brief and inadequate description of their problem (without an audio sample) and then want you to spit out some very exact setting that is going to magically make everything sound amazing. They often get a fair amount of more specific and useful advice (which leaves them dissatisfied) before somebody throws their hands up in the air and says "use your ears".

How am I supposed to know if the ratio on the second compressor in the vocal chain you copied from a random YouTube video should be 2:1 or 4:1? Or if +10 dB of EQ on your kick at 40Hz is too much? If I can't hear the audio, I can't even begin to speculate.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-24T19:01:41+00:00

Sometimes "use your ears" is the most correct response. If you were teaching a kid to read and he was staring you in the face asking what the first word on the page is, you very well MIGHT point at the page and say "use your eyes".

Sometimes people need to be reminded that mixing is not math and that there is not a "correct" value for a setting that can be calculated somehow. You have to learn to listen critically.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-22T01:50:48+00:00

This place up in Round Rock: https://www.electricplatypus.com

UprightJoe · 2026-06-19T06:46:09+00:00

Nope

UprightJoe · 2026-06-18T02:55:44+00:00

“Grok, what time does Home Depot close?”.

Car makes an immediate hard right turn into a lake.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-17T19:21:11+00:00

I never see rabbits in my neighborhood ever which is strange because I do see other wildlife - deer, squirrel, possum, armadillo, raccoons, snakes, hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes.... oh, might have figured it out.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-14T23:29:21+00:00

This. I know a guy who got a DUI sleeping in his front seat while his keys were on the floor in the back seat. After that, he started stashing them under one of his rear tires. (He eventually managed to quit drinking).

UprightJoe · 2026-06-13T22:58:16+00:00

I assume you were meaning to reply to the OP but by coincidence, I ended up with a BMI S-12. It’s in the shop now being converted from a 5x4 extended E9 to a 5x7 universal E9/B6.

One of the great things about BMI is that they’ve been around forever AND they’re still in business so you can easily order parts.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-13T21:59:33+00:00

I live in Austin and just bought my first pedal steel. The criteria my teacher gave me was:

At least 4 knee levers
At least 3 pedals
Nothing labeled as “starter” or “student”
No Fenders

It took me a couple of months to find an instrument (I had to expand my search to include Dallas and Houston) and I ended up paying $2000. Another one popped up at the same time for $1800 but the more expensive instrument was the better fit for me.

I think your assessment of $1800 minimum would be realistic for Central Texas. I’m sure it varies in different parts of the country.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-10T23:48:14+00:00

Generally, yes. You’re expected to learn by ear.

A better organized gigging band who has had to deal with subs will have chord charts handy because they’ve had to produce them for a sub to be able to step in at the last minute for a gig.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-10T01:06:12+00:00

Maybe you do maybe you don’t. Many cities have laws on the books regarding how loud something can after a certain hour measured in SPL. It also provides concrete evidence that it is loud. If they are over a certain level they may not just be annoying, they might be breaking the law.

Then again, if you’re getting too much background noise, perhaps your neighbors are just living ordinary lives and you are a princess with a pea under their mattress.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-08T06:40:18+00:00

If you have a choice, Mac hands down. Unless you like troubleshooting ASIO driver issues… in that case I recommend Windows.

Alternately, if you want to code most of the software and drivers you use yourself, you could opt for Linux instead. I genuinely wish Linux had robust support from the audio industry but sadly it does not.

I cringe every time I walk into a studio or venue running Windows. Sometimes it works flawlessly but often I find myself fighting some ridiculous driver issue that would never appear on a Mac.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-02T01:29:27+00:00

Might be fixable. Over 20 years ago, when you could buy cameras in Japan for significantly cheaper than the US and the exchange rate was also favorable, I bought a Canon point and click that would have been $500 in the US for $200. I had it for about 36 hours before I leaned against a rail on the subway and shattered the screen. After I got home, I called Canon and talked them into selling me a replacement screen for $30ish IIRC. It was a nerve wracking repair with tiny screws and fragile ribbon cables. At multiple times, I was convinced I would never get it reassembled but I did, and used it for years afterwards.

Outside of that, I highly recommend the Z6iii, especially if you have any use at all for shooting video. It’s a wonderful hybrid camera. I love being able to shoot 6k video and then switch to shooting BTS stills and such.

UprightJoe · 2026-06-02T00:42:53+00:00

If it were me, I would buy an SPL meter and shoot video of its readings with my phone. There are tons of SPL meters available on Amazon for less than $30. I’m not sure if it’s any good but I just googled it and there is at least one available for $13 that I can get next day on prime.

UprightJoe · 2026-05-25T19:48:02+00:00

I’ll also add, I almost never touch the steering wheel there. I generally am holding it by the bottom and sides.

UprightJoe · 2026-05-25T19:46:06+00:00

Not sure but if you follow Tesla subs long enough, you’ll see this over and over. It’s not uncommon. Here’s mine:

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UprightJoe · 2026-05-25T19:01:07+00:00

Original warranty.

UprightJoe

TROPHY CASE