Universal Audio Spark Lexicon 224 Native Plugin Efficiency

Affiliate link options below.
Please know that by using any of the links below helps me continue with the channel as if you choose to buy from any of the links below I will get a small commission.
Purchase All Sweetwater Gear Right HERE: - sweetwater.sjv.io/3erZRk
Purchase Gear from Thomann right Here: www.thomann.de/intl/thlpg_l58...
Purchase All Proaudiostar Gear Right HERE: - proaudiostarcom.z5dw.net/GmNRB2
Purchase All Seymour Duncan Pickups Right HERE: - seymour-duncan.sjv.io/baojzM
Purchase All East West Sound Gear Right HERE: - astoundcommercecorporation.sj...

[@LodvarDude]

I ALMOST bought a Satellite a couple of years ago. Thankfully, I thought better of it and came to the realization of how ancient those SHARC-chips in my Apollo X are. Very glad I saved that money, and now a brand new Mac M1 Studio Max is sitting my desk. Now I get great zero-latency monitoring with the Unison-technology, and more computer-power than I'm gonna need for the foreseeable future. Life is good.

[@BR_READDY225]

I have all the above..Apollo x16/m1 max/iAd spark I’m definitely winning and will always use my “apollos” 👍🏾👍🏾

[@anthemmakersmusic]

Mr. Barry there's a real studio over shoulder smiling hehehe

[@markbeling3330]

Been Loving your Channel since I came across it a couple of months ago Barry. Love your content. Much from from South Africa

[@BarryJohns]

Thanks Mark!

[@anthemmakersmusic]

Very humourous and nice of you to review it for us small fries

[@Kharrari]

Keep this up. This is awesome.

[@mrflynn01]

Nice studio pics in the background

[@royaldimensions3482]

Thanks u for the mac spec and honesty

[@perhoier2881]

Thanks for your time and work on comparing these, Barry. As a owner if almost al UAD-2 plugins and Apollo - Satellite hardware, I’m too very excited about being able to run these native, in so many instances my heart can possibly desire. I never thought they’d go native, but so glad they did. Looking forward to your hardware comparisons. Are you gonna do the 1073 (with the EQ turned on) too? That’s the most DSP heavy of the currently ported UAD’s. Cheers, and Thanks again. 😊

[@raphaeldavison4744]

I have to say, you have been outstanding with your analysis of UAD and these comparisons bring it home (nice formatting in XL by the way :-). I love UAD and have purchased a bunch of their plugins over the years. I bought my second Octo in January because my Intel Mac Mini just couldn’t hand the load. Now I have a Mac Studio. You know what that means- those two Octos will be running the non-Spark plugins for now and I’ll never need to buy DSP again. That being said, the fact that UAD gave us the Spark licenses for plugins we already purchased lets us keep the investment we made in their plugins so they get a ton of credit for that. Anyway, keep these coming. You were right about UAD and now you’re making great videos that just underline that. Great work!

[@BarryJohns]

Thank you!

[@raphaeldavison4744]

@@BarryJohns Here’s a question I’d have for you. Since these new super fast Macs allow a 32 sample HW buffer size what is your opinion about not using UA Console for recording? I use ProTools and I’ve only used UA Console. If I wanted to not use it I really don’t know how because I never have.

[@BarryJohns]

@@raphaeldavison4744 you should “Only” use the console when tracking through a UAD plug-in, the rest should be done in the DAW.

[@raphaeldavison4744]

@@BarryJohns I'd be interested seeing a video on that. Without using Console and monitoring in PT I get latency if delay compensation is on. With it off it works perfectly. This is particularly an issue with a MIDI instrument where I want to monitor the recorded track and plugins. x10 when it's a big session already unless you freeze everything to reduce/eliminate the need for delay compensation.

[@OrangeMicMusic]

Thank you Barry for these comparison videos, very helpful when deciding in what to invest in 2022 But all being clear, I hope we are not gonna hear keyboard warriors explaining that UAD plugins running on Apollo interfaces are sounding better than native ones 😃

[@Rhythmattica]

Simply, for those that don't know... Buffer size , as is here , Samples... Which means, at 44.1k works out to around 1.38 Ms... Even lower at 48k , lower at 88.2 etc etc.. However that will depend on as said, Computer and I/O...if it can meet those Sample rates of course. Also as Barry says, AD and DA conversion can add to that.. However, its only buffer size and DA latency if playing Vi's... As there is no need to go from A to D. OH YEAH.. AND THAT WAS FUN! Beer through Nose..

[@chris-rb7bm]

yep, the way I see it, Barry you were the catalyst for UAD deciding. :) - great videos always enjoy them whatever the content just enjoyable . Maybe You could do a video on GPU Audio ? :) - Thanks Barry. :)

[@Molt408]

good advice

[@armandodiaz3485]

Awesome video Barry! Caught me off guard initially with “new” studio backdrop. Question: and forgive me if you’ve already covered this topic. Have you demoed the “unified memory” aspect with these M1 Macs when needing to run large VI plugins? I’d like to know if these non-upgradable Macs with their 16/64 GB RAM are suffice as long as your doing a 1/2 TB drive. Lastly, caught a quick glimpse of that Explorer you flashed by the screen. Was that a Dean?? Thanks again Barry! Keep the video coming!

[@BarryJohns]

It’s a Hammer Standard. I’ve not done testing like that yet, but I will.

[@ivanh3]

Just sold my Apollo x8p and Octo Satellite (Thunderbolt). Sold them for exactly what I paid for them. I did keep my UAD-2 Octo USB3 so I could still keep my plugins and have access to the native plugins (at least when they get to Windows). Went back to my Steinberg UR824 which is amazingly still a relevant piece of kit after what, a decade? Will sit on that for awhile before I decide to upgrade or not.

[@BarryJohns]

Well with that extra money, buy yourself a McDouble Bundle!

[@ivanh3]

@@BarryJohns Have already ordered the McTriple Lindy 8pXp II, Mk 3, SE, v4. Which is of course, on backorder. In all seriousness, I actually think I am pretty lucky. When I purchased my Apollo, Sweetwater/UAD were adding a free UAD-2 Satellite Octo which is how I was able to get every cent back when I sold my Apollo this week. So I wonder if people will start looking for used Octos and Quads so they can have subscription free access to the Spark plugins. Which makes me wonder if UAD will somehow put the kibosh on that. I also wonder if people are going to end up dumping their interfaces as the M1 become more of the standard, and it will.

[@GeorgeAmodei21]

Yeah when SPARK was released I did check my UAD Plug-Ins against me using the ones I have "Natively". I have a 2007 3.3GHz 4 core 32 GB RAM iMac running all SSD Ext for STUDIO. Because of my Specs on iMac I still get better results running w/ APOLLO's X8 & TWIN X. I'm a 80's Musician so having the Lexicon 224 & 480L was a must (to do COVERS). I'm going to wait a little longer before I buy Mac "STUDIO " or Ultra ?... just can't see spending that much more for the same 27" Monitor seperately. ( Mine GREAT ) Sorry to get off subject a tad. :) Thank You Barry, George Amodei. BTW If & when they release the 480L ... I is SUPER DSP heavy even with my both UA Interfaces. I can't wait 'til that daY come to buy a new Mac ( I can't work on MBP /Laptops :) Also the 224 SOUNDS just as good as UAD the PLUYS is that it's slightly larger by a 1/4" yet the GUI is more Cleaner/ Brighter Sharper. : ) George

[@444Inlakesh]

I do the Mc-Producer sometimes too

[@AkiyoshiBeats]

Watching this series of dsp vs native processing really exposes how badly we were played thinking those chips were the shite lol. 10 years ago maybe, but definitely not now

[@BarryJohns]

I’m fairness no one was played, the product worked exactly as advertised. Back then most people needed DSP to be able to track at any time with DSP. You could only do that with Protools HD/HDX. They also sold very good, if not the best plugins available. It all works as advertised to this day. Where they did take advantage of their customers was by intentionally not developing more powerful DSP chips that could give the user the ability to enter many, many more instances of plugins. This was their HUGE miscalculation, that is biting them now. Your gear works, use it until it no longer does what you need it to. Instead of buying another satellite when you run out of DSP, if you do, put that money towards a modern more powerful computer. Then, continue to use your DSP when you need it, very handy for those doing mainly EDM or heavy VI work, along side their native versions. It’s a win win!

[@AkiyoshiBeats]

@@BarryJohns 100% Barry! Thanks for your insight and videos

[@kenglod]

I really really REALLY appreciate your channel and content, Barry! You're the voice that speaks ever louder for all of us and advocates on our behalf with companies like Universal Audio and Avid. Thanks to your campaign, avid decided to listen and give us back the Pro Tools 1-year updates plan. And now, Universal Audio is moving in the right direction. I am a UAD Apollo + Satellite Quad user and I'm still gonna use my gear and enjoy it. Please continue the good fight! I'd like to see Softube get in the fight as well with more generous sales on their plugins. In my humble estimation, their sales are a huge turn-off for me.

[@BarryJohns]

Kenneth, thank you so much for the support!

[@CarstenGoeke]

Thats an interesting video and i agree totally, when its up to mixing with a modern computer and native plugins. The question for me is still: Whats an alternative to UAD Apollo, DSP and Unison Slots for TRACKING? I personally need 4 Tracks at once for recording my drumset. For Guitar mostly 2 mics, sometimes 2 additional Room Mics. The only alternative i see is to buy physical micpres and compressors. But this will be too expensive. Thanks and greetz ✌🏼

[@TheBlackJewelz]

Do you know if there’s any possible way to get these Spark plugins into VST format? I can’t get any of them to even be recognized by my primary DAW (Reason Studios).

[@TimiKrajnc]

reindeer dog banjo playing buddy :D

[@Billy_bSLAYER]

You need to stack a PT Track with a Spark only plugin chain..and check latency with multiple plugins in a Live Track realtime recording.... Because that's how us pros use our Apollos, my Satellite Octo is for processing after the Live Track is recorded... And if they port all the plugins I may eventually stop using the Octo. But the way LUNA handles the Apollo and Octo is awesome.

[@BarryJohns]

It’s coming, not enough time in the day, I was up to 2am last night on this one, and got up at 7am, whew!

[@dab7963]

Thanks Barry this is the only plugin I don't own from the spark collection. Looking forward to seeing this test. I think you won me over Barry. DSP has to go. It's too expensive. I bought this plugin. Now I own all the spark and DSP plugins. Also own 114 of there DSP plugins. I saw some Null tests and they are identical according to the null test. Now I guess it's time to buy other convertors now like Burl or Apogee lol 😂

[@BarryJohns]

Hope you enjoy watching me eat a McDouble!

[@dab7963]

@@BarryJohns your channel is great. I at first saw those racks of hardware and said wow. Then I realized it's a green screen. Hahahaha

[@BarryJohns]

@@dab7963 I do have several racks full of hardware, just not that much, mines not as good as all of that.

[@dab7963]

@@BarryJohns yes but your true racks are still very impressive

[@dhudson0001]

2 months ago a slew of videos appeared talking about how UA needed to up their game, Barry Johns being one of the them. Lets not fool ourselves though, UA saw the future and made a 160 degree turn in development a long time ago to make this possible, and in HINDSIGHT, will appear to have moved very quickly, considering the power to run 150 instances of their plugins natively on a high spec intel chip was a pipe dream a mere 10 months ago.

[@BarryJohns]

Yea, some people think my videos pushed UAD, that didn’t happen. These things take a long time to develop. Could I have possibly pushed them to reveal it soon, I doubt it, but who knows.

[@Mrfpsara]

Barry thank you for your time. I would love to see a comparison between uad/protools vs apple silicon (softube CL1-b/studio one) that would give us a perspective on real native vs emulation vs UAD shark…

[@Rgdonaire_07]

The neve 1073 with eq engaged is ridiculous how much processing it needs. The kit plugins bbn105 v2 uses much less and sounds better imho uad will need to optimize… the other plugins of spark use minimal cpu

[@JimCaputoMusic]

Now hold on, Barry. 100% native would mean all their plugins were available natively. You were mostly right but UA only made 9 plugins and 4 instruments available natively. That's some weak tea for those who have been with UA for near 20 years and own a hundred or so of their plugins (finger pointed at myself). So it was a great prediction and I'd have loved for you to be 100% right but UA fell way short of anything I can get excited about.

[@BarryJohns]

When I said it I meant that I they would finally offer plugins natively, I didn’t mean all, but fair, I should have been clearer. Drew at UA has implied that over time, all will be come native, but they can be cryptic.

[@JimCaputoMusic]

@@BarryJohns, just bustin' your chops a bit there, Barry. 😁 As for UA saying they'll make more plugins available natively, we could ask Windows users how they're enjoying Luna.

[@larrytan73]

LMAO! The guitar!!

[@BarryJohns]

Hey hey!

[@Hellridermario]

I would really like to use the UADx on my 2011 iMac running High Sierra. The plugins works very well on my 2012 macbook pro running Catalina.

[@edwardx.winston5744]

What was the sample rate of the session for these tracks?

[@BarryJohns]

44.1

[@edwardx.winston5744]

@@BarryJohns - so would it be safe to assume, all other things being equal, that we should get about 75 tracks @ 88.2k and about 60 @ 96k? Or doesn’t this scale downward in a linear fashion? It might be nice to do some of your testing @ 96k, as more people are recording at that rate. Certainly your results @ 96k would let people know that they can expect much, much better track counts at lesser sample rates. Having said that, I want you to know that I truly appreciate all of the work you do with these tests.

[@kingech_B15]

Mcdouble with Mac sauce

[@BarryJohns]

Yea baby, good times!

[@zxsw85]

@@BarryJohns gotta go to Wendy's and get a shake toooooolk

[@ctrlaltcreate3827]

This guy gets it

[@BarryJohns]

@@ctrlaltcreate3827 thank you!

[@iRevolVeR21]

Apollo twin think I put 10 plugins on and I max out the sharks. Plugin alliance mega bundle I can load easy 50 plugins on my pc lol... I feel robbed

[@alexanderstuartpetty485]

This guy seems to be very negative about Apollo hardware. No clue why, its amazing stuff. Love my x8p and x4, and my unison plugins are insanely good.

[@FKA_Skull]

It’s just very expensive and pretty outdated at this point. You’re really just paying a high premium to enter the UAD plug-in ecosystem. It’s not bad hardware by any means, it’s quite good, but depending on your income your money might be better spent elsewhere.

[@dwpix]

Sorry, But your thumbnails for your videos have devolved into a mess. They used to be simpler and more ‘elegant’, now they look like a used car ads.

[@BarryJohns]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m always trying to figure out how to best do it. Suggestions?

[@dwpix]

@@BarryJohns Keep it simpler/cleaner?

[@coolvibesradio3267]

I COMPLETELY DISAGREE. You should eat more healthy. even if you're a KZbinr.

[@BarryJohns]

Well we both know I should, but oh well.