Universal Audio

If it changes the sound.

Yeah, because that really does happen, doesn't it? I've had situations where like UAD update and I open a project that I'm literally handing over like tomorrow and everything's changed.

Like literally gains just plummeted.

Yeah, that's the main thing with UAD.

I have noticed this.

And they...

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think for most people, because of the global pandemic that we all went through, you know, but it was late 2019.

I was doing stuff also for Universal Audio.

because I had friends that worked at all these companies and they all splinter off and go in other places.

And they're like, Corey's the guy, Corey's the guy, Corey's the guy.

You know, I'm the guy behind the product, but this is what they're hiring me for to make this thing sound as good as it can and encourage somebody to buy it someday.

So anyway, I feel like I do that really well, which is why companies, I think, enjoy working with me.

But when I was in 2019 NAMM show, I think I was doing an event for Universal Audio And I started seeing more people get interested in getting their picture taken with like a Rick Beato or somebody like that one.

I'm like, oh, the tide has turned.

And what was your solution before and why did you say, you know what, it's time?

Well, before this, I believe what I was using before I had the UAD box was the 11 rack, which is back there below the little keyboard thing.

It's the orange box back there.

It's called the 11 rack, and it's like an audio interface designed by the company that created – Pro Tools at the time.

That was what I was using as my interface for the longest time, but it was kind of an older unit and it was fine.

It served its purpose for when I had it.

But when I was working at Twit, I reviewed the UAD arrow i believe which was the predecessor to this and when i reviewed that i immediately was like oh my goodness when can i get one of these for myself and thankfully i waited a couple of years because they ended up coming out with the apollo twin and that was what i ended up pulling the trigger on and it was more capable and everything but um yeah that was kind of my and then i've also used the scarlet you know like like we all have in in podcast world i use the scarlet a lot as well

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So yeah, were there any effects plugins or VSTs that ended up being really important on this album and project?

Uh, plugin-wise, I think it's the usual, like, um, you know, I'm a heavy user of all Universal Audio.

Um, that's, that's kinda my go-to in terms of my, my plugins and my effects, uh, especially, like, the, um, the, uh, the, um...

Sorry, the AMS reverb, like the non-lin, and the, the 910, uh, harmonizer for, like, certain spatial things.

So that's what that meant.

UAD has the cool Hemisphere plug-in that goes with their whole line of modeling microphones.

I have not used any of their other modeling microphones, just these pencil condensers.

And, like, they've got these different Neumanns.

And then I had the secondary laptop doing a Dante record.

And then I had a third laptop with my Apollo Twin, which I don't have set up in here.

If I ever actually have a session that has too much UAD, like too many UAD plugins, I can hook up my Twin as well and get an extra two chips of DSP.

But UAD has moved a bunch of their stuff native to where that never happens anymore.

If a producer can deliver high-quality sessions on their own rigs via cloud upload, they're more appealing to labels that need flexibility.

In turn, labels like Sony often sponsor software licenses, Pro Tools, Universal Audio plugins, to keep in-house engineers competitive and reduce outside outsourcing costs.

So you see the label's role isn't just about money.

It shapes every step from A&R vision to final playback across millions of devices worldwide.