UAD FX Instances - Optimising CPU with Reaper (UA 610B pre-amp)

[slangking]

Ok, so I've had the Apollo Twin Solo for a year or so now and am very fond of the 610B, using it for guitars, bass and vox. Being a solo it is short on CPU (where all the FX processing takes place) - in fact the 610B is very thirsty and only allows for 2 maximum concurrent instances in my track FX (assuming no other UAD FX are being used of course which is pretty much never so make that 1 instance realistically).

What i'm wondering is if it's possible to share an instance of this pre-amp FX as the first track FX for more than one track. I've not quite got my head around groups and routing possibilities but the caveat is I don't want it on all tracks (as the first FX in the chain) - else I could put it in the UAD console. I'm also aware I can bounce tracks with the fx enabled ('apply track fx as new take') and then disable the FX and move on to the next take but this is tedious and hampers creativity somewhat. If this can be done i'd imagine the settings / levels on said FX instance would be the same for all tracks I elect but I can work around/live with that I think.

Any thoughts ? - i'm thinking of upgrading the UAD (duo/quad/satellite etc) but cheap they are not & i'm thinking that there has to be a way around this...

Thanks in advance as ever..

[MRMJP]

Are you using the AU or or VST version of the plugin?

I only use item FX but I've noticed that with the VST versions, the UAD DSP is only taxed when that item is in use for playback/rendering.

If I use the AU versions, then the UAD DSP is always taxed regardless of what is happening with playback/rendering.

I think this is something that REAPER would have to fix, especially since UAD doesn't officially support REAPER according to the specs on their website.

[slangking]

Using the VST versions. When you say 'taxed', UAD marks any of it's on-board plugins as disabled if it cannot allocate with the headroom available between what is in use and 100% of its capacity.So when it comes to playback (when said FX is required)only 1 610B will be active, the other 610B will have a red 'DISABLED' across it (each instance takes around 44% IIRC but I use >12% in other UAD FX like compressors)..

[MRMJP]

Originally Posted by slangking

Using the VST versions. When you say 'taxed', UAD marks any of it's on-board plugins as disabled if it cannot allocate with the headroom available between what is in use and 100% of its capacity.So when it comes to playback (when said FX is required)only 1 610B will be active, the other 610B will have a red 'DISABLED' across it (each instance takes around 44% IIRC but I use >12% in other UAD FX like compressors)..

I guess when say "taxed", I mean that with the AU versions, it's registering on the UAD DSP card even if the plugin is in bypass or the item where the FX is inserted is not being played.

The VST version is more ideal in that the UAD DSP is only taxed if that item is playing. If I have 4 UAD plugins on an item that uses 50% of the DSP, if that item isn't being played, the UAD control panel will read 0%.

Something is not optimized correctly with the AU versions and REAPER so I thought I'd mention it incase it helps you.

[slangking]

"It's registering on the UAD DSP card even if the plugin is in bypass or the item where the FX is inserted is not being played"

>>Really ? - never used AUs but that's shocking if so...rubs salt into the wound. VST does what it says on the tin in this respect at least.

[MRMJP]

Originally Posted by slangking

"It's registering on the UAD DSP card even if the plugin is in bypass or the item where the FX is inserted is not being played"

>>Really ? - never used AUs but that's shocking if so...rubs salt into the wound. VST does what it says on the tin in this respect at least.

Yes really. I've reported it to Cockos/REAPER and UA but no action.

Luckily I have a UAD Octo and a Quad so I have a lot of DSP, but I wish the AU version worked the same as the VST regarding DSP taxation.

The reason I normally don't just use the VST version is because at least awhile back, I was getting playback interrupts when moving between AU and VST plugin GUIs to edit parameters when AU and VST where mixed on the same item FX, and VST3 version of FabFItler Pro-Q 2 which I use often also has REAPER issues.

So, for now I try to stay 100% AU because the FabFilter issue is more serious than the UAD.

[slangking]

Noted, so any thoughts on my original question then

[MRMJP]

Originally Posted by slangking

Noted, so any thoughts on my original question then

Nope. I only thought it might be related to Audio Unit instances and you may see different results with VST. I guess not though.