There are a number of companies that make effects plug-ins compatible with Logic Pro. By most accounts, these all sound pretty good to great. I know a lot of people live in these, whether they choose one manufacturer or mix and match from several or many. Of course, I think people should do whatever works for them so any way is cool.

I have been looking at plug-ins from Universal Audio (UA) lately. They often have big sales, and I use one of their hardware interfaces. One of the things that’s unique to UA is their Unison technology. Supposedly, when you connect a real device like a microphone, guitar, or bass to a Unison-enabled plug-in like a preamp, channel strip, or guitar or bass amp, the circuit acts just like the real circuit, with the interactions between the instrument/mic and the amp. UA claims this gives you a much more realistic simulation of what it’s like to record the real thing, as opposed to it merely being modeled. This Unison technology only works on UA hardware. Conceptually, this is really cool. Think about it, it brings thousands of dollars of hardware gear inside your home and computer for much, much less money. They have models of brands like SSL, Neve, Avalon, Manley, Ampeg, Marshall, Fender, and others.

The problem for me, at least right now, is that the differences are too subtle. Can I really hear that the Unison version of X channel strip sounds different than when I use that same channel strip on the already-recorded track? Not always, or sometimes maybe I hear a little here or there.

The other thing is, Logic Pro comes with tons of effects plug-ins that do much of the same things. Their compression and EQ plug-ins model some of the same hardware as other brands do. There are people who have done entire productions with just what’s built-in Logic Pro alone. I am not that far along in my production skills that I feel like I need those third-party plug-ins as well as or instead of what Apple has provided. However, I want them. It’s probably just consumerism and all that. I do like buying new gear.

Actually, what’s in Logic Pro is very impressive. They shipped some really cool ones recently such as ChromaGlow. There was a point where some of the older ones hadn’t been updated for Logic Pro X, but I’m not sure if any haven’t at this point. Do yourself a favor and check out what’s included and see if you can save yourself some money by using what’s stock. I’m trying to hold on and just work with those myself. But that UA sale is calling my name and they keep sending me emails to tempt me back.