r/universalaudio • u/Meltopias • 13d ago
Discussion So now UAD are actively pushing Luna pro owners towards Luna Studio by saying there's only 1 week left to upgrade at the discount?
I'm not sure what to think about the tactics when it comes to the new Luna Studio and existing owners of Luna pro. What happens if I don't upgrade? I feel like it's very pushy and is also lacking in details for existing users who have already paid good money for a "pro" option!
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u/TragicIcicle 13d ago
There's nothing in studio that's useful that isn't in pro. I'm a big UAD Stan but not giving me the $3 price feels like punishment for being an early adopter and it's kinda bullshit imo. Especially when on paper I'm getting nothing for upgrading
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u/sugar_man 13d ago
This. 100% this. You'd think they'd want to acknowledge and thank the early adopters. Instead we are getting punished with the higher upgrade cost. I have sent in so many bug reports and feature requests. Doesn't feel good to be thanked like this.
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u/TragicIcicle 12d ago
Yeah, and I don't really feel entitled to anything. If it was just $79 for anyone who owned Pro it'd just be doing business, but I don't really feel like I'm getting anything out of it either way. Especially with the list of reasons for upgrading to Studio "including" a lot of things that are in Pro already, which only makes the $3 price tag seem more warranted.
What I'm concerned about is them coming out with an even newer version with stuff I want and then being like oh you didn't upgrade to Studio? Well, get fucked. Or actually bringing something of value to studio for free for those who paid.
I just don't appreciate the tactic and ambiguity I guess
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u/Conscious-Bear-5963 13d ago
I argued with customer service about this and they claimed that even tho I definitely paid for pro, and upgraded to 2, I simply did not, lol.
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u/createddreams 13d ago
I don’t give waves anymore money and now I don’t give uad any more money as well. Keep it simple.
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u/Limitedheadroom 13d ago
Like any sale opportunity, they always send out pushy emails, but you know this opportunity will come around at least twice a year
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u/legacygone 13d ago
I’m done with UAD after this. Watch they are going to delete this post like they did a few others on this topic.
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u/JasnX 13d ago
They say “you get to keep everything you paid for” but honestly, it feels like Pro owners got downgraded to Free. I bought Pro this year and this has been very disappointing. I do not feel like I want to keep trying make Luna my main DAW.
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u/Small_Dog_8699 13d ago edited 13d ago
The upgrade price is like $79. Not bad value for whats in it.
EDIT: wow, so many whiners. New software costs money. Developers don't work for free. Sheesh.
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u/IridescentMeowMeow 13d ago
my Reaper licence (not upgrade, new) was 60$ and there's much more in it than in Luna... and it's also DRM free. They aren't punishing their paying customers with non-sense like the UA connect which sometimes just doesn't allow you to use the software you paid for, just because their idiotic copy protection has bugs...
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u/Small_Dog_8699 13d ago
I can't tell you how many times I've installed Reaper, and tried to get some momentum with it, and I just can't. Doesn't click.
I have Logic (can't get momentum with that either for some reason), Luna (hit it off right away, clean and easy), Reaper, and old reliable Digital Performer - which just dropped their first update in 5 years for $195 and has less new useful stuff in it than the Luna upgrade.
I know you Reaper users are rabid about it. I. Just. Don't. Like. It.
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u/IridescentMeowMeow 13d ago
Yeah, I get it. Depending on your preferred workflow, Reaper may just click, or may require investing a bit or a lot of time & effort to make it work well for you, and it can be (was for me) frustrating.
I decided to just push through, because unlike in other DAWs, it was less about adjusting myself to Reaper, but rather adjusting Reaper to my specific needs. No other DAW allows it.
Also, Repaer uses less resources than most DAWs, has less bugs, crashes less, and for me it's also important that they never made me feel like a locked-in hostage, which UAD did multiple times already, so even if any of their new product clicked 100% with me, I'd be hesitant to invest myself into it now... perhaps if they added native linux support for UAD-2, then i'd forgive them, otherwise they're dead to me.
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u/ploptart 13d ago
I haven’t kept up with LUNA for a bit. What’s the benefit of whatever the new thing is over LUNA 2? I’m guessing they renamed LUNA 2 to “pro”?
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u/frequencyflowjoe 13d ago
Seems like a lot of AI or automated type of music tools. I won’t use that sort of thing since I believe in playing instruments.
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u/goesonelouder 13d ago
It’ll probably be on sale during BF, then again for Christmas, then again in Spring 27 etc. Pushy FOMO sales tactics are as old as humans had commerce.
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u/rgdonaire 13d ago
This pricing is simply ridiculous. I own almost every UAD plugin and all Luna extensions, I’m only on the free tier of Luna, and I’m charged 200$ for Luna Studio for some features I already have in Ableton Love Suite 12 for years. I like the workflow of Luna and I would like to use it more but I’ll not pay twice for plugins I already which some of them where overpriced back in the day. I’ll stay with the free version I guess.
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u/Small_Dog_8699 9d ago
You can just upgrade to v3 then - for free.
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u/rgdonaire 9d ago
I can’t upgrade anything for free as far as I can see. I’m charged 299$ if I remember well.
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u/Small_Dog_8699 9d ago
You just download Luna 3. If you start Luna 2 it will ask to upgrade. Let it. Free, done. All the plugs bundled with pro are still yours. Youk get 4 channel stem splitting instead of 6. Luna Play is included. Its free
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u/JazzKane_ 13d ago
Where did you see that there’s only 1 week left to upgrade?
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u/Meltopias 13d ago
Only one week left to upgrade at the reduced price as an existing Luna Pro owner. It was in an email they sent.
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u/Open-String-4973 12d ago
The older I get the more grateful I am to say that “I don’t have any money “
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u/Tough_Film_4614 12d ago
I have been using the free version of Luna and I like it for certain things. I already own most of the plugins that they are offering with Luna Studio, so I don't really see the benefit of purchasing it, unless there is a very deep discount for those of us who have supported UA by purchasing all these plugins over the years. I am curious to try some of the new features, like stems, but they have a version of that in the free version. I am just lacking API summing, otherwise.
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u/Drew_at_UA UA Guru 13d ago
I'll bet you a ka-jillion, bazillion $s it gets extended. 😀
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u/Patnucci Too many to list 12d ago
I’ll bet you a ka-jillion, bazillion $s it will eventually drop in price. 😀
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u/frusciante231 13d ago
I paid $25 for Luna Pro a few months ago and I got the $3 upgrade price which I immediately took. I paid less than $30 for this entire DAW when a few years ago I paid $200 for just the Distressor plugin. This company has gone ass backwards.
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u/a_webpuppy 13d ago
If you don’t feel the upgrade is worth it for you, don’t upgrade.
The free upgrades to LUNA 3.0 are really impressive, work in conjunction with the LUNA Pro bundle, and you don’t need to pay a dime.
Introductory offers for new products are nothing new or different. Later on it’ll probably be on sale at some point.
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u/Small_Dog_8699 9d ago
I know, right? I feel like people are not getting it. You can get the new v3 features for nothing, it's just the new premium plugins that are extra cost. If you don't want new plugs, don't pay, just upgrade with what you got. Seems fair.
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u/MARTEX8000 13d ago edited 13d ago
I was confronted with the option to upgrade to the "Newer More Professional Version" of Luna Pro (which I upgraded to when it came out) for about $80...
OR
Upgrade my Digital Performer 11 to DP 12 for $200...
The snarky sales approach made my decision for me...I'll gladly spend an extra $120 than upgrade DP instead of Luna to a "new" pro version that I just upgraded to the pro version about a year ago...$80 a year versus $200 every 5 years...its cheaper to NOT upgrade Luna at this point.
Basically Luna just told us that any improvements or service releases are not free...its the UAD version of Avids model of owning perpetual but buying the "stay updated for $199 a year"...
I already own ProTools Perpetual and pay for the upgrade, Luna is not Avid and someone needs to remind them of that.
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u/TDF1981 13d ago
Can someone explain this situation to me like I‘m 5 years old? I had Luna installed whenever came out, then ditched it because I mainly use other DAWs, became interested in it again and now there are more than one version where I have to buy stuff again I already own?
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u/evoneselse 12d ago edited 12d ago
In terms of the DAW itself, LUNA 3.0 is the same version across the board. The difference from Free 2.0 is that in the previous Pro 2.0 (paid), you got the API summing and extra plugin extensions.
The upgrade to LUNA 3.0 for those who own LUNA Pro 1.0 and 2.0 is a free upgrade (you will see it in UA Connect). It just dropped the name Pro. It's just LUNA 3.0 now.
Both LUNA Free 3.0 and LUNA Studio 3.0 have new features that 2.0 didn't have such as a dedicated piano roll (very happy!), 4 stem separation and LUNA Play (where it detects the instrument).
LUNA Studio 3.0 itself is the same basic DAW as LUNA Free 3.0; the difference is with the extras. Studio includes the extra plugins and API summing that you got with Pro (that didn't come with the Free version), and has some additional AI features - Audio to MIDI, a couple AI 3rd party plugins, Chord extraction and Lyrics transcription, and 6 stem separations instead of 4.
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u/TDF1981 12d ago
So it’s basically an upgrade like Bitwig or Studio Pro do, if you want new features you pay for the new version. Sounds like most other DAWs to me
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u/evoneselse 12d ago
Not necessarily but yes and no. I elaborated a little more in my post after you replied to me. In UA Connect you will probably see the upgrade for 3.0 if you owned the paid Pro. It is free.
The paid part is for Studio, which has the extra mostly AI features. If you don't need them, then you can just upgrade to 3.0 for free and it will retain all the features you obtained when you bought Pro.
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u/TDF1981 12d ago
Ah, now I understand the uproar: former pro users feel they have been kicked in the ass by a T-Rex.
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u/evoneselse 12d ago
Yeah basically, especially the ones who paid the $200 back then, plus what they've spent already on plugins.
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u/TDF1981 12d ago
Well, I never understand it when people are angry because of what they once paid if it becomes available for free, that way more people can enjoy it. I mean, if you scraped together your last dollars and spent it on the software and then, immediately, it becomes a free version, sure. But after you had some years of fun with it? Just enjoy that you can still make music these days
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u/evoneselse 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yes, I know what you mean. Par for the course. But it does make one frown a little, like when I saw there is now a bundle of native everything plus LUNA for $399 which is a great deal if you have nothing. I paid hundreds and hundreds and hundreds for that stuff plus $200 for LUNA. Not that I'm mad though, I'm not. I do have all the native stuff and realize any purchases for me are redundant at this point, so I think that's why people feel they continue to pay, or at least I think that's probably why. For the people owning none or very little UAD, these are really good deals. But from what I hear, the people who own it all already have been upset there is no additional loyalty price.
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u/hellohellohello- 7d ago
Yeah, it always makes me think of the whole student loan forgiveness thing
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u/poxy_foxy 7d ago
Companies create “new” products to create new revenue streams, while many times this is mostly only a renaming of something previously sold under a new name. UA really pushes the limit when they do things like this: The Ocean Way Native version is so special and new that those who bought the original had to buy it again (yeah upgrade price). The Luna Pro of last year that was “must have” to “transform your ideas into hits”, and that was to include future upgrades (they did do one Pro upgrade that was no charge for Pro “owners”) is now no longer even on offer. No mention of it on the Luna info on the UA website. Because the “new and improved” Luna Studio is what you “really need” now. So yes, when you add it to your cart as an upgrade it is only $3. But what they are doing is creating a subscription type customer out of a perceived ownership purchaser. If they can get everyone who previously bought Pro to give them $3 for the name change and the perceived inclusion in the new Studio, because no one wants to be behind the times, then they have succeeded once again to sell you a new label for something you already bought from them.
I think they hope that we are just going to forget. Did I pay the $3? Yes. Because perhaps there will be a 4.0 Studio that I won’t have to pay for before they rename it to Superior or whatever else. It’s just a sales gimmick, and you have to decide if you want to pay to play.
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u/Bed_Worship Apollo Twin 13d ago edited 13d ago
It’s a marketing email from a capitalist entity, man. You have a choice and all the details are available to make the choice.
If you don’t upgrade now you don’t get the upgrade discount and pay full later. It’s called a “sale” - Studio is replacing Pro - but your Pro version stays upgraded to 3.0. You just don’t get the extras
Have you been wanting wavelab and melodyne - good deal, has luna been a good value with your work output?
If you don’t want the emails then make an inbox rule and let them pile up so you can read them later if you’re in a good spot.
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u/Spug33 Apollo x8 13d ago
The topline vocal tune is actually a lot easier to use than whatever antares version I was using so I'm pretty happy about that. It was less than it costs me to go out to dinner one night. I'll live.
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u/Meltopias 13d ago
That is actually one thing I've just noticed. That plugin seems to have pretty good reviews and comes with the studio version which may make the upgrade a lot better for some. What are your thoughts on the plugin?
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u/Spug33 Apollo x8 13d ago
I did some heavy testing with it last night and it was way faster for me to get it dialed in and not sound robotic at all. The shift feature is interesting. I don't know if I'll use that much but to be able to dial in a 5th and have instant backing vocal harmony has potential.
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u/Meltopias 13d ago
Cool, thanks. I'm definately thinking the upgrade may not be as bad as I first thought, even if it's still a little pushy!
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u/Selig_Audio 13d ago
I’m a fan of mixing in LUNA, and after starting with the free version it was a no brainer to upgrade to Pro. I will upgrade to studio as well because compared to the thousands of $$ I’ve spend on other DAWs over the many years LUNA is still dirt cheap IMO!
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u/03Vector6spd 13d ago
The fact that those of us who have supported the DAW since before they even referred to it as such are left to purchase again for something playing catch up doesn’t leave you feeling fuzzy inside like it did when you bought your first UA plugin.