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Message: [QUOTE="Bombastus, post: 91719, member: 2178"] UAD Spark includes Topline Vocal Tune as a native plug-in, but Universal Audio says Spark subscriptions do not include any UAD DSP licenses. Owning an Apollo does not change that subscription into a DSP entitlement. You can still use Topline on the computer, just not as the Apollo-hosted version that Spark never licensed to you. The confusion is understandable because the same Topline product now exists in both native and DSP forms. Universal Audio also promotes Topline inside Spark while advertising real-time Apollo use on the product page. Those statements describe two different ways of getting access, not one Spark license that follows you everywhere. Native Topline runs on your computer's CPU and does not require UA hardware. The DSP version runs on compatible UAD-2 hardware, while Apollo specifically adds Console-based monitoring and hardware-assisted tracking. Same plug-in name, different license path. [HEADING=2]Spark gives you the native Topline license[/HEADING] A Spark subscription gives you the UAD Native version of included plug-ins. Topline is currently part of the Spark catalog, so subscribers can install it through UA Connect and use it in supported DAWs on Mac or Windows without connecting an Apollo. This is useful if you mix on a laptop, produce away from the studio, or simply want your computer to handle the tuning. Native UAD plug-ins are not cut-down editions in sound quality. Universal Audio states that corresponding native and DSP versions sound the same, so the licensing difference is about where the processing runs and which workflows it can enter. Spark also behaves like a subscription rather than a perpetual purchase. Research on [B][URL='https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222270103']hybrid subscription and perpetual licensing[/URL][/B] treats those as distinct access models, and that distinction matters here. Paying for Spark gives access to its native catalog while the subscription is active, but it does not silently create ownership of the matching Apollo licenses. Having an Apollo connected therefore does not promote the UADx instance into a DSP instance. The hardware can be sitting on your desk, and Topline can be visible in your native plug-in menu while the DSP version remains unavailable to that Spark-only account. [HEADING=2]Console needs the DSP license[/HEADING] UAD Console only hosts UAD DSP plug-ins running on Apollo hardware. Universal Audio explicitly says Spark plug-ins cannot be used there because Spark supplies native licenses only. This is the practical line between hearing Topline inside an ordinary DAW session and placing it directly in an Apollo monitoring path. LUNA has another wrinkle. Spark plug-ins can run natively in LUNA, but native plug-ins are bypassed when Accelerated Realtime Monitoring is active. To monitor through a Spark-only Topline instance, you have to leave that accelerated mode, which removes the exact Apollo DSP workflow many singers want during tracking. The DSP release changes the situation only when your account actually owns the DSP-capable license. Once it does, [B][URL='https://goldmidi.com/community/threads/uad-topline-vocal-tune-gains-apollo-dsp-pitch-shifting.77078/']Topline Vocal Tune's Apollo DSP support[/URL][/B] lets the processing run on compatible UA hardware instead of leaning on the computer for the same job. Seeing both Native and Apollo badges on a product page does not mean every access method grants both. The badges tell you which versions exist. Your license decides which one you are authorized to load. [HEADING=2]Buying Topline changes what your Apollo can load[/HEADING] Universal Audio currently says a direct purchase of a UAD plug-in includes both native and DSP licenses when that title supports both versions. Topline now supports both, so buying the plug-in separately is materially different from receiving its native version through Spark. One route is subscription access to UADx, while the other can authorize the corresponding Apollo version as well. You do not need to abandon Spark to do this. A producer can keep Spark for the wider native catalog and buy Topline separately for the Apollo workflow. The two license types can sit beside each other without turning every Spark title into a DSP purchase. Check the product badges before assuming the same rule applies to every UAD title. Some UAD plug-ins are native only, some are DSP only, and others support both. A purchase can only include both versions when both versions actually exist for that product. The clean test is functional rather than cosmetic. If Topline appears only as the native UADx plug-in and cannot be inserted in Console, Spark is doing exactly what its license promises. Apollo tracking needs the DSP entitlement, not merely an active Spark subscription and a connected interface. [/QUOTE]

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