UAD-2 PCIe DSP Accelerator Cards

Overall a fantastic piece. While non-native processing is not totally necessary these days with how powerful CPUs have become, the plugins produced by UA are amazing, and it is nice to have the extra CPU ticks for those big projects where I use more native processing.
I have no gripes about this unit whatsoever, however I am very grateful to have gone for the DUO, as the SINGLE may have been a little too light-duty for me.

Having purchased a UAD-1 card some ten years ago it didn't take me long to purchase another as I soon found, that in the world of plugin s, UA were the only ones I was using, and when the UAD-2 system was released I promptly, when finances allowed, went straight out and supplemented my UAD-1 cards with a UAD-2 Quad card.

As an old fart of the industry I'm fortunate to have spent a large proportion of my professional life with the original hardware, that UA simulate to such a fine and true level, as I have owned and run Studio and Post Production Facilities between London - New York and L.A. for most of it.

Having taken the decision to sell my stake in the companies, that my partner and I built up over a period of seventeen years, it wasn't long before I ached again for a studio of my own that could satisfy my needs and passion for the world of audio.

My studio is an eclectic combination of old and new where UA play a significant role, coupled with my choice of Steinberg's Nuendo Software-Lynx Converters-PMC Monitoring, powered by Bryston Amps and an array of vintage hardware I have collected over my life.

I have no hesitation to recommend the UAD DSP system, as I do on many occasions, to those people who are looking for the utmost in quality, within the Digital world we live in, as it's as good as the real thing without the heavy burden of price.

Thanks to all at UA for being so diligent and expert in bringing the availability of such world renowned hardware to our humble computer systems and long may you keep developing.

Bill Gautier.
Owner / Producer / Engineer.
Martha's Studio - London - 2011

The UAD-2 quad is just an amazing piece of art ! The UAD LN1176 is still the best compressor available, whether it is software or hardware !

One of the main pieces of my studio. Really great sounding plugins powered by a powerfull card. I just wish could have more reverb emulations (AMS, L480 etc)

The sound quality of UAD plugins certainly is great. However, I have been waiting for native RTAS plug-ins ever since I invested my first dollar into UAD plugins. I am not asking for TDM, RTAS will already work for me. ProTools is industry standard and as long as UAD plug-ins are wrapped VST plug-ins (and thus have technical limitations) they can never be high end top of the line go to plug-ins. For the mainstay of my work, I will stay with Waves.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
LLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEEE
YYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOUUUU
U A D

I have just bought me a Universal Audio 6176, have a sound card RME Fireface 400 and I would like to know which would be the way of connecting these 2 devices and the ideal configuration to record voices of rap (+-)
Thank you,
Jose Luis Ortega

It's not possible to make anything musically without my UAD-2. This and my Mac is the heart of the studio. Very happy user so far!

For me, a "can't live without !". I use it in every production I do.I'm really satisfied of my uad's.

This is an immensely powerful DSP card, but the installation and authorisation process is almost trivially simple. I had mine installed, up and running within five minutes – and that included three minutes scrabbling around onthe floor taking the side of the computer and installing the card! The installations instructions are clear and easy to follow, and the online authorisation process is more or less automatic and completely hassle-free.

The plug-in collection supplied with the card provide a good starting point, and everything is very useful – there are no 'fillers' here – but the strength of the UAD system is in the depth of plug-ins available and their astonishing quality.

It is easy to be beguiled by the beautiful plug-in graphics which accurately mimic the original hardware, but the important issue is how the sonic character of the plug-ins compare and whether they do the job they are intended to do. The answer, from my experiences so far, is an emphatic YES. The Pultec EQ is sublime in the way is shapes and sculpts an instrument's tonality. I spent many years in a former career working daily with a Neve 33609 across my mix bus, and the plug-in behaves in precisely the same way – a real home from home experience! I've also found the EMT plate reverb to be remarkably accurate in the way it responds.

With most purchases there's always a niggle somewhere; something that doesn't quite work the way you'd like, or something that irritates or disappoints in some, usually trivial way, but which just downgrades the experience slightly. However, all my experiences of the UAD-2 Quad DSP and the various plug-ins I've tried so far have left me feeling extremely pleased and satisfied with the decision to go own this route. There have been no negatives whatsoever, just a very positive and hugely enjoyable experience.

I'm a thoroughly converted fan!

The product is too new for me to report experiences. Why have I purchased this product ?
1. I know from many mixing/mastering engineers that they use your plugins successfully, particularly the 1176 and the Cambridge turn up very often
2. As I am a Power Core user I had the benefit to get 5 additional plugins FoC
So I could not resist this temptation and rate 5 stars in advance
Regards
Christian/Germany

UAD is cream of the crop period. you can't go wrong :)

top ! sweet ! musical plug and more more ...
very simple to use ...
it's the best !!!

We use several plugins and consoles but we can't mix without our UAD plugins, is the only way we can get that especial sound.

This is my product review I wrote for Audio Pro International.



When Audio Pro International asked me to review the new UAD-2 from Universal Audio, I accepted with alacrity. I was already a fan of the UAD-1 card, having had the opportunity to use it when mixing and mastering the Juggernaut album for Zero Cipher, an alternative metal band from Farnham in Surrey. The album had been entirely digitally recorded, and the UAD card brought all the analog warmth to the recording we could have wished for, as you can hear when it’s released on Null/Void Records on March 30th this year.

I knew UAD-2 was on the way and it was worth the wait, exceeding even my most optimistic expectations.

The new DSP-based plugin effects processor is a massive leap forward from UAD-1 in terms of power, flexibility, ease of use and number of plugins. UAD-2 comes in single, duo or quad configurations, with the top of the range card, Nevana 128, able to run 128 channels of Neve 88RS console. The cards use Analogue Device’s newest SHARC 21369 floating-point processors, meaning the UAD-2 can have up to ten times the power of the UAD-1. UAD-2 also has a new live mode, making it possible to run the effects in a tracking situation, as well as mixing and mastering. If you’re an existing UAD-1 user, the good news is that you can use the new card side by side with the old on one system; in fact, you can use any configuration of up to four cards together.

The new card comes with a mind-boggling array of plugin options, enabling you to build your own virtual mixing console, mastering console, mix side-car or effects rack from your favourite analog components – it’s enough to make you drool: the Neve 1073 and 1081, the 88RS Channel Strip, the 33609 compressor/limiter, the Pultec EQP-1A, the Fairchild 670, the EMT 140 Plate and Universal Audio’s 1176 and LA-2A to name only a few of the treasures in here. The latest software update includes two newcomers – the Harrison 32C console eq and Little Labs 1BP phase alignment tool.

I’ve been trying out the new card on a variety of mixing and mastering projects over the last few weeks, and having used most of the original units on which the plugins are modelled, I can testify to the extremely high quality of the emulations. It is exactly what you would expect from Universal Audio, given its 50 years of revered analog design and its mission to create new recording tools that retain the spirit of vintage analog technology.

Using the plugins is remarkably close to the real-life experience. I found that activating the plugin ‘in the box’ added character straight away, even without tweaking the unit, just like switching the hardware in or out in a real outboard environment. This made my ‘in the box’ mixing feel a lot more realistic and allowed me to focus more on the content rather than the mouse.

Initially I had some problems with residual noise bursts within Logic when bouncing down mixes. This has now been resolved in software version 5.2.0, which brings us the additional glad tidings that UAD-2 is now RTAS-compatible.

You still can’t beat sitting behind a real desk in a real studio, but this new tool from Universal Audio is as close as you can get. The UAD-2 brings warm analog character to what can be a sterile and cold digital environment. It’s best summed up by one of my clients who said, after I mastered his album: “Now it sounds like a record."

I love my UAD plugs and use them in every mix. Loving the new lexicon 224 - would really like to see a plug in of an AMS NEVE delay/harmonizer - that would be great. In terms of bang for buck, UAD plugs are simply amazing. Keep up the good work guys! Oh - and how about incorporating side-chain processing into all of your compressors? That would be real handy!

I'm realy glad to be user of your products, But I think UA should not just focalise on vintage hardware because the reputation of UA is already respected. But the future is not only just in the past. You can not only reproduce quality of earlier vintage product in a world who is in constant evolution. You are America, so in a customers vision around the world: "If you are also the future of sound, and not only the past..
You should look forward and check what does other inovative company do too...
To not loose the challenge to be there tomorow ( in the future ).
So of course, don't let the past, with all the vintage stuffs who are realy good for sound, but develope in paralel a line of intelligents and inovatifs product in the design but also in the way to show what we hear. Because of course, what we hear is the most important. But you are not working only for very experimented engineers any more..
Izotope understood it well...take advantage of your competence and knowledge of doing the things well...

(I Still proposing the idea of a good visual metering system)

precise metering for compression, phase metering with the reverb...

Kinds regards

Dear Sir or Madam at UA,

I think your plugin cards are simply the best digital-hardware devices for mixing/mastering with software oriented studio, but the price for some plugin licenses could be a little cheaper, or, just in case, when a reasonable amount of time has passed (one or two years), you can lower the price for some old plugins to offer the users nice hot deals. But IMHO, I think the overall quality of your products are superb.

I hope to find interesting UA products in the future.

I would have liked to know that new developments and models of plugins are going to release in the future.

My UAD-2 Quad Card is probably one of the best investments I've ever made.
The processing power and quality of plugins is unbelievable.
I have purchased some of the classic EQ plugins from UA and they have brought my tracks to life.
They sound as good as the hardware units they emulate.
Having had a UAD-1 Card in my PPC G5, I was amazed by how many plugins I could run on my new mac and I never seem to run out of processor power.
I can't think of a better way to enhance your DAW and music.
There has never been a better time to invest in a UAD-2 card with the broad range of powered plugins available. My only criticism is that I didn't buy one sooner.