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you’ve been in a studio on the moon or<br />
you’ve just picked up this copy of <strong>Audio</strong> <strong>Media</strong><br />
while you’re in the doctor’s waiting room, you’ll<br />
��nless<br />
have heard of Universal <strong>Audio</strong>. A company with<br />
a history synonymous with classic vintage audio processors,<br />
<strong>for</strong> some time now it has also been <strong>for</strong>ging ahead as one of<br />
the leaders in DSP-based audio software, turning classic<br />
audio hardware into af<strong>for</strong>dable and per<strong>for</strong>mance-enhancing<br />
software versions of the real thing. One of the latest<br />
developments from UA is its UAD-2 card, which comes in<br />
three guises: the SOLO, DUO, and the<br />
QUAD, which offer 2.5x, 5x, and 10x<br />
the per<strong>for</strong>mance of the original UAD-1<br />
card respectively.<br />
ATA – an automatic delay compensation plug-in <strong>for</strong> Pro<br />
Tools LE and MP users. Mellowmuse is free <strong>for</strong> all UAD-2<br />
users, and UAD-1 users can purchase it at a reduced price.<br />
As I said earlier, all plug-ins are now UAD-2 compatible so<br />
will work on either card (apart from the guitar amp sim<br />
‘Nigel’, which <strong>for</strong> legal reasons cannot be transferred; and<br />
the Cooper Time Cube MkII which is the first 'UAD-2 only'<br />
plug-in), and they even found time to add a few new plugins<br />
such as the Harrison 32C EQ and the Little Labs IBP<br />
(In-Between-Phase) alignment tool. The latest 5.3 release<br />
also brings the UAD 4K Channel Strip<br />
and Buss Compressor (both of which<br />
are UA's own emulations of the SSL<br />
4000 console).<br />
The Waiting Game<br />
Under The Hood<br />
Well, to be honest, the UAD-2 is not<br />
The UAD-1 was based on the Mpact<br />
that brand spanking new now as it was<br />
media Processor; the UAD-2 has a<br />
released last year, but it was only with<br />
new DSP engine using the 21369<br />
the release of its 5.2 software that its full<br />
SHARC analogue devices chip, a<br />
potential was realised, especially <strong>for</strong> Pro<br />
popular and proven family of<br />
Tools users. At the time of writing, the<br />
processors with extreme floating<br />
latest version is actually 5.3. If like me<br />
point per<strong>for</strong>mance (this means<br />
you have existing projects running on<br />
more plug-ins <strong>for</strong> you and me).<br />
the original UAD-1 card, then the smooth<br />
While the original Mpact processor<br />
transition of adding a UAD-2 card is<br />
was great <strong>for</strong> UAD to get the first<br />
extremely important, and throughout<br />
card off the ground, it wouldn’t<br />
the introduction of the UAD-2, software<br />
be long be<strong>for</strong>e more power and<br />
has supported the combination of<br />
the older UAD-1 card alongside the<br />
newer UAD-2, beginning with porting<br />
the majority of all plug-ins to run on<br />
the new ‘SHARC’ chip fuelled DSP card.<br />
It was a huge undertaking by UA to<br />
con<strong>for</strong>m existing code of each plug-in<br />
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flexibility was going to be needed<br />
– let’s face it, who doesn’t want more<br />
processing power? UA has been<br />
developing the UAD-2 <strong>for</strong> several<br />
years, which has now launched with a<br />
huge improvement in power over the<br />
original UAD-1. It has features such as<br />
THE REVIEWER<br />
to use a different DSP processor, which<br />
low-level cross plat<strong>for</strong>m support so<br />
is why it wasn't until version 5.2 of the ������������������������� OSX Tiger/Leopard and PC Win XP/<br />
software that all of the plug-ins were<br />
Vista are all covered, optimisation<br />
�����������������<br />
finished. This was one of my personal<br />
<strong>for</strong> multi-core processors from<br />
reasons <strong>for</strong> holding back on fitting this upgrade, one Intel and G5, including multi-thread 64-bit OS systems.<br />
ALAN BRANCH is a freelance of those ‘let’s wait till the dust has settled’ installations, The UAD-2 has updateable firmware and smart DSP<br />
engineer/producer and ex-member<br />
of the On U Sound Crew. His long<br />
list of credits includes Jamiroquai,<br />
Beverley Knight, M People, Simply<br />
Red, Depeche Mode, Shed 7,<br />
Sinead O’ Connor, Bjork, and Sade.<br />
www.alanbranch.com<br />
which in most cases of new software is the best course<br />
of action.<br />
Support <strong>for</strong> all major <strong>for</strong>mats including RTAS, AU,<br />
and VST are now in place. Up until the 5.2 release, there<br />
hasn’t been support <strong>for</strong> Pro Tools, but now that it’s here<br />
it seems the wait was worth it. It includes Mellowmuse<br />
management with reduced overall bus latency and<br />
zero-latency (LiveTrack – discussed later) modes.<br />
That sounds like a nice slam dunk of fuel to the mixing<br />
system, especially when it’s possible to pimp your system<br />
to take up to four Quad UAD-2s and four UAD-1s if you<br />
have the available slots. That’s a mega powerhouse of a �<br />
38<br />
daw plug-in<br />
The full potential of Universal<br />
<strong>Audio</strong>’s UAD-2 card has been<br />
realised with the release of its<br />
latest software; ALAN BRANCH<br />
wades through deep waters to<br />
plunge the depths of the little<br />
card’s capabilities.<br />
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AUDIO MEDIA MAY <strong>2009</strong>