UAD-1

[xerxes_]

hi fellas!!

anyone own the UAD-1? i'm curious how well it works/sounds? from what i've read it seems really good, but i want some more opinions.

cheers,
.x

[Drammy]

I bought one on a whim and now want 2 more.

They have really brought my mixes to llife and with the new EMT 140 plate emulation they have become the must have for every DAW owner - As far as I'm concerned!

All I can say is get down your local music shop and get one tried out.

Also log onto the UAD forum hosted by www.chrismilne something something .com as there are rumours of a gorup buy option at the moment - be warned though this is likely to benefit people who have already bought the Studio Pak as I guess the group buy will probably be for a Project Pak (ie less plugs bundled).

Try it wherever possible!


Drammy

[F5D]

Just got my first uad1 yesterday. The comps are very good. Sounds very analog to my ears. The plate140 is also very nice sounding. With powercore's reverbs you have almost any kind of high quality reverb.

I have already ordered a second uad1 project pak because I need 2 of these to work in my computer. Otherwise my powercore doesn't work. Also you will get a $50 off coupon with every uad1 project pak and a free LA2A plugin before march 31th. I will purchase these plugins for the start: 1176LN, Fairchild and maybe the plate140.

UAD1 has very high quality plugins. If you like analog kind of coloring sound, you will love it. :)

For example, I was playing with a simple sculpture default patch and it sounded a little digital to my ears. Then I loaded a 1176LN and the sound became alot warmer and alive. It sounded just like putting the synth through a tube machine or something.

[cm0s]

I have already ordered a second uad1 project pak because I need 2 of these to work in my computer. Otherwise my powercore doesn't work.

Why doesn't it work with only one UAD-1 ?

[F5D]

There's a problem with PowerMac G5 Dual 1.8GHz june2004 model and powercore. 1x uad + 1x powercore don't work together, however 2x uad1 + 1x powercore work together in this computer. If you use either powercore or uad1's there's no problem.

[cm0s]

If I would buy a G5 now, do you think it will be the same? Or have they fixed this issue?

[F5D]

If I would buy a G5 now, do you think it will be the same? Or have they fixed this issue?

It's only a problem between powercore and G5's motherboard. The DP1.8 which they sell right now is the same june 2004 version so the problem exists. In fact the powercore pci card is quite old design already and that's propably the reason why it doesn't work with every combination of cards. There are many other pc mobo's too which the powercore may not work with.

However, the june 2004 version G5 is the best G5 to run the UAD1, because it has the standard pci slots. You can use up to about 95% of the UAD1 card's dsp for plugins in this computer. But with DP2.0 and DP2.5 (which have pci-x buses) have problems with uad1 because they use an AMD pci-x controller which has a conflict with AUD1. You can use only up to 60-75% of UAD1's dsp with these computers. So the UAD1 doesn't like pci-x. Also if you add more uad1 cards, they perform even worse, but this happens only with pci-x.

If you want to use uad1, go for the dp1.8 with pci slots. It performs well.

[cm0s]

Ah, thanks alot!
I was thinking of getting a new PC but changed my mind.

I'm getting a DP 1,8 instead with Logic 7.

I will also use Poco firewire and UAD-1.

So I guess I have to buy two UAD-1 then.

[F5D]

If you use a poco firewire, you can use as many uad1 cards as you want. It only matters what cards you have in your pci slots. You will be fine with just 1 uad but 2 is always better! :D

Good choice! :D Logic 7 runs very nicely on that machine and the new 7.0.1 is not that buggy anymore (mine hasn't crashed even once after the update).

[cm0s]

That's awsome :) Then I'll get 1 Poco FW and one UAD-1 :)

Okay, so this is what I'm getting:
Mac G5 dp 1,8 1 GB ram
2 x 19" TFT
Virus TI
Poco Firewire
Uad-1 Ultra pak (or maybe studio pak)

And one soundcard. I'm thinking of getting the Motu 828 MkII

[F5D]

beware that if you want to use a firewire soundcard, you'll have to buy an additional firewire interface pci card. If you use the poco firewire in the same firewire bus together with firewire hard drive or firewire audio interface, you will propably get clicks and pops. So you must connect the poco firewire to a different firewire bus.

The motu 828 mk2 is otherwise a really good audio interface. I got mine 3 days ago, very fast and stable drivers in logic7, great sound quality and connections. I will never have to change my audio interface again. :)

[cm0s]

Okay, so maybe I'll skip Poco Firewire. :)

[hatembr]

does any plugin work on the UAD or only specifically designed ones will ?
who can explain to me how it works?

[jasedee]

does any plugin work on the UAD or only specifically designed ones will ?
who can explain to me how it works?
Only the specific UAD powered plug-ins will work with the UAD-1

Basically, it is a dedicated DSP for plug-ins, so you dont waste computer resources.

[hatembr]

that means that Pro53, Discovery, Albino, Waves plugins.. etc etc may not work on it?

[F5D]

that means that Pro53, Discovery, Albino, Waves plugins.. etc etc may not work on it?

Yes, that's right. A DSP-card is a hardware and it runs a specific software written to it. If you have a Virus C, you cannot load a Nord Lead 3 synth into it either. Creamware Pulsar/Scope platform, UAD1 and Powercore all have their own plugins. What counts here is the quality and the performance boost because the plugins don't run on the computer's own cpu. Only the data transfers between the dsp card and the computer causes minimal cpu usage.

Also if you take a closer look at the UAD1 plugins for example, you'll understand that they don't try to be Waves or any other basic native plugin. They have been modelled with high end algorithms to bring you the sound of true analog gear or at least as close to the analog sound as possible. And I can say that they really sound very different from any waves or anything else.

Also powercore has the virus which is not available as a native warez version. Neither can the reverbs replaced by any native non convolving reverb plugin. In fact I usually end up using the classic verb altough I have many high quality impulse responses too. Convolution is sometimes too static and you just cannot make the final adjustment that you need.

[hatembr]

thx m8, its clear now

[Doc Jones]

Just my $.02 - I hardly now ever make an electronic song without using a LA-2A, 1176ln and Cambridge generously in my mix. UAD plugs really do take your music to a whole new level.

[Nigel Harkness]

Probably just a question for you that I already know the answer to but my laptop is my main workhorse for music production and I was wondering if there was any way that I could use the UAD for my laptop. I know that you probably can't but was just curious.

[ten]

Yea you can. You need a cardbus pci expansion chassis. These are wee pcmcia devices that connect to a pci chassis allowing you to plug host normal pci cards into.

If you check out http://www.mobl.com/expansion/pci/ you will find them there.

One thing though, they cost SHIT loads, like $1000+ You might get one cheap on ebay, but they still go for $500+.

I think there is only one other company that makes these kind of things www.pciexpansion.com (sbs technologies) but they are priced very similar.

ten

[Nigel Harkness]

Well that sucks that they cost so damn much. Oh well looks like I just need to get one for my desktop.