
The UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins platform offers the world’s most authentic analog hardware emulations and award-winning audio plug-ins for Mac and PC. Powered by our popular DSP Accelerator hardware, UAD-2 plug-ins deliver rich, analog sound quality that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with native recording systems.
From rare compressors and equalizers, to vintage reverb processors and tape machines, UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins inject three-dimensional “out-of-the-box” analog sound to your in-the-box mixes.
From serious home recordists to multi-platinum mix engineers, UAD Powered Plug-Ins have been winning over audio professionals for more than 10 years. The UAD-2 library now features nearly 60 plug-ins, co-developed with the biggest brands in audio — including Studer, Ampex, Lexicon, Neve, Manley, Roland, SSL and more.
These exclusive plug-ins can be purchased alongside UAD-2 DSP Accelerator hardware as part of the “Custom” and “Ultimate” packages, or you can buy UAD plug-ins à la carte from UA’s Online Store.



UAD-2 DSP Accelerator cards offer a high-performance solution for running UAD plug-ins on Mac and PC towers, plus select PCIe and Thunderbolt expansion chassis. These packages contain a user-installable PCIe card with a choice of four different processing levels (SOLO, DUO, QUAD, OCTO), plus the “Analog Classics” plug-in bundle (VST/AU/RTAS) — giving you vintage tone and character, right out of the box.
A simple FireWire connection is all it takes to plug your FireWire-based Mac or Windows 7 PC into the world’s finest analog hardware emulations. The UAD-2 Satellite packages offer a sleek, ultra-portable DUO or QUAD processing unit (FireWire 800/400), plus the “Analog Classics” plug-in bundle — so you can take your UAD plug-ins wherever you go. The UAD-2 Satellite can be combined with UAD hardware including Apollo, for truly scalable mixing power.


Apollo is Universal Audio’s breakthrough audio recording interface with stunning sound quality and onboard Realtime UAD Processing. Using Apollo, music engineers and producers can track high-resolution audio through UAD-2 plug-ins in real time — shaping sounds as they go — all with a sleek, elegant workflow.
Most people don’t immediately think of audio software when they hear the word “craftsmanship.” But that’s what separates UAD plug-ins from the rest. One of the most common responses we hear from UAD users is, “Wow, I didn’t know plug-ins could sound this good.” That’s because in developing UAD-2 plug-ins, UA’s engineering group undertakes a thorough physical modeling of classic audio hardware. This process means that we essentially “rebuild” vintage analog gear in the digital world, component by component. It’s how UAD plug-ins replicate the exact, sometimes quirky, behavior of analog hardware — bringing its rich, three-dimensional sound and harmonics "in the box."

Shop UAD plug-ins from Ampex, Lexicon, Neve and more. Shop Now.
Engineer Paul Blakemore on Mastering Grammy-Winning Hits with UAD Plug-Ins. Read the interview…