UAD-2 PCIe DSP Accelerator Cards

Good to swap cards I wasn't using to help fund a UAD-2 Duo -- sure appreciate being able to have the Manley Massive Passive not chew up ALL the processing power!

other than receiving outdated software drivers with the UAD2 i've had a great experience, thanks guys!

I loved my UAD-1e. The trade in special was a no brainer for me. I always planned to move to a UAD-2 but the trade in special just made it sooner. The emulations are top notch as always.

My one and only problem with this card is that Pro Tools (although it officially supports the card) will not run with any reliability with even one instance of a UA plugin running. I don't blame Universal Audio for that. I blame the DAW. I also use Samplitude and Sonar. Both work flawlessly with the UAD-2 Solo.

It's an excellent product.

The only missing thing?
Harmonizers…. and 5.1 tools…..
But it's a bit like asking your wife/husband to get even better everyday,
when all you know is you just wouldn't envisage any n,ew project without her/him…
it's part of the way i live with sound…
UltrAD2…

Frédéric.

Got this after a dispute with Waves over their old update plan and haven't touched a Waves plugin since. The sound quality is excellent and the plugins are very stable on a 64 bit system running SONAR X1: took the mixing and mastering experience to a whole new level. The only thing that keeps it from getting 5 stars is having to remove the card each time the software is updated, but since I got the Omni package it is rarely needed unless I want to add a new plugin.

One of the most important points to buy this card was, that the investment would not loose soon its worth. I can´t stand the situation that i pay a lot of money for a software an then my neighbours kids tell me they found it fully working and downloadable for free on internet.
It is working as a large dongle. And that is its fault too. It is limited in workingpower because it doesn´t grow with your cpu power like native plugins and, may the PCIe standard changes later, you can´t use it annymore in your new PC.
But today it works fine, got enough power , consumes small amouth of energy (compaired to outboard gear) and the most important: it sounds well enough for even high professional jobs.
Don´t forget the real stable drivers (MAC) , the contious expanding and cultivated software. Plus : if you do really not like it at all - resell it and get the money back (most).
One thing to remember: you can´t sell parts of your plugin collection unlike hardware soundprocessors you don´t like annymore. Either software and hardware together, or hardware only - thats it.

I gave not highest ranking because of the told limitations. May UAD when times are comming, find a solution by making free upgrades or other customer friendly behavior. This can happen but actually is as described.

Im happy thi these products, very nice dps card, with the best sound to make music.

I always use NEVE EQs and several compressors powered by UAD-2 for each drum parts of VST instruments when composing. UAD-2 QUAD is powerful enough to trim every sounds of kick, snare, hat, toms, crush and ride, also overhead. This makes big difference in my drum unit. It turns lively so much.
EMT-140&250 are also my favorite. Those are unique in UAD and you can't find them in other plug-in distributors. They will give some organic reverb to your vocals and guitar solo.
One thing I have to tell is that if you use UAD-2 DSP, soon you need more. I chose a UAD-2 QUAD for myself, but it is not enough to put plug-ins into every channel which I wanted to use them. I might buy another QUAD card, that is a problem.

When the UAD-2 systems came out, I already had four UAD-1 cards in an external expansion chassis. I bought the UAD-2 QUAD and had it running in a slot in the computer (not in the expansion slot) at the same time as the UAD-1 cards. They worked together without any problems. However, as I was hoping, the UAD-2 was more than powerful enough to replace the four UAD-1 cards. So, I eventually sold the UAD-1 cards and the expansion chassis to simplify my hardware setup.

I'm loving all the UAD plug-ins and the UAD-2 Quad gives me more than enough power for almost every mix I do. With some of the new intensive DSP plug-ins, I can occasionally manage to max out the card, but that is fairly rare, and I can also freeze tracks to free up some DSP when needed.

The only negative I have to say about the UAD-2 QUAD card I have (which is one of the earliest ones), is that the PCI-E connector is very small, and didn't fit very tightly into the slot on the original computer I had it in. Plus, it didn't seem to line up correctly with the backplane of the computer, so when I screwed it down, it was angle slightly, and sometimes it wasn't making proper contact in the slot, and one or two of the QUAD's processors wouldn't show up, or sometimes the entire card wouldn't even show up, and I'd have to shut down, and reseat it in the slot. I ended up have to loosen the screw on the card itself that held the backplane bracket so that I could pull that bracket a little further back to allow it to fit better into my computer.

I have since built a whole new studio computer system, and the QUAD seems to fit tighter and lines up slightly better with the backplane in the new computer, although it's still not a perfect fit. But, no problems so far with the card not being recognized.

Even with my new i7-950 based system, which can handle quite a bit of plug-ins all on its own (I also own Waves Mercury + SSL, plus many other Native plugs), the UAD-2 Quad is a major part of my mixing arsenal. UA makes great sounding plugs that I rely on for every mix, even though I have other similar native options. Something about the UAD versions just sound right to me and seem to be easier to dial in to get the sound I want.

Excellent product, ok for any situation of mixing.

Not Five star just because the top do not exist!!

I have got one of the best system of processors and effects. I am very very proud of this. I think 4 stars it is fair rating. 5 is for your hardware, like la610 :-) Most important think is the UAD DSP should not working with PT LE and Windows Systems. I have this configuration and it is not good, for great, the best records. But everyone know this.

I have used UAD cards since the beginning and when the UAD 2 QUAD card came out I had to have it! Especially with UA's latest NEVE plug in additions! The QUAD2 runs an insane amount of DSP. When I received mine, I tested it out on my next mixing session where I ran 28 channels of NEVE88, 2-DREAM VERB, 2-PLATE 140, 4- PRECISION BUSS comp, PRECISION MULTIBAND,EQ and Limiter without a glitch.

What I would like to see from UA is a product in which you can take your PCI and PCIe cards and rack them into a portable chassis so when technology changes their "standard" again you can still use UA products. If this isn't an option, I would like to see if UA could do an "upgrade" hardware solution for all their registered and loyal customers.

My only complaint is that I don't have another UAD-2 QUAD card!!


Mr.Sawbladehead

Best money I ever spent !As a matter of fact UAD2 cards are so great that I bought myself a second one! With two UAD2 DUO cards you can be sure that you can handle any mixing task no matter how hard that is! Plug in emulations are F*** great and it really makes you mixes come to life ! The UAD plugs are actually the only plugins that I`m using...there are in every single track that I`m working! Love them all from Manley to Cambridge EQ, fromLA2A to Fatso, it`s a long list.... and plenty to choose from !
the only reason that I don`t give 5 stars in this review is because the plugins are bit pricy :)....keep the prices down UA !

I am very satisfied and I have 2 cards.I miss even a Guitar Rig + Guitar head and speaker.

Each company swears that their product will give you the sound you've been looking for. The only one to deliver on that promise of overall fidelity is Universal Audio. Compressors, EQs, Mastering and Special Processing. These are unparalleled and are the base of the sound of my productions. The delays are very nice, but most UAD modulation effects have been left out of my mix arsenal. The EMT 250 and 140, after learning how to really take advantage of them, have become the "go to" in most instances, with Altiverb being a second choice. The only downside in my setup is, on occassion (meaning approx. 2 months), the UAD-2 card will fall out of sync and not be recognized. Shutdown, reboot, and all is good.

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

We have been using the UAD-2-SOLO and its plug-ins for over three years now and we are very happy with the easy to use plugins to enhance even difficult acoustic audio recordings such as flamenco and Gypsy jazz, the fact that one can always go back to the original recorded audio signal, enables audio engineer to experiment without any risks.

Great, the performance and the stability. A must have.

The only reason I rank the Duo as a 4 star is that it seems everytime I try to backup my pc as soon as I reboot after the back up my Duo is unrecognized and I have to uninstall EVERYTHING, reboot, pull the card out, reboot, re-install the software and then re-install the Duo to get it working again. This really is a PAIN IN THE ASS. I love your products but man please fix this in an upcoming update. Thank you for the great emulations, I recently used a bunch of my UAD plugs on a remix I did for Richie Hawtin.
Cheers,
Rick Allen...aka...RRKS

Love the cards. By far the best emulations I have heard on the market...
My main wishes are for better Pro Tools integration (full RTAS compatibility) and a way to chain the plugins and reduce latency for multiple plugins on a single tracks (so audio only makes the trip to the cards once per track rather than once per plugin)