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Get the rich analog sound of UAD plug-ins over Thunderbolt.

The UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt is a powerhouse DSP accelerator that gives Mac and Windows 10 users complete access to the world’s most detailed and authentic analog emulation plug-ins, available exclusively on the UAD platform.

Bolstered by next-generation connectivity, UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt 3 lets you run large professional mixes with the rich analog character of award-winning UA-developed plug-ins, including exclusive titles from Neve, Fender, Lexicon, Studer, and many more. Plus, it’s backward-compatible with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 UA devices.

Run UAD Powered Plug-Ins on compatible Thunderbolt Mac or Windows 10 systems

Get a massive DSP boost for powering large professional mixes

Access over 100 plug-ins from Ampex,® Lexicon,® Helios,® Studer,® Neve,® Manley,® Capitol Studios,® API, and more

Start mixing right away with the included Analog Classics Plus plug‑in bundle

Get the sound of a professional analog studio “on the road,” courtesy of UAD plug‑ins

Combine with other UAD-2 devices, including UAD-2 PCIe card(s) and Thunderbolt-equipped Satellites and UA Audio Interfaces

UAD: The Industry’s Most Respected Collection of Audio Plug-Ins

UAD: The Industry’s Most Respected Collection of Audio Plug-Ins

From serious home recordists to multi-platinum mix engineers, UAD Powered Plug-Ins have been winning over audio professionals for more than 15 years. The reason is simple. No other plug-ins so faithfully capture the sound and behavior of classic analog equipment — from rare compressors and equalizers, to vintage reverb processors and tape machines.

The UAD library features over 100 plug-ins, co-developed with the biggest brands in audio. These plug-ins can be purchased with UAD-2 hardware from retailers as part of bundled packages, or you can buy UAD plug-ins à la carte from UA’s Online Store.

Learn More About UAD Plug-Ins ›

Powerful, Expandable Processing

Powerful, Expandable Processing

UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt 3 is available in QUAD or OCTO models with either four or eight SHARC processors, respectively. It can also be integrated alongside UAD-2 PCIe DSP Accelerator cards and Thunderbolt-equipped UA Audio Interfaces, including Arrow, Apollo Twin, and Apollo X interfaces for truly scalable mixing power.

UAD Plug-In Craftsmanship: The Science Behind the Scenes

UAD Plug-In Craftsmanship: The Science Behind the Scenes

In developing UAD plug-ins, UA’s acclaimed engineers undertake intensive physical modeling of classic audio hardware — “rebuilding” vintage analog gear in the digital world, component by component. UAD plug-ins replicate the exact, sometimes quirky behavior of the most prized analog hardware in existence, bringing you rich, three-dimensional sound and harmonics "in the box.”

What Makes UAD Plug-Ins Different? ›

Analog Classics Plus Bundle

With the Analog Classics Plus plug-in bundle, you’re ready to start mixing with legendary tube gear like the Fairchild® 670 and the Pultec® EQP-1A EQ. You also get a dedicated suite of powerful mixing plug-ins and UA’s landmark 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ plug-in.

  • UA 610‐B
  • Fairchild 670 Legacy
  • Teletronix LA‐2A Legacy
  • UA 1176LN Legacy
  • UA 1176SE Legacy
  • Pultec EQP‐1A Legacy
  • Pultec Pro Legacy
  • Precision Channel Strip
  • Precision Reflection Engine
  • Precision Delay Modulation
  • Precision Delay Modulation L
  • UA Precision Enhancer Hz
  • RealVerb‐Pro

UA 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ

UA 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ

Impart your tracks with the iconic warmth and character of the classic hardware used to track everyone from Duke Ellington to Coldplay. By emulating the entire signal path, including tube amplifiers, transformers, and circuit nonlinearities, the 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ plug-in injects organic detail and saturation to any signal.

Fairchild<sup>®</sup> 670 (Legacy)

Fairchild® 670 (Legacy)

The world’s most coveted compressor, the classic Fairchild 670 tube limiter will give your tracks and mixes unmistakable tube warmth and character. Whether you’re looking for subtle compression on a lead vocal, or grittier textures that can work on guitars, bass, or a drum bus, the Fairchild 670 plug-in adds a classic “glow” to anything you run through it.

Teletronix<sup>®</sup> LA-2A Classic Leveling Amplifier (Legacy)

Teletronix® LA-2A Classic Leveling Amplifier (Legacy)

With its gentle, program dependent optical compression and meticulously designed tube amplifier, the LA-2A is the go-to compressor for professional mixers around the world — especially for vocals. Incredibly easy-to-use Peak Reduction and Gain controls gives you the ideal optical compression sound for guitar, bass, drums, and more.

1176SE/LN<sup>®</sup> Classic Limiting Amplifiers (Legacy)

1176SE/LN® Classic Limiting Amplifiers (Legacy)

Get classic, ultra-fast FET compression from the world’s most recognized compressor. The 1176 will impart punch, presence, and character as well as its signature distortion overtones on drums, vocals, guitars, and bass. The 1176LN has graced countless recordings, from Led Zeppelin, to the White Stripes and Michael Jackson.

Pultec<sup>®</sup> Pro Equalizers (Legacy)

Pultec® Pro Equalizers (Legacy)

Mix with two of the most sought-after hardware EQs ever made — the MEQ-5 Midrange Equalizer and the EQP-1A Program Equalizer. Both of these tube-based icons deliver offer smooth and silky EQ curves with an abundance of warm analog character.

Precision Mix Rack Collection

Precision Mix Rack Collection

Featuring the Precision Channel Strip, Precision Reflection Engine, and Precision Delay Modulation plug-ins, the Precision Mix Rack Collection offers four modern, high-fidelity plug-ins for recording and mixing. Powerful and intuitive, Precision Mix Rack Collection gives you an impressive tool set — perfect for beginners and seasoned professionals alike.

UA Precision Enhancer Hz

UA Precision Enhancer Hz

Expertly dial-in your music’s low-end frequencies with the Precision Enhancer Hz plug-in. Able to yield exacting results with minimal adjustment, the Precision Enhancer Hz can add weight to kick drum samples, fatten up a synth bass, or simply make the low-end of your tracks more audible on smaller speakers.

RealVerb Pro

RealVerb Pro

RealVerb Pro is a flexible, natural sounding reverb based on UA’s own unique set of algorithms. Allowing you to design the room just as you hear it, the RealVerb Pro goes beyond simply big/small or dark/bright, giving your sources distortion-free, smoothing diffusion control and ultra-long reverb tail.

Key Features

Run UAD Powered Plug-Ins via Thunderbolt 3 on modern Mac and Windows 10 systems (backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 devices)

4 (QUAD) or 8 (OCTO) SHARC processors provide a massive DSP boost for running large professional mixes

Access over 100 plug-ins from Ampex, Lexicon, Studer, Neve, Manley, SSL, EMT, Helios, and more

Includes Analog Classics Plus bundle featuring Legacy editions of LA-2A Classic Audio Leveler, 1176 Classic Limiting Amplifiers, Pultec EQP-1A, Pultec Pro, and Fairchild 670 plug-ins, plus 610-B Tube Preamp & EQ, and more

Compatible with Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Cubase, Live, and more

Combine with other Thunderbolt-equipped UAD-2 devices including PCIe card(s), UA Audio Interfaces, and additional Satellites

Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports for daisy-chaining of Thunderbolt peripherals

Also available with Custom software packages featuring user-selectable plug-ins

To see full system requirements, click here.

Customer Reviews

UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt 3

Overall Rating

4.8/5
(1512)

E. Azari

September 12, 2023

EliAzariofficial

I produce UAD

J. Vierra

September 7, 2023

No longer flying in coach. I'm in first class with the legroom I need.

As my mixing sessions got larger and I needed more DSP to deal with some of the DSP hungry plugins, the UAD-2 satellite is just what I needed to get the job done. I no longer worry about using the plug-ins on busses as the only solution. I can pretty much use plugins as needed. I am very happy with this device.

m. sedie

August 30, 2023

UAD Satellite

So nice having some fire power to fall back on knowing my ship will sail smoothly and never enter the troubled waters of computer speed issues. Well done UA!

P. Vincent

August 7, 2023

Essential to run UA Apollo/Unison plugins

I ran out of DSP power on my Apollo Twin Dual Thunderbolt when I loaded Capitol Chambers, so I bought a UAD-2 Satellite TB3 and now have 8 processors to share the load for other plugins or instances I need to have in my sessions. A must have.

M. Vinten

August 7, 2023

Love it !

Gives me so much more "headroom" in the plugin area.,
and it's so easy to get up and running.
I just loved it from day one.

R. Studio

July 13, 2023

Works great!

Does the job if you need to use more plugins.

B. Bartley

June 27, 2023

Must Have Item!

The UAD-2 OCTO Satellite is a must have item while using plugins when recording in LUNA. We use two OCTO satellites linked together for superior DSP management.

A. Lee

June 24, 2023

Couldn't live without it

More plugins available without taxing the computer - amazing

D. Ho

June 23, 2023

Perfect for touring!

I work in the world music genre, which often requires recording in different countries. With the Satellite Octo, I can actually mix and master an album without compromise, with a system that fits in my backpack (laptop, Twin, Satellite)!

D. Ho

June 23, 2023

Perfect for touring!

I work in the world music genre, which often requires recording in different countries. With the Satellite Octo, I can actually mix and master an album without compromise, with a system that fits in my backpack (laptop, Twin, Satellite)!

J. Norato

June 23, 2023

Amazing plugin external processor!

I love my new UAD-2 Satellite ! It helps the interface to run the plugins and is perfect to save RAM on laptops. Really would like that one day could use the DSP in te console to increase the cores when recording! . Without a doubt, with Satellite, mixing music is easy and powerful.
:)

K. Neill

June 20, 2023

Really opens things up!

I actually have the thunderbolt 2 octo version but other than the connectivity I don’t knew how much difference there is. I use it in conjunction with my Apollo Twin X and I’m recording almost exclusively in Luna now. Sessions that used to run 80-90% of my dsp on the twin alone are now using 8-9% with the satellite. It’s a game changer. Some of the hungrier plugs are ones that are used on the input when recording. I used to have to disable a bunch of plugs I had on monitoring tracks if I wanted to record a new track. Now I can just load up a new track with what ever I need. A huge boost to my workflow… what else is there to say? 10/10!

A. Mancino

June 3, 2023

Top

Top

R. Rockenschaub

June 1, 2023

Mit UAD-2 Satellite Thunderbolt - ERROR -38

Ich hab mir 2 UAD Octo gekauft um für mein Apollo X16 mehr DSP-Power zu bekommen. Mit den Satelliten (einer oder zwei) wurde das System total instabil. Das Arbeiten mit der stetigen Fehlermeldung Code-38 (Kommunikationsproblem zw. Computer und Uad) ist unmöglich. Ich habe Stunden verbracht um den Fehler zu finden. Mit Support, Computertechniker , weil ich es nicht glauben konnte. FAZIT: Die Geräte funktionieren nicht.

C. Cameau

May 7, 2023

Sound engineer

Still the best

W. Knittel

April 25, 2023

Tolles Gerät! Super Sound :-)

Die „ZauberBox“ ist absolut zuverlässig und nimmt dem iMac eine menge Arbeit ab!

U. Millan

April 23, 2023

Octo errors galore

Bought the unit, after thousands of dollars invested on UAD hardware and licenses l cannot use the unit because of the infamous -38 error.
Reached out to UA to no avail, and l am not alone on this ....

K. Woods

April 13, 2023

Think… The Sound Of The Room

UAD Accelerator

Part of any recording is the planning and implementation of the recording format and capabilities. Whatever limitations you are working with will affect the overall outcome.

I started recording in high school in the early 80s using two cassette recorders. First pass all the music was recorded live to the stereo cassette. Then we set up to overdub all the vocals live as we bounced from one to other. When you have little to work with you get inventive and resourceful.

As time went on I moved on to a four track real to real, then to an eight track real to real, and then added a sixteen track real to real with sync lock. By the late 90s I was mastering professionally with a Tube Tec Multiband compressor, TC electronics and much more with a digital/analog hybrid setup. Early 2000s sold everything.

In 2022 I got back into music production because my son started making music. My setup now has a great analog front end to capture vocals including a pair of Universal Audio tube preamps. Once things are in the box I mix and master all in one pass with my setup. There are many advantages to mixing and mastering all at once, but in order to do it successfully you need processing power. My setup consists of a 28 core system. 12 on the host computer and 8 and 8 on my two UAD accelerators.

Every computer setup will have its limitations. Yours will be different from mine so I will just share what I see. Although I see I can have as many tracks as I could ever dream of now on a DAW, the limitations are in the implementation of plug-in processing.

As I got back into this I noticed that I was once again making compromises because of processing power. If you want to use a really good modeled reverb it is going to use a good percentage of computer processing power. I found that I couldn’t use my best reverb at all because of all the processing power it’s sucked from the computer.

The solution was the UAD Accelerators. Now I can run the most advanced reverb models ever made. I have mixed tracks using the Ocean Way studio plugin, the Capitol Records underground chambers and a recent dance track with the Hitsville attic chambers. These models give your mixes the life they need. Remember people traveled from all over to record and mix their records at these locations specifically for their unique room sound. Now you can have that same space and sound in your setup! These plugins alone have completely improved the sound quality of my mixes. To me this is the number one reason to add an accelerator to your existing system, the reverb models.

Reason number two is just the quality of all the plugins. I like watching these plugin review videos on YouTube and the guy who does the “Snake Oil” videos just does native plugin reviews and it’s fun to get his views and feedback. Many of these reviewers not just him, are very helpful. So one time he got the chance to review UAD plugins with an accelerator and his mouth dropped and he was speechless! He said he was hearing the best plug-ins he had ever heard! And he is right! There is a reason these plugins need more horsepower. They are better period.

If you are on the fence about taking the UAD accelerator plunge, think reverb, think about transforming your studio with big studio room models. Or like me with my experience, think mix and master all in one pass.

If you want the big boy “sound” you will need to get the gear the big boys use, Universal Audio.

L. Chandler

April 13, 2023

I had to buy this to replace a UAD-2 Satellite TB Octo that failed

Support request unsolved since opening March 23, 2023. "Customer Service," and I use the term loosely, has not responded since March 30, 2023

P. Singh

April 11, 2023

Smooth Sailing

Once I finally bought the satellite is when the light bulb went on....... (power switch).... now my mixes contain everything I need to get it done without DSP resources popping up left and right. At first I was hesitant but glad I upgraded my dsp chip count with a new box. Went from "WHAT.....THE.....f"or that time to now sayin YEEEEEAH after I got it. Hypersonic Speed Super Power with Laser like Precision. Now my music is like honey mixed with sugar, SWEEEEET!