Plug-In Power: Using Your UAD-1 with Pro Tools 7.0

UAD-1 Plate 140 inserted on an aux track in Pro Tools | HD

Many of you who use the UAD-1 with Pro Tools | HD have been working around the inability to use RTAS plug-ins on aux tracks. This has made it difficult to get the full benefit of the UAD-1's awesome reverb plug-ins, like the Plate 140 and DreamVerb. Also, it has meant that there's been no way to use the RTAS plug-ins on master tracks, which has also made it difficult to use the Precision Mastering plug-ins.

With the advent of Pro Tools 7.0, you can now use UAD-1 plug-ins on aux tracks and master faders! And best of all, the delay compensation in Pro Tools 7.0 takes care of any latency caused by the plug-ins. Inserting a UAD-1 RTAS plug-in is very similar to inserting one on an audio track, as the plug-ins show up under RTAS > Other. (More information on setting up delay compensation in Pro Tools when using UAD-1 RTAS plug-ins can be found in the December 2004 Plug-in Power article.)

“With the advent of Pro Tools 7.0, you can now use UAD-1 plug-ins on aux tracks and master faders!”

Typically, you would have to own one of our select TDM plug-ins to use a UA plug-in on an aux or master fader. But you can get a UAD-1 Flexi Pak for just a few dollars more than three TDM plug-ins from our online store, and you can use those plug-ins with the same flexibility.

This opens up a lot of possibilities with the UAD-1, like using the 1176 on a drum group as a limiter (my personal favorite). To set this up, find the section of the song where the drums are the loudest. With the attack and release set to around 5, and the ratio at 20, adjust the input gain to where you're knocking down the loudest peaks by 1 to 3 dB. Then adjust the output gain so that these peaks are just below clipping Pro Tools meters. Now bypass the 1176 and listen to the difference! If you want a bit more of a compressed sound, turn up the input gain so that you are hitting the pea ks with 3 to 6 dB of gain reduction, and turn down the output gain so you don't clip the track.

The Precision Mastering series plug-ins can now be used while you're mixing. Personally, I use a limiter during mixing just to hear how my mix will sound after it goes through a mastering limiter. Before Pro Tools 7.0, I had to bounce out my track, import it back into the session on a stereo audio track, and then insert the Precision Limiter on that track.

Some UAD-1 RTAS users will surely fall in love with the incredible Plate 140 now that they can use it in their sessions. The Plate 140 is so easy to use, it only takes seconds to dial in that perfect reverb. Of course, there's always DreamVerb and RealVerb Pro if you really like to tweak your reverbs, or want to design your own virtual ambient spaces.