When Audio Pro International asked me to review the new UAD-2 from Universal Audio, I accepted with alacrity. I was already a fan of the UAD-1 card, having had the opportunity to use it when mixing and mastering the Juggernaut album for Zero Cipher, an alternative metal band from Farnham in Surrey. The album had been entirely digitally recorded, and the UAD card brought all the analog warmth to the recording we could have wished for, as you can hear when it’s released on Null/Void Records on March 30th this year.

I knew UAD-2 was on the way and it was worth the wait, exceeding even my most optimistic expectations.

The new DSP-based plugin effects processor is a massive leap forward from UAD-1 in terms of power, flexibility, ease of use and number of plugins. UAD-2 comes in single, duo or quad configurations, with the top of the range card, Nevana 128, able to run 128 channels of Neve 88RS console. The cards use Analogue Device’s newest SHARC 21369 floating-point processors, meaning the UAD-2 can have up to ten times the power of the UAD-1. UAD-2 also has a new live mode, making it possible to run the effects in a tracking situation, as well as mixing and mastering. If you’re an existing UAD-1 user, the good news is that you can use the new card side by side with the old on one system; in fact, you can use any configuration of up to four cards together.

The new card comes with a mind-boggling array of plugin options, enabling you to build your own virtual mixing console, mastering console, mix side-car or effects rack from your favourite analog components – it’s enough to make you drool: the Neve 1073 and 1081, the 88RS Channel Strip, the 33609 compressor/limiter, the Pultec EQP-1A, the Fairchild 670, the EMT 140 Plate and Universal Audio’s 1176 and LA-2A to name only a few of the treasures in here. The latest software update includes two newcomers – the Harrison 32C console eq and Little Labs 1BP phase alignment tool.
 
I’ve been trying out the new card on a variety of mixing and mastering projects over the last few weeks, and having used most of the original units on which the plugins are modelled, I can testify to the extremely high quality of the emulations. It is exactly what you would expect from Universal Audio, given its 50 years of revered analog design and its mission to create new recording tools that retain the spirit of vintage analog technology.

Using the plugins is remarkably close to the real-life experience. I found that activating the plugin ‘in the box’ added character straight away, even without tweaking the unit, just like switching the hardware in or out in a real outboard environment. This made my ‘in the box’ mixing feel a lot more realistic and allowed me to focus more on the content rather than the mouse.

Initially I had some problems with residual noise bursts within Logic when bouncing down mixes. This has now been resolved in software version 5.2.0, which brings us the additional glad tidings that UAD-2 is now RTAS-compatible.

You still can’t beat sitting behind a real desk in a real studio, but this new tool from Universal Audio is as close as you can get. The UAD-2 brings warm analog character to what can be a sterile and cold digital environment. It’s best summed up by one of my clients who said, after I mastered his album: “Now it sounds like a record."
www.uaudio.com