Contrary to popular belief, Digidesign ain’t the only game in town when it comes to hardware DSP for effects and instruments. Universal Audio writes us to say that today they’ve updated their UAD-1 DSP system; version 3.9 adds support for Mac OS X Tiger. Users of Logic Pro 7.1 and the upcoming Live 5 will enjoy better support for the UAD-1 on their end, too, thanks to new latency compensation in each of those packages.
There’s a goodie in the new release, too: an emulation of the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble stompbox, for creating analog-style, wide-stereo effects. The CE-1 was developed by UA in partnership with Roland, the first of three promised stompboxes. For those of you who sing the Song of Roland, I’m sure you’ll crave this. (The update includes a 14-day demo; you’ll have to shell out the US$99 for chorusing after that. If you’re buying a UAD-1 new, there’s a free compressor promotion through the end of June.)
By the way, two things I like about the UAD-1. First, it’s got just one, big vector chip for DSP, saving some of the typical bottlenecks on DSP cards. Second, their slogan is “Analog Ears, Digital Minds,” which seems in keeping with the spirit of CDM. Or . . . wait . . . are we more “Analog Minds, Digital Ears.” Or . . . “Analog Ears, No Mind.” Well, something like that. So, any UAD-1 aficionados out there? Give us a buzz.
A UAD-1 is on my shortlist of hardware. And I happen to have one of the few G5 machines that will actually work with this revision of the PCI card.
But until I actually start generating some income from my studio, my 'new toy' budget is on a complete freeze. 🙂
PS – Peter, please note my new username. – brent
Yeah, agreed, I can't afford one either for now. Coughing up nearly a grand is no small matter for those of us with . . . ahem . . . minimal income. But it is worth pointing out that at least the UAD-1 (and TC's PowerCore) are both DSP hardware within range of consumers. You can have some really amazing fx/instrument capabilities for less than the price of a new computer, and a LOT less than a Digi system. (Note that UA is also a TDM developer.)
I am lucky enough to have a UAD Studio Pak tripped out with all the newer plugs (save the mastering series).
Using it was the first time I truly understood the idea of a 'coloring' compressor, or 'coloring' eq.
Its definitely a great piece of hardware.
Here's Derik White's (Dusted Williams from KVR) review of the UAD-1 on TraX Music. It's a pretty well done piece, and a worthy read for anyone considering the UAD-1.
ATA