UAD-2 Satellite

[JamieMuffett]

I have to say I have been a bit spoiled as I have gotten used to the real blue stripe 1176/Distressor/DBX/LA2A/good EQ's etc... in the studio, then I get home to mix and it's a somewhat underwhelming experience! haha

This is a good compromise as I don't have 100k to spend on outboard

Waiting for Sweetwater to call me back now...

Jamie

[JamieMuffett]

Bought it, should be here by Friday - woo!

[JamieMuffett]

So I got the Satellite today and it's all installed and working. Sounds GREAT!

However I'm getting 2217 samples of delay from one channel with just the Pultec EQ and an LA2A. I know these are fairly serious plugins but my machine can usually cope with two decent plugins on one channel without delaying THAT much! Part of getting this was to enable me to push the machine harder. Also I'm still on PT 8 so don't have delay compensation.

I know I can use the time adjuster plug-in but I'm hoping I can optimize my system so I don't have to. Or fix whatever thing I haven't done correctly.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Jamie

[mazz]

You're going to get delays with this no matter what. I didn't think about that because I use Digital Performer 7 which has has automatic compensation for several versions.

The delays are even on the pci version but will be longer on the fw version. Time to upgrade pt to the version that does what other daws have been already doing for years.

Sorry for the sarcasm, never understood the love affair with pro tools.

[Ellwood]

You're going to get delays with this no matter what. I didn't think about that because I use Digital Performer 7 which has has automatic compensation for several versions.

The delays are even on the pci version but will be longer on the fw version. Time to upgrade pt to the version that does what other daws have been already doing for years.

Sorry for the sarcasm, never understood the love affair with pro tools.

You are not alone!

[JamieMuffett]

Yep, I thought as much. Oh well, whats another $250 for a PT upgrade!?!? ha

I actually went back to a version of the UAD software (5.9) that has a time adjuster plugin included (ATA) for the other tracks, but I'm not totally convinced it's working properly, the timing just doesn't sound tight to my ears. The plan is PT9 upgrade, then back to version 6.0 of the UAD software.

I'm not too irritated, I needed to upgrade PT anyway. And what's with the hatin' on Pro Tools? haha. The thing I love about PT is the workflow, it's just clean and simple, things are where I assume them to be. I actually started out on Logic when it was still on PC and I prefer PT. Now we have auto delay comp and it's native, it's pretty much there for the home/project studio user.

In my humble opinion!

Thanks for the help guys.

Jamie

[mazz]

I'm glad you figured it out!

As for pt: If I had a commercial studio, I'd have pt, and I don't doubt the workflow is great for a lot of folks. I just never wanted to spend the money for the full version with the expensive hardware and didn't like the policy of crippling the le versions. Plus, I've been doing things in midi such as notation editing with dp for many years and pt only recently caught up with it in that department. As a composer, pt was a non starter due to, until version 8, it's primitive midi capabilities. I've never gotten the hype and not having it do far hasn't hindered my career.

But I'm glad it works for you. It's not the gear ultimately, but gear certainly helps if you know how to use it!

Enjoy this UA plugs, they rock!

Mazz

[JamieMuffett]

Hey guys, you may or may not be interested but I thought I would show you a little recording I did with the UAD on a couple of channels. Until I upgrade PT I did the cardinal sin of shifting the audio file by the amount of samples it was late. Works way better than the time adjuster plugin.

This was recorded with a cheap Yamaha acoustic with a Rode NT2 mic, into a standard M-Box. Electric was DI'ed into the M-box into Guitar Rig 4. Mic'ed a cheap children's glock. Squire Jazz bass DI'ed into Guitar Rig. Drums played in on a M-Audio KeyRig 25 2 octave keyboard, basic Battery kit.

Basic Pro Tools plugins on all channels except drums which I put a touch of the LA2A (I know, not meant for drums, but I just trimmed a little off the transients, and it lost that digital sound) a bit of the Pultec EQ, and EMT 250 reverb. Then a Pultec EQ on the master buss, and a touch of limiting with the L2.

It's an instrumental, painfully happy piece of country music.

http://soundcloud.com/jamiemuffett/summerinspring-uad

Btw, I know the bass is way too muddy, I rushed recording it. The Jazz could have given it a better cut than it currently has.

[ckbarlow]

Delighted to have found this thread. I'm looking at the Satellite as my next must-purchase. I need to take my mixes the next notch up and I think this will help.

I've always been a frugal, "do the best with what you've got" kinda gal, and I think I've learned a lot using the plugs built into Logic Pro... but when Mazz says that simply putting this particular EQ on a track makes it sound better, I can't ignore that! (Plus I'm getting an unexpected extra $1K from the movie I'm working on because of some late additions to the workload. )

So it sounds like a matter of verifying compatibility with my specific MB Pro and then plunking down the plastic. I'll get that done while I wait for the check, which is in the mail. Mmm hmm. LOL....

[andygabrys]

hi Jamie,

glad you got the stuff. Its good. I have had the UAD-2 quad pci for almost two years now and its great sounding, but also good fun. I had some hiccups when i first installed it and UA tech support was right on it.

I was using it with PT 8 and Logic 9, and had the same story - lots of latency in ProTools - so this year I went to PT 10 - I wasn't disappointed at all with the upgrade to PT 10. And not having to shift tracks in time, or use the PT time adjuster or the ATA mellomuse more than makes up for the upgrade price.

It has given extra life to my now aging mac pro being able to shift the processing to the card.

unfortunately, the extra latency makes the UAD plugs useless for tracking through (wish i had an apollo) - even in live track mode in Logic.

For those that are considering the UAD satellite (I am guessing cause you are using a laptop), there is another possibility that is worth checking out (if you have the bucks):

UAD-2 Octo core in an external thunderbolt chassis. $1499 plus $399 from Sweetwater. Twice the power of the Quad. less latency than the Satellite.

yeah its more money, but as an owner of the UAD Studer, you will zap all your DSP in a hurry if you put a Studer on every channel. And other newer UAD plugs like the 1176 Classic Limiter collection (which in my ears equals or betters the CLA 76's) are also DSP hungry. I am guessing that new models coming out from UA are also going to be increasingly DSP hungry. Had there been a UAD-2 Octo when I bought mine, I would have got it no question.

m 2 cents.