Hi guys, I have the opportunity to grab a fully loaded (and I do mean FULLY) UAD1 card for a silly price. However, if it is going to open me up to all sorts of stability issues (right now, my system is UBER stable with X2), I am gonna have to reconsider the move.. 

I run an intel i7 26oo with 8GB on Win7 64bit. X2 is on 32bit.   

Any input, preferably based on fact, is welcome! :O)

By "fully loaded" do you imply that it comes with a bunch of licensed UAD plug-ins? Depending on the number & types of plug-ins, it might be a good deal to just to create a UA account/register the card and then pickup a cheap SOLO card and do a free license transfer to the bigger and better UAD-2 card (DSP and functionality wise). Once transfered over, you will get access to all of the newer UAD-2 plug-ins and then free x64 plug-in compatibility. Is the UAD-1 a PCI or PCIe card? The reason I ask is the much older PCI cards can be prone to IRQ issues. The PCIe versions are pretty much plug & play. A SOLO card can be had for around $260 US street and it includes a $50 plug-in coupon. So it might be worth it for the extra plug-ins alone.


Cheers,

Billy Buck

LJB


Hi guys, I have the opportunity to grab a fully loaded (and I do mean FULLY) UAD1 card for a silly price. However, if it is going to open me up to all sorts of stability issues (right now, my system is UBER stable with X2), I am gonna have to reconsider the move.. 

I run an intel i7 26oo with 8GB on Win7 64bit. X2 is on 32bit.   

Any input, preferably based on fact, is welcome! :O)

Hi Ludwig,
 
I had two UAD 1's on one of my other machines that runs X2. No problems at all with the UAD 1. We sold them both for a UAD 2 duo though as UAD offered us a great deal for them. However, I seem to be using less and less of the UAD 1 plugs. The UAD 2 is so incredible with the new stuff, it's a shame not to have it. Granted, the NEVE stuff and Precision stuff is priceless and a part of my arsenal....but the other half goes to the UAD 2 plugs which I also can't do without.
 
But to answer your question, yeah man, you'll be fine with it. I believe there is a certain version of firmware you need to stay away from though as it locks out some plugs in your card or something. I can't remember what version it is, but before you install the software, make sure you read the tech notes as they do warn you about it.
 
I think you'd be better off with a UAD 2 though if you can afford it. A duo would be perfect for you. A bit pricey, but well worth it for the capabilties it will give you and you can still use the UAD 1 plugs too. They've come down a bit in price also. But, we never had any issues with our UAD 1 other than you just can't use enough plugs on it because it doesn't have the power. You'll like the plugs so much, you'll wish you had 2 more of them which is why the UAD 2 duo or quad is such a breath of fresh air. We have a few quads as well...simply impressive in all aspects especially now that they got x64 working correctly. That's another thing you won't have with the UAD 1, so if you use Sonar x64, your UAD 1 won't have 64 bit plugs. Good luck in whatever you decide.
 
-Danny 

I had a UAD 1 card and I liked it, however, considering the price, I was dissapointed. It didn't provide the "bang for buck" that I'm used to with cakewalk products. I invested in a waves suite and sold my UAD card. Very powerful processors are a dime a dozen now, so UAD's added processing power isn't as attractive as it once was. But since you are getting a great deal, you don't have to worry about the cost ratio as much. They make GREAT plugs, of that there is no doubt. If I could grab some cheap, I probably would. Unless you need 64bit, of course.

I have a PCI UAD-1 card running fine with 64 bit X2a on Win 7 64 bit.  You'll have to go back a few firmware & driver versions, as UADs latest doesn't include UAD1 anymore, but it works fine.

I now only use it for Realverb Pro, which has some really usable presets, but I've come to rely on ProChannel modules for Compression, Limiting and EQ, etc. 

I've made the decision to not upgrade to the UAD2, as I don't want the hardware dependency and the ProChannel modules are good enough for my engineering capabilities.  I just have to find a suitable replacement fro Realverb Pro.  So I would gauge whether you're likely to upgrade to a UAD2 - if not, investing in someting so old at this point will likely be a limited time investment.

You should be fine as long as you are running X2 32 bit. Only when using Bitbridge in X2 64 should you encounter anomalies with older UA drivers. It doesnt play well with UA vs non-UA plugins or VSTs on the same track.  Intermittent crashing and stalled drivers.

Yeah, what both Danny and Middleman say. 

Especially of note is what Middleman says. UAD-1 is NOT 64bit and never will be 64bit. So are stuck with that, and if you want any of the new stuff you'll need to upgrade to to at least a DUO (IMO).

I have one system running with a UAD1, on Win7 x64.... runs very well. though not very powerful, compared to my other system with 2 UAD2 duo.  

Still these are nice, timeless plugins IMHO. but if you can get the licence transferred to your own account, by all means, buy some other UAD2, to be able to use all those plugins that you had for so cheap, on a bigger UAD system.

On the minus side, the UAD are great, but kinda of a money pit. plugins are expensive, 
so is the hardware to run it. (thus make the portability of your projects more complicated). but I think the UAD plugins truly make an appreciable difference in the mix over native plugins. 

Cheers ! 

V

Thanks for the valuable input guys - I'll do my homework a bit more and then make a move. The price for this unit is roughly $625- US, but it apparently has every plugin on it that can work with a UAD1, which I believe is a long list. I do know some of the plugs eat up more "instances" than others, but I might want to use this for mastering, particularly.

I think I'll get the guy to lend it to me for a trial.. 

As long as you have got a spare older PCI slot and Sonar X2 will play nice with it.

I would say there are two answers to this question. I picked up a standard UAD 1 card for $100 and it has only got the standard bundled plugins that come with it but I must say I am very happy to say the least. It was a perfect purchase for me. I have become very proficient at using firstly the CS 1 channel strip. It has got 4 plugins within it and they can all or some be used. The EQ is excellent and can do most of your EQ duties well. The compressor is OK too and I have pulled some killer snare and kick sounds out of that compressor. I don't use the time based parts of the CS1 so much. You can have many instances of these especially with just EQ and dynamics engaged. Even a UAD 1 card will relieve your CPU of much native usage leaving our CPU free for other stuff perhaps.
The Pultec EQ and 1176 compressors are very nice and very useful in many parts of your mix. RealVerbPro is also very capable and can be used to create one or two or more very nice acoustic spaces. I don't use Nigel so much as I have some other great guitar VST stuff. If your proposed card has the other plugs that too would be a bonus. Used in mastering some of the plugs you can buy would be very good. And you don't need so many mastering instances either.

But at $625 you are also well on the way to getting a UAD 2 Duo and that would be a better option perhaps. Especially for the newer plugs that only run on a UAD 2 card. Sweetwater is selling UAD 2 solo for $300 and Duo for $699. But that is without the plugs of course. (Although the standard bundles plugs are excellent and serve most purposes I have found) It might be good to get this card even if you transfer the plug ownership over to a later model card it might still be worth the purchase. I suppose the best thing to do would be to do the maths and add up all the plugs cost etc..Hey I will buy the UAD 1 card from you and run two that would be cool and you can keep your plugs and buy either a newer UAD 2 Solo or Duo if you can afford the extra.