Keyboard Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 62) AUDITION UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAD-XPANDER DSP PLUG-IN ACCELERATOR WITH INCLUDED EFFECTS (MAC, PC) by John Krogh The Xpress and Xpert editions come with vouchers you can use to purchase plug-ins from UA’s website, including emulations of the coveted 1176LN compressor (left) and Teletronix LA-2A limiter (right). The UAD-Xpander comes in a carrying case that feels like it would hold up well for light travel, but we recommend something beefier for frequent road warriors. The UAD-Xpander unit connects to your laptop via ExpressCard, the new de facto expansion card standard for PC and Mac laptops. A custom HDMI-style cable interconnects the Xpander box with its ExpressCard. Recreating classic outboard gear in plug-in form is a crowded market. Though Universal Audio wasn’t the first company to jump in, they’re certainly leading the pack. One reason that they’re in a rare position: UA also manufactures the hardware that some of their emulations are based on. This gives them intimate knowledge of how the gear is supposed to work and sound. In my experience, they definitely have that nailed. Universal Audio’s compressor and EQ plug-ins sound fantastic and act like you’d expect analog hardware to act. Another reason Universal Audio has gained favor among musicians and engineers is because of the range of plug-ins available for their UAD-1 DSP card. The UAD-1 runs “Powered Plug-ins,” which can be used alongside native VST, AU, and RTAS plug-ins. The obvious advantage with the UAD-1 is that it lets you run UA’s high-quality plug-ins without using precious CPU resources. For desktop-based musicians trying to squeeze the most performance from their systems, this is a boon. Now, thanks to the UAD-Xpander, laptop users can use Powered Plug-ins on their mobile systems. This is big news, considering that the stable of Powered Plug-ins keeps growing. As of this writing, the list of plug-ins includes an attractive collection of manufacturer-endorsed emulations based on coveted gear originally built by such audio icons as Neve, Roland, SPL, and Empirical Labs. I’ve been a UAD-1 user for well over a year now, and I’m hooked. Every project that comes across my hard drive 62 keyboard 03-2008 Hardware engine to run Universal Audio powered plug-ins. PROS Gives laptop users access to top-grade audio processing plug-ins, including several spot-on vintage analog emulations. Host CPU load is all but nonexistent. Rock-solid reliability. RTAS Wrapper is included, letting Pro Tools users run UA Powered Plug-ins. CONS Can’t be daisychained to create multi-Xpander system. Units with chrome finish show fingerprints. Xpress package, $1,199; Xpert package, $1,699; Xtreme package, $2,599 Universal Audio www.uaudio.com http://www.uaudio.com
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