UAD-Solo/Duo/Quad - what is the difference?

[LucianX]

I'm looking at getting one of these UAD-2 cards, but haven't been able to ascertain just what the practical difference in them is as I haven't used any PCI cards like this - is it speed? Performance? Would getting the solo limit what plug ins I could add?

Cheers Lucian

[rhythmtech]

its a performance thing.

the quad being 4 times as powerful as the solo.

with modern CPU specs like the i7, the UAD "live" option turns them into a hugely powerful mixing tool. for instance, i think with the solo there's a limit of 18 neve 88RS instances, but when i go to "live" mode i get a lot more per UAD chip.

[Zombie Stomper]

I think the name just comes from how many SHARC processors the card has. The quad has 4 of them, the duo has 2 etc... So yes, you would be limited to how many plugins you can use at one time depending on which card you buy.

[JeffE]

Zombie Stomper is correct - The UAD 2 Solo has one DSP, the Duo has 2 and the Quad has 4. The number of plug-ins you can run is directly proportional to the number of processors - the Quad can run 4x more plugs than the Solo.

Jeff

[Billy Buck]

Originally Posted by rhythmtech

i think with the solo there's a limit of 18 neve 88RS instances

Hey rhythmtech, if you have done the recent v5.3 update (with firmware upgrade) you should now be able to get up to (23) stereo instances of the Neve 88RS per UAD-2 DSP or (35) mono instances (with both EQ & Limit/Comp enabled) and the DSP Loadlock off and Limit DSP load set to 100%. FYI, most UAD-2 plugins have increased instance counts as a result of the firmware upgrade. FWIW, I am able to get (140) mono instances of the 88RS on my QUAD @ 98% DSP load. Not that I would ever need that many.

Cheers,

Billy Buck

[LucianX]

Thanks for the replies, I'll guess I'll for the duo flexi as the quad seems a hell of a price jump.

Now for my other question about them, is the combined cost of the card iteslf and plugins really worth the amount of money they cost? I mean are they that much better than the stuff I have in Cubase 5 already? - I have no extra plug-ins, just those that came with C5.

Cheers Lucian

[rhythmtech]

Originally Posted by Billy Buck

Hey rhythmtech, if you have done the recent v5.3 update (with firmware upgrade) you should now be able to get up to (23) stereo instances of the Neve 88RS per UAD-2 DSP or (35) mono instances (with both EQ & Limit/Comp enabled) and the DSP Loadlock off and Limit DSP load set to 100%. FYI, most UAD-2 plugins have increased instance counts as a result of the firmware upgrade. FWIW, I am able to get (140) mono instances of the 88RS on my QUAD @ 98% DSP load. Not that I would ever need that many.

Cheers,

Billy Buck

yeah man im on 5.3 wasnt sure exactly what the instance count was. big improvement on 5.2!

[Chfeux]

I'm looking to buy an UAD2 and I'm not sure if I should buy a duo or a quad... can you help me ?

The biggest part of time, I run in 32 bits float in 44.1 sample rate... I use between 24 to 32 tracks (sometimes more...) with eq's, compressors, and few effects on vox, solos, ...

I record a lot of metal but sometimes rock, hip-hop and accoustic artists...

What you suggest to me ?

Thanks

[MonoBrow]

Originally Posted by Chfeux

I'm looking to buy an UAD2 and I'm not sure if I should buy a duo or a quad... can you help me ?

The biggest part of time, I run in 32 bits float in 44.1 sample rate... I use between 24 to 32 tracks (sometimes more...) with eq's, compressors, and few effects on vox, solos, ...

I record a lot of metal but sometimes rock, hip-hop and accoustic artists...

What you suggest to me ?

Thanks

If you want plugs on almost every track its quad for you imo.

[Chfeux]

Really ? I use a Powercore too for the reverbs, limiting and there is a good 1176 emulation too on it...

What are the limits of Duo ?

Thx for help me

[MonoBrow]

Ckeck the ua audio website for charts on how many plugs the cards can run.

[Chfeux]

Yeah I looked on it but it seems that the number of instances varies with different combinations of plugins...

I'm just a little bit confused... and I dont want to spend money for the fun...

I asked it to see if there is other guys who run same kind of session than me with one of these 2 cards...

Thx to take time for help me... I appreciate it man

Have a good day

[saovi]

With the least amount of words, this will tell you pretty much what you want to know:

Universal Audio | UAD Charts

Look at your work flow and what plugins you want, how many you want to run per project and choose your card.

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by rhythmtech

with modern CPU specs like the i7, the UAD "live" option turns them into a hugely powerful mixing tool. for instance, i think with the solo there's a limit of 18 neve 88RS instances, but when i go to "live" mode i get a lot more per UAD chip.

Whoa . . . somebody elaborate on this . . . in "live" mode you get MORE plugin power?

[lllubi]

Originally Posted by LucianX

I'm looking at getting one of these UAD-2 cards, but haven't been able to ascertain just what the practical difference in them is as I haven't used any PCI cards like this - is it speed? Performance? Would getting the solo limit what plug ins I could add?

Cheers Lucian

the SOLO opens 2 FATSOS
if their future plugs are as DSP hungry you will not get happy unless you get a
QUAD

[rhythmtech]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Whoa . . . somebody elaborate on this . . . in "live" mode you get MORE plugin power?

it seems so. because some processing is off loaded to your PC, i get more 88rs/la2a/1176ln in live mode BUT i get less 33609, plate 140.

seems to depend on the plugin.

[chromatronic]

did you see they stopped the FAIRCHILD AU MONO ?!!

[frankie c]

do thay have " live" mode for Uad-1???

[rhythmtech]

nope

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by rhythmtech

it seems so. because some processing is off loaded to your PC, i get more 88rs/la2a/1176ln in live mode BUT i get less 33609, plate 140.

seems to depend on the plugin.

How big is the CPU hit?

[rhythmtech]

Originally Posted by Gordon

How big is the CPU hit?

its not huge but there definitly is one although on an i7 920 its really not an issue

[harry_seldon]

If you make a big investment in the UAD plugs, the Quad is the way to go. However, as everyone knows, you can freeze tracks to free up real time processing. I definitely want to buy a quad.