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Universal Audio UAD-2 Thunderbolt OCTO Custom DSP card

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Universal Audio UAD-2 Thunderbolt OCTO Custom DSP card
Product no: 9000-0013-9752 Bax Music Warranty: This product comes with a 3-year warranty.

General

Universal Audio is known for their excellent products for the studio and many producers and artists alike swear by this brand. These so-called UAD-powered plugins give your digital recordings an analogue feel and sound. The Universal Audio UAD-2 Thunderbolt OCTO Custom is an external DSP card with 8 processors that drives these plugins so they don't tax your Mac. This leaves plenty of processing power left for extended mixes with lots of plugins and instruments.

The Universal Audio UAD-2 Thunderbolt OCTO Custom's plugins

Universal Audio's plugins emulate the sound and behaviour of classic analogue gear in a remarkably natural way. You can choose from an extensive selection of nearly sixty plugins, developed in collaboration with some of the most prominent brands in the professional audio business. Pick your favourites from simulations by Studer, SSL, Manley, Empirical Labs, Neve, Roland, Lexicon, Pultec, SPL and others. The Universal Audio UAD-2 Thunderbolt OCTO Custom comes with the Analogue Classics plugin bundle, as well as your choice out of three plugins via the Universal Audio website.

Powerful DSP processors

There are two different UAD-2 Thunderbolt cards: the Quad and the OCTO. The Quad has four SHARC® processors, while the OCTO is equipped with eight, ensuring even more processing power. The Universal Audio plugins use only the computing power of the card. As such, they take a load off your system, enabling you to use more automations, tracks, other effects and virtual instruments. If you're still short on DSP power, it's possible to daisy-chain up to six DSP cards.

Tips or comments about this product

Please note: only suitable for Macs with a Thunderbolt 1 or 2 connector. Not suitable for Windows.
Please note: the pictured laptop serves illustrative purposes only and is not included.

Specifications

Product features

Suitable for operating system	Apple OSX / Mac OS
Includes plug-ins	yes
Type of DSP card	Thunderbolt

Weight and dimensions including packaging

Weight (incl. packaging)	2,4 kg
Dimensions (incl. packaging)	22,0 x 22,0 x 15,0 cm

Product specifications

external DSP card for Mac
connectors: 2x Thunderbolt 2
DSP processor: 8x Analogue Devices SHARC floating-point processor
supported sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 kHz
suitable for (among others): Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Live, Digital Performer
formats: VST/AU/RTAS/AAX 64 support
compatible with Mac OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion and 10.9.x Mavericks
can be combined with up to 3 other UAD-2 products (such as additional UAD-2 Satellite cards, UAD-2 PCIe cards or the Apollo audio interface)
compatible with all 60 UAD-supporting plugins
The UAD-2 Octo Custom is supplied with the following plugins:
Analogue Classics:
- 1x UA 610-B Tube Preamp and Equalizer
- 1x Teletronix LA-2A Classic Levelling Amplifier
- 1x Universal Audio 1176LN / 1176SE Classic Limiting Amplifiers
- 1x Pultec EQP-1A Program Equalizer
- 1x Realverb Pro Room Modeller
- 1x CS-1 channel strip
3x plugins of your choice, selectable from 60 different plugins available via www.uaudio.com
dimensions: 177.80 x 171.45 x 44.45 mm (W x D x H)
weight: 1.02 kg

Reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews into English View original reviews

Sybren R. 22 March 2017

Wrote the following about Universal Audio UAD-2 Thunderbolt OCTO Custom DSP card

UAD heeft simpelweg de beste plugins op de markt. Het kost wat, maar dan heb je ook wel echt wat. Een octo-core is niet overdreven veel, dus als je twijfelt tussen een quad en een octo, ga absoluut voor de octo. Ik heb zelf in het totaal 10 cores en daar red ik het in de meeste sessies net mee. De thunderbolt is ideaal ten opzichte van Firewire of USB, want het is nagenoeg latency-vrij.

Get a Free UAD-2 Satellite with Your Apollo Rack Mount Interface

Monday 23 November 2015

Universal Audio is ending the year with an incredibly attractive offer for producers and musicians. If you buy an Apollo rack mount interface before 2015 is over, you'll get a free UAD-2 Quad DSP card thrown in!

Universal Audio Unveils Apollo Twin MkII Audio Interfaces

Friday 20 January 2017 By Richard | Bax Music

Universal Audio have unveiled the second generation of their immensely popular Apollo Twin audio interfaces at NAMM 2017. There are three new versions available with solo, duo or quad-core processing in the form of the Apollo Twin SOLO, Apollo Twin DUO and the Apollo Twin QUAD. The new models have been redesigned inside and out and once again define the standard for all other audio interfaces.

Universal Audio Launches Arrow Thunderbolt 3 Interface

Wednesday 17 January 2018 By Lizanne

After their incredibly popular Apollo audio interfaces, Universal Audio is discovering new territory with the Arrow. This 2x4 compact interface boasts bus power for mobile musicians/engineers and features Thunderbolt 3 connection, making the Arrow a world premiere!

Universal Audio: Free UAD Plugins with Every Volt

Friday 30 December 2022 By Kim | Bax Music

If you're looking for a new audio interface and you're already struggling to see the wood from the trees, then with this fat offer, Universal Audio might have just made the decision for you. Read on to find out more.

Universal Audio Introduce the Apollo X Gen 2 Series

Wednesday 9 October 2024 By Kim | Bax Music

A world leader in the professional audio tech game, Universal Audio introduce the second generation of their much-acclaimed Apollo X range. This new audio interface line-up has been designed for every level: from the professional studios to the home studios, and each model brings the elevated performance of some crucial upgrades, building on a legacy that was already pretty outstanding.