“The hardware Fairchild 670 is the stuff of audio myth and legend and a luxury that only the very top tier of the recording studio world can afford,” says Mike Barnes, Universal Audio, Inc.’s marketing director. With those words, he announced at NAMM that the company is shipping its highly-anticipated Fairchild 670 compressor plug-in for the UAD-1 DSP card, which now features compatibility with Mac OS X v.10.3 (Panther) and the Power Mac G5. Universal also unveiled a new UAD-1 Studio Pak as well as a new online store, my.audio.com.
The Fairchild 670 emulation plug-in “brings classic sounds to the realm of the project studio and allows users to run up to 12 mono or 6 stereo instances on a single UAD-1 card,” notes Barnes. It was modeled on the unit at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles, which was used in the recording of many classic albums.
Universal notes that it includes all the functionality of the original hardware but adds DC bias controls that are the original controls from the back of the actual hardware units, a Sidechain Link control that’s a common mod, a digital Controls Link that allows linking of all seven dual controls, and output level controls that allow make-up gain.
The Fairchild 670 compressor is part of the new UAD-1 Studio Pak bundle; existing UAD-1 owners can try it out as a 14-day demo in the v3.4 UAD-1 driver/system download, with a US$149 license fee.
The Studio Pak bundle combines the UAD-1 PCI DSP card with 20 plug-ins that include: the Fairchild 670 compressor, the 1176LN/SE and Teletronix LA-2A vintage compressors, the Pultec EQP-1A, RealVerb Pro, Cambridge EQ, and Dreamverb, among others. It also features the CS-1 Channel Strip — which is a collection of extra plug-ins developed for the UAD-1, including EQ, compression, delay modulation, and reflection engine Modules — and Nigel processor, another plug-in suite that offers the Pre-flex amp and speaker cabinet modeler, echo, delay modulation, tremolo, modulation filter, compressor/gate and phasor.
“The UAD-1 has come of age as the ultimate upgrade for digital audio workstations,” says Barnes.
The UAD-1 Studio Pak supports VST, AU, DX and MAS plug-in formats and is now available for $1,199.
Finally, Universal tied its UAD-1 announcements together with the unveiling of the my.uaudio.com Web site, which currently offers three plug-ins for the UAD-1 card at $149 each: Fairchild 670 compressor, Dreamverb, and Cambridge EQ.
“With over 10,000 UAD-1’s in the field and growing fast, UA is committed to continuing to rapidly expand the range of highly acclaimed plug-ins and offering more convenient delivery systems and improved customer support,” said Universal Audio president Matt Ward.
All existing registered Mackie UAD-1 customers have been automatically transferred to the site and can enter their email address to request a password and start using the new system. Universal notes that my.uaudio.com supports the return of worldwide distribution of the UAD-1 DSP card and Powered Plug-Ins from Mackie in 2004.