F.Y.I On Powered UA Plugins and RTAS

[phobia]

Hi folks.
Just wanted to share with you the latest information I just received from Universal Audio about RTAS and Powered Plugins.

I guess if Digi keeps locking us in and not plan on shipping a mid-level alternative to TDM some people may re-think their future situation.

Cheers,
// Joakim Westman

Received from: [email protected]

Pro Tools Clarification

In a recent email we claimed that our UAD-1 card is 2.5 times more
powerful than a Digidesign MIX Farm card. We thought it would be a good
idea to tell you how we made this comparison as it was based upon the
ability of the MIX card to run RealVerb Pro. RealVerb Pro is the only
plug-in that currently can run on both cards. In this case, the
comparison resulted in 10 RealVerb Pros on the UAD-1 and 3 on the Mix Farm
. Digidesign notes that the comparison did not take into account that 50%
of the Mix Farm card's processing capacity was unused and that this
additional unused processing capability is available for other audio tasks
.

We want you to be aware that the above test is based only upon RealVerb
Pro which currently is the only plug-in that runs on both platforms.
Universal Audio recognizes that these types of tests may not be a complete
indication of the overall power available on either of these cards.

In this same email we claimed that the current MSRP of the Digidesign MIX
Farm is $4K when in fact we have been told the list price is actually
$3995 and is most often sold for less.

Additionally we would like to clarify that there was no intended
implication that a Digidesign MIX Farm is not capable of running 32 EQs,
16 compressors and 3 reverbs. Digidesign reports that a Mix Farm is
capable of running 48 4-band EQs, 45 compressors and 4 stereo D-Verbs. We
note however, that this does not provide an "apples-to-apples" comparison,
since the specific algorithms mentioned in this example are not available
on both platforms.

And finally we want to be clear that at this time Universal Audio has no
plans to develop Powered Plug-Ins for the Digidesign RTAS format.

[lwilliam]

Geez...$4K vs $3995...picky, picky...that $5 sure will make a difference to me. [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

I got the same email. Sounds like Digi didn't like their ad and got the legal beagles involved.

Let's see...

1. no new hardware this year;
2. no external powered plugins for RTAS;
3. no MP or Altivec support
4. PT 5.2's main feature is supposedly the Rocket Network (and TDM only).

I wonder if PTLE/001 will have the fate of Session 8...

[guitarrob]

Obviously, we will learn a lot at AES. Clearly, the 001 as a system is growing long in the tooth. And there certainly is a demand for a mid-level system between 001 and Mix. Either that or, significantly reduce the price on the low end TDM system. Let's see how Digidesign responds. Afterall, they are the originator and still leader in the area of hardware based DSP cards for recording.

[AEW]

Digi has a mid level system of sought. It's the Pro Tools/24 which runs 32 tracks and depending on how fast your computer can run, heaps of RTAS plugins. The problem is that you need TDM plugins on aux tracks and master faders (RTAS plugins won't run), but one farm card is very low on power. Allow all tracks to run RTAS plugins and the DSP chips to run the track count, you'll have the mid level PT system.

Nick

[guitarrob]

If I'm not mistaken, the low end TDM system is now the PT 24/Mix - a 64 track system which retails for $8K without any I/O. Hardly a mid-level system. I would hope that Digidesign addresses the mid-level market with their next product line-up.

[NannerPuddin']

I knew when I stopped by the Real Audio booth at NAMM and heard about the Powered plugins that Digi would not go for it. What a shame.

NP

[nz]

I got the same e mail. Looks like Digi got their feathers ruffled a bit and took UA to task.

Geez...

[AEW]

Guitarrob
If I'm not mistaken, the low end TDM system is now the PT 24/Mix - a 64 track system which retails for $8K without any I/O. Hardly a mid-level system. I would hope that Digidesign addresses the mid-level market with their next product line-up.

Me
Your right, but if Digi could resurrect PT/24 and make it work with RTAS on aux and master faders, it would be great.

Nick