Pro Tools and UAD 2 Quad satelite

[Carl Lie]

I'm curious if the UAD plugs run well at low buffer settings (256/128).

Anyone have experience with this?

Carl

[WinTaper]

UAD plugs run fine at low buffer settings ... I run mine @ 128 samples

There is also a low latency "live" setting switch on each UAD plugin window that reduces latency even more - at the expense of host CPU. I think I read somewhere that live mode switches the processing back to the host (essentially running it 'native' under the hood)

-dan

[roberts]

I hate the latency and the added CPU usage of UAD - I like some their plug-ins
But I use a TDM plug-in every chance I get I need low latency

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by roberts

I hate the latency and the added CPU usage of UAD - I like some their plug-ins
But I use a TDM plug-in every chance I get I need low latency

Simple answer to the latency - don't track with plugins.

[roberts]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Simple answer to the latency - don't track with plugins.

No so simple in our workflow we mix as we track/build the song. It's so critical to hear how what we doing to heard in full context of what the final product will be.

[chrisbass]

I run UAD 1 and 2 on a Windows 7 32-bit machine and if I try and run some of the plugs (like Fatso) in anything less than a 1024 buffer size the session will freeze. I was under the impression that the higher buffer size was needed for UAD.

[barstool719]

I use a UAD1 on my W7x64 machine daily. I can track using the plugs (usually the 1176) and LLM mode @128 buffer and not have any perceptible latency.

[barstool719]

Some of the UAD plugs use more power than others. I could see not being able to track through the tape machine emulations or something like the Fatso JrSr. I used a friend's UAD2 some the other day, and some of those plugs are pretty heavy.

So when Im tracking, I bring the vocals in on an AUX track, insert the 1176, route the AUX track to an audio track, and then enable LLM. Then I setup a send from the audio track to a delay/reverb channel so they can hear a little wetness when they are tracking. (The reverb delay doesnt get recorded, since it's sent from the target audio track.)

If I need to dub something in after I already finished tracking and started mixing, I have to take some things apart to get back to optimal tracking routing. I'll go through and "make inactive" some of the more resource hungry plugins, and then be able to track using the UAD/AUX/Audio combo @128 buffer/LLM. Sucks, but only takes a few minutes.

Once I start getting heavy with the mixing and routing, I crank the buffer up to 1024.

This is all on the system in my sig - i7 PC with 8GB running W7x64, an Mbox3 and PT 9.0.3. (Not HD)

[UAsupport]

Hi everybody!

I wanted to jump in on the discussion and offer some info on using the UAD products with Pro Tools...

First of all the UAD plugins are really meant for use in the mixing and mastering phase of production. This is due to the fact that we would recommend you set your hardware buffer size to around 512 to start. Some systems would require that we increase the hardware buffer to 1024. The latency at this point would not allow for tracking.

I have heard of some users running their systems at lower hardware buffer sizes. Realistically I suppose some users could be doing this and may have not ( yet ) run into problems. Basically we all have to understand that each user will have different computer systems with different hardware and capabilities. Also each user will have different 'use' scenarios with these systems. This in mind there could certainly be some people out there running systems at a lower buffer size and as yet not had a problem.

Operative word here being 'yet'.... we would still recommend you run at a minimum of 512 samples however ; )

Dan - you are correct in saying the UAD2 PCIe products have 'LiveTrack' mode which would let you run the UAD2 PCIe card in '0 latency' mode and would then allow you to track. The 'LiveTrack' mode would increase burden on the host computer CPU however. Realistically 'LiveTrack' is meant for tracking through one or maybe two UAD plugins. And at that we would not recommend tracking through some of the more dsp intensive plugs like the Manley, EP-34, Ampex, etc.

And DEFINITELY you can't run a whole bunch of UAD2 plugins all in 'LiveTrack' mode. ( Sorry people... you won't be able to create a 64 channel 'LiveTrack' UAD2 Neve console or something similar ).

LP - You bring up a good point with your question 'What CPU with how many cores and threads? Just wondering since your answer might help some of use if you've found a golden combination that works. Enquiring minds want to know!!!'

All systems differ... All user scenarios differ ( 2 track voice over OR orchestral movie score? )... All computer systems differ... The trick is to find that 'happy balance' of settings to optimize performance. Here are the settings I suggest as a starting point:

Pro Tools hardware buffer size -

For Pro Tools 8.* and below set the Hardware Buffer Size ( H/W Buffer Size ) to 512 for Pro Tools HD and 1024 for Pro Tools LE.
For Pro Tools 9.* and above you can experiment by setting the Hardware Buffer Size first to 512 and then increase the value if needed.

RTAS Processors -

Try experimenting with the number of RTAS processors you have running ( reduce the number of processors ). This can often improve performance. - Open the Setup/Playback Engine settings window in Pro Tools. Change/reduce the RTAS Processors value. Experiment with this value... Try setting the value to '2 Processor' and then press PLAY. You can then experiment by increasing this number if needed.

I hope this information helps all of you. If you have any questions about this please feel free to contact me directly here at Universal Audio Customer Support.


Universal Audio Customer Support
Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm PST

Telephone Support
USA: 877-MY-UAUDIO [877-698-2834]
International: +1-831-440-1176

Email Support
[email protected]

Regards,

Dan Becker

Customer Service
Universal Audio
www.uaudio.com

[lennieh]

Another top tip is to disable the Enhance CPU Performance flag in the UAD configuration, I was getting tons of 9128 errors and CPU spikes until I did that....