Universal Audio’s quest to bring the sound of analogue equipment into the digital domain continues, with the release this month of their Ampex ATR102 plug-in: a UAD2-powered processor that models the revered stereo tape machine of the same name. As you’d expect from a UAD plug-in, it features a neat, photorealistic user interface, and is said by its makers to sound “virtually indistinguishable” from the real thing.
This isn’t UA’s first tape emulator, of course: we featured their Studer A800 model a few months ago, though unlike the A800, the ATR102 plug-in is intended for use on your DAW’s master bus, rather than on individual channels. So, using only UAD plug-ins, it will now be possible to emulate the complete signal path of a high-end analogue mixing room, with audio coming from a multitrack recorder (the A800), before being mixed using UA’s vast range of modelled classic outboard, and finally printed to a stereo tape machine (the ATR102).
As with the A800, the ATR102 features various parameters that allow the user to emulate different tape formulations, speeds, input levels and pre-emphasis and bias settings. One-inch, half-inch and quarter-inch tape settings can be chosen, while tape types include 3M 250, Ampex 456, 468 and ATR. Both record and repro signal paths can be emulated, the former emulating the sound of audio going through the machine and coming off the tape, and the latter modelling only the recorder’s input and output electronics, without tape saturation. The sound of the transformers in the original can also be optionally emulated.
In addition to the Ampex’s desirable sonic qualities, various deficiencies inherent in tape recording can be recreated: there are controls for hum and hiss, as well as wow, flutter and crosstalk.
The Universal Audio Ampex ATR102 plug-in will be available from the UA online shop, priced at $349. Naturally we’ll be putting it through its paces in an SOS review soon!
But that isn’t the only piece of UAD news this month: the company have also announced the release of v6 of the UAD software, which includes RTAS versions of all of their plug-ins. Previously, UAD and UAD2 hardware shipped with a VST-to-RTAS wrapper, and this was the only way they could be used within Pro Tools. Now the plug-ins will be much better integrated into Avid’s DAW, with full support for all Pro Tools-compatible control surfaces, fully automatable parameters, clearer plug-in names in the Mix and Edit views, and a simplified installation process.
Another benefit that v6 brings is full compatibility with Lion, the latest version of Apple’s OS X. Version 6 of the UAD software is free for UAD users, and can be downloaded from the Universal Audio web site.
