Southern Sound Mastering House

 

UAD-2: The industry’s most respected collection of audio plug-ins.
From serious home recordists to multi-platinum mix engineers, UAD Powered Plug-Ins have been winning over audio professionals for more than 10 years. The reason is simple. No other plug-ins so faithfully capture the sound and behavior of classic analog equipment — from rare compressors and equalizers, to vintage reverb processors and tape machines.

 

Precision Multiband Plug-In

The Precision Multiband is a specialized mastering tool that provides five spectral bands of dynamic range control. Compression, Expansion or Gate can be chosen separately for each of the five bands, while its easy-to-follow design makes the Precision Multiband the ideal tool for the novice, as well as the seasoned mastering engineer. (See the reviews tab for the long list of high-profile users.)

In use, the Precision Multiband is ideal for anything from complex dynamics control to simple de-essing. Two filterbank modes offer precise linear-phase or minimum-phase gain control; use the linear-phase option for perfectly phase-coherent results, or minimum-phase for a less precise, more “analog” sound. Both filterbank modes achieve the magnitude response of a Linkwitz-Riley filter, and provide perfect magnitude reconstruction.

Precision EQ Plug-In

The Precision Equalizer is a stereo or dual mono four-band Equalizer and high-pass filter made primarily for use with program material. Modeled on the behavior of real-world analog mastering filters, the Precision EQ uses the classic parametric controls arrangement. To preserve the greatest sonic detail and ensure a minimum of artifacts in the upper frequency range, the Precision Equalizer is up-sampled to 192kHz.

Both channels of the easy-to-use Precision Equalizer feature four bands of filtering grouped in two overlapping pairs: Two for low frequencies, two for high frequencies. A +/- 8 dB shelving or peak/notch filter is available for each band with five peak/notch responses per band. Each band can be enabled/disabled for auditioning and DSP savings. The Precision Equalizer features .5 dB stepped gain controls and stepped frequency controls traditionally found on hardware mastering EQs for repeatability. The high-pass filter is a far-reaching 18 dB per octave.

The Precision Equalizer also features flexibility in auditioning two separate A and B EQ configurations with the Stereo cycle button, while the Dual button allows the plug-in to function in dual mono, when disparate channel adjustments are necessary. In stereo mode, the left and right controls are linked – moving a knob on either channel will cause the corresponding channel to move. Stereo EQ configurations can be conveniently transferred from A to B, or B to A using parameter Copy buttons.

Precision Limiter Plug-In

The Precision Limiter is a single-band, look-ahead brick-wall limiter made primarily for use with program material. This intuitive plug-in achieves 100% attack within a 1.5ms look-ahead window, which prevents clipping, and guarantees zero overshoot performance. Both the attack and release curves are optimized for professional mastering, which minimizes aliasing.

The Precision Limiter is a colorless, transparent mastering limiter — no upsampling is used, nor does the Precision Limiter pass audio through any filters — audio remains untouched unless the compressor is working, in which case, only gain is affected.

The Precision Limiter also features comprehensive, high-resolution metering, and conforms to Bob Katz's "K-system" metering specs. This metering allows the user to see what is happening to audio with a great deal of accuracy, with simultaneous RMS and Peak metering and adjustable Peak Hold; the plug-in can also be bypassed and used strictly as a high-resolution meter.

Other features include options for a user-adjustable Release or intelligent Auto Release, which allows for fast recovery — minimizing distortion and pumping. The unique Contour Mode switch offers two different methods to tailor the attack shape and can affect overall "presentation" or perception of how "up front" a track feels. Switching the Contour Mode can be useful on minimal and/or acoustic program material, yielding a more subtle touch.