A couple of questions before ... buying UAD1.

[Signal chain]

hallo to everybody, I'm new here and have a couple of things to ask before I go and order the card.

I 've sometime come here and I've found lot of usefull topics and I'm thankful for that .

Since I couldn't afford the plugs it has been only theory and dreaming,
trying and doing the same with my cheep effects, I'll let you image the frustration, however I've patiently waited more than a year to save the money .

Now that time has come I'm either happy and worried. (Why?)

- Am I buying something in about few months will be obsolete with new computers ?

- will new UAD (64bit) be a sort of upgrade or do I (emm... we) have to re-buy a new ultra pack or a new project etc. is someone please informed about future cards policy, and what 's going to happen?

thanks for your time, and I hope not to have asked something already too discussed.

 

[billybk1]

- Am I buying something in about few months will be obsolete with new computers ?

- will new UAD (64bit) be a sort of upgrade or do I (emm... we) have to re-buy a new ultra pack or a new project etc. is someone please informed about future cards policy, and what 's going to happen?

Hi there and welcome to the UAD-1 forum. I don' t think the UAD-1 will be obsolete anytime soon. It is true, many of the latest motherboards are moving to PCI-E slots, but even the latest PCI-E boards will have 1 or more PCI slots to accomodate the millions of PCI cards out there. I would not be surprised, at all, to see PCI to PCI-E adapters become commonplace. I think most users will be quite hesitant to toss their working and sometimes expensive PCI cards for a PCI-E one that is still too new and unknown, especially for DAW users.
I have finally decided to upgrade my 5 year old DAW (PIII 1Ghz/512MB). I will be building a new ASUS AV8 Deluxe A64 X2 system which has (5) PCI slots. UA has thorughly beta-tested this system with multiple UAD-1 cards and the latest v4.0 drivers with excellent results. I got 5 years out of my last DAW, I expect to get another 5 with this one. Once MS Vista comes out, later next year, UA will be releasing 64-bit drivers for the UAD-1 (at least that is what I have been told by UA support recently). Then I will be able to fully move to a true 64-bit DAW:

My DAW 12 months from now:

ASUS AV8 Deluxe A64 X2 (64-bit)
MS Vista (64-bit OS)
SONAR 5 (already 64-bit compatible)
Delta 66 audio card (already has 64-bit drivers)
UAD-1 (with new 64-bit drivers)

Am I worried about obsolesence? With this high performance kick-ass setup I am going to be good to go, for at least another 5 years. As much as I use them, I just hope my UAD-1's (one of which is already three years old) last that long. :wink:

 

[billybk1]

Oh, one more thing, I would not be too concerned about the current viability of UAD-1 card, in and of itself. I believe UA's longterm vision & investment is in the valuable plugin algorithms themselves and in continuing to develop additional new plugins. So whether it is adding 64-bit driver support or providing an inexpensive PCI-PCI-E adapter (for current users), redesigning the current UAD-1 card to PCI-E specifications(for new users) or creating a new UAD-1 X2 card (with multiple Mpact-2 chips, PCI-E connector & native 64-bit drivers), you can bet that the UAD-1 plugins themselves will continue to thrive and prosper.

 

[Signal chain]

thanks bk1 ...

...

I once again have been to the UAD site
and those video makes me want everything ...

so damn good sound .

cheers for answering ...