In this article, we look at Unison-enabled plugins, one of the best features of the UAD ecosystem but for people not familiar with the UAD way of doing things it’s potentially a big feature you might not appreciate.
The benefits of UAD plugins are pretty well understood by the music production community. While it is true that some of the UAD plugins from the likes of Brainworx, which were initially exclusive to UAD are now available natively, there are still reasons to use the UAD version rather than a native version.
DSP Equals Low Latency
The first of those reasons is the fact that a UAD plugin runs on dedicated DSP hardware in your Apollo or UAD DSP accelerator. How significant that is to you very much depends on your computer and how you use it. Native processing has become so plentiful that DSP isn’t as compelling as it once was. However, the impact the use of DSP has on system latency is very much still a compelling reason to use DSP based plugins.
What Is Unison?
Unison is a technology, which is available when using the appropriate Unison insert slot in the UA Console software or LUNA, it enables the preamp or Hi-Z input in the interface to mimic the impedance, analogue gain structure and behaviour of the input of the device modelled by the Unison-enabled UAD plugin. Just as in real life this isn’t a static relationship and the interaction between microphone, guitar pickup and preamp are constantly adjusting.
This is really clever stuff. The effect very much depends on exactly what is connected to what, just like in real life. Sometimes the effect is subtle, sometimes dramatic, it depends on whether you are connecting a passive ribbon mic or a Telecaster to your interface or whether you are connecting something less susceptible to impedance variation.
There are some must-haves in this category. The Neve 1073, Avalon VT737 and SSL E Series to name but three. Here are 5 picks from the current crop of Unison-enabled plugins, which we think are particularly worth checking out.
Raw Distortion
The first Unison-enabled plugin I tried way back in 2015 was Raw. Because its bundled free with Apollos it’s accessible to all and if you haven’t tried Unison this is a natural place to start.
A model of the famous Rat from Pro Co, first introduced in the 70s and something of a cult item these days. I’d read with interest about Unison when it was first introduced in 2014 and I was very impressed by the concept but more impressed by the fact that UA had quietly built in Unison functionality into Apollo interfaces for some time before the announcement of the first plugins. So when Unison was announced there was a user base equipped with the necessary hardware already in place!
Plugging in a single coil equipped guitar I was ready to be “whelmed”, not under or overwhelmed, just whelmed… However the sound jumped out of the speakers in such a way that I was immediately convinced that there was more to Unison than a clever marketing campaign. This really made a difference.
As for Raw as a distortion, guitar tones are one of this things where objectivity is utterly unreachable, what one player loves another will leave another cold but Raw has a unique character and while with Distortion turned beyond 12 o’clock there is more drive than I ever want, this is a pedal capable of subtlety. Turn the distortion down to near minimum and tweak the filter between 10 and 2 O’Clock and you’ll find a clean-ish tone with a lovely amount of hair to it. Or if you want, just crank it and tame all that fizz with the powerful, wrong-way-round low pass filter.
If you want a Tube Screamer it is available in Unison format, at the risk of heresy, personally I’ve never cared for them but something I’d love to see is a Unison version of the Klon Centaur…
Fender 55 Tweed Deluxe
Continuing on the theme of guitar tones and diving headlong into the perpetual melee which surrounds discussion of guitar amplifiers, it is in the area of guitar amp modelling where I feel the greatest benefits of Unison lie. There are so many high gain amp models out there but I’m distinctly old school when it comes to the dirtier end of guitar sounds. Marshalls are well represented and while I love Marshall, I prefer them when other people are using them. I’ve never got on with them personally. Flexibility is desirable if you are looking for a ‘daily driver’ amp, which can cover a lot of options, my recommendation for the most flexible Unison amp would probably be the Fuchs Overdrive Supreme but when dealing with the virtual equivalent of a wall full of amplifier options in a large studio, flexibility isn’t the kind of practical issue we should be worrying about. For an amplifier that has a unique character and does the kind of rich cleans and off-cleans I prefer, it would have to be the Fender 55 Tweed Deluxe.
When provoked, this little legend can get positively aggressive but treated with care, particularly in terms of gain structure, it is the sweetest of the bunch. Comprehensive microphone options which actually sound like the mics they are modelling, complete the picture and the three choices of driver are night and day different, with the spiky JP12 winning out over the slightly phasey JB 120 and GB25 for me.
People will debate and disagree over guitar amplifiers forever but until UA release a Unison AC30 I’ll keep coming back to the little Fender.
Ampeg B15N
Bass guitar is under-represented in the amp emulation arena. Not surprising considering after Ampeg, suggestions for classic amplifiers start to dry up fast. However just because there are fewer options doesn’t mean that good bass amp models are any less important to a successful mix.
While DI electric guitar is a legitimate choice, it’s not a de rigour choice. DI bass is absolutely as standard as DI keyboards but the ability of a good bass amp to bed a bass down in a track, softening the detail without losing the focus, if that’s not a contradiction, can’t be denied. An if you need some dirt on your bass (and most people do need dirt on bass, it’s just a matter of how much) then it is much more fun if applied by a good bass amp than Decapitator or Lo-Fi.
For many people, the definitive bass amp is the Ampeg SVT. If you need reminding of what the SVT can bring to your bass, remember the SVT-VR Unison-enabled plugin comes free with any Apollo. Personally, I favour the B15N, which has probably been behind the basslines of more records than any other amp in history. It just suits my taste in bass tones. The SVT has the reputation but the B15N is like a P bass - It works everywhere. The effect of Unison is subtler on bass than it is on guitar and given the relative popularity of active basses compared to active guitars it’s worth saying that an active bass isn’t the best candidate for complex interactions with the impedance of the input it’s driving, that is after all the point of active electronics.
API Vision/Preamp
Being over halfway through this list and still not having mentioned a mic preamp is a deliberate choice as while with the right mic the effect of Unison is significant, the effect the interaction between pickup and amp model of the right guitar and Unison amp is in my experience more significant. That isn’t to say that Unison preamps don’t do anything, they absolutely do. It’s just not under your fingers in the same way as it is with a guitar.
My first thought was to namecheck one of the classic Neve mic preamps but I was aware that in our recent article 5 Reasons You Need Channel Strips, I featured the Unison-enabled Neve 1084 and also the complementary Neve Preamp plugin, which offers just the Unison preamp model without the EQ making for a less DSP-hungry way to access as many Unison plugins as you have Unison-enabled preamps without maxing out your DSP resources.
For exactly the same reasons I’m going to feature the API Vision channel strip and its complementary API Mic Pre plugin. Choosing between API and Neve is, after all, a taste thing and I own a real Neve preamp but don’t own an API and as a change is as good as a rest I’ll choose API. There’s certainly no distinction to be drawn between them in terms of quality but API gets the vote this time. If you are a LUNA user (and if you are an Apollo owner it is free so what are you waiting for?) The first DAW to offer true end-to-end console emulation is LUNA and the new API Vision Console Emulation Bundle.
If you are yet to check out tracking with Unison Enabled microphone preamps remember that the 610-B preamp is Unison-enabled and is bundled for free with your Apollo.
Korg SDD 3000
The last entry is one that had slipped under my radar, being as it is a studio effect. The Korg SDD 3000 is the vintage digital rack-mounting delay made famous by The Edge of U2. The epic textures created using this box was so integral to the sound of that band that it’s difficult to imagine them without it.
So much attention is focused on tape echoes, bucket-brigade delays and even oddities like the box full of hosepipes which is the Cooper Timecube that the digital delay has been somewhat overlooked, but this 13-bit unit has both digital and analogue quirks which have been faithfully captured and the result is surprising and addictive. Just pass a guitar through the SDD 3000 with the Effect control fully counterclockwise to Direct. Even without any contribution from the delay, the modelled analogue circuitry brings a rich fullness to the sound which makes it useful as a tone box. Dial-in the lush delays as a bonus feature!
Unison is a great technology but because it’s something, which is more easily experienced by feeling it through interacting with an instrument or mic in real-time rather than hearing it, it can be difficult to communicate how much it can achieve. If performances feel better they usually are better and like a good headphone mix or confidence in your producer, these things are the things, which can take a recording from good to great.