UAD Goes Native: Announcing Spark Plug-In Subscription Service

In what marks a major turning point, Universal Audio have announced UAD Spark, a subscription service which, for the first time ever, lets users run UA plugins natively on a Mac with no UA hardware required.

Since their inception, Universal Audio’s renowned UAD plugins have relied on the dedicated DSPs from their Apollo and Satellite hardware products to run. This makes for a very smooth user experience but is also a potential barrier for anyone unwilling to invest in the required hardware. The Spark subscription service introduces a new line of plugins known as UADx, which as mentioned, will run natively on a Mac and require no specific hardware to run.

At launch, the UADx lineup consists of 17 plugins with 13 audio processors from the UAD library and 4 virtual instruments: Ravel Piano, Moog MiniMoog Synth, Waterfall B3 Organ and Opal Morphing Synth. Spark is however referred to as an ‘Evolving Collection’, so you can expect this list to grow over time.  Currently, UADx plugins are Mac only with Windows compatibility coming soon!

UADx plugins are sonically identical to their UAD-2 counterparts, but features offer a few functional differences. Aside from running natively, they feature a new preset browser for quickly finding and auditioning presets, plus a new plug-in header for colour customization and easy navigation. They are available as AAX, AU and VST3 plugins, licensed via the PACE iLok service.

UAD Spark is available for either a monthly fee of $19.99 USD or an annual fee of $149.99.

There is obviously a lot of appeal here for UA Volt owners or those with a third party interface who were previously unable to access the UAD platform. There is however a big bonus for existing UAD users, as registered owners of the UAD-2 version of any UADx plugin will receive a ‘perpetual license’ allowing them to use that native plugin free of charge. Registered Volt owners will receive a free 30 day trial of UAD Spark.

UA have also announced UAD software version 10 with several major additions including Native Apple Silicon support for UAD-2 DSP plugins and Apollo Console, VST categories, increased Flex routs for Apollo X Rack interfaces and more.

LUNA has also been updated to version 1.2.6 with UADx plugin support.

For full details, visit uaudio.com