UAD Xpander Xpress | musicradar.com

Universal Audio UAD Xpander Xpress £799

If you want all the power of the UAD-1 DSP card in a laptop-friendly box, you'll want this

The MusicRadar Team, Tue 26 Feb, 4:44 pm UTC

You'll need an ExpressCard slot if you're going to use the Xpander.

Manufacturer's description

Using an ultra-fast ExpressCard 34 connection (2.5Gbps differential serial link). ExpressCard is the new expansion standard in the latest laptops, such as the MacBook Pro. The UAD-Xpander has identical DSP power as the best-selling UAD-1 & UAD-1e PCI/PCIe series of desktop products, and is fully compatibily with all Powered Plug-Ins. Like its desktop siblings, the UAD-Xpander can mix sessions from 44.1khz to 192k. The UAD-Xpander conveniently leaves slower, USB & Firewire connections free for dongles, AudioI/O, and hard-drives while it operates at full PCI Express bandwidth.The UAD-Xpander comes in three bundles: Xpress, Xpert, and Xtreme. Like UA’s existing UAD-1e Express & Expert PAK’s, the difference is only in the bundled UAD$ vouchers. Each UAD-Xpander comes free with UA’s base set of 14 Powered Plug-Ins (see chart below), plus the Xpander Xpress includes a $500 voucher, and the Xpander Xpert a $1000 voucher which allows uses complete flexibility in choosing from UA’s premium collection of mixing and mastering plug-ins available 24/7 at my.uaudio.com. The UAD-Xpander Xtreme includes every Powered Plug-In up to and including those available in UAD software version 4.5.x

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MusicRadar rating

4.5 of 5

Pros

Easy to use. Makes the UAD-1 plug-ins portable. Fabulous sound. Eases the strain on your computer.

Cons

The UAD plug-in range still has gaps that need filling. No good if your laptop doesn't have an ExpressCard slot.

The bottom line

The UAD-Xpander brings the well-regarded plug-in platform to laptop users in a neat and compact package.

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All MusicRadar’s reviews are by independent product specialists, who are not aligned to any gear manufacturer or retailer. Our experts also write for renowned magazines such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Computer Music, Future Music and Rhythm. All are part of Future PLC, the biggest publisher of music making magazines in the world.

Specification Show

UAD Xpander Xpress

Price:: £799
Features:: Noiseless, fanless aluminium breakout box/ chassis, ExpressCard 34 interface + cable.
Additional Features:: Sytem Requirements: ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 slot, Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit versions or Mac OS version 10.4 or higher).

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