With the announcement of the new Universal Apollo Twin comes a new technology called Unison, in the words of Universal Audio “More than three years in the making, Unison is an exclusive analog/digital integration system that gives the user continuous, realtime, bi-directional control and interplay between Apollo’s physical hardware and UAD software mic preamp models. With Unison, the Apollo mic preamp’s analog impedance, gain stage sweet spots, and component-level circuit behaviors are adjusted in real time prior to analog-to-digital conversion to accurately emulate the target mic preamp model.”

As you can see from the image above (click to enlarge) as the microphone passes from the analog input and then to A/D the digital plug-in and the analog input are in constant communication and adjustments are being made relative to the impedance and gain staging, this will vary depending on the plug-in you use. The 610 is just the start of ‘Unison’ equipped plug-ins from UA.

This technology makes a huge difference to the future of plug-ins, rather than simply passively modelling the audio signal, Unison creates a dynamic and evolving relationship between the analog and digital realm - this take plug-ins a step closer to the real thing. 

For existing Apollo users worried about missing out on this new technology there is some good news.

“Apollo was designed and built with mic preamp modeling in mind, and has included input impedance switching from the very beginning — every Apollo mic preamp is Unison-ready,” says Universal Audio CEO Bill Putnam Jr. “The UA 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ is the first of many Unison-enabled plug-ins for the UAD Powered Plug-Insplatform. It’s included with the new Apollo Twin desktop interface, and will be available for all Apollo customers in Q1.”

Watch out interview with Jed Allen from Universal Audio here