Universal Audio PCIOCO UAD-2 OCTO Core DSP Accelerator

The Universal Audio UAD-2 OCTO Core is the flagship PCIe DSP accelerator in Universal Audio's lineup, designed for professional studios and power users who need to run large numbers of UAD plugins without taxing their computer's CPU. Equipped with eight SHARC DSP processors, it provides the highest processing capacity of any single UAD-2 card, enabling engineers to load dozens of UAD's acclaimed analog-modeled plugins — emulations of classic compressors, equalizers, reverbs, tape machines, and channel strips — across complex mixing and mastering sessions. By offloading plugin processing to dedicated DSP hardware, the OCTO Core keeps your DAW responsive even during the most demanding projects.

The card ships with the Analog Classics Plus plugin bundle to get you started, and supports VST, AU, RTAS, and AAX 64 formats for compatibility with virtually every major DAW including Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, and Ableton Live. For studios that need even more processing power, the OCTO Core can be combined with additional UAD-2 PCIe cards, UAD-2 Satellite units, or Apollo audio interfaces, creating a scalable DSP ecosystem that grows with your needs. The PCIe form factor requires an available slot in a desktop workstation or a compatible Thunderbolt-to-PCIe chassis for laptop and compact Mac setups, so verifying your system's compatibility and slot availability is an important step before purchasing.