I would like to ask the opinion of the group members on the UAD-1
card
and the plugs. Is it efficient enough to offer realtime
processing?

That's the whole point with DAW plugins. The UAD does the processing
onboard the card, lightening, but not eliminating the load on the CPU.
You will still run into track count vs # of plugin issues. I notice I
can get WAY more native Waves instantiations than UAD instantiations,
using a fast dual G5. The best sounding UAD plugs seem to be the most
CPU intensive. Recently I had 4 Pultecs, 1 Dreamverb, & 1 Cambridge EQ
running on the UAD. Adding a 2nd Cambridge EQ choked the whole system &
brought it to its knees. That's not a lot of plugins for a dedicated
card, IMO. So, you have to balance the UAD plugs with your others to
keep the system running.

And, most of all, how do the plugs sound - how close did
they get to the originals (Pultec and Fairchild interest me
especially)?

All the UAD plugs I've used sound really good. I use the Pultecs all
the time, the Cambridge EQ is very good. I tend to prefer Waves
compressors. The UAD Plate is very good. Do they sound like the
hardware? I don't know, everything sounds different in a computer. They
sound good, & are very useful. I've never heard a plugin that convinced
me I was hearing hardware. These plugins sound good, so I use them,
when mixing. I use hardware when I'm tracking, & I don't worry much
about whether the software version sounds exactly like the hardware.
Personally, I'd rather have a $2500 LA2A sitting in my rack than a $250
LA2A software emulation sitting on my hard drive.

Scott Fraser