Classic grinding distortion

Equal parts warm overdrive and raunchy grind, the Pro Co Rat distortion pedal has been a vital cog in countless guitar rigs since the late '70s. From Jeff Beck to John Scofield, Thom Yorke to Graham Coxon, players of all stripes revere the Rat's tonal range, smoothness, and heaping amounts of gain.

Modeled from a vintage early '80s Pro Co Rat, the Raw Distortion plug-in for UAD-2 and Apollo interfaces is a faithful emulation of this legendary distortion box, delivering all of the grit, dynamics, and raunch of the original hardware.

• Track through a faithful emulation of the incomparable Pro Co Rat with Apollo Twin, DUO, or QUAD
• Dial-in subtle grind or thick, saturated tones with the same pedal used by Jeff Beck, Johnny Greenwood, and Joe Walsh
• Add interesting overdriven textures to guitars, synths, drums, and vocals at mixdown with any UAD-2 hardware
• Get the same circuit interaction, gain range, and clip points for touch-sensitive tones, thanks to Unison™ technology for Apollo interfaces

Trapping Raw for a Faithful Emulation

The Raw Distortion plug-in for UAD-2 and Apollo interfaces captures the original hardware's unique, single op-amp circuit as well as its famous "backwards" passive tone filter. This powerful tone control is at the heart of the Rat's versatility, as it adds tube-like warmth to single-coils while also giving humbucker-equipped guitars an ultra-musical "slice" to stand out in a mix.

Subtle Bite or Grinding Gain

Just like the original Rat, the Raw Distortion for UAD-2 and Apollo excels at giving your tones a touch of "hair" — perfect for texture on chords — or all-out saturation and distortion. This versatility affords you bountiful sonic options with any guitar you plug in.

Unison Technology for Authentic Tone, Touch, and Feel

The interaction of your instrument and the first pedal in your signal chain is an essential ingredient to capturing a stompbox's unique character and tone. Thanks to Universal Audio's Unison technology, your guitar gets the same circuit interaction, gain range, and clip points of a vintage Pro Co Rat when you plug in to an Apollo Twin, DUO, or QUAD. This gives you the true tone, feel, and response of the original hardware.

Use the Raw on Any Source

The Raw Distortion's plug-in's singular voice can also be turned loose on bass, drums, vocals, or synths, giving you a unique tone sculpting tool. Give a subtle edge to a vocal or string patch, or bury a drum bus in a sea of molten distortion for tracks that defy description.

Raw Distortion

Using Raw

Standard DAW Inserts

In much the same way as some premier recording and mix engineers use stomp boxes in a mix, Raw Distortion can be used for creative purposes on any source signal by placing it in any plug-in insert within a DAW. For typical guitar tones, follow the pedal with a guitar amp emulation (as one would with a hardware guitar pedal and amp).

Because the plug-in accurately models the original hardware's high-impedance operating levels, precautions may need to be taken to avoid undesirable input clipping.

Note: Since Hi-Z devices typically operate at much lower signal levels than line-level devices, signal levels being routed into the pedal may need to be reduced to avoid undesirable input distortion.

Unison™ Technology with Apollo

Raw features Unison technology for integration with the high-impedance input hardware in Universal Audio's Apollo audio interfaces. With Unison, Apollo's Hi-Z inputs inherit all of the unique circuit interaction, gain range, and clip points of the original guitar pedal.

Hi-Z Signal Routing

For the most authentic stompbox tones, plug any high-impedance instrument (guitar, bass, etc.) into Apollo's Hi-Z instrument input and place the pedal plug-in into the unique Unison INPUT insert on the same channel within Apollo's Console application. If desired, follow the Unison pedal plug-in with another pedal or guitar amp emulation Console's standard insert slots.

This Hi-Z workflow enables near-zero latency monitoring or recording with the same input characteristics and dynamic response as the original pedal.

Note: This plug-in can be Unison-enabled with Apollo's Mic or Line inputs. However, because the original hardware has a high-impedance instrument input only, Apollo's Hi-Z input and Unison insert will provide the most accurate sound and experience of the hardware pedal that is modeled.

Important: Unison is active only when the pedal plug-in is placed in the unique INPUT insert available on Hi-Z inputs within Apollo's Console application. For complete Unison details, see the Apollo Software Manual.

Tactile Control

Apollo's front panel preamp knob can independently adjust the Distortion, Volume, and Output controls available within the Unison pedal plug-in via Gain Stage Mode. The control being adjusted can be remotely switched via Apollo, so the control levels and their associated colorations can be tuned from the hardware knob for precise physical tactile control, all without using the Unison plug-in's software interface.

Raw Controls

Distortion

Distortion varies the amount of signal overdrive. Rotate the control clockwise to increase distortion and sustain.

Filter

Filter adjusts the high-frequency content of the signal. Rotate the control clockwise to increase the filter amount, which reduces treble content.

Volume

Volume adjusts the pedal's modeled output level. Rotate the control clockwise to increase the volume.

Power

The stomp switch toggles between plug-in enable and disable. Click the switch to toggle the Power state. Like the original hardware, this is a true-bypass control. When disabled, the signal is not colored by the circuitry.

Tip: Power can also be toggled by clicking the UA diamond logo.

Output

Output controls the clean (unmodeled) gain at the output of the plug-in. The available range is -24 dB to +12 dB.

Tip: Click the "0" label to return the control to zero dB.

Raw Distortion is not affiliated with, sponsored nor endorsed by any companies currently using the Pro Co Rat name. The Raw Distortion name is used solely to identify the classic effect emulated by Universal Audio's product.