Universal Audio

Review: Universal Audio’s Apollo Twin

There are many products on the market, like the Apollo, that will give you studio-quality audio, but finding that same quality in a small package is a bit more difficult. With the [Apollo Twin, Universal Audio hit on a great balance between power and portability.

Universal Audio’s Teletronix LA-2A Classic Leveler Collection

I spent a few hours today beginning to mix drums on a new project. I’ve always loved the Teletronix LA-2A, so today I used it in a number of situations, including the Mixbus. It sounded incredible. Universal Audio has the best emulations of the original hardware units because they make the hardware units. What it does is so subtle, but very pleasing.

History of UA’s 1176 Compressor

That same year, Bill Putnam is making the transition from the old standard vacuum tubes to new solid-state technology with his Universal Audio-brand preamps and compressors. The legendary engineer and equipment manufacturer had previously redesigned his original 108 tube microphone preamp (taken from his UA/United Recording consoles in Chicago and Hollywood), into the new 1108 — utilizing the recently invented Field Effect Transistor (FET). Subsequently, he redesigned his successful 175/176 tube compressor (based on the popular variable-Mu design) using FETs, and thus was born the 1176.

Bill Putnam was an absolute genius.

Analog tape recording

These days, owning an analog tape machine is somewhat akin to driving a classic car, with ongoing maintenance, scarcity of parts, and exotic fuel (analog tape) that’s expensive and hard to find. So while a handful of top studios still offer those classic spinning reels (and the engineers to maintain them), the good news for the rest of us is that there are now more convenient ways to achieve that classic magnetic sound.

Jason Schweitzer on mixing Snoop Dogg with Universal Audio

Here’s what Schweitzer had to say about developing artful ears, and channeling years of experience as a performing musician into every mix he does. Of course, he also waxes on the utility and power of his Universal Audio signal chain, and other secrets to his success.

There is nothing like hearing directly from the pros about how they do it.

∞ Universal Audio to release Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb plug-in

Universal Audio (UA) on Wednesday said it would release a new plug-in that is sure to excite musicians and engineers — the Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb.

The Lexicon 224 hardware unit was first introduced in 1978 and has remained a standard for reverbs ever since.

Universal Audio captured all eight reverb programs for its newest plug-in. Typical of the precise modeling it exhibits with all of its plug-ins, UA included every tunable parameter and the original unit’s input transformers and early AD/DA converters.

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