Whether it was housed at Olympic in London, Musicland in Munich, or in the famed Rolling Stones mobile studio, the Helios Type 69 console was at the center of albums by Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, to Bob Marley and the Wailers, David Bowie, Black Sabbath and AC/DC.
Universal Audio announces the all-new Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ Collection for UAD-2 hardware and UA audio interfaces — including an exacting end-to-end circuit emulation that improves upon UA’s original Helios Type 69 “EQ-only” legacy plugin.
In developing the new Helios Type 69 plugin, UA’s team of engineers dug deep into two original Type 69 Olympic-era “golden units,” faithfully modeling their custom-made, feedback-style, 70 dB input section — along with a complete emulation of the Lustraphone mic input transformer.
This end-to-end circuit capture is the only “triple-amp” preamp on the UAD plugin platform and offers the same complex flavors as the original hardware.
The new Helios Type 69 also offers a ground-up redesign of the original hardware’s passive three-band EQ. For the first time, the Helios Type 69 plugin emulates the rich-sounding inductor saturation behaviors that keep radical EQ moves sounding musical, even at extreme settings.
Finally, owners of UA Audio Interfaces can track in real time with Helios’ vintage analog channel, like having the original hardware. The Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ plugin also supports Universal Audio’s Unison technology, giving UA Audio Interface users the Type 69’s all-important impedance, gain staging, and circuit behaviors that have contributed to making it an iconic hit-making console.
Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ Plugin key features:
— An authentic end-to-end circuit emulation of Helios’ Type 69 analog channel, exclusively for UAD hardware and UA Audio Interfaces
— Includes the full character of the original hardware’s Lustraphone transformer-based mic preamp
— Exacting emulation of the inductor-based three-band EQ
— Unison technology for UA audio interfaces offers authentic tone, touch, and feel of the Helios Type 69 preamp, including precise impedance matching
— DSP-lite Type 69 Legacy EQ plugin included
— Artist presets from J.J. Blair (Johnny Cash, George Benson), Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio), Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits), and more
