Universal Audio has announced the introduction of PolyMAX, a new vintage-inspired synth designed to provide the “fat tones” from the golden age of analog polyphonic synths as well as the Hitsville Reverb Chambers, a new plugin emulation of the reverb chambers that helped shape the Motown Sound.
PolyMAX offers analog‑modeled oscillators and filters, UA effects and curated presets. “The iconic sound of analog synthesizers from the 70s and 80s left their stamp on countless records and film scores of the era, and are revered to this day for their lush harmonics and ability to sit easily into any mix,” says Bill Putnam, Jr., CEO of Universal Audio. “Created with our deep analog-modeling expertise, PolyMAX is inspired by these timeless sounds and fits seamlessly into any DAW‑based workflow.”
Onboard studio‑quality UA effects include the sound of a classic digital “Hall B” reverb, tape delay, and modulation textures such as phasers. It’s available natively via UAD Spark subscription ($19.99/month) or as a perpetual license ($349) for UA Apollo and UAD Accelerator owners (UAD, AAX, VST, AU). Go here for more specifics.
Meanwhile, the new Hitsville Reverb Chambers plugin emulation is designed to provide the same reverb sounds used by the producers of the “Motown Sound,” and is the only reverb plugin officially licensed by the Motown Museum, Hitsville U.S.A. With help from the original engineers who built Hitsville studio’s attic-converted reverb chambers, UA captured the character and ambience of the spaces heard on some of the greatest soul recordings ever made.
“The sound of Motown music lives in all of our heads,” says Putnam Jr. “The attic chambers at Hitsville were crucial to the emotion of those classic recordings, and we couldn’t be happier to bring those same inspiring reverb effects to a new generation of music creators.”
Hitsville Reverb Chambers offers simple controls designed to allow users to more quickly dial in classic reverb sounds on vocals and instruments. It also offers Dynamic Room Modeling technology, the same used on UA’s Capitol Chambers and Ocean Way Studios plugins, so that users can go deeper by repositioning the chamber mics to explore new sounds beyond the original positions.
It’s available natively via UAD Spark subscription ($19.99/month) or as a perpetual license ($349) for UA Apollo and UAD Accelerator owners (UAD, AAX, VST, AU). Owners of the perpetual UAD plugin can download the native version for free. Go here for more specifics.
