Universal Audio has captured the revered tube character and tone of the original 610 module amplifier preamp with the new UA 610 tube preamp & EQ plug-in collection for the UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform and Apollo audio interfaces.
When Universal Audio founder Bill Putnam Sr. introduced the 610 in 1958, it was a milestone in audio history. The 610 is famous among record producers for its harmonic detail, clipping characteristics, and ability to overdrive in a warm, musical fashion.
The original 610 preamp was integral to countless legendary recordings — from the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds to Johnny Cash’s landmark At Folsom Prison. Its modern variant, the 610-B, helped create new classics by Adele and Cold War Kids.
The new 610 plug-in collection includes both the classic 610-A model and modern 610-B hardware, and represents the first comprehensive modeling of this preamp design — including its tube and transformer components and unique distortion characteristics.
For Apollo Twin and Apollo DUO/QUAD users, the 610 collection works in conjunction UA’s new Unison technology, an exclusive analog/digital integration system that enables continuous, realtime, bi-directional control and interplay between Apollo’s physical hardware and UAD software mic preamp models.
With Unison, the Apollo mic preamp’s analog impedance, gain stage sweet spots, and component-level circuit behaviors are adjusted in real time to accurately emulate the target mic preamp model.
Available for purchase via UA’s online store for $299, the UA 610 tube peamp & EQ collection is part of new UAD software v7.5, which also includes the Brainworx-developed Dangerous BAX EQ plug-in collection and additional updates to the UAD-2 platform. (Note that owners of the UA 610-B tube preamp plug-in can upgrade to the full 610 tube preamp & EQ collection for $149.)
Universal Audio’s API Vision Channel Strip plug-In is now also Unison-enabled via a free firmware update in UAD software v7.5, allowing Apollo users to capture the authentic circuit behaviors of the Vision’s timeless 212L preamp.
