Apollo
Native
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Ampex ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder
Turn your recordings into records.
- Mix and master your music with the most popular professional 2-track tape machine ever made
- Get classic Ampex tape saturation, selectable tape types, and color to "glue" your mix together
- Use the entire ATR-102 circuit, including its transformers, amplifiers, Repro, Sync, and Input paths
- Make adjustments to Repro/Record levels while maintaining perfect gain staging
- Enjoy enhanced retina GUI with interactive tape reels and controls true to the original hardware
- Use the ATR-102 LUNA Extension to produce with rich, analog tape sound right in LUNA’s mixer
Turn Your Recordings into Records
What They Say
Richard Dodd
Tom Petty, George Harrison, Dixie Chicks
Jacquire King
Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Cold War Kids
Stephen Smith
Serious Clark, Showteens, Spirit and the Bride
Reviews
Frequently Asked Questions
The Ampex ATR-102 is a plug-in and LUNA Extension that recreates the most popular professional 2-track tape machine ever made, fully authenticated by the Ampex Corporation. It models the entire signal path of the original hardware, including its transformers, amplifiers, and the Repro, Sync, and Input paths. You load it on your mix buss or individual tracks to add the tape saturation and color that "glue" a mix together.
The Ampex ATR-102 is worth it if you want the sound of a real 2-track mastering tape machine on your music without owning, aligning, and maintaining the hardware. It models the complete circuit of the original Ampex ATR-102, so you get the saturation, cohesion, and low-end weight that engineers have used to finish records for decades.
The Ampex ATR-102 stands apart because it models a specific, fully authenticated mastering tape machine rather than a generic tape effect. You can choose between three tape head widths (¼", ½", and 1"), multiple tape speeds, emphasis EQs, and classic tape formulas like GP9, 456, 900, and 250, then fine-tune the machine's calibration for more headroom or grittier compression. That level of detail lets you match the exact tape behavior a mix needs instead of reaching for a one-size-fits-all effect.
You get both with a single purchase of the Ampex ATR-102. Your license covers the version that runs natively on your computer and the version that runs accelerated on Apollo interfaces and UAD Accelerators, so you can move between a laptop session and a DSP-powered studio rig without buying anything twice. Most people run it natively today and add acceleration only if they want to offload processing from their computer.
Yes, the Ampex ATR-102 is modeled from the original Ampex hardware, and authenticated by engineers who own the real machine and describe the plug-in as nearly indistinguishable from it. Because it recreates the full circuit rather than a single saturation curve, it responds to level and program material the way tape does, adding compression, harmonic color, and frequency shaping as you push it. You can dial in more headroom for a cleaner print or drive it harder for obvious tape grit.
The Ampex ATR-102 offers three tape head widths (¼", ½", and 1"), a range of tape speeds, emphasis EQs, and four classic tape formulas: GP9, 456, 900, and 250. Each combination changes the low-end weight, headroom, and saturation character, so a fast speed with a wide head sounds open and hi-fi while a slower speed leans warmer and more compressed. You can also adjust the machine's calibration to taste, which is something the original hardware made far more difficult.
Yes, the Ampex ATR-102 runs natively on both macOS and Windows computers, including Apple Silicon Macs. The enhanced retina GUI with its interactive tape reels is available on Mac, and the full plug-in functionality is identical on both platforms. You can also run it accelerated on Apollo interfaces or UAD Accelerators if you prefer to keep the processing off your computer.
No, the Ampex ATR-102 runs natively on your Mac or Windows computer with no Universal Audio hardware required. If you own an Apollo interface or a UAD Accelerator, you can run it accelerated on that hardware instead, but it isn't a requirement. Either way, you get the same tape sound.
Yes, the Ampex ATR-102 works as a standard plug-in in all major DAWs and also ships as a dedicated LUNA Extension. In your DAW you load it like any other plug-in on a track or bus, and in LUNA the Extension builds the tape sound right into the mixer so you don't have to manage separate plug-in windows. Both give you the same authentic dynamics, frequency response, and saturation.
Most engineers run the Ampex ATR-102 across the mix buss to pull a full mix together with tape compression and harmonic color, the effect often called "analog glue." You can also place it on individual tracks or groups, for example to fatten drums, warm up a bass, or smooth a vocal. Because you control the tape type, speed, and calibration, you decide how subtle or obvious the tape character sits in the mix.
The Ampex ATR-102 LUNA Extension turns LUNA's mixer into a tape machine, applying the same authentic Ampex dynamics, frequency response, and saturation without opening separate plug-in windows. It lets you commit to the tape sound as you produce, so the analog character is part of the mix from the start rather than something added at the end. The LUNA Extension is included when you own the Ampex ATR-102.
Tape emulation plug-ins are still worth using because tape does something to sound that digital processing doesn't naturally provide: gentle compression, harmonic saturation, and a cohesion that makes separate elements feel like one record. The Ampex ATR-102 captures that behavior from a specific, authenticated mastering machine, so you get a documented piece of studio history rather than a generic warmth control. As long as you want your mixes to feel finished and musical, a faithful tape model earns its place in your productions..
Yes, the Ampex ATR-102 is available through the UAD Spark subscription, which bundles it with UA's full library of native plug-ins for a monthly or annual fee. You can also buy the Ampex ATR-102 outright as a perpetual license if you'd rather own it. Both routes give you the same plug-in and the LUNA Extension.
Yes, the Ampex ATR-102 is built for mastering, since it models a 2-track machine that studios used specifically to master and finish records. Running a final mix through it adds the level-dependent compression, harmonic color, and frequency shaping that give a master its polish and cohesion, while Auto-Gain keeps your gain staging exact as you adjust the Repro and Record levels. It works equally well as a mix-bus tool, so many engineers keep it in both stages of their workflow.
Tape saturation adds harmonic richness, gentle compression, and a smoothing of harsh transients that together make a mix sound warmer and more cohesive. The Ampex ATR-102 produces this by modeling how a real tape machine responds to signal, so pushing the level harder increases the saturation and compression the way tape naturally does. Used lightly it adds subtle weight and glue, and pushed further it becomes an obvious, characterful effect.