Best UAD Reverb Plug-Ins

At Universal Audio, we’re obsessed with reverb. From UA founder Bill Putnam Sr.’s first use of artificial echo on The Harmonicats' 1947 hit "Peg o' My Heart" to our modern UAD plug-in emulations of iconic recording studios and chambers, reverb is simply one of the coolest effects in music production.

Here, we reveal the five best UAD reverb plug-ins that any mix engineer needs in their arsenal. 

1. Capitol Chambers

Best for: Natural Room Ambience

Capitol Chambers gives you classic ambience easily with presets from the Grammy-winning engineers of Ray Charles, Radiohead, Steely Dan, and more.

 

Capitol Chambers is the only authentic emulation of Capitol Studios’ physical echo chambers in Hollywood, built beneath the Capitol Tower in the 1950s and still in use today. It captures the dense, musical ambience that defined Capitol's signature sound across decades of hit records. 

Capitol Chambers recreates the most popular chambers using our proprietary Dynamic Room Modeling technology, including each distinctive speaker and vintage mic setup. Presets from the Grammy-winning engineers behind Ray Charles, Radiohead, and Steely Dan make it easy to get a great sound fast.

 

How to Use Capitol Chambers

Capitol Chambers works beautifully on vocals, drums, synths, and strings. Use it on a return track with multiple sources sent to it rather than as a direct insert — this is where it really shines, making everything sound like it's in the same physical space.

Try using the Filter to keep the reverb from getting too boomy. Boosting the Treble adds shimmer, and lowering the Decay can prevent excessive buildup. Finally, add Pre-Delay to keep the source and reverb clearly separated.

 

 

2. UAD Sound City Studios Plug-In

Best for: Realistic Studio Room Sound

With historical setup guidance from engineers who used it everyday, Sound City Studios puts your productions in the same space where magic was made.

 

UAD Sound City Studios recreates the live room, console, microphones, and outboard chain of the world-famous Sound City Studios — the room behind classic records by Nirvana, Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, and Rage Against the Machine. You can use it to add realistic room ambience or completely re-mic dry recordings as if they were tracked at Sound City.

 

How to Use Sound City Studios

Sound City Studios has two modes: Re-Mic and Reverb.

Re-Mic mode works as an insert on individual tracks, transforming them as if re-recorded in Studio A's live room using Sound City's vintage mic locker, custom British console, and outboard gear — including Dolby-A style effects, 1176 limiting, and the studio's reverb chamber.

Start by selecting the appropriate source from the categories at the top of the plug-in. Sources labeled "Tight" use gobos to reduce reflections and decay; sources labeled "Live" remove the gobos for a more open sound. Each source includes curated mic selections and placements as a starting point, but you can go further by swapping mic models, adjusting placement, or tweaking levels and panning in the Mixer panel.

From there, open the Master Effects panel to shape your sound with the console EQ, dynamics module, and reverb chamber.

Reverb mode works on a return track, adding the ambience of the Studio A live room to multiple sources at once. It de-emphasizes the direct mic sound and emphasizes early reflections and decay.

Select a source as you would in Re-Mic mode. If you're sending a variety of tracks, the “PA Live” and “PA Tight” options in the Guitar category are reliable starting points. Mic changes are more subtle here than in Re-Mic mode, but still worth exploring to shape the room character. The Master Effects modules are all available in Reverb mode too. Use the console EQ to color the ambience or the Crush and Gated dynamics modes to add energy.

 

3. Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb

Best for: Classic '80s Hall Reverb

Introduced in 1978, the Lexicon 224 plug-in gives you the exact algorithms and control processor code from the original hardware.

 

Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb gives you an exact emulation of the hardware that defined 1980s reverb — the long, lush hall tails heard on records by Talking Heads, U2, Prince, and Peter Gabriel. Introduced in 1978, the original 224 had a distinctive character that no other digital reverb has replicated. The UAD plug-in captures that sound bit-for-bit, using the exact same algorithms and control processor code as the original hardware.

 

How to Use Lexicon 224

Start with the “Hall” algorithms (Small Hall A, Small Hall B, and Large Hall B) for the long, lush tails the 224 is known for.

The eight Program buttons load an algorithm and automatically set Lexicon’s programmed settings. These defaults usually sound great with minimal adjustment.

To shape the reverb to your track, set the Bass and Mid Reverb Time sliders to lengthen or shorten decay. The Treble Decay slider controls high-frequency rolloff, giving you a brighter or darker tone. Use the Pre-Delay slider to add separation between the source and reverb. 

 

On the Lexicon 224, using the Pre-Delay at higher settings can produce interesting slapback effects.

 

 

4. EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverberator

Best for: Vintage Shimmer

Vintage hardware EMT 140s are 4' x 8' and weigh in at over 600 lbs.

 

The EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverberator gives you three distinct EMT 140 hardware units used on hit records since the 1950s. The original hardware units measured 4' x 8' and weighed over 600 lbs. They were known for their dense shimmery tones and immense stereo width. The UAD plug-in versions add modulation controls that weren’t possible with the hardware. 

 

How to Use EMT 140

You can use the EMT 140 on a return track with Wet Solo enabled or as an insert on individual tracks.

Start by auditioning the three plates. Plate A is the brightest with the least low end. Plate B is the default — it’s darker with more body and works well on most sources. Plate C uses the updated Martech electronics for a more modern, full-range sound.

This reverb is so simple that you can’t really go wrong. It’s flattering on a variety of sources, but if it sounds muddy on sources like drum buses, lead vocals, or guitars, try raising the Input Filter to clean it up in the low end.

From there, simply adjust the Reverb Time to fit your track: increase it on slower songs for a longer tail or decrease it on faster songs to keep the reverb from building up.

 

5. AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb

For the AKG BX 20 plug-in, UA obsessively emulated a “golden unit” from legendary producer Jon Brion (Elliot Smith, Frank Ocean).

 

When it was released in the late 1960s, the AKG BX 20 marked a significant leap forward in studio reverb tones. Unlike guitar amp springs which can be a bit rattly, the BX 20’s fast onset and natural diffusion give it the dark, dense ambience of a plate or chamber reverb.

The AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb emulates a “golden unit” owned by legendary producer Jon Brion (Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Frank Ocean) and adds exclusive features not found on the hardware, including stereo operation of Tank A or Tank B individually, direct signal defeat, and Baxandall-type tone controls borrowed from the smaller BX 10. 

 

How to Use AKG BX 20

The BX 20 works well on almost any source, but shines on guitars, vocals, drums, and synths.

Tank Select has the biggest impact on the sound. Tank A is dark and rich with rolled-off highs. It’s great for those eerie, otherworldly tones on vocals and synths. Tank B is brighter and more forward, better suited for traditional spring ambience on guitar and drums.
 
On drums or percussion, try disengaging the Direct button to mute the direct component of the spring tank and prevent the reverb from interfering with transients. Unlike Wet Solo, this removes only the direct tank signal — a plug-in-only feature that wasn’t possible on the original hardware.

 

 

 

— UA Staff