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UAD Sound City Studios Plug-In
4.5 (378)

UAD Sound City Studios Plug-In

Get the authentic sound of the world's most famous rock & roll studio.

Get this plus all UAD Native plug-ins with UAD Spark. Start your free trial.
  • Place your drums, guitars, vocals, and more inside Sound City Studios' famous Studio A
  • Transform your sources with a collection of vintage hit-making mics
  • Sculpt perfect guitar tones with expertly placed cabinet and mic setups
  • Get the authentic tone of an iconic '70s custom British console, including 3-band EQ and inline compression, based on the legendary Sound City Studios' desk
  • Smash your tracks with Sound City Studios' collection of analog outboard gear including "secret weapon" Dolby A-style effects**, 1176 limiting, and more
  • Put your sources in Sound City Studios' lush-sounding reverb chamber

Runs natively on your macOS or Windows computer without UA hardware. View full system requirements.

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Get the Authentic Sound of the World's most Famous Rock & Roll Studio

Produce music in one of the most famous recording studios in history — including the room, mics, iconic console, and outboard gear — as heard on classic records from Nirvana, Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Rage Against the Machine, and more.* Add the vibe and character of this legendary space to your drums, guitars, vocals, synths and more — right in your own bedroom or home studio.

Immerse Yourself in a Historic Room

Sound City Studios' famous Studio A is the birthplace of hundreds of hit records. Voiced with original multitrack recordings cut at Sound City Studios, we expertly captured the distinct "warts and all" character — with historical setup guidance from engineers who used it everyday — so you can easily put your productions in the same space where magic was made.

Easily Find Your Sweet Spot

Simply choose your source — vocals, drums, guitar, ensembles, or piano — and get proven room and mic setups, from the big reflective sound used on Nirvana's Nevermind to Tom Petty's intimate "wood" corner.* You can even re-mic your guitars with a selection of perfectly placed cabinets and room mics.

Reposition Vintage Mics with Dynamic Room Modeling

Go far beyond historic setups and customize your space by moving a stunning collection of classic condenser and ribbon mics from AKG, Neumann, and RCA — in realtime for authentic room sounds beyond the original chart-topping positions.**

Explore a Legendary Custom British Console

The centerpiece of Studio A since the early '70s, Sound City Studios' custom-made console artfully colored everything that ran through it. Now you can get the same satisfying analog character and tone with perfect emulations of a vintage British 3-band EQ and bus compressor on all your sources.

Crush, Gate, or Add "Air" with Secret Weapon Compression

Along with the legendary limiting of the iconic Rev E 1176 compressor, Sound City Studios gives you the first-ever emulation of the Dolby A301** noise reduction system — a multiband EQ/limiter used and abused by Sound City Studios' engineers — so you can get the same glossy-to-hyped background vocals and explosive drum sounds heard on decades of hit records. 

Add Chart-Topping Ambience with Iconic Reverb Chamber

Put the finishing touch on your tracks with the same natural, open-sounding reverb used by Queens of the Stone Age, Phoebe Bridgers, Death Cab for Cutie, and more. Plus, you can season your ambient space using perfectly placed pairs of dynamic, small-diaphragm condenser, and ribbon mics.*

What They Say

Some of my favorite albums were recorded at Sound City, so it’s amazing to have such a faithful reproduction at my fingertips.

Jeff Balding

Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Florida Georgia Line

I’m doing percussion overdubs in hotel rooms on tour, and Sound City Studios makes everything sound finished. It’s nuts.

Joey Waronker

Atoms for Peace, Beck, Other Lives

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Reviews

4.5
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
Based on 378 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 279 Total 4 star reviews: 49 Total 3 star reviews: 20 Total 2 star reviews: 16 Total 1 star reviews: 14
87%would recommend this product
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378 reviews
  • PL
    Peter L.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    18 hours ago
    New possibilities

    Your acoustic guitar sounds too thin, your vocals too liveless....this plugin opens possibilties for professional sound which I was not able to achieve with anything else. Absolutely unique and highly recommended !

    Was this helpful?
  • GK
    Gary K.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    2 days ago
    Fantastic

    Super easy to use with a lot of configuration choices.

    Was this helpful?
  • AG
    Arturo G.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    2 weeks ago
    Endless possibilities

    Game changer

    Very versatile

    Buy it!

    Was this helpful?
  • MN
    Michael N.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    2 weeks ago
    This is the room sound!

    captures a nice live room with excellence , use it on a dry track to bring it to life. Play with the mics to get that Sound City vibe.

    Was this helpful?
  • SK
    stefan k.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    3 weeks ago
    much more than a room simulation

    I really enjoy using the speaker cab simulations! Of course, same goes for the compressors/channel strips, dolby (Mutt Lange trick) and of course the mics and rooms available!! Such a thrill to make a dry virtual drumkit sound convincingly 3D

    Fun and playful way to spice up your mixing process with presets or tweak within all the options (if you know what you're doing/looking for). I'm glad it didn't come with the legendary Sound City scent

    cheers!!

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Frequently Asked Questions

No. These plug-ins run natively on your computer. No UA hardware is required.
Yes, 14-day plug-in demos are available. Find eligible plug‑ins
We provide three activations per license. We support activation on your computer or on an iLok USB key.
Native plug-ins are supported on macOS and Windows systems. See our Native UAD System Requirements article for full system requirements. An iLok account is required for managing your native plug-in licenses. We support iLok USB keys for portability, but one is not required.
Check our Knowledge Base for additional questions

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*Use of artist names does not constitute official endorsement of UAD Sound City Studios plug-in.

**All trademarks are property of their respective owners and used only to represent the effects modeled as part of UAD Sound City Studios plug-in.

Disclaimer: The famous Sound City Studios is located in Van Nuys, California where it was originally founded. Sound City Studios has no affiliation with Sound City Amplifiers of New Jersey.