Helios® Type 69 Preamp and EQ Collection
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The hallowed Helios Type 69, totally re-modeled with Unison™ technology.
Whether it was housed at Olympic in London, Musicland in Munich, or in the famed Rolling Stones’ mobile studio, the Helios Type 69 console was at the center of hundreds of iconic albums from rock’s “Golden Age.” From must-own albums by Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd, to Bob Marley and the Wailers, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC, the Type 69 delivered fat, unmistakable attitude, with a punchy midrange and an assertive growl.
The all-new Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ plug-in for UAD-2 hardware and UA Audio Interfaces is a masterful, end-to-end circuit emulation of the rare hardware, going well beyond UA’s original Helios Type 69 plug-in.Now You Can:
Track and mix through a stunning emulation of the Helios Type 69 vintage analog channel
Get the full character of the original hardware’s Lustraphone transformer-based mic preamp with Unison™ technology
Sculpt your sources with a colorful inductor-based three-band EQ
Shape guitars, vocals, and more with legendary Type 69 midrange aggression
Tweak low-end character with uniquely voiced low-frequency boost and cut filters
Mix with artist presets from J.J. Blair (Johnny Cash, George Benson), Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio), Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits), and more
Take a Listen
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how to shape drums using Helios’ colorful inductor-based three-band EQ and uniquely voiced low-frequency boost and cut filters.
Turn Your DAW into a Classic Helios Type 69 Console
In crafting the new Helios Type 69 plug-in, UA’s team of engineers dug deep into two original Type 69 Olympic-era “golden units,” faithfully modeling their custom-made, feedback-style, 70 dB input section — along with a complete emulation of the coveted Lustraphone mic input transformer. This end-to-end circuit capture is the only "triple amp" preamp on the UAD platform, giving you complex, colorful flavors that will make any source come to life.
Unison Technology for UA Audio Interfaces
Harnessing UA’s groundbreaking Unison technology, the new Helios Type 69 plug-in gives you the hardware’s line/mic preamp impedance, gain stage “sweet spots,” and exact circuit behaviors. Just insert the plug-in into the Console app’s Unison preamp slot to track in real time through a spot-on Helios Type 69 modeled preamp.
Passive, Aggressive EQ
The new Helios Type 69 also offers a ground-up redesign of the original hardware’s famously bold passive three-band EQ. For the first time, the Helios Type 69 plug-in perfectly emulates the rich sounding inductor saturation behaviors that keep radical EQ moves sounding ultra musical, even at extreme settings.
The Low End Theory
With four uniquely voiced low frequency bell-shape boost filters, the Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ Collection imparts the same solid and wide bass foundation found on seminal rock, pop, and reggae recordings. You can also clean up sources like overheads and room mics by switching the Bass band into a fixed 50 Hz low cut mode, with stepped gain control.
Add Tough Type 69 Attitude with any UAD Hardware
Of course, the Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ Collection isn’t just for UA Audio Interface owners. UAD hardware owners can use the Collection on any mix, for bold, intense colors, without going outside the box. With the Helios Type 69 complete console channel emulation, plus the included DSP-lite Helios Type 69 Legacy plug-in, you can craft your projects with the same bold flavor found on the biggest records ever made.
“Helios is responsible for many of the best sounding albums of the 70s. Its mic preamp and EQ are bright, open, and aggressive sounding without being harsh. I love using it on snare drums and acoustic guitars.”
– Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Beck, The Strokes, Morrissey)
“The new Helios Type 69 plug-in is killer. It captures the colorfully unique and musical EQ, and Unison technology emulates all the crunchy cool of the mic pre.”
– Jacquire King (James Bay, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits)
“The UAD Helios Type 69 brings new and exciting texture to any source. I love using the Mic mode to crunch guitars. Just fabulous! ”
– Vance Powell Jack White, The Dead Weather, The RaconteursWatch The Reviews
Customer Reviews
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Key Features
Complete end-to-end circuit emulation of the original Helios "Olympic"-era Type 69 channel design
Coveted Lustraphone mic input transformer and famously colorful passive inductor based EQ
Feedback-style 70 dB preamp and Unison technology with mic, line, and Hi-Z inputs
High Shelf, Mid Bell, and Bass Bell/Shelf EQ with bypass for DSP savings
Includes Helios Type 69 Legacy EQ plug-in for DSP savings
Requires a UAD DSP Accelerator Card or UA Audio Interface available from authorized dealers worldwide
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Customer Reviews
Helios Type 69 Preamp and EQ Collection
V. Basyul
OMG
It’s awesome !
L. Rocha
Great Unison
one of the best unison pre amplifiers
I. Bandera
Molto interessante
Ottimo su molte sorgenti ma sulle chitarre è veramente fantastico, anche la versione legacy rende molto bene. Consigliato.
A. Miyamoto
great saturation
For me, this plug-in is an essential part of an electric guitar track.
c. An
good
goodgoodgood
D. Murphy
Easy to use.
Sounds great with little work.
R. KMIEC
The best guitar preamp
I record my electric guitars by plugging my Fender Deluxe reverb tonemaster directly from its line out to the Hi-Z of the Apollo.
It already sounds great, but with The Helios in Unison the tone gets really professional. Adds grain and character to every guitar and allows to cut unwanted frequencies and boost what needs to be boosted. A must have !h. kim
Good!!!
Good!!!
L. Tian Siung
Simple and nice
Use it with guitar recording, sounds great!
UAD User
Guitar magic.
As soon as I turn this preamp on in unison it brings the guitars and pretty much everything to another level.
o. martinez lopez
Sound of legend
Awesome
J. Wolff
Fuzzy
I use this a lot when I want some fuzzy bass or guitar or even vocals. It has a super analog sounding distortion that sounds so good. Not to mention it has enough gain to power my sm7b without any inline amplification. I also will turn the input down and the output up for some clean acoustic guitar, plus the eq helps with any boomy sounds. Don’t underestimate this one.
N. Duncan
Great on acoustic guitar
My favourite pre for tracking acoustic guitar. Very clean and musical. Even helps makes a DI acoustic sound (halfway) decent.
T. Gregoire
What a pre!!
My go to unison!
j. granville
Simple and sweet
This really surprised me, have a few ua channel strips, the eq on this one is simple to dial in, top end is sweet, fat bottom end. I use it on everything. A real gem !!!
D. Montoya
Holy smokes! Huge. Fat. Monstrous guitars and drum busses.
I have to thank Butch Walker for calling this plug in out in Tape OP. I finally have the guitar sounds in my head translating in a mix. Fat, huge and wonderful mids. Thick low end and perfectly pristine top end.
L. Murphy
Wow!
This Plugin unlocked a world of new (old), amazing sounds that I've always tried to get. I am speechless, simply fantastic!
H. Ahmad Rashidi
Warm like Grandma’s cookies
The Neves, APIs and SSLs are great but if you want something that’s a bit rounder around the edges, you should at least check this out. It sounds AMAZING on guitars. It’s great on vocals too. And I like the breakup characteristic more than the aforementioned channel strips as I turn up the gain. Super stuff.
K. Sarikos
EQ power
it΄s very very strong and color warm..!
G. Daddio
I think it’s very neato
Expecially while eating a burrito.
