UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection
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Get the rich tube compression that changed recording.
Often cited among the crowning achievements of audio pioneer and UA founder Bill Putnam Sr., the 175B and 176 compressors are prized for their rich tube gain reduction character and sonic flexibility. Now you can get the same legendary sounds as the rare hardware with the only authentic plug‑in emulation of the original UA 175B and 176 compressors.
Included Versions
UAD Native
Runs on your Mac or PC without UA hardware.Apollo Realtime & UAD‑2
Runs accelerated on Apollo interfaces and UAD‑2 hardware.UAD Native plug-ins run on both macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and Windows 10 and 11. Go to our UA Support page for system requirements.
- Add vintage compression and detail to vocals, drums, guitars, and more with one of Bill Putnam Sr.'s most coveted designs
- Spice up synths with harmonically rich tube amplifier and transformer saturation
- Creatively enhance the dynamics of your most important sources with 2:1, 4:1, 8:1 and 12:1 ratio controls
- Get perfect drum and vocal sounds easily with Dry/Wet Mix parallel processing and Headroom controls
TAKE A LISTEN
Add a Legendary Limiter to your Studio
Introduced in the early 1960s — and used on thousands of seminal records — the UA 175B and 176 were the first compressors purpose-built for studio recording and mixing music, giving engineers groundbreaking fast attack time and independently variable Attack and Release controls.
Experience Deep Tube Sonics
Based on a pair of UA's 1960s golden units, the UA 175B and 176 Tube Compressor Collection gives you all the ultra-musical harmonics and colorful saturation of these original units — down to their magical feedback compression circuit — giving you softer compression at lower input levels and harder, nearly brickwall limiting at higher levels.
Get the Rich Sound of an All‑Around Champ
Perfect for vocals, drums, guitars, and more, the UA 175B and 176 plug‑ins give you all the character and juice of the originals — indistinguishable from the target hardware in blind listening tests. Easily add depth to room mics or a drum bus, give your guitars definition, park a bass in a mix, and inject vocals with energy. You can even turn off the compression and use the 175B/176 plug-ins as a "tone box," lending rich tube textures galore.
UAD Quick Tips
Learn how to add texture and color to vocals, drums, and more using the UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection.
“You can count on the UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection to shine the right light on almost any source. It puts motion in a track that I want to dance with the pulse of the mix.”
– Joel Hamilton (Pretty Lights, Sparklehorse, Rival Schools)
“The 175B and 176 compressors sit in a magical place in between the LA-2A and 1176, creating something unique while revealing new layers of sonic opportunity.”
– Carl Glanville (U2, Billy Joel, Counting Crows)
“I’m into gear that was used to create music in the ‘60s and ’70s, and the UA 175B and 176 were a big part of it. Now with the UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection, I'm able to have both pieces with as many instances as I can handle!”
– David Isaac (Marcus Miller, Luther Vandross, Eric Clapton)
“Once you load a preset in the UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection, you're instantly rewarded with a smooth sonic richness — the signature sound of these rare hardware units.”
– Steve Levine (Culture Club, Beach Boys, Ziggy Marley)
“The UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection will thicken and warm up harsh vocals, and just like the hardware, the plug-in versions overdrive in a very pleasing way.”
– Peter Mokran (Christina Aguilera, The Flaming Lips)Customer Reviews
m. corder
July 14, 2024
Comp everything
Been using this on all my vocal tracks & even some instruments pretty awesome!
Read MoreM. Breu
June 25, 2024
Great Saturating Compressor
Just as the title says, the tube warmth and saturation can really be heard with these guys. I really never hear anybody say they're using one of these compressors, it seems slept on. It's...
Read Moree. tanaka
June 13, 2024
wonderful!
One of the best compressors in the industry! my favorite for vocals and bass
Read MoreK. Sluiter
June 3, 2024
best of both worlds!
I always thought that the 1176 was my "desert island" compressor, but the 176 has everything I love about the 1176 AND the LA-2A in one unit. How did I go this long without using...
Read MoreT. Crosby
June 3, 2024
Time Tested Excellence
These units have stood the test of time for a reason. Pure sonic pleasure. To have these units in software form is magic. UA bring this to us for a fraction of the cost of just one of...
Read More -
Key Features
Add vintage compression and detail to vocals, drums, guitars, and more with one of Bill Putnam Sr.'s most coveted designs
Spice up synths with harmonically rich tube amplifier and transformer saturation
Creatively enhance the dynamics of your most important sources with 2:1, 4:1, 8:1 and 12:1 ratio controls
Harness plug-in-only features like Dry/Wet Mix parallel processing and Headroom for user‑customizable operating level
Use with any audio interface, no UA hardware required
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Customer Reviews
UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection
m. corder
Comp everything
Been using this on all my vocal tracks & even some instruments pretty awesome!
M. Breu
Great Saturating Compressor
Just as the title says, the tube warmth and saturation can really be heard with these guys. I really never hear anybody say they're using one of these compressors, it seems slept on. It's kind of a mix of all the popular studio compressors. They're good, if that's what you're asking for.
e. tanaka
wonderful!
One of the best compressors in the industry! my favorite for vocals and bass
K. Sluiter
best of both worlds!
I always thought that the 1176 was my "desert island" compressor, but the 176 has everything I love about the 1176 AND the LA-2A in one unit. How did I go this long without using this?
T. Crosby
Time Tested Excellence
These units have stood the test of time for a reason. Pure sonic pleasure. To have these units in software form is magic. UA bring this to us for a fraction of the cost of just one of these. The emulation is superb, and we can use them on multiple tracks simultaneously. Fantastic.
P. Vance
UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection
Analog at it's best.
S. Panzali
Great tools, i love the color
UA RULES, GREAT TOOLS FOR MUSICIANS AN PRODUCERS. KEEP ON GOING
D. Di Paola
Not a shy comp
UA 175B & 176 Tube compressors do their job in a very effective way. Push forward and saturate the track as expected. Top ogni you want a decisive sound.
E. Esper
UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection
Sounds Good on everything honestly especially vocals drum buss and Bass
R. Carvalho
Love it on Rock Drums!
Love it on my Rock drums , it brings the room in a very nice way. Use it a lot on bass too.
C. Davis
Unique
This thing has a pretty unique sonic signature. The mid range is just *tasty*. There are places where the LA2A works better, places where the Fairchild works better, and places where the DBX 160 works better. But on my particular scratch old, this thing is the bomb. Definitely do the trial and see if it fits what you’re trying to do. I’m loving it.
S. Jones
Do not pass over this compressor.
I think we all read reviews and compare the list of awesome UAD compressor plugins. All the recording standard 1176 and LA2A style compressors that are my go-to compressor plugins. I have picked up several others but always skipped over the 175B and the 176 because I figured it can't be as good as the 1176. I decided to finally purchase and experiment and boy was I wrong. I am extremely pleased with the goodness these compressors bring to my ears. There is power and a nice sonic tone that hear compared to the other compressors. I will definitely be using these more often. *** WARNING: If you buy this compressor plugin first you may not like other compressor plugins as much ***
P. Motyczak
Vintage tube at its best
Love this two, Ghe 175B is just amazing, explosive warmth and saturation.
M. Saxon
Versatile and full sounding
I love how subtle these compressors are. The word "warm" is used a lot but they have some nice saturation. I'm still experimenting but so far I'm digging using the 176 on the bass and electric gtrs. UA continues to bring high quality plugins and my collection is slowly growing.
J. Bjoersvik
Ua 175 B & 176 Tube compressor.
2 great easy to use compressors.
H. Lee
amazing
The color of the tube sound comes out thickly, it is very good
V. Ruzicic
So much fun!
Very precise,subtle and musical’
C. Crescence
très bon compresseur, aussi bien que l'original
J'utilise ce compresseur au mixage comme au mastering.
J'aime beaucoup la manière dont il me gonfle mon son, et la prise de l'espace sonores qu'il m'apporte.
Selon ce que je veux avoir comme résultats, il peut avoir un rendu transparent ( pour mes masters ) ou assez agressif ( sur les mixages, traitements des voix , ou des drums).
Un incontournable a mon humble avis.R. Gonzalez Yanel
Color
Me ha gustado tanto en bajos como en voces y baterías. En paralelo suena brutal también.
A. Ogarev
UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection
super+
