Teletronix® LA-3A Audio Leveler
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A refresh for a legendary solid-state electro‑optical compressor.
If you took the gentle optical compression of the Teletronix LA‑2A, and fused it with the solid‑state clarity and punch of the UA 1176, you would have the Teletronix LA-3A — a "secret weapon" compressor with a unique character capable of moving sounds right to the front of your speakers.
Now featuring improved user interface graphics and sonic appointments, the refreshed Teletronix LA‑3A Audio Leveler for UAD hardware and Apollo interfaces takes its rightful place alongside the pillars of classic compression hardware.Easily shape signals with the definitive solid‑state optical compressor
Add energy and harmonics to vocals and acoustic guitars
Make snare drums pop out of the mix
Add grit and texture to bass guitar and soft synths
Sculpt your sounds further with new HF Emphasis sidechain filter and parallel Dry/Wet Mix
Mix with artist presets from Mark Needham (Imagine Dragons, Fleetwood Mac), Damian Taylor (Björk, The Prodigy), and Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, Odesza) and more
LA-3A History
The Teletronix LA‑3A Audio Leveler made its debut at the 1969 NY AES show, and marked the departure from the tube design of the Teletronix LA‑2A. The LA‑3A incorporated components and design concepts from UA's solid-state driven 1176LN Limiting Amplifier, while also harnessing the LA‑2A's optical compression design, giving the LA‑3A its own distinctive sound and expanded versatility.
Faithfully Capturing a Classic
Immediately embraced as a studio workhorse, the LA‑3A is still widely used today. Engineers and producers the world over favor the LA‑3A for its unique compression characteristics and sonic signature. Modeled from a unit in UA’s vintage collection, the Teletronix LA‑3A Audio Leveler plug-in faithfully captures the rare hardware, working magic on vocals, guitars, and even drums.
New Modern Features
By adding the hardware’s original HF Emphasis sidechain filter, you can now easily use the Teletronix LA‑3A plug-in to punch up your drum bus without triggering the threshold of the compressor with the kick drum. Plus, a new Dry/Wet Mix control lets you easily add parallel compression on an instrument bus, allowing you to season your productions with legendary Teletronix LA‑3A attitude.
“The Teletronix LA‑3A plug-in adds juicy, chewy tone to vocals, bringing them forward in a relaxed, yet commanding way. ”
– Damian Taylor (Björk, The Prodigy, The Killers)
“I love the updated Teletronix LA‑3A Audio Leveler plug-in. It's a top contender for not just tracks and auxes, but my stereo bus as well. And with the new sidechain filter, it's even more useful.”
– Jeff Balding (Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Dan+Shay)
“The UAD LA-3A plug-in is one of our favorite sound design tools. We use it to destroy reverb tails for interesting atmospheric effects.”
– The Glitch Mob
“The Teletronix LA‑3A plug-in gives you smooth optical compression, but with the aggression of a transistor circuit. It's perfect for shaping rock vocals, acoustic guitars, even orchestral instruments.”
– Joe Chiccarelli (Jason Mraz, Beck, The Strokes, Morrissey)
“I love the Teletronix LA‑3A's compression on electric and acoustic guitars and background vocals. Now I can love it all over again with a beautiful new interface!”
– Chris Zane (Passion Pit, St. Lucia, Holy Ghost!)
“An industry standard, the Teletronix LA‑3A plug-in will make guitars pop, level out bass, and do it all with the vintage tone of the original.”
– Richard Chycki (Rush, Aerosmith, Dream Theater)
“The LA‑3A plug-in has a sort of liquid buoyancy that I like, especially on guitars and vocals. ”
– Chuck Zwicky (Prince, Soul Asylum, Reggie Watts)Customer Reviews
J. Tornay
January 21, 2023
Secret weapon
I always insert LA-3A in my bass tracks. Makes it sit in the mix perfectly.
Read MoreA. Sanchez
January 6, 2023
Great on acoustic guitars and lead vocals
Smooth on acoustic guitars and brings lead vocal to the front of your mix.
Read MoreZ. Abresch
December 28, 2022
Smooth, clean, & accurate
From what I know of the original hardware unit, this plugin is pretty dang true to form. Gets that classic LA compression & limiting with a clean and clear, FET sound. Great for...
Read More -
Key Features
Definitive solid-state optical compressor combining LA-2A gain reduction and 1176 clarity and punch
LA-3A Audio Leveler plug-in modeled from a unit in UA’s vintage studio gear collection
Easy to use and unique autoformer T4 gain reduction useful on a wide variety of sources
Featuring simple Gain and Peak Reduction controls with Compression or Limiting
Expanded features include original High Frequency Emphasis filter and digital-only Dry/Wet Mix parallel processing
Includes artist presets from Mark Needham (Imagine Dragons, Fleetwood Mac), Damian Taylor (Björk, The Prodigy), and Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, Odesza) and more
Requires a UAD-2 DSP Accelerator or UA Audio Interface, available from authorized dealers worldwide
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Customer Reviews
Teletronix® LA-3A Classic Audio Leveler
J. Tornay
Secret weapon
I always insert LA-3A in my bass tracks. Makes it sit in the mix perfectly.
J. Zapata
very very good
i like this olugin
M. Willert
Instant magic...
... on drums and guitar - love it!
A. Sanchez
Great on acoustic guitars and lead vocals
Smooth on acoustic guitars and brings lead vocal to the front of your mix.
A. Sanchez
Love this compressor
Love this compressor
Z. Abresch
Smooth, clean, & accurate
From what I know of the original hardware unit, this plugin is pretty dang true to form. Gets that classic LA compression & limiting with a clean and clear, FET sound. Great for leveling out vocals or limiting a bass track to sit in the mix and is capable of everything from crushing compression to subtle peak reduction.
c. toop
Brilliant
Only thing better then the uad plugin is the real thing.
P. Ribeiro
excelente!!!
estou usando muito e plenamente satisfeito com essa aquisição!
P. Sviyazov
Special one!
I don't use this plugin all the time, but there are often sources that I know I just need LA-3A - and there it is. This is kind a workhorse, but with character. Before this plugin I could get the same result but I had to dig into some of my compressors, and this one is just make my work faster and esier!
L. Ferroni
Great transparent compressor
This is awesome, very useful for controlling peaks without any pumping or other effects, top for transparent compression and very easy to use, love It!
J. Seabrook
Everything I Want in Compression
To start, I like compression to be simple. I'm not interested in complex envelopes. I want to make adjustments quickly and intuitively, and if something's not right, change the comp or change the instrument/performance. This one is just that. Quick. Easy. It usually works, but if it doesn't dial in quickly, then I swap in something else. And for that reason, it's my go-to-default.
Also, for my money, it's close enough to the real thing that I'll never need to buy another "Real" unit... until G.A.S. kicks in, but that's a different problem to solve. ;)M. Park
Use it all the time
I really like LA 3A
T. Basso
Nice plugin
Top plugin on my kick drums
J. Song
Awesome Plugin
LA-3A is REALLY nice
Using it on my drums
BUT I kind of prefer the LA-2A a bit moreC. Preston
As it says on the tin!
Amazing tool for levelling out peaks and troffs. Another excellent emulation and a key tool for tracking and mixing.
T. Cerniglia
Just like the pro’s told me!
The pros said the LA-3A works great on electric guitars. They were absolutely right. Not sure why I took so long to purchase this unit. Don’t waste your time with other compressors for electric or acoustic guitars. Get yourself one today!
E. Shacham
very transparent and usefull -
a lot of times I want to use copm/limiter and regret due to the additional characteristics that influence the sound 2 much. the L3A is like looking in a mirror. WYSIWYG with additional soft warmth.
A. ikuma
The advantage is that there is no color.
"Compression without color" can be easily used for various tracks while having a sense of saturation. The advantage is that there is no color.
LA-3A has a natural compression and does not change the balance of each instrument or the mutual groove relationship.
Compared to that, the LA-2A has an impressive sound of the tube, so the track used is conspicuous. We both want to have.Y. Zolberg
Crystal clear!
I use it toglue a guitars grp. But I'm sure it would be great for snare as well and other things.
C. Jones
Hi quality
Smooth those curves! Superb at pushing sounds through the mix.
