Ampex® ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder
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It's not a record until it's mastered on an Ampex® tape machine.
The UAD Ampex ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder plug-in and LUNA Extension provides the final “analog polish” to your music, turning your recordings into records. Fully authenticated by the Ampex Corporation and trusted by Platinum‑selling professionals the world over, the ATR‑102 plug‑in faithfully captures the unique dynamics, colorful frequency response, and tape saturation of this industry‑standard Ampex machine.
Add analog polish to your mixes with the most popular professional 2‑track tape machine ever made
Harness classic Ampex tape saturation, selectable tape types, and color to "glue" your mix together
Process your audio through the entire ATR‑102 circuit, including its transformers, amplifiers, Repro, Sync, and Input paths
Use the ATR‑102 LUNA Extension to produce rich, analog tape‑infused master recordings
Learn to Add Slapback Delay to Drums
Grammy-winning engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton) and the Ampex ATR‑102 Mastering Tape Recorder plug‑in.
The Most Popular Professional 2‑Track Ever Made
With its cohesive sound, punch, and ability to provide subtle‑to‑deep tape saturation and color, the ATR‑102 has remained a fixture in major recording and mastering studios worldwide since 1976.
The ATR‑102 Mastering Tape Recorder plug‑in and LUNA Extension faithfully replicates the unique dynamics, frequency response, and saturation characteristics of the original hardware. Scrutinized and fully authenticated by the Ampex Corporation, the sound of the UAD ATR‑102 plug-in is virtually indistinguishable from its analog ancestor.
Now Fully Integrated into LUNA Recording System
With LUNA Recording System, you can now use the Ampex ATR‑102 as a LUNA Extension, where it's built into the fabric of the mixer without the need to manage separate plug-in windows. This gives you rich, album‑ready Ampex tape tones on LUNA's master fader and buses — with all the authentic dynamics, frequency response, and saturation characteristics of the original machine.
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Authentic Calibration Controls and Tape Types
Like the ATR‑102 hardware, the plug-in allows you to choose between various Signal Paths (Input, Sync, Repro), different Tape Speeds / Emphasis EQs (NAB, CCIR, AES) and Tape Formula (GP9, 456, 900, 250) combinations — even including home/consumer tape. You can also use the adjustable Tape Delay feature for Automatic Double Tracking effects on vocals, guitars, and more.
Grammy-winning Presets
Get inspired with presets from longtime ATR‑102 users Chuck Ainlay (Chris Botti, Mark Knopfler) Richard Dodd (Wilco, Robert Plant), Buddy Miller (Martina McBride, Emmylou Harris), Mike Poole (Keith Urban, Dolly Parton) and more. Use these presets as a starting point and season to taste on your mixes — you'll marvel at the cohesive, rich sound that can only come from an Ampex tape machine.
“I set the UAD ATR-102 exactly the way my old Ampex machine is set up, dialed in the gains, switched back and forth… and the sound is nearly identical.”
– Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Cold War Kids)
“The UAD Ampex ATR-102 is my new secret weapon in my master buss chain, giving me the secret ingredient for that extra touch of flavor.”
– Ivan Barias (Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, Estelle)
“The Ampex ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder and Studer® A800 Multichannel Tape Recorder emulations give a nice edge to bass tracks.”
– Armin Van Buuren
“The UAD Ampex ATR-102 tape emulation really captures the hardware’s punchy saturation and chunky warmth.”
– Mike Poole (Robert Plant, Martina McBride, Buddy Miller)
“I've always used limiters and compressors on the mix bus to ‘glue’ the sound together, but I've never been able to achieve the kind of musical cohesiveness like I can with the UAD ATR-102.”
– Ryan West (Eminem, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z)
“All of the songs on the Garbage record, Not Your Kind of People were mixed with the Studer A800 plug‑in on all the drum channels. We also used the Ampex ATR-102 plug-in on the final mix.”
– Billy Bush (Garbage)
“The UAD ATR‑102 brings mixes to life with a 3D sound that no other plug-in has ever been able to achieve.”
– Adam Hawkins (Twenty One Pilots, Switchfoot, Keith Urban)Watch The Reviews
5-Minute UAD Tips
Featuring the Magnetic Tape Bundle
Customer Reviews
S. Ramsay
June 3, 2023
That extra polish on the master
Really helps give it that last bit of warmth and polish on the master track. Use it on every song now!
Read MoreS. Ramsay
June 3, 2023
That extra polish on the master
Really helps give it that last bit of warmth and polish on the master track. Use it on every song now!
Read MoreG. Schwab
May 11, 2023
Excellent plugin
This plugin has succeeded. It is excellently suited to give the mix a beautiful analogue colouring and to connect the different frequencies into a harmonious whole. The sonic possibilities...
Read MoreG. Schwab
May 11, 2023
Excellent plugin
This plugin has succeeded. It is excellently suited to give the mix a beautiful analogue colouring and to connect the different frequencies into a harmonious whole. The sonic possibilities...
Read MoreD. Going
April 5, 2023
Very pleased!
Really helps all the elements gel in a mix and unlike a lot of other tape plugins I've used it doesn't sound overly vintage-y if you don't need it to
Read More -
Features
Ampex-authenticated plug-in gives you the rich, cohesive tape sound of the the most popular professional 2-track machine ever made
Emulates the entire ATR-102 electronic path, including transformers, amplifiers, Repro, Sync, and Input paths
Multiple tape formulas, head configurations, and calibration levels for a variety of tones
Adjustable Wow, Flutter, Hiss, Hum, Crosstalk, and (L/R) Tape Delay controls, and more
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Customer Reviews
Ampex® ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder
S. Ramsay
That extra polish on the master
Really helps give it that last bit of warmth and polish on the master track. Use it on every song now!
S. Ramsay
That extra polish on the master
Really helps give it that last bit of warmth and polish on the master track. Use it on every song now!
R. Williams
Magic
Adds a true analog tone and excitement to a record!
G. Schwab
Excellent plugin
This plugin has succeeded. It is excellently suited to give the mix a beautiful analogue colouring and to connect the different frequencies into a harmonious whole. The sonic possibilities are manifold. However, with other UAD plugins, we are also, unfortunately the switches and knobs of the user interface are too small. Please UAD, develop larger and more grippy user interfaces!
G. Schwab
Excellent plugin
This plugin has succeeded. It is excellently suited to give the mix a beautiful analogue colouring and to connect the different frequencies into a harmonious whole. The sonic possibilities are manifold. However, with other UAD plugins, we are also, unfortunately the switches and knobs of the user interface are too small. Please UAD, develop larger and more grippy user interfaces!
D. Going
Very pleased!
Really helps all the elements gel in a mix and unlike a lot of other tape plugins I've used it doesn't sound overly vintage-y if you don't need it to
L. Cipriani
Good but with problems
The plugin sounds very good but most of the time, when reopening saved projects, the right channel has a significant drop in volume even with linked channels. I always have to slightly touch both "record" level and "reproduce" level to get back to normal functioning. Very annoying. Too many times I had to (re)bounce final mixes due to this problem. Without mentioning even worse problems when you have the plugin on the master channel and you keep mixing not realising you are working with an unbalanced stereo image. You can imagine.
A. Rosell
Magic
Adds tons of flavor to any tracks or buses! Enormously versatile
in sound and performance and it does the trick to get that extra analog sound I'm looking for!M. Hui
Love Tape Sound, But Hated the Hassle
Must say this is one of the reasons why I chose UAD as my interface system and use Luna as my DAW. Analog Tape and the machines like the Ampex ATR and studer sound great but I sure don’t miss the real thing. They are heavy, expensive, you needed to align, print tones if it’s going to another studio, tape was $200 a reel and no indie band could afford tape so I reused house tape at 15ips. I never even heard what 30ips sounded like. I hated owning tape recorders but you cannot deny the sound of it. I hated every emulation plug-in until now. I get all the tape sound benefits without all the hassle and the beauty of all this is you can use it natively now too.
M. Leo
Great also as a mixbus EQ
On top of everything else that's already been said about this plug in, sometimes I will use the shelves just to shape the high and low end of a mix. Especially the high end. Great way to brighten things up. A little goes a long way and depending on your bias and other settings it's easy to over do and land in shrill territory but at the same time you can lift quite a bit. Also good to sometimes go down to 3.75in for some sort of lo-fi effects and sound design.
A. Rosario
The Best Tape Compressor
My songs sound professional thanks to this ATR.
A. Rosario
The Best Tape Compressor
My songs sound professional thanks to this ATR.
D. Myrick
Get that chonk
Just love the way it pulls sounds together, can't describe it better than a chonk, not chonky, but a chonk.
J. Szeszel
My favourite.
Of all the tape emulations, ATR is one of my favorites. It has character and gives me what I expect from a tape.
V. Kozarin
Must Have For A Mix
It makes a big difference, sounds more refined just like a real record / recording. Absolutely must have it in your collection.
A. Hillman
Incredible
Just brilliant
A. Monov
ATR 102
Well, i ownd them all
from waves back to all the others and also own all spectrum of und Tapes. I must say, nothing is greater than this one. Believe me. I don't know how the hardware sounds, i hear it back in the day 1994. At this time i haven't any clu what thats means, cause i was just the musician boy recording. Now, ton of years later i can understand....you can hear it.R. Mendez
Amazing
Must have for mastering! Amazing saturation
T. MATSUMURA
my favarit one!
If you want good sound,
you have to try this plugin‼︎
you will encount special feeling!!J. Szeszel
First impressions positive.
I've used many tape emulations in digital form. I've never used analog. I just close my eyes and listen. I listen and if something is unpleasant for me, I reach for ATR. very nice.
