Capitol Chambers
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A startling recreation of the world's finest echo chambers.
Located below the iconic Capitol Tower in Los Angeles, Capitol Studios is arguably the most recognized studio in the world — and much of its legend can be traced to its hallowed, subterranean echo chambers. From Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra, Beck to Muse, these underground spaces continue to provide gorgeous hi-fi ambience that is simply unmatched.
Now, after years of R&D and close collaboration with Capitol Studios — including unprecedented access to four legendary echo chambers 30-feet beneath the studio — Universal Audio proudly presents the Capitol Chambers plug-in, a startling end-to-end recreation of the most popular echo chambers ever created, exclusively for UAD hardware and UA Audio Interfaces.Record and mix with the world's only authentic plug-in emulation of Capitol Studios' prized underground echo chambers
Add the unmistakably dense, natural reverberation to vocals or drums — far beyond plate, digital, or simple convolution reverb
Create new sounds by repositioning Capitol Chambers' microphones using UA's Dynamic Room Modeling
Audition current and historical chamber configurations, plus new setups curated by Capitol's Steve Genewick
Harness the chamber's entire signal chain including amplifiers, speakers, custom preamps, and mics
Quickly pull up presets from legendary Grammy-winning engineers Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Steely Dan), Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead), Frank Filipetti (Madonna, Paul McCartney) and more
Take a Listen
Classic Echo Chambers Designed by Les Paul
Prized for their natural sound and dense ambience, acoustic echo chambers became a creative tool for pioneering, forward-thinking engineers by the mid 1940s — most notably UA founder Bill Putnam Sr. and the great Les Paul, the genius behind the Capitol chambers designs. Built from reinforced concrete and tuned using sloped ceilings and a trapezoidal shape, Paul's designs deliver a smooth, balanced decay and a completely natural room tone that can't be achieved in any other way.
Capturing Iconic Echo
In creating this amazing plug-in, UA sourced historic technical diagrams from the early '60s to precisely recreate microphone/speaker setups inside of Capitol's most coveted chambers, including the vintage omnidirectional Altec 21D mics and custom speaker/horn configurations, in their original hit-making positions. Current "modern" configurations dating from the late '80s were also captured, using the omnidirectional Shure SM80s, while new and creative mic/speaker combos were devised by Capitol's resident chamber expert, Steve Genewick.
Unprecedented Ambience Control
Capitol Chambers' Position slider gives you next-level control over spatial and time response, allowing you to reposition the chamber mics — no assistant engineer required. From the maximum distance stock positions, to direct speaker-to-microphone effects and proximity characteristics, the Capitol Chambers plug-in can subtly thicken vocals or drums, or soak strings with the most natural, complex sounding reverb ever recorded.
Powered by UA's Dynamic Room Modeling
Harnessing the same technology as the award-winning Ocean Way Studios plug-in, Capitol Chambers uses UA’s proprietary Dynamic Room Modeling technology, an exclusive combination of physical modeling and advanced measurement techniques. Whereas standard convolution reverbs only provide a sonic snapshot, Dynamic Room Modeling gives the Capitol Chambers plug-in nearly infinite ambient possibilities.
Deeper Still
Beyond a vintage recreation, the Capitol Chambers plug-in offers creative features for modern DAW workflows like Pre Delay, Dry/Wet mix, and Decay controls. A sweepable 80 to 750 Hz filter lets you minimize muddy bass going into the chamber, while Bass, Treble, and proportional Q Mid band lets you perfectly season the chamber's lush ambience. In addition, the Width control allows you to narrow the chamber's stereo field, for easily pinpointing a vocal or instrument in the mix. Finally, Decay lets you quickly shorten Capitol Chambers' natural reverb time, offering more scenarios to harness the most famous echo chambers ever made.
An All-Star Collection of Artist Presets
The Capitol Chamber's plug-in features carefully crafted presets from a stunning roster of Grammy-winning engineers and producers. From recording industry icon Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Steely Dan) to Mark Linett (The Beach Boys, Los Lobos) and Frank Filipetti (Madonna, Paul McCartney), Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead), and more, you can experiment using the same settings that professionals who know every nook and cranny of Capitol's famous chambers use every day.
Capitol and the Capitol logos are trademarks of Capitol Records, LLC, registered in the United States, European Union, and other jurisdictions, and are used under license.
"A Rose" by Jamie Lidell
Written and recorded exclusively to showcase the UAD Capitol Chambers Reverb plug‑in.
“I’ve been using the chambers at Capitol Studios for nearly 25 years, now I finally get to take them with me when I work outside of Capitol.”
– Steve Genewick (Ray Charles, Queen, Frank Sinatra Jr.)
“While tracking at Capitol Studios, I always capture the chambers. Now I can have same sound at my fingertips anytime. This is my new use‑on‑everything reverb. ”
– Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead, Charlotte Gainsbourg)
“Some of the best echo chambers in the world are now just a click away. The interface is simple and self explanatory — the sounds are extraordinary.”
– Mark Needham (The Killers, Neon Trees, P!nk)
“With the Capitol Chambers plug-in, UA has created a truly flexible, physical space. Let that sink in for a second…”
– John Paterno (Robbie Williams, Badly Drawn Boy, Bonnie Raitt)
“The UAD Capitol Chambers plug-in is amazing. It has so much depth, character, and authenticity. It sounds just like you're there.”
– Chris Dugan (Green Day, Iggy Pop, U2)
“The UAD Capitol Chambers plug-in is meticulously crafted, complete with various mics and mic placements. It’s a remarkable piece of the past — accurate and powerfully versatile.”
– Richard Chycki (Rush, Aerosmith, Dream Theater)Customer Reviews
H. Fivelsdal
January 25, 2023
You Need This!
Great for vocals. I love the Al Schmitt preset.
Read MoreN. Coelho
January 19, 2023
Excelente plugin
Adoro este plugin em Voz e Violão. Faz uma grande diferença. Pena a quatidade de DSP que utiliza.
Read MoreT. Hugh
January 16, 2023
DSP Killer
This plugin is great, that I must say. But you'll use of most of your DSP when its engaged. FYI
Read MoreE. Morgan
January 16, 2023
Super flexible with a lot of character.
THIS is currently my favorite reverb. Adds a lot of depth and space whilst still being subtle. Doesn't get in the way or clutter the mix. I have it on a lead vocal in a song and it...
Read More -
Key Features
Exclusive echo chamber emulation licensed and endorsed by Capitol Studios
The world's best-sounding and most in-demand echo chambers, designed by Les Paul
Gorgeously natural, uniquely dense chamber ambience, for reverb buses or individual sources
Choose from Capitol’s most popular chambers (2,4,6,7) with varying mic/speaker configurations representing modern to historical setups
Captures amplifier, speaker, custom preamp, and microphone chain for unprecedented realism
Fine tune ideal placement with continuously adjustable microphone positioning using UA's Dynamic Room Modeling
Other features include adjustable Decay, Pre Delay, sweepable cut filter, three-band EQ, Dry/Wet mix, and Width
Artist presets from Grammy-winning engineers Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Steely Dan), Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead), Frank Filipetti (Madonna, Paul McCartney), and more
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Customer Reviews
Capitol Chambers
s. H
continuous issues
Terrible consistancy with this plug in. And UA definitely know about it. My DSP is on 41% on 8 a core and it is disabling this plug in in particular and hitsville chambers upon loading sessions. Even when I reload it does exactly the same thing. Thousands of dollars spent to run this software that works 15% of the time. Won't even let me take it off and then remount the plug in most of the time just so I can have a user preset saved for every session. Absolute joke. NOT USER ERROR. An obvious bug in the plug in. they won't fix it so not sure why I'm wasting my time with this.
H. Fivelsdal
You Need This!
Great for vocals. I love the Al Schmitt preset.
M. Ferreira
Great Reverb!
Amazing reverb, but it takes alot of DSP.
N. Coelho
Excelente plugin
Adoro este plugin em Voz e Violão. Faz uma grande diferença. Pena a quatidade de DSP que utiliza.
A. Neto
Amazing Plugin
Amazing for vocals, and acoustic instrument.
T. Hugh
DSP Killer
This plugin is great, that I must say. But you'll use of most of your DSP when its engaged. FYI
E. Morgan
Super flexible with a lot of character.
THIS is currently my favorite reverb.
Adds a lot of depth and space whilst still being subtle.
Doesn't get in the way or clutter the mix.
I have it on a lead vocal in a song and it adds just the right amount of dimension and character.
Each chamber has its own thing going on and the ability to swap and move mics around is brilliant.
Highly recommended.E. Morgan
Super flexible with a lot of character.
THIS is currently my favorite reverb.
Adds a lot of depth and space whilst still being subtle.
Doesn't get in the way or clutter the mix.
I have it on a lead vocal in a song and it adds just the right amount of dimension and character.
Each chamber has its own thing going on and the ability to swap and move mics around is brilliant.
Highly recommended.A. Yaskevich
This is my main reverb for any genre
I love this reverb for its flexibility and natural sound. This is a very lively reverb.
(It uses a lot of DSP resources, keep that in mind)F. García
Great reverb for guitars too!!
When I record ambient guitars I use Capitol Chambers Reverb a lot. I get wonderful, lush and depth guitar tracks. Totally immersive experience
k. kostoglou
Amazing reverb!!
Must-have!!
b. fundu
Avis sur le capitalol reverb
Vraiment super pour mes prises d instruments micro ou guitare et pour mes mixages
J. Anderson
Capitol Chambers- A Big Winner!
Fantastic plug in. Lives up to everything I thought it should be.
Much more versatile than just an excellent retro reverb for vocals.
Thank you UAD, for developing such high quality audio for us to use.F. Mandaza
Great Plugin
Love it on the vocals really makes a great difference.
D. Baker
This Chamber is my go-to
The sound of this this chamber is amazing I find that I am able to use it in some very creative ways when combined with the EMT 140 plate.
I. Townsend
Capitol Echo Chamber
Capitol Echo Chamber gives a very lush open feel in your mix, I’m really excited about this plugin. Although I must say a little bit goes a long ways, but adds spice to dry mix.
C. Newey
It's OK but not great
This came short of my expectations but it's still a usable plugin
M. Glover
Wow!
Just amazing. Perfect on almost any material. I like the “Beach Boys” preset!
L. Spilger
Amazing but very CPU hungry
I love it on my vocals, but would really prefer to run it natively with spark as it is pretty CPU heavy.
A. Petrou
Classic space
Capitol Chambers is a beautiful reverb for creating that classy sound of 50’s and 60’s crooner ballads. It has a lush and rich decay which envelopes the sound in 3 dimensional space. I love the flexibility with the mic options and the distance slider to get things sitting exactly where you want them. A classic!
