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.Now You Can:
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
A. Jannotti
January 19, 2021
Stunning musical ambience-
It sounds beautiful -the lines between 1 & 0's and reality are disappearing!!
Read MoreD. DiPietro
January 16, 2021
Becoming the "go to" verb
Nothing to add to what all the other 5 star reviews have already said. Great verb and surprisingly versatile. Verb's are like compressors- you can never have enough....
Read MoreM. Galavan
January 15, 2021
Capital Chambers plugin
I find Capital Chambers to add nice classy depth and sparkle as opposed to my other plugin reverbs. I personally think this would be especially useful when doing slow vocal ballads. I run...
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
A. Jannotti
Stunning musical ambience-
It sounds beautiful -the lines between 1 & 0's and reality are disappearing!!
D. Perini
Capitol Rev
Capitol è fantastico!!!
M. Rahali
excellent!
indispensable!
D. DiPietro
Becoming the "go to" verb
Nothing to add to what all the other 5 star reviews have already said. Great verb and surprisingly versatile.
Verb's are like compressors- you can never have enough.M. Galavan
Capital Chambers plugin
I find Capital Chambers to add nice classy depth and sparkle as opposed to my other plugin reverbs. I personally think this would be especially useful when doing slow vocal ballads. I run it by duplicating the original vocal track and mixing it in around 30% of the mix.
L. Martella
Excellent
Excellent!
Like most UA Plug-ins. Fabulous!T. Campbell
Catch up to Apple M1
NOTHING works... because I have a new Mac Mini with the Apple M1. You guys need to hurry up and make this compatible. I have $2000 worth of UA stuff sitting here that doesn't work.
S. Pasic
Magic
One Capitol fits all!
C. Prey
Worth every penny
Along with the Ocean Way, the Capitol Chambers became my new go to reverb plugin in almost every project. I'm using it not only for music mixes, as it works equally well for sound design and post production. Very natural and authentic sounding, molding tracks together...love it.
C. Jaeggi
Another hit for UAD
It has that sound, it's magic for sure : )
B. Spence
Smooth Verb
Got to be the best reverb out there. Love it for Acoustic guitars and vocals.
A. Friedrichs-Behning
Einzigartig durch alle Räume
Die unfassbar gute Soundqualität gepaart mit einer einfachen/nachvollziehbaren Bedienbarkeit sind absolut überzeugend!
A. Friedrichs-Behning
Einzigartig durch alle Räume
Die unfassbar gute Soundqualität gepaart mit einer einfachen/nachvollziehbaren Bedienbarkeit sind absolut überzeugend!
K. Kofron
My new go to reverb
I love this plug-in. It sounds amazing.
A. Paclin
Amazing! 10/10
Lush sound, I like it.
UAD User
Una joya para tus producciones
Una emulación Extraordinaria (que la corroboran hasta los propios ing. de Capitol) con un color orgánico y una densidad natural de impresionante calidad. Funciona espectacular para casi todo, muy especialmente en voces y guitarras. Absolutamente recomendado. No te pierdas mi review https://youtu.be/aE_EN0ltnog
M. Wainwright
Rich
Beautiful and slick! My fav reverb
b. zucchetti
Excellent ! Must Have !
A great big portable studio in my Mac !
By the time and waiting the right promotion i will buy everythink of UAudio!K. Maldonado
El mejor Plugin de reverb
El procesamiento es realmente impresionante.
S. Lord
Most organic and natural reverb tones
This is one of the most authentic sounding chamber plug I've yet to experiment with. I've been running my mixes through it to really bring out some room tones. My only qualm is, until I purchase an accelerator, it's suck up a ton of DSP (if using post recording). Alas, small price to pay for access to some really great sounds.
