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
D. George
September 4, 2023
Exquisite. Expressive. Exceptional.
Look no further: This Is It.
Read MoreJ. Ross
July 24, 2023
Lush. Vibrant. Eternal.
Maybe it’s my imagination but I do feel like I’m forty feet beneath the Capitol Tower in Hollywood and the voice of Frank...
Read MoreJ. Ross
July 24, 2023
Lush. Vibrant. Eternal.
Maybe it’s my imagination but I do feel like I’m forty feet beneath the Capitol Tower in Hollywood and the voice of Frank...
Read MoreJ. Mateo
June 28, 2023
smooth
This is such a smooth rich sounding reverb. I love plate reverbs and found this to be the perfect partner to my go to plate reverb. you can't go wrong with this...
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
D. George
Exquisite. Expressive. Exceptional.
Look no further: This Is It.
D. Siemssen
Perfect.
Just perfect.
J. Ross
Lush. Vibrant. Eternal.
Maybe it’s my imagination but I do feel like I’m forty feet beneath the Capitol Tower in Hollywood and the voice of Frank Sinatra is reverberating in my headphones. This is a near-magical plug-in. Soulful. Highly recommended.
J. Ross
Lush. Vibrant. Eternal.
Maybe it’s my imagination but I do feel like I’m forty feet beneath the Capitol Tower in Hollywood and the voice of Frank Sinatra is reverberating in my headphones. This is a near-magical plug-in. Soulful. Highly recommended.
A. Sanchez
Clean and big sounding
Clean and big sounding
J. Mateo
smooth
This is such a smooth rich sounding reverb. I love plate reverbs and found this to be the perfect partner to my go to plate reverb. you can't go wrong with this
A. Lee
The Best so far
I resisting wanting to love this as I have the Lexicon 480L, Ocean Way, Hiitsville chambers, EMT 140, & Lexicon 224 - surely that's enough! But once I'd tested Capitol chambers, there was no going back. Of course, different reverbs for different sources and circumstances BUT this is the most expensive sounding of all.
G. Funes
A dream come true
The sound of this plugin is really amazing, with a very friendly interface, easy to get to "that" Capitol sound. The Capitol studio reverb chambers is one of the most distinctive reverbs in the world and this plugin recreates it perfectly.
A. Toit
Uses to much DSP
Cant use with UA Arrow. Useless plugin.
R. Evans
Sounds expensive
Great reverb, on any source or on the whole mix. Makes everything sound expensive even though you recorded it all with a sm57.
R. Evans
Sounds expensive
Great reverb, on any source or on the whole mix. Makes everything sound expensive even though you recorded it all with a sm57.
T. Martens
Best natural Room plug-in I own!
This plugin is my new go-to room fx. I prefer to start with the Genewick piano room preset, before I start sculpting the sound. Very nice to have in my FX-toolbox!
D. Dionne
A definite must
Capitol Chambers Reverb brings life and space to your mix. Its multiple classic mics combinations and room settings are truly impressive.
A. Lind
Just right and got deal!
So I got this on sale at 174 PLUS a 50 coupon so for that price I couldn't resist. I immediately put it on a snare and it was beautiful! I've been in the UAD eco system for sometime now and have 12 UAD cores. Since use a mix of plugins incl ST console one which I love and other brands mixed with UAD so I rarely max out the UAD stuff anymore on a 7 yr old 4 core i7 so. UAD CPU isn't an issue for me really. I love this thing
Y. Lee
성능과 DSP사용량이 비례한다
너무나 자연스럽고 아름다운 리버브사운드를 내주지만 DSP사용량도 그만큼 사악하다. 하지만 어쿠스틱 사운드의 보컬에는 이만큼 좋은 리버브가 없다. 지금도 내 최애 리버브 중 하나.
M. PARENT
Wow..
Great chamber room plugin. I love it very much!
M. Racanelli
Best Reverb
Uses higher DSP but the effect this has on tracks is fantastic. IMO best reverb available.
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.
