UAD Sound City Studios Plug‑In
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Get the authentic sound of the world's most famous rock & roll studio.
Produce music in one of the most famous recording studios in history — including the room, mics, iconic console, and outboard gear — as heard on classic records from Nirvana, Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Rage Against the Machine, and more.*
Add the vibe and character of this legendary space to your drums, guitars, vocals, synths and more — right in your own bedroom or home studio.Included Version
UAD Native
Runs on your Mac or PC without UA hardware.UAD Native plug-ins run on both macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and Windows 10 and 11. Go to our UA Support page for system requirements.
- Place your drums, guitars, vocals, and more inside Sound City Studios' famous Studio A
- Transform your sources with a collection of vintage hit-making mics
- Sculpt perfect guitar tones with expertly placed cabinet and mic setups
- Get the authentic tone of an iconic '70s custom British console, including 3-band EQ and inline compression, based on the legendary Sound City Studios' desk
- Smash your tracks with Sound City Studios' collection of analog outboard gear including "secret weapon" Dolby A-style effects**, 1176 limiting, and more
- Put your sources in Sound City Studios' lush-sounding reverb chamber
TAKE A LISTEN
Immerse Yourself in a Historic Room
Sound City Studios' famous Studio A is the birthplace of hundreds of hit records. Voiced with original multitrack recordings cut at Sound City Studios, we expertly captured the distinct "warts and all" character — with historical setup guidance from engineers who used it everyday — so you can easily put your productions in the same space where magic was made.
Easily Find Your Sweet Spot
Simply choose your source — vocals, drums, guitar, ensembles, or piano — and get proven room and mic setups, from the big reflective sound used on Nirvana's Nevermind to Tom Petty's intimate "wood" corner.* You can even re-mic your guitars with a selection of perfectly placed cabinets and room mics.
Reposition Vintage Mics with Dynamic Room Modeling
Go far beyond historic setups and customize your space by moving a stunning collection of classic condenser and ribbon mics from AKG, Neumann, and RCA — in realtime for authentic room sounds beyond the original chart-topping positions.**
Explore a Legendary Custom British Console
The centerpiece of Studio A since the early '70s, Sound City Studios' custom-made console artfully colored everything that ran through it. Now you can get the same satisfying analog character and tone with perfect emulations of a vintage British 3-band EQ and bus compressor on all your sources.
Crush, Gate, or Add "Air" with Secret Weapon Compression
Along with the legendary limiting of the iconic Rev E 1176 compressor, Sound City Studios gives you the first-ever emulation of the Dolby A301** noise reduction system — a multiband EQ/limiter used and abused by Sound City Studios' engineers — so you can get the same glossy-to-hyped background vocals and explosive drum sounds heard on decades of hit records.
Add Chart-Topping Ambience with Iconic Reverb Chamber
Put the finishing touch on your tracks with the same natural, open-sounding reverb used by Queens of the Stone Age, Phoebe Bridgers, Death Cab for Cutie, and more. Plus, you can season your ambient space using perfectly placed pairs of dynamic, small-diaphragm condenser, and ribbon mics.*
*Use of artist names does not constitute official endorsement of Sound City Studios software.
**All trademarks are property of their respective owners and used only to represent the effects modeled as part of Sound City Studio software.
Disclaimer: The famous Sound City Studios is located in Van Nuys, California where it was originally founded. Sound City Studios has no affiliation with Sound City Amplifiers of New Jersey. For information on Sound City Amplifiers visit their website at soundcityamp.com
UAD Sound City Studios Tour
Learn how to add classic drum ambience, re‑amp guitar tones, and craft unique airy background vocals using the UAD Sound City Studios plug-in.
“The UAD Sound City Studios plug‑in sounds amazing, letting you put your performances into one of the greatest sounding studios of all time!”
– Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters)
“The UAD Sound City Studios plug‑in sounds just the way I remember that room – and heck, I even own one of Sound City’s original AKG C24 microphones from the good old days.”
– Sylvia Massy (Tool, Johnny Cash, System of a Down)
“There’s an explosive magic to Sound City's live room that‘s electrified so many seminal records. UA not only captured the sound of that room, but has gone to great lengths to model the outboard gear that’s integral to those recordings.”
– Billy Bush (Garbage, Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney)
“The UAD Sound City Studios plug‑in can put any sound into the legendary studio's live room. The ability to change the mics and their positions is fantastic, you can really dial the room sound.”
– Richard Rainey (U2, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison)
“I’m doing percussion overdubs in hotel rooms on tour, and Sound City Studios makes everything sound finished. It’s nuts.”
– Joey Waronker (Atoms for Peace, Beck, Other Lives)
“Some of my favorite albums were recorded at Sound City, so it’s amazing to have such a faithful reproduction at my fingertips.”
– Jeff Balding (Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Florida Georgia Line)
“The Sound City Studios plug‑in adds life and vibe to dry drum tracks with its great mic configurations. And the console section sounds fantastic!”
– Mark Needham (The Killers, Neon Trees, P!nk)
“The UAD Sound City Studios plug‑in is more than just a room emulation – it’s a toolkit that can take your tracks to a whole new level of sonic Nirvana!”
– Adam Whittaker (The Damned, The Saw Doctors, Evergreen)
“UAD Sound City Studios is the perfect acoustic "space" plug-in, and its compression, reverb chamber, and EQ sections make it all-encompassing for re-amping.”
– Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes, U2, Jason Mraz, Morrissey)Customer Reviews
B. Thomas
November 28, 2023
I really love It
It sounds so amazing especially with some of the presets on their own. I hope you come out with some real time apollo versions of some of these things because that's why I bought my Apollo...
Read MoreA. Norris
November 27, 2023
Virtual Room Mic's - Nailed
I've owned the Ocean Way Studios plug-in for years and it has certainly been an incredible tool for sessions I inherit without good room mic's for drum...
Read Morer. walburn
November 27, 2023
not getting it
first of all,i am 100% a fan of UA ,and possibly do not understand the benefit of turning on the full plugin, which involves turning on the mic setup,and dealing with a boxy...
Read MoreM. Schisler
November 26, 2023
Great sounding rooms
I'm a big fan of virtual rooms in general in how they can make a dry recording sound like it was recorded in an actual room. And imo, these are among the best sounding virtual rooms out...
Read MoreP. Vesic
November 25, 2023
More plugin like this
I like it, better than all the plugin I have who do the same (like Fame reverb etc...) more complete... Ocean Way in Native will be great with the same option (EQ,...
Read MoreP. Vesic
November 25, 2023
More plugin like this
I like it, better than all the plugin I have who do the same (like Fame reverb etc...) more complete... Ocean Way in Native will be great with the same option (EQ,...
Read More -
Key Benefits
Place your drums, guitars, vocals, and more inside Sound City Studios' famous Studio A
Transform your sources with a collection of vintage, hit-making mics
Sculpt perfect guitar tones with expertly placed cabinet and mic setups
Get the authentic tone of an iconic '70s custom British console, including 3-band EQ and inline compression, based on the legendary Sound City Studios' desk
Smash your tracks with Sound City Studios' collection of analog outboard gear including "secret weapon" Dolby A-style effects**, 1176 limiting, and more
Put your sources in Sound City Studios' lush-sounding reverb chamber
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Customer Reviews
UAD Sound City Studios Plug-In
R. Burg
Satellite, headlines read. For you, I have no need.
I guess I should have bothered to check the details, but it never even crossed my mind that this would be NATIVE ONLY. EVERY SINGLE PLUGIN I have from UA is DSP and SOME are now native. Let's not become Waves and leave no reason to ever pay more than $20-$30 for a plug-in. It sure would be nice to be able to offload a few instances to the Apollo or Satellite.
A. Nine Music project
Cpu usage ....
Make this plug useless. 2 or 3 instances kill your daw for real
N. Rightnour
Sounds great, but CPU use is insane
For anyone wondering why it isn't supported on UAD-2 cards, it's because the cards can't run the plugin — it would probably use up an entire Quad or more. This is just the reverb module, with the extra effects turned off.
B. Thomas
I really love It
It sounds so amazing especially with some of the presets on their own. I hope you come out with some real time apollo versions of some of these things because that's why I bought my Apollo X8P. But other than that, it's definitely worth it. And for other readers reading this, always remember to be patient. UAD puts in a lot of work into what they do and they try their best to satisfy all of us. Thank You UAD
A. Norris
Virtual Room Mic's - Nailed
I've owned the Ocean Way Studios plug-in for years and it has certainly been an incredible tool for sessions I inherit without good room mic's for drum recording. To have yet another space available with the Sound City emulation is fantastic. Whilst I'm not about to state that a lack of room mic's is no longer an issue, both of these tools provide an excellent solution when drums and other instruments require an ambient addition to close mic' configurations.
r. walburn
not getting it
first of all,i am 100% a fan of UA ,and possibly do not understand the benefit of turning on the full plugin, which involves turning on the mic setup,and dealing with a boxy overbearing room sound. using it in its simplest form, added detail that was extremely desirable, but beyond that,im guessing I missed the point.i have strived for the cleanest pure sound, and UA has allowed that to happen,thru luna,and magnificent plugins. 100% fan. using this plugin turned up slightly without the microphones on vocal's worth what I paid for it, except it forces me to upgrade my 2015 Mac,because this thing loves eating cpu.5 stars for the small part I use.
M. Schisler
Great sounding rooms
I'm a big fan of virtual rooms in general in how they can make a dry recording sound like it was recorded in an actual room. And imo, these are among the best sounding virtual rooms out there. Of course they all have their own flavor and these get a lot of use. These also have excellent flexibility with the full chain and reverb only modes.
M. Orr
Why did I spend all this money on my UA interface and purchased plugins?
First things first. If Dave Grohl took the console out of Sound City, how am I able to use Sound City’s console? Did that emulation work happen in a different location?
With native only support. UA is alienating its best customers, apparently for the sole purpose of being able to tap into the subscription as a service model. I am starting to wonder if my $5k+ investment in UA was a wise move. Three stars until ARM compatibility.P. Vesic
More plugin like this
I like it, better than all the plugin I have who do the same (like Fame reverb etc...) more complete...
Ocean Way in Native will be great with the same option (EQ, dynamics, Chamber etc...)
And my dream is the possibility to select the console: SSL, Neve, API for example
Really great work here so thank you so much UAD for this plugin and for the fantastic black Friday (2 plugin for 99 USD)
UAD is definitely the best for meP. Vesic
More plugin like this
I like it, better than all the plugin I have who do the same (like Fame reverb etc...) more complete...
Ocean Way in Native will be great with the same option (EQ, dynamics, Chamber etc...)
And my dream is the possibility to select the console: SSL, Neve, API for example
Really great work here so thank you so much UAD for this plugin and for the fantastic black Friday (2 plugin for 99 USD)
UAD is definitely the best for meC. Jaeggi
Look The Other Way!
This is mine, you can't have one, I own the Ocean Way Sturio too. I want all the things! LOL
S. Waterman
Native only … no ARM!
Just mentioning for all users who are working with the Ocean Way Plugin and are maybe looking for some extra rooms.
I was very disappointed to realize that this so far really interesting Plugin is not able to run in ARM - Mode or as a recording effect. Why? This possibilities are the reason we love the UA ecosytem, right?
I was very pleased when UA started Spark and made many of the plugins available for using with other DAWs, but with „Only Native“ it’s going the complete wrong way!D. Calvin
Awesome, but!
I would, sound wise, give 5 stars, It’s an awesome plugin, the Sound of it is amazing and I love all of the functions, but!
The CPU Usage/performance must be updated,
I understand it’s the first official version, so I’ll guess there will be an update at some point.
It would have been awesome if the initial version had a better performance. Less CPU usage. It’s really heavy on the CPU.
Anyway, it’s an awesome plugin, I’m looking forward to a performance update!
Good JobK. Criado
Awesome sound. Not so awesome power requirements
Using this in my 2016 MacBook Pro...yes it's a little outdated, but I should be able to use the plugin on at least 2 tracks at the same time without maxing out my CPU. UAD, this is an amazing plugin, but I feel like it's almost reserved for the users with high end computers. Please fix this in some way to make it easier on the CPU so we can use it reasonably!
C. Göke
Roomy
I am a big fan of room sounds. Sold my Apollo Sound Cards few months ago. The Ocean Way Studio Plugin was my favorite and i still miss it. Until today! The Sound City is not the same like Ocean Way, but i love it. Very versatile and sounds awesome. Thank to the Spark Subscription i can use this plugin and with my Audient Interface. Well done Universal Audio
D. Lawrence
Definitive 5 stars
I don’t see how it’s possible to give this plugin anything less than 5 stars. Never before have I gotten results like this from a reverb plugin. The possibilities are endless with one room and a chamber.
K. Wondollek
Native only… seriously?
Great plug-in, but runs native only and needs a huge amount of computing power. Using it even in a small project, I had to freeze all my midi tracks to be able to run a second entity! Considering that I am using the latest IBM iMac with the highest set up possible and with optimised audio performance (ASIO-guard), that’s ridiculous. But what annoys me most is, that I can’t even use my expensive powerful 22-kernel UAD HW! If I would have noticed that before buying, I certainly wouldn’t have bought it.
D. Pejakovic
great plug
phenomenal!
M. McGraw
Sick
Wicked Nasty
W. Shanks
Sound City Studio for all of us
Founded in 1969 by Tom Skeeter and Joe Gottfried, Sound City Studios was built in a former Vox amplifier production warehouse in Van Nuys, California. Sound City Studios soon became an indispensably musical space in shaping some of the most beloved and influential records ever made, best known for rock. As the focus of Dave Grohl's film documentary Sound City Studios, the studio has lent its sonic fingerprint to records for over 50 years. From the seminal ‘70s sounds of Fleetwood Mac’s eponymous album, to ‘80s hits by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, to one of the most heralded albums of all time, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Sound City Studios' unique sound still sets the foundation for truly great recordings. Thank you to Sandy Skeeter, who agreed to let UA through Sound City Studios' doors to benefit all of the creatives of the world with this wonderful tool.
