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, Kanye West, Kid Cudi)
“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
K. Willoughby
September 8, 2022
Next level for mastering live board mixes.
The sound of this plugin is fantastic. It gives everything a buttery sweetness and bakes it into the cobbler of your dreams. Live soundboard mixes really benefit when combined with a...
Read MoreD. Fassnacht
August 19, 2022
Yaaaas!
This thing is awesome. My favorite so far. Add it to your master, synths whatever to warm things up. Solid!
Read MoreB. Bachhuber
August 15, 2022
Fantastic
Now I know, why everybody is happy with it. Now I´m too.
Read MoreD. White
July 29, 2022
Mix bus
This is a great plug in for your mix bus, haven’t found a mix it hasn’t worked on
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
L. Motta
Sounds Great!
easy to use
K. Willoughby
Next level for mastering live board mixes.
The sound of this plugin is fantastic. It gives everything a buttery sweetness and bakes it into the cobbler of your dreams. Live soundboard mixes really benefit when combined with a great mastering compressor like the Shadow Hills plugin. Very pleased!
S. Persson
Good.
I demoed this Ampex ATR-102 and it sounded awesome for what I was working on at the moment, so I bought it straight away. But after spending all that money it didn’t sound that great anymore. And I all ready had a good tape plugin, but I went greedy and wanted better. If you have the money to spend it is definitely worth the bucks, but I don’t make money off of my music, I just do it for fun so I should have settled with what I had. Or bought the cheaper one, Oxide Tape.
D. Fassnacht
Yaaaas!
This thing is awesome. My favorite so far. Add it to your master, synths whatever to warm things up. Solid!
B. Bachhuber
Fantastic
Now I know, why everybody is happy with it. Now I´m too.
D. White
Mix bus
This is a great plug in for your mix bus, haven’t found a mix it hasn’t worked on
M. Noble
The Best
This is the best tape plugin out there period.
B. Eun
great sound
atr-2 is cool
M. Bernabel
Believe the Hype!
If you want that polished record sound this is that..and more. Just make sure you know what you are doing and read up on the manual, such a great piece of hardware.
S. Badawi
Fantastic tape plugin
Very good I’m happy
K. Fields
Tighter Than A Shoe 2 Sizes Small
This is the plugin I had been missing! This baby gorilla glued my mix and brought everything out and helped give me the sound I had been looking for.
A. Smith
Fantastic tape plugin
Great for adding that final touch to your mixes and makes your final mix sound very professional. Would recommend!
h. kim
oh my god
very good... i'm happy
J. Maasakkers
Ampex ATR-102
Sound great on my Drums Mix Bus and Master bus.
Love the glue it gives to drums and Master.
A Must have !!V. Ruzicic
Real Reel!!!
This plugin adds excellent warmth and saturation at the same time...better overall sound for all my stereo auxes...
A. Portillo
This tape is my most have in my master bus
I love what it does to my master. It adds warmth and width to my master in a subtle, yet powerful and noticeable way. You can’t go wrong with it or most of UAD simulations. This in particular I cannot live without. Though I wish they were cheaper. I bought this on sale.
R. Visbal
Never Mix without it!!!
I was waiting for a long time to purchase this plugin and the Lord of Music finally answered my prayers… AMEN! It gives me that warm tape sound on my mixes and the tape delay is just incredible! A MUST HAVE!
B. Sanchez
Master goodness
Need some analog warmth? Well here it is with this plugin you'll feel your master come to life and it has a great range of control options unlike Oxide tape. Paralleling oxide,j37,Kramer tape for individual tracks and using the ampex on master and getting excellent results.
A. Gray
Analogue warmth
Great on master out as part of your final chain
A. Spencer
Mojo
It's hard to describe the effect this has on the final sound, it can range from subtle enhancement to overt effecting of the final sound .Either way it's a great quality plugin
