Thermionic Culture Vulture
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The original boutique, all-valve, studio distortion tool — exclusively for UAD-2 and Apollo.
A singular, enigmatic piece of all-valve boutique hardware, the Thermionic Culture Vulture is a distortion hedonist's malleable plaything. For more than 15 years, this British-made, studio-grade, high-gain valve unit has provided a palette of vivid distortion colors — from sublime thickening textures to demonic growls of perverted mayhem — on countless genre-spanning recordings.
Now — thanks to an intense multi-year engineering effort from Universal Audio — you can track and mix with the only authentic circuit emulation of this one-of-a-kind valve distortion tool with the Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo interfaces.Now You Can:
Get a full palette of high-gain, studio-grade, dual-stage valve distortion
Dial-in rich harmonic content with three diverse valve topologies — including UA’s first ever pentode tube emulation
Record through the Culture Vulture in real time with Apollo Twin, Apollo DUO, Apollo QUAD, or Apollo 16
Subtly color or utterly destroy existing tracks, buses, or a full mix with the Culture Vulture using any UAD-2 hardware
Get the same sound and controls as the legendary analog hardware with added features like parallel Dry/Wet processing
Mix with artist presets from Tony Maserati, Eric "ET" Thorngren, Rik Simpson, Chris Coady, and more
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how to easily create midrange warmth on acoustic guitars as well as destroy live drums with parallel processing using the Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in.
Take a Listen
Dominate your Sources with Three Valve Topologies
The Culture Vulture plug-in for UAD-2 and Apollo interfaces faithfully emulates all of the original hardware’s sonic proclivities and diabolical details, including its three distinct all-valve circuit topologies.
Authentic, All-Valve Circuit
The Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in captures the natural, “in-between-the transients” dynamic bias response inherent in the hardware's valve-driven circuit — as well as its powerful stereo control set.Use the Drive knobs and Overdrive switches to control the amount of input signal hitting the 6AS6 valves — with up to 20 dB of gain on tap! The Bias controls adjust the incoming voltage, providing dramatic differences in response, from clean to distorted, voltage-starved chatter, and gating effects. Use the Filter controls (9 kHz and 6 kHz) to fine-tune your distortion flavors even further.
Expanded Feature Set for Valve-Soaked Mixes
The Culture Vulture plug-in offers two key features not found on the original hardware. Use the Mix control for parallel processing on any bus, adding gentle valve presence, punch, and grit to drums, vocals, or an entire mix. And with the Link function, you’re afforded a perfectly matched stereo image to save time and preserve balances. While the Thermionic Culture Vulture is not a compressor per se, it can act as sonic “glue” on a bus or an entire mix, deftly teasing out tantalizing sizzle and detail with authentic valve heat.
“I use the Thermionic Vulture hardware on almost every mix, so having a UAD software version was a dream come true. I never thought anyone would be able to mimic the sonic variations of the hardware. I'm obsessed.”
– Tony Maserati (Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Jason Mraz)
“I’m a big fan of Thermionic Culture and own many pieces of theirs to help remove the generic digital DAW sound. I’ll now be using the UAD Culture Vulture plug-in to perform the same function. In short, I love it.”
– Rik Simpson (Coldplay, Portishead, Jay Z)
“The UAD Culture Vulture just became my new secret go-to weapon. The first time I used it to beef up the kick and snare on a Hip Hop track, I knew there was no going back.”
– Ivan Barias (Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, Estelle)
“The ‘mighty’ Culture Vulture is one of the best sonic destroyers of all time, and it’s equally useful for bringing life and detail to dull sounds. Now with the UAD plug-in, I can use several instances per song.”
– Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, Future Islands)
“The UAD Culture Vulture can do all the crazy, blown out sh*t as the hardware. In fact, it’s even better at subtle gaining and beefing up, without getting too shredded. It’s a new/old favorite.”
– Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Jónsi)
“I love the UAD Culture Vulture on drums, bass, vocals, and guitars. I also found the presets very useful for hearing the versatility and tones this plug‑in is capable of.”
– Jeff Balding (Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Florida Georgia Line)Customer Reviews
R. Mohammed
October 29, 2019
Hell yes!
I added a sprinkle of this to all my tracks (using the commit function) and it added a nice harmonic edge while preserving the mids and lows. The mix function is great. You can turn up the...
Read Morel. morrish-thomas
October 2, 2019
I bought a satellite just to be able to use this plugin
I was on the fence about buying an outboard culture vulture when a friend told me to test out this plugin at his studio instead, and I instantly bought a satellite just to be able to use...
Read MoreK. Morris
July 10, 2019
Outstanding
Top notch tube plug-in. This thing is on par with the Studer and ATR-102 plugs for character, warmth and saturation when applied with subtlety. Killer distortion for creative voicing (I...
Read MoreL. Romano
June 24, 2019
Buy this thing
This plugin is amazing, even on the mixbus. But please, optimize the amount of dsp that consumes. I need to render a lot my audios.
Read More -
Key Features
Exclusively licensed by Thermionic Culture Ltd., modeled by Universal Audio
Studio-grade, high-gain valve distortion from a subtle warmth to utterly destroyed
Models entire Class A circuit, including the Pentode-driven input amplifier with bias control, plus valve output amplifier
Three modes of operation including Triode and Pentode modes 1 and 2
Overdrive, Output filtering, plus plugin-only Dry/Wet parallel Mix and Controls linking
Requires a UAD DSP Accelerator Card or Apollo Interface available from authorized dealers worldwide
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Customer Reviews
Thermionic Culture Vulture
R. Mohammed
Hell yes!
I added a sprinkle of this to all my tracks (using the commit function) and it added a nice harmonic edge while preserving the mids and lows. The mix function is great. You can turn up the mix to hear the harmonics then dial it back to get just the right amount. Way cool.
l. morrish-thomas
I bought a satellite just to be able to use this plugin
I was on the fence about buying an outboard culture vulture when a friend told me to test out this plugin at his studio instead, and I instantly bought a satellite just to be able to use it. Along with being able to use all the other amazing UAD plugins, the choice was a no brainer
D. Tetmyer
Lovely sound but need retina UI
Lovely sound but need retina UI
C. Wilson
Great
Awesome
K. Morris
Outstanding
Top notch tube plug-in. This thing is on par with the Studer and ATR-102 plugs for character, warmth and saturation when applied with subtlety. Killer distortion for creative voicing (I especially like it on sampled drums). I was skeptical until I used it. It feels indispensable now.
L. Romano
Buy this thing
This plugin is amazing, even on the mixbus. But please, optimize the amount of dsp that consumes. I need to render a lot my audios.
S. Frau
Amazing but...
I love this plugin, really, but the uses of the DSP is insane!!
J. Maasakkers
Good sounding plugin!
I love the sound and it has character.
E. Faulcon
Nothing like the vulture
Simply one of the best uad plugins
E. Faulcon
My second best uad plug
When you put this on 808s and vocals this thing is remarkable
M. Monn
Behaves like the hardware - Superb
Just sounds as perfectly analog as I could wish for.
Love the possibility to make wild stereo tracks out of mono by unlinking L - R, and use different settings / coloring for each channel.
And then squeeze the audio signal until there’s nothing left. Haha!
Perfect for parallel processing
/R. Belew
The Vulture is great
I've used the Culture Vulture on a few bass tracks and it was instant gratification. I haven't had this plug long but I will be trying on other instruments soon and I'm expecting great results.
B. Lewis
Single most valuable plugin I own!
My go to plugin when I want to warm up a track or add some colour! Couldn’t be without it now.
d. favuzza
BOMB!
Definitely one of the best UA plugins.
The warm of the TUBES makes the sounds produced on DAW more "real".
I can use it on all instruments, buses, or masters.
The only "flaw" is the excessive consumption of DSP but it's worth it.E. Ohlson
Wonderful, Stanky Grit
I used this plugin, subtly, as the central meaner between a stereo lead vocal set captured using a Blumlein technique on a post-black-metal project. They way it amalgamated the 2 tracks sounds incredibly gross and gritty but in a way that doesn't make you feel like your brain is being dug out by a hot knife (like a lot of modern metal production values). I'm definitely planning ahead to use this for some coldwave industrial and digidub functions. It's a massive DSP hog, as has been said already - but it's amazing what it can do.
P. Haas
Another gun in the arsenal
There are plenty of distortion (or harmonic) plugins. Each of them has its own specific sound and possibilities. Vulrure is next to them, not better or worse, it's different. From a slight warm up to a thick distortion of your audio tracks. Another weapon in your sound arsenal.
P. Haas
Another gun in the arsenal
There are plenty of distortion (or harmonic) plugins. Each of them has its own specific sound and possibilities. Vulrure is next to them, not better or worse, it's different. From a slight warm up to a thick distortion of your audio tracks. Another weapon in your sound arsenal.
P. Kelly
Great plugin
Works really well as an aux send
P. Kelly
Great plugin
Works really well as an aux send
P. Kelly
Great plugin
Works really well as an aux send
