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.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
A. West
August 18, 2022
Insanely Proper Distortion..
This thing can add so much life to drums, Especially a snare that needs to sit well in a depthy mix.. Love It!
Read MoreA. Picciafuochi
July 24, 2022
Magic in 2 steps!
1 - Place Thermionic Culture Vulture on your Bus 2- Adjust the Drive level and the magic is done!
Read MoreI. Papagiannidis
July 18, 2022
One of the best mixing tools!
Amazing tool for mixing very useful for mixing ! Manipulates every source perfectly!
Read MoreR. Chiga
July 14, 2022
Great Box, Great plugin
Very useful. like the real analog box, love it!
Read MoreA. Gray
June 12, 2022
Love it…
Have used this on many things, it can be used gently to subtly introduce harmonic distortion or it can be used like a wrecking ball and twist the daylights out of wherever it’s fed, all...
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
A. West
Insanely Proper Distortion..
This thing can add so much life to drums, Especially a snare that needs to sit well in a depthy mix.. Love It!
A. Picciafuochi
Magic in 2 steps!
1 - Place Thermionic Culture Vulture on your Bus
2- Adjust the Drive level and the magic is done!I. Papagiannidis
One of the best mixing tools!
Amazing tool for mixing very useful for mixing ! Manipulates every source perfectly!
R. Chiga
Great Box, Great plugin
Very useful. like the real analog box, love it!
J. Welsch
Good but causes audio dropouts
sounds great but causes audio dropouts in the whole cubase pj even with low cpu.
l. furnell
Crunchy
Very useful for thickening my vocals
A. Gray
Love it…
Have used this on many things, it can be used gently to subtly introduce harmonic distortion or it can be used like a wrecking ball and twist the daylights out of wherever it’s fed, all while imparting a warmth. Amazing!!
N. Cote
Culture Vulture!!!
Love it! Sounds so good. From subtle saturation to intense breakup. Works great on everything!
L. Zamponi
Thermoionic Culture Vulture
AMAZING!!!!!
K. Beleznay
Fantastic transformation
It works very well on almost anything.
R. West
Culture vulture
Very versatile distortion.
J. Gang
BIG! THICK! WARM!
It's Analog! Great Plug in!
M. Schmidt
Harmonic tube distortion beast with al lot of soul
The Thermionic Culture Vulture Plugin keeps all it's promises and expectations. It is absolutely phantastic. No matter if you apply it on voices or instruments, you can finely adjust any degree of distortion to warm your heart and music! If you haven't done so - try it out - or simply go get it!
I really found myself wandering to the back of my Apollo X8 and even my iMac to check - just to be sure - that there are no hidden tubes :-)! Where did the UA folks hide it :-) - definitely digital MAGIC <3 !!!M. Reeves
Very Versatile Plug-in
Love it. Great distortion for my guitar. And two channels that can be distinct or linked. Great fun to use !
d. belleville
So much more than “distortion” !
I absolutely love this plug in — i use it on vocals and guitar primarily to add color, distinctive bite, or thicken. Works really well with snare in a drum mix to get things just more tidy with no mud. A little can go a long way, so I try not to rush through a pre set, but tinker. Highly recommend!
l. sementilli
…. as big as its analo…..
the volture culture is a well thought out and perfectly crafted plug-in: it exactly re-proposes its analogue predecessor. I use it everywhere. simply fantastic .
s. maitland
Thermionic Culture Vulture
I'm a little up in the air on UAD as I have satellite cards and one is an upset.
However that said I went and purchased the plugin Thermionic Culture Vulture.
When I reviewed this plugin through UTUBE I was floored.
I have distortion type plugins not UAD, purchased but really and truthfully never used! I am talking big names too.
I have a Fender amp that just blows away the usual distortion plugins as well as a very expensive guitar amp a Bruno underground 30 along with much valve gear which includes a Vipre preamp.
So what do I have to say about the UAD Thermionic Culture Vulture ?
You will not find me without it!
It has soul.
I have to give this about UAD and Thermionic Culture they still have golden ears.
And that I think is where I will leave it I have many many of UAD's plugins and they give that special magic.
SteveG. Hall
Awesome for a full bass sound that cuts through the mix!
I purchased this for getting a bit more of an aggressive sound in my bass. Immediately this has become my go to for bass. Even with very low settings this does the magic. Love, love, love it!!
J. Love
Check another box!
This piece of kit does just what is says it will do. Looking to thicken the souce? This should be in the recipe. Great job UAD !
S. Othniel
A F#*king Monster
This plugin does things that no other plugin can do. This is big boy territory.
