Century Tube Channel Strip™
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Real time recording inspiration for vocals, guitars, and more.
Capturing “the moment” is crucial — and capturing that inspiration with the right sound is just as important. The new Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in hearkens back to the days before infinite undo and decision-deferral, to a time where making records was an immediate, visceral act of bold creativity.
With an organic tube mic preamp, transparent dynamics control, and intuitively voiced EQ, the Century plug-in is perfect for UA Interface users, allowing you to stay in the creative zone while you record, helping you capture first-take magic, with stunning results.Now You Can:
Enhance and simplify your recording workflow with a first-pass tool designed for tracking vocals, guitars, synths, and more
Stay in the creative zone and confidently print performances with a broad stroke, "do-no-harm," vintage-style tube channel strip
Easily flatter your performances with a vintage-style tube mic preamp, simple three-band EQ, and optical leveler on vocals, guitars, bass, drums, and more
Control UA Audio Interface mic preamp gain staging and impedance directly from the Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in via Unison™ technology
Take A Listen
5-Min UAD Tip
In this 5-Minute UAD Tip, learn how to use the UAD Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in to capture acoustic guitar and vocals with detail and emotion.
The Perfect Tube Mic Pre
The Century Tube Channel Strip's mic preamp will give all of your sources — especially vocals — a burnished tube color with the unmistakable warmth and detail that only a tube mic pre can provide. The stunning range of tones, from subtle to saturated, will coax inspiring performances no matter the genre. Tweak further with the Low/High gain switch to match the Century's Tube Preamp to your microphone, with the Low setting complementing more modern condensers, while the High position excels with dynamic and ribbon microphones.
Unison™ Technology for UA Audio Interfaces
Harnessing UA’s groundbreaking Unison technology, the Century Tube Channel Strip blurs the lines between analog and digital, giving you all of the important impedance, gain staging “sweet spots,” and circuit behaviors of a vintage tube preamp.
The secret is Unison’s bi-directional control and communication from the Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in to the digitally controlled mic preamps in UA Audio Interfaces.
Easy EQ Seasoning
With its intuitive, musically voiced, three-band EQ, the Century Tube Channel Strip is perfect for quickly bringing out the details in a breathy vocal, adding some punch to an overdriven electric guitar, or giving an acoustic rhythm guitar propulsive sizzle and shine.
Optimal Opto Leveler
Featuring a classic autoformer-driven optical leveler, the Century Tube Channel Strip’s dynamics section takes the guesswork out of compression settings with a single knob. You can quickly tame a dynamic vocal or bass performance and lock it into place, and add energy and harmonics to acoustic guitars or piano — all with a twist of a knob. The Century’s leveler can also compress as effect, adding grit and texture to keys and soft synths with character and vibe to spare.
Add Boutique Character and Color to Any Source
Of course, the Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in isn’t just for UA Audio Interface owners. UAD-2 hardware owners can employ the Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in for mixing and tone shaping — without ever leaving the box.
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how to craft unique guitar and bass DI tones using Century Tube Channel Strip plug-in.
“The Century Tube Channel Strip is a simple to use starting point for just about anyone — offering tube sound in a straight forward signal path.”
– John Paterno (Robbie Williams, Badly Drawn Boy, Bonnie Raitt)
“The Century Tube Channel Strip makes it effortless to get awesome, warm, vintage sounds from sterile sounding digital tracks.”
– Ian Boxill (Lenny White, Prince, 2Pac)
“The Century Tube Channel Strip powerfully combines the best of vintage and modern. On vocals and dialog, it imparts forwardness, sheen and body — remarkably simple, but versatile and effective.”
– Richard Chycki (Rush, Aerosmith, Dream Theater)Watch the Reviews
Customer Reviews
A. Eisele
May 20, 2020
Instant Tone
For producers seeking to dial that perfect tone quickly and keep ideas flowing. 610 preamp + 1073 EQ + LA-2A compressor
Read MoreA. Eisele
May 20, 2020
Instant Tone
610 preamp + 1073 EQ + LA-2A compressor For producers seeking to dial that perfect tone and keep ideas flowing.
Read MoreC. NUNEZ
May 17, 2020
Excellent choice
I own already some channel strips from UAD, and this is just one of the best. Underrated I must say. Excellent choice!!
Read MoreJ. Fathali
April 29, 2020
Fantastic Channel Strip
I tried it and realised after a day of A/B testing that its a must have. Works on anything and adds amazing Analog sound to it. Its a high-end Preamp, EQ and Compressor in one. Which is...
Read MoreD. Levy
April 22, 2020
Pure awesomeness
Warm preamp section, smooth and musical EQ and super nice compression. Really loving this thing. Feels and acts like a piece of analog gear.
Read More -
Key Features
Vintage-inspired channel strip made for UA Audio Interface tracking, always easy to dial and musically flattering
Console-inspired tube preamp with bold and musical hardware sound
Three-band EQ with simple high and low shelf tone control and sweepable midrange
Performance-inspiring single knob optical dynamics control with firm yet transparent response
Physical input impedance and front panel control of gain staging and other preamp parameters with Unison Mic Preamp Technology
Requires a UAD DSP Accelerator or UA Audio Interface available from authorized dealers worldwide
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Customer Reviews
Century Tube Channel Strip
A. Eisele
Instant Tone
For producers seeking to dial that perfect tone quickly and keep ideas flowing.
610 preamp + 1073 EQ + LA-2A compressorA. Eisele
Instant Tone
610 preamp + 1073 EQ + LA-2A compressor
For producers seeking to dial that perfect tone and keep ideas flowing.C. NUNEZ
Excellent choice
I own already some channel strips from UAD, and this is just one of the best. Underrated I must say. Excellent choice!!
J. Fathali
Fantastic Channel Strip
I tried it and realised after a day of A/B testing that its a must have. Works on anything and adds amazing Analog sound to it. Its a high-end Preamp, EQ and Compressor in one. Which is what you normally would build up one at a time in the signal chain for achieving a sound. It gives the same quality of sound as three UAD plugins together. So using the Century Tube Channel Strip enables much faster workflow as you can quickly put it on a channel and quickly dial in a sweet spot that inspires you. I highly recommend it!
H. Ataka
The best
My first choice!
D. Levy
Pure awesomeness
Warm preamp section, smooth and musical EQ and super nice compression. Really loving this thing. Feels and acts like a piece of analog gear.
P. Enz
Awesome Gear
It is so easy to use. Great for Guitar especially. Clean but funky!
C. Christopherson
Awesome for Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
Intuitive and very straight forward to find the right sound. The only suggestion is that when using a pre-set, it would be nice to see the one loaded so if you end up changing it, you can easily dial it back in. Other than that, this is my go to pre-amp
P. Jacques
Continued Awesomeness from UAD!
I demoed this for a specific purpose and ended up buying it less than an hour after I opened it as I knew it would be a new "go to" for so many things. I know a boatload of UAD (and other's) channel strips but this is one of the most musical and easiest to use of the group. It is so fast and easy to get a great sound. I will throw one in quickly as I'm tracking just to get some more "vibe" on the track and almost always end up keeping it in the final mix.
G. Geissler
Works great and lots of headroom
This is a nice plugin that I will be using a lot in the future
E. Hahn
A very usable tool
Awesome channel strip! Definitely stands with the best of UA's unison preamps. I've found the pre section to have a great bass response that feels deep and defined without the boom, great for acoustic and vocals but this thing will add depth/presence to all sorts of sources!
l. adams
good stuff
I hav e been a believer in uad products for a long time ,I have yet to be disappointed,i was amazed what happens when its used in unison ,its become my go to plug in. I always refer back to my first purchase an la 610 .... I was so impressed a compressor that worked buttons and knobs that worked it changed and controlled sound...and they still deliver ....its like your first date and you end up marrying .... that sounds a little warped but I'm here till death does us apart I made a mistake not good stuff great stuff
G. Ricci
Dial In Some Sweet Tones
I was looking for a unison plug-in for my apollo twin that covered all the basics and gives me great vocals and acoustic guitar tracks w/o much post production enhancements and this unit fits the bill.. So easy to dial in sweet tones.
P. Retsios
Great for voiceover
I use it like a preamp for voiceover with great results. great plugin!
J. Girard Berthelot
The best all-around preamp
I've bought most of the UA preamp plugins
In my opinion, this one is the best by far
With the High Gain Tube Preamp management, it makes the difference.
EQ / compressor.
I finally found my everyday preamp.
10/10P. FRATTINI
The All-In-One Unison Channel Strip
I was looking for a channel strip so versatile that it could uplift any source. And there it is.
My new go-to tool, made for tracking with the outmost precision and warmth. It keeps the sizzle interesting, adds depth and never is too much.
I love it.
And the best part is really the fact that it wasn’t modelled after a legacy piece of hardware. It’s its own thing. Hence the any-source/any-scenario kind of mood.
It’s straight forward. It’s efficient. Not so hard on your DSP.
Try it, abd you’ll adopt it.M. Sudhakar
UAD Channel Strip
Thanks for this sweet pice of Gear, love the sound of the Tube emulation.
T. Zimmerman
Sleeper Hit
Because this channel strip is not a direct model of a vintage product, it has not gotten the attention it deserves. It is very versatile, is full of character and a breeze to operate. This is one of their best unison preamp / channel strips.
A. Wood
I'm not recording engineer
But I can get some great sounds out of this plugin. I'm also not familiar with the actual Century, but I love the way this plugin handles being overloaded. I've used it to fatten up vocals, add some beef to guitars, and "printed" it directly on vocal tracks via the Unison technology pre. It's super workable. I gave it 4 stars in case I write a review for a plugin that's worth 5.
P. Bonney
Awesome on vocals!
I love this channel strip plugin for vocals! Has everything in it you need, and then some, to print proper to Pro Tools. With this plugin, I've gotten out of the habit of post processing to bring my vocals to life. I've grown confident because of this plugin. With even a modest large condenser your vocals can sound creamy and even to raw and saturated while still maintaining clarity and smoothness. It's a simple layout, and it's easy to dial in just what you need to cut through a mix. Highly recommended.
