Universal Audio Plug-In Lets You Record Like You Are At Capitol Studios
Make music in Hollywood’s most legendary studios.
Universal Audio has introduced Capitol Studios, a native room-modeling and reverb plug-in for macOS and Windows that recreates the recording environments of Capitol Studios A and B.
The software brings the studios’ rooms, microphones, consoles, outboard equipment and underground echo chambers into a DAW-based production environment.
Capitol Studios has been part of recording history since the Capitol Tower opened in Hollywood in 1956. Its Studio A and Studio B have been used for recordings spanning multiple generations and musical styles. The new plug-in is designed to let producers and engineers work with the acoustic characteristics and equipment of these spaces without recording at the physical studios.
One of the central features is Dynamic Room Modeling, which allows users to move virtual microphones around the modeled rooms and hear the acoustic response change in real time. Rather than relying only on a fixed room impulse or reverb setting, the plug-in models how microphone position affects the balance of direct sound, reflections and room ambience.
The software includes a historic microphone collection with setups curated by Capitol Studios engineer Steve Genewick. Microphone options include the U48, C12, U67, M50 and C800G. Users can also work with console EQ and dynamics from both studios, along with modeled outboard equipment including 1176LN limiting, LA-2A leveling and the Capitol Mastering Compressor.
The plug-in also provides access to four of the underground echo chambers beneath Capitol Tower: chambers 1, 3, 5 and 8. Users can adjust pre-delay and stereo width, and can shorten the chambers’ natural decay times. These chambers are available in a plug-in for the first time.
For orchestral and ensemble work, Capitol Studios includes Decca Tree microphone configurations. The three-microphone arrangement can be used with strings, horns and vocal groups, with independent control over the center and side microphones.
Features:
- Native room-modeling and reverb plug-in for macOS and Windows.
- Recreations of Capitol Studios A and B.
- Dynamic Room Modeling with adjustable virtual microphone positions and real-time acoustic response.
- Reverb mode for adding modeled room ambience while retaining the original source sound.
- Re-Mic mode for replacing the original room and microphone sound with the modeled studio environment.
- Historic microphone collection including U48, C12, U67, M50 and C800G models, with setups curated by Steve Genewick.
- Four modeled underground echo chambers: rooms 1, 3, 5 and 8.
- Echo chamber controls for decay time, pre-delay and stereo width.
- Decca Tree ensemble microphone configurations, with independent center and side controls.
- Modeled console EQ and dynamics from Capitol Studios A and B.
- Outboard processing including 1176LN limiting, LA-2A leveling and the Capitol Mastering Compressor.
- Flexible signal-chain ordering for EQ, compression and echo chamber processing.
- Presets developed by Capitol Studios engineers, producers and musicians.
- VST3, Audio Units and AAX plug-in formats.
- Native processing that does not require an Apollo interface or UAD-2 DSP hardware.
Universal Audio Capitol Studios is available now for $249 USD as a perpetual license for macOS and Windows.
