UAD Sound City Studios
The deal
$39 at Plugin Boutique (down from $249). Deal ends April 30, 2026.
What it is
UAD Sound City Studios is a room emulation and channel strip plugin recreating Studio A at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, Los Angeles - a room credited on records by Nirvana, Tom Petty, Elton John, U2, Fleetwood Mac, and Tool. The core is a two-part signal chain: a custom British console emulation (3-band EQ and in-line compressor) paired with a dynamic room model built from original multitrack recordings made at the studio. It also includes the world's first plugin emulation of the Dolby A301 Noise Reduction System, a unit that gave many classic records their particular noise floor character.
Key features
- The room model covers multiple source types - vocals, drums, guitars, piano, and ensembles - each with historically documented mic and room setups
- Vintage ribbon and condenser mics from AKG, Neumann, and RCA can be repositioned in real time using dynamic room modeling
- A separate echo chamber from the original facility is included
- The British console section provides the same in-line compression and shelving EQ that shaped the studio's output across decades
Who it's for
Producers and engineers who want to place tracks inside a specific, well-documented studio space rather than a generic reverb. Particularly useful for rock, alternative, and roots recordings where the Sound City aesthetic is a reference point.
