Ultramarine includes 5 plugins that recreate the sound of truly legendary studio equipment of the 1950-60s. These models are so rare and expensive that even modern reissues are expensive. Our suite of plugins includes everything you need to give your productions the timeless sound of a great classic through careful sampling of the original hardware.
A70 Mid-Side/Stereo Compressor
This compressor is based on perhaps the most legendary of all dynamics processors. Called “the universally accepted level control standard” in the 1950s, it remains one of the most revered studio processors ever invented. Used in mastering studios and broadcast installations alike, the original units sell on the used market for prices starting at $20,000. The sound of
this impressive unit is defined by its short attack time and long release time, which helps keep transients under control. and at the same time give a sound “massage” to the body of the track. But with only about 1,000 units ever built and sold, finding one in perfect working condition is becoming increasingly difficult.
Over the years, many clones and emulations have been created – both hardware and software – in an attempt to capture the unique character of this giant compressor/limiter; however, no digital version could match the elegance of this amazing piece of engineering.
This has been the case until now. To create our plugin, we directly sampled the original hardware block. We are confident that the results speak for themselves.
A-27 – Variable Tube Equalizer
This active equalizer, created in the 1960s, featured unique circuit design and a completely different electronic implementation compared to other classic equalizers of the same era.
Finding the original hardware seemed like an impossible task, but we didn’t lose hope. In the end, we found all the necessary components, one by one, and assembled it ourselves!
As a result, this dedicated equalizer exceeded even our wildest expectations. Amazingly smooth in sound, it is simply beastly and truly unique. The Ultramarine 4 A-27 EQ is unlike any other EQ we’ve tried, and we guarantee you’ll fall in love with it as much as we did.
A-64 American Vintage 2-Band Passive Software EQ
Don’t let its size fool you!
This passive equalizer is taken straight from a model released in the early 1960s and has just 2 equalization bands, a low-pass shelving filter and a high-pass peak-type filter.
While the low-pass filter has a fixed cutoff frequency of 80 Hz, the high-pass filter has 4 peak settings ranging from 4-15 kHz. The original model had 17 dB of input attenuation, so the passive EQ was almost always connected to a preamp or compressor to restore some of the lost level.
It is still considered by many audio professionals to be one of the most musical equalizers ever created. We at Acustic Audio were lucky enough to find the unit in perfect condition and immediately jumped at the opportunity to try it out.
Try it for yourself – we’re sure you’ll agree that the results are amazing.
A-58 Reverb The A
-58 Reverb is a virtual analogue of a high-quality electromechanical reverb, one of the best vintage reverbs ever created by the legendary American manufacturer. This gem is a true collector’s item! It uses 6 electromechanical delay lines, each tuned differently, to produce a natural reverberation effect that is extremely smooth and warm (even on percussive sounds).
All files were taken from the Acustica Audio release from R2R and repackaged as an installer to facilitate installation/removal and save hard drive space.