"This is really a 'what if we just...' type of plugin": Universal Audio's new plugin packs three legendary bits of analogue gear into a single channel strip

Universal Audio has announced the release of a new plugin. The LA-6176 Signature Channel Strip brings together emulations of three of its most highly-regarded pieces of analogue gear in a single plugin: the 610 tube preamp, 1176 FET compressor and LA-2A tube compressor.

UA's 6176 channel strip is a hardware unit released in 2004 that combined the 610 Modular Amplifier preamp, introduced in the '60s and used on records from The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, with the classic 1176LN compressor. The company set out to recreate the 6176 in software for its 20th anniversary, but soon saw the potential to augment it with an LA-2A compressor.

"Our team couldn't help but add in the LA-2A circuitry that we couldn't actually fit into our 2U channel strip in the physical world"

“This is really a 'what if we just…' type of plug-in," says Universal Audio CEO Bill Putnam Jr. "It started out as a 100-percent faithful emulation of our original 6176 Channel Strip in celebration of it's 20th anniversary. But our team couldn't help but add in the LA-2A circuitry that we couldn't actually fit into our 2U channel strip in the physical world."

UA says the LA-6176 lets you flip with ease between the 1176's punchier, FET-based style of compression and the LA-2A's smoother and more gentle sound, all the while benefitting from the 610 preamp's characterful harmonics and overdrive. The plugin models the contemporary 610-B circuit, which offers more advanced EQ controls than the original. 

The LA-6176 is available in both UAD Native and UAD-2 formats, so you won't need any UA hardware to run it. If you do own an Apollo interface, however, you'll be able to make use of UA's Unison modelling technology to model the 610's unique characteristics right at the input stage, recreating the mic input impedance, gain staging and circuit behaviour of the original hardware through your interface. 

The LA-6176 Signature Channel Strip is priced at $299, but is available now for $99 until June 30 as part of UA's half-yearly sale. 

Find out more on Universal Audio's website.

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Watch our video guide to the LA-2A compressor below.