UNIVERSAL AUDIO

Universal Audio, pioneers in audio recording for over 50 years

Founded in 1958 by Bill Putnam Sr., Universal Audio has been synonymous with innovative recording products since its inception.

The favorite engineer of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles and many others, the late Bill Putnam Sr. was a passionate innovator who is widely considered the father of modern recording-with many of his legendary studio designs and equipment still in use today. In particular, Putnam was the inventor of the modern recording console, the multi-band audio equalizer and the vocal booth, and was the first engineer to use artificial reverberation in commercial recording.

Together with his friend Les Paul, Putnam was also involved in the early development of stereophonic recording.

Putnam, a natural entrepreneur, started three audio product companies during his long career: Universal Audio, Studio Electronics and UREI.

All three companies built equipment that remains widely used decades after their introduction, including the ubiquitous LA-2A and 1176 compressors and the 610 tube recording console. The 610 console in particular stands out as one of the most beloved designs in audio history, used to record everyone from Sinatra to the Beach Boys to Van Halen's eponymous debut.

Universal Audio was re-founded in 1999

Universal Audio was re-founded in 1999 by Bill's sons, James Putnam and Bill Putnam Jr. with two main goals: to faithfully reproduce classic analog recording equipment in their father's tradition; and to design new digital recording equipment with the sound and spirit of vintage analog technology.

To this end, Universal Audio employs the brightest DSP engineers and digital modeling authorities in order to develop the award-winning UAD Powered plug-in platform.

To make the industry's most faithful analog emulation plug-ins, our DSP gurus work with original hardware manufacturers to give UAD plug-ins warmth and harmonics exactly where they are needed, just as in the analog world.

The award-winning Apollo audio interface represents the best fusion of Universal Audio's analog legacy and today's revolutionary digital designs.

Introduced in 2012, Apollo has become the new world standard for professional music production and has been used to record albums by famous artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, Dr. Dre, Brad Paisley, and many others. With 165 employees and offices in Los Angeles, Colorado, and Amsterdam, Universal Audio is headquartered near Silicon Valley in Scotts Valley, California, where classic analog equipment is still built by hand, one unit at a time. Software or hardware, every Universal Audio product is backed by a decades-long legacy of innovation, superlative quality, and technical passion.