Universal Audio have announced that they are currently offering their vintage-inspired Century Tube Channel Strip as a free download. The plug-in combines preamp, equaliser, compressor and master output modules, and is now one of the company’s many native offerings, meaning that it can be run without the need for any UA hardware. Those who do own an Apollo interface, however, get the additional benefit of the gain staging, impedance matching, circuit behaviour alterations and bi-directional control offered by the company’s Unison technology.
The plug-in aims to deliver a warm, detailed vintage sound character, with its modelled valve preamp stage ranging from subtle colouration to more obvious saturation. The simple and intuitive three-band EQ with a sweepable mid band follows, while a simple one-knob dynamics section makes it possible to tame unruly peaks with an optical-style compressor. Lastly, the Master section provides an output control to help keep levels in check — a useful feature to have to hand when intentionally driving the preamp section harder for effect.
Check out the video below to hear the plug-in in action.
Compatibility
Century Tube Channel Strip is supported on Macs running macOS 10.15 and higher and PCs running Windows 10 or above. VST, AU and AAX plug-in versions are all available.
Availability
Century Channel Strip is available to download now, and will be free until 15 September 2024.
www.uaudio.com/free-century-tube-plugin
Free DAW from Universal Audio - LUNA
If you're a fan of UA's approach to audio tools, you might wish to check out the latest version of their free digital audio workstation, LUNA. It's available for Mac users and Windows users.
