Capitol Chambers
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A startling recreation of the world's finest echo chambers.
Located below the iconic Capitol Tower in Los Angeles, Capitol Studios is arguably the most recognized studio in the world — and much of its legend can be traced to its hallowed, subterranean echo chambers. From Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra, Beck to Muse, these underground spaces continue to provide gorgeous hi-fi ambience that is simply unmatched.
Now, after years of R&D and close collaboration with Capitol Studios — including unprecedented access to four legendary echo chambers 30-feet beneath the studio — Universal Audio proudly presents the Capitol Chambers plug-in, a startling end-to-end recreation of the most popular echo chambers ever created, exclusively for UAD hardware and UA Audio Interfaces.Record and mix with the world's only authentic plug-in emulation of Capitol Studios' prized underground echo chambers
Add the unmistakably dense, natural reverberation to vocals or drums — far beyond plate, digital, or simple convolution reverb
Create new sounds by repositioning Capitol Chambers' microphones using UA's Dynamic Room Modeling
Audition current and historical chamber configurations, plus new setups curated by Capitol's Steve Genewick
Harness the chamber's entire signal chain including amplifiers, speakers, custom preamps, and mics
Quickly pull up presets from legendary Grammy-winning engineers Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Steely Dan), Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead), Frank Filipetti (Madonna, Paul McCartney) and more
Take a Listen
Classic Echo Chambers Designed by Les Paul
Prized for their natural sound and dense ambience, acoustic echo chambers became a creative tool for pioneering, forward-thinking engineers by the mid 1940s — most notably UA founder Bill Putnam Sr. and the great Les Paul, the genius behind the Capitol chambers designs. Built from reinforced concrete and tuned using sloped ceilings and a trapezoidal shape, Paul's designs deliver a smooth, balanced decay and a completely natural room tone that can't be achieved in any other way.
Capturing Iconic Echo
In creating this amazing plug-in, UA sourced historic technical diagrams from the early '60s to precisely recreate microphone/speaker setups inside of Capitol's most coveted chambers, including the vintage omnidirectional Altec 21D mics and custom speaker/horn configurations, in their original hit-making positions. Current "modern" configurations dating from the late '80s were also captured, using the omnidirectional Shure SM80s, while new and creative mic/speaker combos were devised by Capitol's resident chamber expert, Steve Genewick.
Unprecedented Ambience Control
Capitol Chambers' Position slider gives you next-level control over spatial and time response, allowing you to reposition the chamber mics — no assistant engineer required. From the maximum distance stock positions, to direct speaker-to-microphone effects and proximity characteristics, the Capitol Chambers plug-in can subtly thicken vocals or drums, or soak strings with the most natural, complex sounding reverb ever recorded.
Powered by UA's Dynamic Room Modeling
Harnessing the same technology as the award-winning Ocean Way Studios plug-in, Capitol Chambers uses UA’s proprietary Dynamic Room Modeling technology, an exclusive combination of physical modeling and advanced measurement techniques. Whereas standard convolution reverbs only provide a sonic snapshot, Dynamic Room Modeling gives the Capitol Chambers plug-in nearly infinite ambient possibilities.
Deeper Still
Beyond a vintage recreation, the Capitol Chambers plug-in offers creative features for modern DAW workflows like Pre Delay, Dry/Wet mix, and Decay controls. A sweepable 80 to 750 Hz filter lets you minimize muddy bass going into the chamber, while Bass, Treble, and proportional Q Mid band lets you perfectly season the chamber's lush ambience. In addition, the Width control allows you to narrow the chamber's stereo field, for easily pinpointing a vocal or instrument in the mix. Finally, Decay lets you quickly shorten Capitol Chambers' natural reverb time, offering more scenarios to harness the most famous echo chambers ever made.
An All-Star Collection of Artist Presets
The Capitol Chamber's plug-in features carefully crafted presets from a stunning roster of Grammy-winning engineers and producers. From recording industry icon Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Steely Dan) to Mark Linett (The Beach Boys, Los Lobos) and Frank Filipetti (Madonna, Paul McCartney), Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead), and more, you can experiment using the same settings that professionals who know every nook and cranny of Capitol's famous chambers use every day.
Capitol and the Capitol logos are trademarks of Capitol Records, LLC, registered in the United States, European Union, and other jurisdictions, and are used under license.
"A Rose" by Jamie Lidell
Written and recorded exclusively to showcase the UAD Capitol Chambers Reverb plug‑in.
“I’ve been using the chambers at Capitol Studios for nearly 25 years, now I finally get to take them with me when I work outside of Capitol.”
– Steve Genewick (Ray Charles, Queen, Frank Sinatra Jr.)
“While tracking at Capitol Studios, I always capture the chambers. Now I can have same sound at my fingertips anytime. This is my new use‑on‑everything reverb. ”
– Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead, Charlotte Gainsbourg)
“Some of the best echo chambers in the world are now just a click away. The interface is simple and self explanatory — the sounds are extraordinary.”
– Mark Needham (The Killers, Neon Trees, P!nk)
“With the Capitol Chambers plug-in, UA has created a truly flexible, physical space. Let that sink in for a second…”
– John Paterno (Robbie Williams, Badly Drawn Boy, Bonnie Raitt)
“The UAD Capitol Chambers plug-in is amazing. It has so much depth, character, and authenticity. It sounds just like you're there.”
– Chris Dugan (Green Day, Iggy Pop, U2)
“The UAD Capitol Chambers plug-in is meticulously crafted, complete with various mics and mic placements. It’s a remarkable piece of the past — accurate and powerfully versatile.”
– Richard Chycki (Rush, Aerosmith, Dream Theater)Customer Reviews
T. Kingen
October 23, 2022
Real Rooms
Capitol Chambers is perfect for placing a track within an intimate room setting. I have and enjoy a small collection of reverb plugins, UAD as well as a few others. I didn't see the logic...
Read MoreE. Peterson
October 14, 2022
Why I got into Apollo and UA
My to favorite plugins were Abby road chambers and plates. I still love ab chambers the most but capitol chambers is a close...
Read MoreL. Chandler
October 13, 2022
A reverb like no other
It won't make a singer sound like Adele but you can get them in the space
Read Morea. Bezos
September 23, 2022
simply incredible!
The capitol Chamber became immediately my favorite reverb pluging after 2 hours of tests. It is a beautiful, amazing, and most of all very addictive natural sounding reverb. Definitely a...
Read MoreP. Jones
September 19, 2022
Top Quality Reverb
This plug-in sounds phenomenal. Adds depth, character and really sounds like air moving. It’s very demanding of DSP resources though so with an Apollo Twin X and MacBook Pro M1 I have...
Read More -
Key Features
Exclusive echo chamber emulation licensed and endorsed by Capitol Studios
The world's best-sounding and most in-demand echo chambers, designed by Les Paul
Gorgeously natural, uniquely dense chamber ambience, for reverb buses or individual sources
Choose from Capitol’s most popular chambers (2,4,6,7) with varying mic/speaker configurations representing modern to historical setups
Captures amplifier, speaker, custom preamp, and microphone chain for unprecedented realism
Fine tune ideal placement with continuously adjustable microphone positioning using UA's Dynamic Room Modeling
Other features include adjustable Decay, Pre Delay, sweepable cut filter, three-band EQ, Dry/Wet mix, and Width
Artist presets from Grammy-winning engineers Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Steely Dan), Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead), Frank Filipetti (Madonna, Paul McCartney), and more
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Customer Reviews
Capitol Chambers
T. Kingen
Real Rooms
Capitol Chambers is perfect for placing a track within an intimate room setting. I have and enjoy a small collection of reverb plugins, UAD as well as a few others. I didn't see the logic in adding another until after demoing Capitol Chambers. Now it's my #1 go-to 'verb for that live, intimate room sound.
E. Peterson
Why I got into Apollo and UA
My to favorite plugins were Abby road chambers and plates. I still love ab chambers the most but capitol chambers is a close second. It sounds amazing every time. I use it somewhere on every track. AB chambers, cap chambers, and ocean way are my three favorite plugins and I’m sooo glad I entered the UA family. My music has never sounded so good. Thank you for amazing sounds and reliable hardware that sounds fantastic
L. Chandler
A reverb like no other
It won't make a singer sound like Adele but you can get them in the space
N. Ayere
Stunning!
One of the best sounding plugins available.
a. Bezos
simply incredible!
The capitol Chamber became immediately my favorite reverb pluging after 2 hours of tests. It is a beautiful, amazing, and most of all very addictive natural sounding reverb.
Definitely a must have plugin!P. Jones
Top Quality Reverb
This plug-in sounds phenomenal. Adds depth, character and really sounds like air moving. It’s very demanding of DSP resources though so with an Apollo Twin X and MacBook Pro M1 I have to be a bit careful how I use it.
I. Finney
Mind-Blowing Reverb
The accuracy and richness of this is mind-blowing. Totally natural-sounding chamber. This is a must-have for your reverb collections and any retro enthusiasts who want period realism for music ranging from the 50's to the 60's and beyond. Simply amazing.
B. Bachhuber
What a sound
What a great sounding reverb. I waited way too long to buy it. Great on flutes and strings. Really loving it.
M. Bouillon
Incredible depth!
Absolute banger of a reverb. The depth it creates is without sounding obvious is stunning. The only sad thing is, that you it eats so much dsp power.
D. McCoy
Not just for jazz!
Wasn’t completely sure this plugin would work for me until I tried it on multiple sources - works amazing with analog synths. It’s way more versatile too, it’s easy to create smaller unique spaces by way of decay and the minimum slider. It really has a special sound to it.
I. Papagiannidis
Best reverb!
The atmosphere and sonics that this reverb creates is unique ! Great job UAD!
h. kim
this is real
Amazing reverb... i'm happy
A. Pasco
Love this plugin
Amazing reverb. Love how big and rich it makes my mixes sound.
I. Papagiannidis
Mind blowing!
This reverb is addictive! Sounding so good in any source,giving so natural ambience and depth ! This one and lexicon is all you need to make a production sound big and wide!
T. Young
Recently purchased and already loving it on my mixes.
UA has the best plug-insD. Gonzalez
MAJESTIC
I didn't really use this AT FIRST but, I recorded a very mellow song in Aminor and WOW..! this brings LIFE to the lyrics. The ambience and the tail of these chambers are just PHENOMENAL! add some warmth to them and you swear you just stepped back in time.
T. Hussain
Plug-in barely works
I have a silver face apollo 16. This Capitol chambers plug-in can’t even load one instance at 96k . I need a solution, because I can load probably 20 instances of other UAD plugins and not even one of this one. Very frustrated.
K. Socasau
Stunning Chamber reverbs
For me the best Chamber reverb plugin, sounds spectacular on a lot of sources, gives a lot of natural ambiance and it's 3 dimensional sounding, really simple to use and great features.
J. Poijärvi
Capitol Chambers
Great plugin/reverb tool for lead and backing vocals especially. Took a while to learn tricks but it definitely was worth it. Soft, natural sound. Just what I was looking for.
J. Vierra
The real deal!
It took me a little while to get the hang of this plugin, but once I did it has become indispensable and lives in every mix. Amazing sound!
