Watch a modern songwriter explore vintage sounds with the UA 610 tube mic preamp.
First introduced in 1958, the original UA 610 was one of the first commercially available tube recording consoles. It’s warm, musical mic preamp and EQ helped shape classic records by Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Van Halen, and many more.
Modern engineers will tell you that a 610 channel strip makes great recordings sound even better. It’s a bold claim, so we decided to put it to the test.
We asked singer-songwriter and content creator Mary Spender to showcase the UA 610 Tube Preamp & EQ plug-ins, and see if the sound of these vintage analog channel strips is still relevant in a modern home studio setup.
Mary Spender is a UK-based musician and content creator. With over 100 million views and 750,000+ subscribers on YouTube, she has built one of the most engaged audiences in the music space.
Making Headphone Mixes Inspiring
For Mary’s upcoming project Songbook, her recording setup is extremely minimal. Equipped with a Martin guitar, Apollo x4, Sphere DLX Modeling Microphone, and SC-1 Condenser Microphone, the 610 UAD plug-ins allow her to add warmth and vintage character to her signal flow.
By running the 610-A plug-in on Apollo’s Unison preamp slots, Mary can get the input impedance and gain staging character of an original 610 channel strip before hitting her DAW.
For vocals, she utilizes the Sphere’s LD-47K mic model. On acoustic guitar, she employs the SC-1 condenser without any modeling. By pushing the 610’s preamp into saturation on both mics, she’s able to achieve a sound that is instantly more inspiring in her headphones.
Using Subtle EQ for Balanced Recordings
When dialing in her mix, Mary’s goal is to emphasize the differences between her two sources. The 610’s broad low and high bands are perfect for the task.
“The 610 is wide and gentle,” she explains. “It was designed for singers and bands in rooms. It was not about fixing things later.”
Using the 610’s onboard EQ, she’s able to bring out the best qualities of her voice and guitar. Making these adjustments while she’s recording means less work balancing her sources during the final mix.
“If the vocal leans forward a little, fine. If the guitar compresses when I dig in, even better.”
Mary Spender on recording into the 610 UAD plug-ins
Why Committing to a Sound Gives You Great Recordings
For this track, Mary leans into the mindset of engineers from the 1960s. In this time period, it was all about finding a sound quickly and committing. From there, the job of the artist was simply to perform.
By the time her recording reaches the DAW, there is very little processing. No compression. No surgical EQ. The 610 is her foundation. And this allows her to focus solely on the performance.
Once she finds the settings that inspire her, capturing a great take becomes that much easier — a splash of ambience from the Pure Plate Reverb plug-in, and she’s ready to hit record.
— Austin Lyons
Get the Gear From This Session
Want the sound of this track by Mary Spender? Check out the plug-ins and hardware used on this session!
UAD plug-ins and software used in this session:
UA hardware used in this session:
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*The Sphere Mic Collection is only compatible with Sphere LX and DLX Modeling Microphones.
