Go behind the scenes and learn how UA constructed this world-class space.
Studio 610, located in Universal Audio headquarters in Scotts Valley, California is an acoustic space comparable to any in the recording industry.
From the landmark UA 610 modular console to the 1176 compressor, UA founder Bill Putnam’s hardware ushered in the era of modern recording — full stop.
What gets less attention are the physical spaces Putnam created. The rooms at Chicago’s Universal Recording and Hollywood’s United/Western Recorders (now EastWest) were and are temples to the art of recording.
The albums recorded in these hallowed rooms are a who’s-who of modern music from the 1950s to today.
So when Universal Audio decided to build a state-of-the-art recording studio in their Scotts Valley, California headquarters, UA CEO Bill Putnam Jr. and his brother Scott Putnam leaned on their rich family history of state-of-the-art studio design.
Studio 610: The Importance of the Number
Named after the modular tube consoles designed by UA founder M.T. “Bill” Putnam, Studio 610’s name was chosen for the console’s significance in the development of Universal Audio as a company.
“The 610 is an important piece of Universal Audio’s origins and of the studios Bill Putnam designed,” says UA Product Designer, Will Shanks. “It was really popular in Putnam’s L.A. studios and ended up in other places like Sound Studio in Muscle Shoals and as part of Wally Heider’s remote recording operations. Both Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra had their own personal 610 recording consoles. It just has a lot of history to it.”
Studio 610: Construction Begins
Scott Putnam, the eldest son of the late Bill Putnam Sr. and talented studio designer in his own right, designed the main recording space at Studio 610 as a rendition of the renowned Studio 3 at Western Recorders.
Studio 3 became popular for its intimate size, preferred by the comparatively smaller ensembles comprising the pop and rock groups of the day. It is a design that the Putnam brothers have always wanted to recreate, and Studio 610 provided the perfect opportunity. Over a period of ten months, the building of Studio 610 was directed and completed by John Clary and Jud Muse — long-time friends and associates of Universal Audio.
“The main rooms at United and Western were big,” says Scott Putnam. “Although Studio 610 is smaller and designed for a more contemporary sound and less musicians, its acoustics — geometry, reflection and absorption — are all in the same proportions as Studio 3.”
I once asked my dad to tell me all he knew about acoustics in 15 minutes. His reply was, ‘What are we going to do with the other 10 minutes?
Scott Putnam
When construction finished, Scott Putnam returned to Studio 610 to gather response data on the room, with vintage UA measurement gear, the UREI Sonipulse. This verified that each room’s sonic design goals were met, and allowed for final room tuning.
Like the original Studio 3 in Hollywood, the main room at Studio 610 is controlled and frequency balanced, with a short decay.
Studio 610 Opens its Doors
On June 10, 2014, Studio 610 was unveiled. The studio is finished in natural maple wood, including the floors and custom-made desks and racks. Recycled barn wood is used for many of the sound treatment panels and walls.
Design details pay homage to the 610 preamp, including drawer handles on the custom desks — all repurposed knobs originally found on a vintage 610.
Studio 610: The “UA Test Lab”
Just about every Universal Audio product spends time in Studio 610 — from Apollo interfaces to UA mics and UAFX pedals — and of course UAD plug-ins.
Some products even capture and make use of the studio sound itself, like OX Amp Top Box and UAFX amp emulators.
“Studio 610 provides us a space to put our products through their paces, with initial design review and long term, real-world use”, says Shanks.
“While we still may take products to other rooms for evaluation, we are no longer required to book studio time for critical phases of development.”
The rooms are interconnected via patch bays and patch panels, and feed into a dedicated “machine room.” All the rooms are designed with floated floors and bass-trapped walls, free of any parallel surfaces for excellent de-coupling and isolation.
Studio 610’s unusual dual control room design offers two simultaneous listening and technical evaluation environments.
Each control room is loaded with cascaded Apollo x16 and x8p allowing for 32 channels per room that can be combined for the possibility of 64 total channels in either room.
The Apollos route to Mac Pros located in the separate machine room, thanks to 100-ft./30 meter Corning Thunderbolt cables.
For monitoring, Control Room 1 uses vintage UREI 813 passive drivers.
While Control Room 2 relies on a pair of Ocean Way Audio HR4s.
Studio 610: The Home of “Golden Unit” Audio Gear
Studio 610 is home to a lot of famous vintage hardware, much of which was used to create award-winning UAD plug-ins like the Ampex ATR-102, Fairchild 670 Compressor, UA’s own 1176 and Teletronix LA-2A compressors, our vintage 610 preamp modules, and much more.
The machine room also houses out Studer A800 Tape Recorder (the same one used to create our Studer A800 Tape plug-in), our Lexicon 224 and 480 outboard reverbs, standalone power amps, even our vintage UA Cooper Time Cube — all isolated to eliminate noise from the studio environment.
Studio 610: Where Creative and Technical Minds Mingle
In addition to capturing transcendent performances from diverse artists like Nahre Sol and Mateus Asato and Phony Ppl, UA employees use Studio 610 for after-hours recording and music rehearsals, making it a hub of UA’s work and company culture.
“Studio 610 is where UA’s creative and technical minds mingle, exchanging ideas and pushing the art and science of what we do,” says Shanks. “We’re very grateful for it and take pride in having such a fantastic space to call home.
“The value of Studio 610 is all in the name of the traditional craftsmanship-driven business values held here at UA, and it has helped tremendously to advance our audio products and design innovations into the future.”
— Will Shanks, UA Staff
