Say Hello to LUNA 3.0 – Universal Audio - Producer Gang

LUNA 3.0 is here, and it completely redefines what a DAW can do.

This update introduces a new way to start sessions with LUNA Play, a huge new batch of powerful smart tools, and additions to the ARA plug-in lineup that will change the way you create. No matter what version of LUNA you use, there’s a lot to dig into.

Here’s everything that’s new.

Free, Full-Featured, and Smarter Than Ever: LUNA Free

LUNA Free is a full-featured DAW for macOS and Windows. Unlike other free DAWs, you get unlimited tracks,
smart tools, and a collection of premium UAD plug-ins built into the download with no time limits or watermarks.

Introducing LUNA Play

For many, the most difficult part of recording is everything that comes before you actually start tracking. Setting up a session can be incredibly tedious and confusing, and getting great sounds on the way in is another battle entirely.

LUNA Play is built to fix that.

LUNA Play helps you tap into a faster, simpler way to record.

Think of it like a voice memo app designed specifically for making music. Open LUNA Play, and the DAW automatically detects your instrument, sets your input levels, and loads a curated UAD plug-in chain matched to what you’re playing. You go from nothing to tracking in seconds, with a signal chain that already sounds good.

It’s not just for capturing quick ideas, either. LUNA Play works with stem separation, so you can drop in any song, isolate the parts you want, and jam along — whether you’re
practicing a solo, writing a top line over a track you love, or just looking for something to play against.

For beginners, it removes the technical barriers that make recording feel intimidating. Even for seasoned recording veterans, it’s the fastest path from inspiration to a recorded idea. Either way, you’re spending less time setting up and more time actually getting your ideas down.

Eight Legendary Plug-Ins, Included Free

Every LUNA Free download comes with eight UAD plug-ins through UAD Explore FREE. They’re the same compressors, EQs, and processors engineers have trusted on chart-topping records for decades:

UA 610 Tube Preamp & EQ Collection. Vintage tube warmth and tone shaping on every track

UA 1176 Classic FET Compressor. The iconic fast-attack compressor heard on countless records

Teletronix LA-2A Tube Compressor. Smooth, musical leveling with classic optical character

Vibe Analog Machines Essentials. Analog saturation and harmonic richness

Pure Plate Reverb. Lush, natural reverb that sits in any mix

UAD Showtime ’64 Tube Amp. Classic tube amp tones for guitar, built into your DAW

Century Tube Channel Strip. A complete tube signal chain in one plug-in

PolyMAX Synth. An inspiring synthesizer, ready to produce huge analog-modeled sounds

LUNA Free comes with eight classic UAD plug-ins, from iconic compressors to vintage tube preamps.

Smart Tools That Get Out of Your Way

The technical pieces of a session are often the barrier between you and your next song: organizing tracks, matching tempo, separating elements, tightening your takes. LUNA 3.0’s Smart Tools are designed to handle that work automatically.

4-Track Stem Separation is one of the most immediately useful tools in the update. Drop in any song and LUNA splits it into four individual elements: vocals, drums, bass, and everything else. From there, you can mute parts, pull a vocal and study the phrasing, or flip a sample in ways that weren’t possible before.

Instrument Detection watches your session as it builds and automatically identifies what’s on each track. It color-codes by instrument type, adds the right icon, and sets the ideal warp mode for editing.

Voice Control lets you start and stop recording from anywhere in the room. For solo artists especially, this changes how it feels to run a session — no more running across the room to your drum kit every take.

Smart Tempo Tools round out the new additions to LUNA Free. Play without a click and LUNA sets the metronome to match your performance, or import a recording with a breathing tempo and LUNA generates a full map that follows your feel rather than forcing it onto a rigid grid.

Features You’ve Been Asking For

LUNA 3.0 also delivers highly requested workflow improvements:

Improved MIDI Editing. Explore new tools, scale-aware editing, and an adaptive grid for faster programming

Folder Tracks. Group and collapse sections of a session to keep complex arrangements manageable

Strip Silence. Cut out empty passages quickly and precisely

Click Track Automation. Get dynamic control over your tempo and click, built for live-feel recordings and arrangements that change over time

The World’s Smartest, Best-Sounding DAW: LUNA Studio

LUNA Studio gives you everything in LUNA Free plus 30 UAD plug-ins and instruments, LUNA Extensions with built-in tape and console emulations, advanced Smart Tools, and six ARA plug-ins that work directly inside the timeline.

Smart Tools, Taken Further

LUNA Studio expands your toolkit with more features exclusive to the paid tier:

6-Track Stem Separation. More stems means more control. Isolate individual elements, add plug-ins to specific stems, or convert them straight to MIDI.

Audio-to-MIDI. Convert any performance or sample into editable MIDI. Replace sounds, layer instruments, or completely reimagine a part.

Chord Extraction, powered by Moises. Automatically detect chords from any polyphonic audio and map them to the chord track, so ARA plug-ins like Celemony Tonalic can follow along.

Lyric Transcription, powered by Moises. Transcribe vocal performances into a time-aligned lyric browser. Navigate by words instead of waveforms.

Cutting-edge tools like stem separation and lyric transcription let you create music in entirely new ways.

Mix With the Plug-Ins Used on Countless Hit Records

Other DAWs ship with stock tools. LUNA Studio ships with the same tools engineers actually reach for. The included UAD collection covers every stage of the mix:

Compressors & Limiters. Teletronix LA-2A, 1176 FET, Fairchild Limiter Collection, API 2500 Bus Compressor

Channel Strips & EQs. API Vision Channel Strip Collection, Century Tube Channel Strip, Pultec Passive EQ Collection

Tape & Saturation. Studer A800, Ampex ATR-102, Oxide Tape Recorder, Vibe Analog Machines

Reverbs, Delays & Modulation. Pure Plate Reverb, Galaxy Tape Echo, Brigade Chorus, Studio D Chorus, Waterfall Rotary Speaker

Guitar Amplifiers. Showtime ’64, Ruby ’63 Top Boost, Woodrow ’55

On top of the included plug-ins are LUNA Extensions. API Vision Console, Studer A800, Ampex ATR-102, and Neve and API summing all allow you to tap into the sound and feel of a full analog studio right inside your DAW.

LUNA Studio includes 30+ of the same plug-ins used by chart-topping artists for decades.

Six ARA Plug-Ins, Built Into the Timeline

LUNA Studio includes six ARA plug-ins that let you edit directly in the timeline without bouncing:

Celemony Melodyne Essential. Tune pitch and timing directly in the timeline with the industry-standard tool used on hit records across every genre

Celemony Tonalic Essential.
Get access to real acoustic and electric guitar performances, recorded and made for professional productions, played to your song.

Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio 2 Core. Enter notes and lyrics, choose a voice, and get lifelike vocal toplines and harmonies without a vocalist in the room

Noiseworks VoiceAssist Basic. Balance dynamics to keep vocals sitting in the mix without tedious manual automation

Steinberg WaveLab Go. Master full tracks or albums with streamlined editing, loudness normalization, and dedicated metering tools

Steinberg SpectraLayers Go. Remove clicks, pops, low-end rumble, and unwanted noise with advanced spectral editing

LUNA Free is free forever, no credit card required. LUNA Studio is $199, or included with a UAD Spark Studio subscription at $19.99/month.

— Austin Lyons

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