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The UA 175B & 176 Tube Compressor Collection Black Friday deal takes 80% off, bringing the Universal Audio compressor plugins to $29 until Nov 30, 2026.
The collection covers two tube compressors from the early 1960s, the 175B and the 176. Universal Audio says they were the first compressors built for recording and mixing music in the studio.
Bill Putnam Sr., UA's founder, designed both, and UA counts them among his best-known work.
It is a pair of compressor plugins based on two of UA's own 1960s units. The maker says they capture the tube gain reduction, the tube amplifier's harmonics and the low-frequency transformer saturation of the originals.
The maker also says the plugins model the full circuit path and control set of the hardware, and that they were indistinguishable from the target units in blind listening tests.
Putnam's feedback compression circuit is central to the sound. According to UA, it gives softer compression at lower input levels and harder, nearly brickwall limiting as the level climbs.
The hardware's Attack and Release controls are independently variable, and UA calls its fast attack a breakthrough for the time. The original 176 is an all-tube predecessor to the 1176.
The two plugins differ in ratio:
UA describes the pair as gentle when you need subtle control and colorful when you slam them. Its suggested uses are:
You can also switch the compression off and run the plugins as a tone box. You then get only the tube amplifier and transformer texture.
UA lists several additions beyond the original hardware:
Artist presets come from Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits), Carl Glanville (U2, Bruce Springsteen), Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, Beck) and others.
The purchase includes two versions. UAD Native runs on a Mac or PC with no UA hardware, and works with any soundcard.
The Apollo Realtime & UAD-2 version runs accelerated on Apollo interfaces and UAD-2 hardware. If you track through Apollo, you can print with the compressor in the signal chain.
Yes. The Black Friday deal takes 80% off the collection, bringing it to $29, and it ends Nov 30, 2026. The purchase covers both the 175B and the 176 compressor plugins, in the UAD Native version and the Apollo Realtime & UAD-2 version.
No. The UAD Native version runs on a Mac or PC with no UA hardware, and works with any soundcard. If you own an Apollo interface or UAD-2 hardware, the Apollo Realtime & UAD-2 version runs accelerated on it.
The main difference is the ratio. The UA 175B has a fixed 12:1 ratio. The 176 offers four selectable ratios: 2:1, 4:1, 8:1 and 12:1. Both are tube compressors from the early 1960s designed by Bill Putnam Sr.
UA lists three plugin-only features: Sidechain Link, Dry/Wet Mix for parallel processing, and Headroom for setting your own operating level. It also includes artist presets from Jacquire King, Carl Glanville, Joe Chiccarelli and others.
Prices and end dates are checked at publishing time and can change, so confirm them at the store before you buy.