Get the big, rich tube sounds of the world's most coveted standalone mic preamp.

The venerable V76 Preamplifier is arguably the most coveted standalone mic preamp ever made. Developed in the 1950s by the German Institute of Broadcast Technology (IRT), the V76's distinctly "hi-fi" tube sound was integral to legendary studios across Europe from the 1950s through present day, including Decca, EMI, and Abbey Road.

Now, you can get all of the beautiful, harmonically rich tube gain and classic frequency response of this iconic mic preamp in a great-sounding, easy-to-use emulation with the V76 Preamplifier plug-in, exclusively for UAD hardware and UA Audio Interfaces.

• Get the big, rich "hi-fi" tube tone of the legendary V76 Preamp in the box
• Record vocals, guitars, drums, and more through the V76 in real time using UA Audio Interfaces
• Confidently shape signals with an impressive 76 dB of clean gain
• Control UA Audio Interface mic preamp gain staging and impedance directly from the plug-in with Unison™ technology

V76 Preamplifier (English)

V76 Preamplifier (Deutsche)

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Operational Overview

The V76 Preamplifier plug-in is an easy to use vintage tube preamp. It features high amounts of available gain and simple high/low pass filtering.

Unison Integration

The V76 Preamplifier features Unison™ technology for integration with the mic preamp hardware in Universal Audio's Apollo audio interfaces. With Unison interfaces, the ultra-transparent mic preamps inherit all of the unique sonics, input characteristics, and features of modeled UAD preamp plug-ins.

Note: Unison is active only when the UAD plug-in is placed in the dedicated Unison insert within UAD Console or LUNA. For complete details, see Unison.

With Unison, the hardware preamp adapts to the modeled preamp's physical input impedance. Combined with UA's transparent analog amplification, this provides the plug-in's full gain and tone range from clean to clipped — with broad, musical sweet spots in-between.

Realistic Tandem Control

Unison facilitates seamless interactive control of plug-in settings using both the digitally-controlled panel hardware on the UA audio interface and the UAD plug-in interface. All equivalent preamp controls (gain, cut filter, polarity, pad) are mirrored and bidirectional. The preamp controls respond to adjustments with precisely the same interplay behavior as the modeled preamp, including gain levels and clipping points.

Hardware Input Impedance

All Unison mic preamps feature variable input impedance in the analog hardware that can be physically changed by Unison-enabled UAD plug-ins for physical, microphone- to-preamp resistive interaction. This impedance switching enables Unison preamps to match the input impedance of the emulated hardware, which can significantly impact the sound of a microphone. Because the electrical loading occurs on input, prior to A/D conversion, the realism is faithful to the original hardware preamp.

Tactile Gain Staging

The hardware preamp knob on the UA audio interface can independently adjust the gain and level parameters available within the Unison plug-in via Gain Stage Mode. The gain stage being adjusted can be remotely switched via the interface hardware, so the gain levels and their associated colorations can be tuned from the hardware knob for precise physical tactile control, all without using the Unison plug-in's software interface.

	Unison Interaction
UAD plug-in parameters that have Unison integration are indicated by the Unison icon, as shown here.

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V76 Preamplifier Controls

Module Layout

The original hardware V76 was a modular design, with available preamp, dynamics, EQ, and meter modules that could be combined in a chassis. The UAD V76 Preamplifier plug-in includes one preamp module on the left, and a meter module on the right.

UAD V76 Preamplifier modules layout

Preamp Module Controls

Preamp module control locations

Input Select

Input Select toggles the input source between Mic and Line input. To switch the setting, click the button or its text labels.

Important: Use caution when switching to Line from Mic, as signal output levels can increase significantly (as they would with a hardware preamp).

Mic

The Mic input is active when the Input Select button is in the down (smaller) position and the button's indicator lamp is illuminated. Like the hardware, the V76 Preamplifier plug-in easily facilitates sending line level signals through the "virtual" mic input, which allows creative use of distortion to color signals.

Line

The Line input is active when the Input Select button is in the up (larger) position and the button's indicator lamp is not illuminated. This mode utilizes the same circuitry as the mic input (including transformer emulation), but applies 28 dB of attenuation to compensate for the greater amplitude of line-level signals.

Unison Interaction

When the plug-in is placed in a dedicated Unison insert within UAD Console or LUNA and the preamp channel is in Unison Gain Stage Mode, software and hardware control of Input Select is mirrored. Input Select can then be changed within the plug-in interface, with UAD Console/LUNA's Mic/Line switches, or with the hardware buttons on the UA audio interface. Note: When an Apollo Hi-Z input is connected, Mic mode is automatically selected and the Line/Mic switch is disabled.

Polarity (Ø)

Polarity inverts the phase of the input signal by 180º. To toggle the setting, click the button or its text labels. Polarity is inverted when the button is in the down (smaller) position and its indicator lamp is illuminated.

Tip: When more than one microphone is used to record a single source, inverting the polarity on one or more of the mic signals can help reduce phase cancellations.

	Unison Interaction
When the plug-in is placed in a dedicated Unison insert within UAD Console or LUNA, software and hardware control of Polarity is mirrored. Polarity can then be inverted within the plug-in interface, with UAD Console/LUNA's polarity button, or with the hardware polarity button on the UA audio interface.

Input & Polarity Indicator Lamps

The lamps below the Input Select and Polarity buttons indicate the current state of these buttons. When Mic is selected, the Input Select lamp is illuminated. When the polarity is inverted (180 active), its lamp is illuminated.

Input & polarity indicator lamps and their button positions.
Left: Mic input selected and inverted Polarity.
Right: Line input selected and normal Polarity.

Preamp Gain

This 12-position rotary knob sets the amount of preamp gain, in decibels. Higher dB values increase the signal level at the input of the plug-in.

Stepped gain values of 3, 9, 18, 24, 34, 40, 46, 52, 58, 64, 70, and 76 dB are available.

V76 Preamp Gain can be changed with any of these methods:

• Drag the slotted knob to increase or decrease the dB value.
• Click the Gain Display (the illuminated dB value) to increment the dB value, or shift+click the Gain Display to decrement the dB value.
• Click the "Gain" text label above the Gain Display to increment the dB value, or click the "dB" text label below the Gain Display to decrement the dB value.

Unison Interaction

When the plug-in is placed in a dedicated Unison insert within UAD Console or LUNA, and the preamp channel is in Unison Gain Stage Mode, the Preamp knob on the UA audio interface or the UAD Console/LUNA can also be used to adjust preamp gain. In this state, an orange outline surrounds this parameter, indicating it is also available for hardware and Console control. Tip: For details on how to enter and exit Gain Stage Mode, see Unison.

Preamp Gain knob outlined in orange when Unison Gain Stage Mode is active

Gain Display

The amount of Preamp Gain, in dB, is shown in the illuminated Gain Display. The Gain Display has several shortcuts for changing the gain value (see Preamp Gain for details).

Low Pass Filter

This rotary switch controls a passive low pass filter with a cutoff frequency of 3 kHz. Drag the knob or click the text labels to change the LP filter value. The default value is off.

High Pass Filter

This four-position rotary switch controls a high-pass filter with available cutoff frequencies of 80 Hz, 300 Hz, and 80+300 Hz. Drag the knob or click the text labels to change the HP filter value. The default value is off.

Unison Interaction

When the plug-in is placed in a dedicated Unison insert within UAD Console or LUNA, software and hardware control of the High Pass Filter is mirrored. The filter can then be enabled or disabled within the plug-in interface, with UAD Console/LUNA's HPF button, or with the hardware HPF button on the UA audio interface. Note: In Gain Stage Mode, the Apollo hardware filter switch toggles between Flat and the last Hz value that was set within the plug-in.

Language Select

By default, words in the plug-in interface are translated to English from the German text on the original hardware. To toggle between English and German text in the interface, click the module's locking lever.

Tip: The interface language can be toggled by clicking the locking lever in the preamp module or the meter module.

Meter Module Controls

Meter module control locations

Level Meter

The Level Meter provides a relative indication of input and output levels. The Level Meter is not calibrated to specific dB values.

Meter Select

This rotary control determines the source of the signal that is fed into the Level Meter. To change the value, drag the knob or click the text labels.

Input

As with the original hardware, when set to Input, the Level Meter displays the relative signal level after preamp amplification and filtering (it does not display the level at the plug-in's input).

Output

When set to Output, the Level Meter displays the relative signal level at the output of the plug-in, after the Output Gain stage.

Output Gain

Output adjusts the signal level at the output of the plug-in without changing the sonic character of the signal. The available range is -INF (off) to +12 dB.

This clean uncolored gain control, which does not exist on the original hardware, facilitates the ability to maximize coloration of the overall signal. For example, Preamp Gain can be increased for more distortion, while lowering Output Gain to normalize levels.

Unison Interaction

When the plug-in is placed in a dedicated Unison insert within UAD Console or LUNA and the preamp channel is in Unison Gain Stage Mode, the Output knob on the UA audio interface can also be used to adjust this parameter. In this state, a green outline surrounds this parameter, indicating it is also available for hardware control. Tip: For details on how to enter and exit Gain Stage Mode, see Unison.

Output Gain knob outlined in green when Unison Gain Stage Mode is active

Power

Power is the plug-in bypass control. Power is useful for comparing the processed settings to the original signal.

When set to OFF, emulation processing is disabled, DSP usage is reduced (if UAD-2 DSP LoadLock is inactive), and the power indicator lamps are de-illuminated.

Tip: To toggle Power, either drag the knob, click the power indicator lamps, or click the UA logo.

The original V76 hardware preamplifier module

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