Used to record such mega-star acts as Peter Gabriel, Sting, Blur, Whitney Houston and, yes, Bryan Adams, the SSL 4000 G large-format console has shaped the sound of popular music for decades. While it's no longer as practical to own a massive SSL analog console for most engineers, that tone is still sought-after. If you've got a UAD-equipped workstation, you're in luck: the new Universal Audio UAD 4K Channel Strip emulates the pristine and musical front-end of the 4000 G series.

The 4K strip starts with a pair of filters, variable hi- and low-pass. From there the virtual signal meets one of the most luxurious features of the 4000 G+, i.e., one of the things that made it so expensive: its top-notch compression. . . on every channel. With multiple instances of UAD 4K you too can experience this comp-splendor, a transparent, VCA-style, hard hitting dynamics processor. The dynamics section also provide a sensitive gate function with a "no chatter" mode.

The EQ section emulates the 4000 G's four band controls, with high, high-mid, low-mid and low bands. All four bands are frequency-adjustable, with the two mid-bands sporting adjustable "Q" width controls for EQing that's either tight and surgical or wide and musical. Both the EQ and the filter sections feature a neat "Dyn Sync" button that, when engaged, sends the respective section through the dynamics sections side-chain for some cool effects.

UAD 4K is available for download for $249.00 US and is compatible with both the UAD-1 and UAD-2 hardware accelerator cards.