Universal Audio Releases Thermionic Culture Vulture Plug-In

July 9 2014, 12:27
For more than 15 years, the British-made Thermionic Culture Vulture has set the standard for studio-grade, high-gain tube (valve) distortion, yielding a palette of vivid distortion colors on countless genre-spanning recordings. Thanks to an intense multi-year engineering effort from Universal Audio, producers and engineers can now track and mix with the only authentic circuit emulation of this one-of-a-kind valve distortion tool.

The Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in models the original hardware’s three distinct all-valve circuit topologies and features Universal Audio’s first ever pentode tube circuit model. The Culture Vulture plug-in also offers two features not found on the original hardware – a Dry/Wet Parallel Mix control and a Link function for a perfectly matched stereo image to maximize workflow and preserve balances.
 
In addition, the all-new Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in features presets from famous Culture Vulture users, including Tony Maserati (Alicia Keys, Beyoncé), Rik Simpson (Coldplay, Portishead), Eric "ET" Thorngren (Talking Heads, Cyndi Lauper), Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), Chris Coady (Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio), and more.
 
“The Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in was one of our most challenging projects to date,” says Universal Audio CEO Bill Putnam Jr. “Getting the nuances of the various distortions right took more effort and invention that we had ever expected.”
 
“We decided some time ago that UA would be the best company to make a successful plug-in emulation of our Culture Vulture, and we are very happy to say that the plug-in has exceeded our expectations,” says Nick Terry, Director at Thermionic Culture. “It seems that the Culture Vulture has now taken on a digital life of its own.”

Available for purchase from UA’s Online Store for $299, the new Thermionic Culture Vulture Plug-in is part of the new UAD Software v7.8, along with the Softube-developed Valley People Dyna-mite and Tonelux Tilt EQ plug-ins.

More about the Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in here
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