• Account
  • View Shopping Cart

Menu Search View Shopping Cart Call Us

Universal Audio 6176 Vintage Channel Strip  From UA

One of the most popular channel strips! Featuring UA's warm and rich 610 tube preamp along side one of the most popular compressors in the industry, the fast and responsive 1176LN.

Universal Audio

$2,899.00

Retail:  $3,624.00

"Experience the Difference"

Sound Pure's 3-Year Warranty

Close
Our Free 3-Year Warranty!
In addition to the standard included manufacturer warranty, virtually all new products carry our exclusive, industry-leading, absolutely free, Sound Pure 3-Year Warranty, which includes PARTS & LABOR. This high-value perk is our way of providing the ultimate in added value to enhance the unique personal touch our small, dedicated team contributes to each purchase.
Learn more »

Lifetime Support

Close
Free Lifetime Technical Support!
Our small team of dedicated experts is here to help the original purchaser for the lifetime of the product. Why? Because we care about building real relationships with our customers for life and stand behind every product we sell.

Free Shipping

Close
This Product Ships Free!
Products ship from our well-located, climate- and humidity-controlled warehouse absolutely free (inside the continental USA). Low-cost international shipping options exist for most products.
Contact us for details »
Contact us for up-to-date delivery estimate.
Payments as low as $65/mo.

6176 Vintage Channel Strip Overview

A Classic Tube Microphone Preamp and 1176-Style Compressor in a Single Unit. The 6176 Vintage Channel Strip combines the alluring, all-tube sounds of the legendary Bill Putnam-designed 610 microphone preamp, with the signature FET compression of our 1176LN, to create the ultimate recording channel strip.

  • Signal Chain
    • Universal Audio 6176 Vintage Channel Strip

Manufacturer's Description from UA

A Classic Tube Microphone Preamp and 1176-Style Compressor in a Single Unit.

The 6176 Vintage Channel Strip combines the alluring, all-tube sounds of the legendary Bill Putnam-designed 610 microphone preamp, with the signature FET compression of our 1176LN, to create the ultimate recording channel strip. The warm, smooth tones of this mic preamp design — employed to record everyone from Frank Sinatra to Van Halen I — and the unique characteristics of the compressor, are two major reasons why the 6176 is found in studios around the world.

Thanks to its straightforward controls and hallmark sound, the 6176 is the signal path of choice for engineering heavyweights like Vance Powell and Joe Chiccarelli, plus artists including Chris Martin of Coldplay, Norah Jones, Wyclef Jean, and James Mercer of The Shins. The ability to “Split” or “Join” the preamp and the compressor sections via a simple switch gives the 6176 added flexibility. This is truly UA’s premier channel strip, and among the world’s finest.

610B Mic Pre

The 2-610 microphone and instrument preamplifier has received praise from many corners. Michael Cooper, in his review for Mix Magazine, called it "hands-down, the most dimensional mic preamp I've ever heard". Peter Wade, engineer/producer who has worked with acts ranging from Wyclef Jean to Jennifer Lopez, said simply, "This box rocks." The 6176 mic preamp sections maintains the quality and character of the 2-610 while adding high-tension power regulation for improved bass response and a front-panel 15db pad switch.

1176LN Limiting Amplifier

As legendary engineer/producer Andy Johns put it, "The 1176LN is the workhorse compressor." The 1176LN may well be the most loved compressor in history. Its trademark lightning-quick attack and release times and the tone of it's Class A output amplifier have enhanced countless recordings over the last thirty-five years. We've recreated the 1176LN for the compressor section of the 6176 with the same exacting, attention to detail and tradition we use on our 1176LN. The resulting character, heritage and tone simply cannot be found on other channel strip units.

Features:
  • All-tube mic preamp section derived from legendary Bill Putnam-designed 610 modular console
  • Signature 1176LN Class A FET compressor section — heard on countless hit records for more than 30 years
  • "Split" or "Join" switch allows separate or series operation of the preamp and compressor
  • High and Low frequency shelving EQ
  • Variable impedance Input, Gain, and Output levels
  • Mic, balanced Line, and Hi-Z inputs
  • Ultra-quiet operation
  • Stereo interconnection via 1176-SA
  • Hand-built in USA; backed by 1-Year limited warranty

Universal Audio

About Manufacturer

Universal Audio Inc. was re-founded in 1999 by Bill's sons, James Putnam and Bill Putnam Jr., with two main goals: to faithfully reproduce classic analog recording equipment in the tradition of their father, and to design new digital recording tools with the sound and spirit of vintage analog technology. However, as Bill Jr. recounts, the genesis of "UA, part 2" is actually a bit more serendipitous.

Having grown up in the music industry, Bill Jr. and James ("Jim") Putnam naturally assumed that the music business is where they'd eventually end up. Jim, a touring musician and recording engineer, and their older brother Scott, a studio designer in Southern California, were the first to follow in Bill Sr.'s path. However, Bill Jr. took a more circuitous direction, working for a number of engineering companies before undertaking a doctorate in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. It was at Stanford that Bill Jr. became closely involved in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), specializing in signal processing. It was also at Stanford that Bill Jr. began to assemble a team of the best and brightest minds in the field — who continue to steer many of Universal Audio's engineering efforts to this day.

However, the precise event that led Bill and Jim to start (or "reinvent") Universal Audio in 1999 was unexpected. As Bill Jr. tells it, when Bill Sr. passed away in 1989, he and Jim were faced with the Herculean task of cleaning out their dad's workshop and storage areas. While going through Bill Sr.'s old test equipment, boxes of parts, bits and pieces of consoles, and half-cannibalized 1176 compressors, Jim came across their father’s old design notebook. The two spent the evening poring over his notes, realizing that this was the map to every technical problem their father had ever solved. It was at that moment that they decided to bring back Universal Audio and its classic products. 

Fast forward a decade. Now with nearly 80 employees and legions of new customers worldwide, UA is headquartered near the Silicon Valley, in Scotts Valley, California — where our classic analog gear is still hand-built, one unit at a time. The lengths we go to deliver the exact sound and performance of classic analog audio gear is unparalleled; in fact, the goal is for UA's modern units to perform identically to well-maintained units built decades ago. 

Of course, analog is only half the story. At Universal Audio, we employ the world's brightest DSP engineers and digital modeling authorities to develop our award-winning UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform, featuring the most authentic analog emulation plug-ins in the industry. Our DSP gurus work with the original hardware manufacturers — using their exact schematics, golden units, and experienced ears — to give UAD plug-ins warmth and harmonics in all the right places, just like analog.

Specifications

 Preamp:

 - Microphone Input Impedance: Selectable, 500 or 2k ohms

 - Balanced Line Input Impedance: 20k ohms

 - Hi-Z Input Impedance: Selectable between 2.2 M or 47 k ohms

 - Maximum Microphone Input Level: +18 dBu (2k input impedance and 15 dB Pad in)

 - Maximum Output Level: +20 dBm

 - Internal Output Impedance: 80 ohms

 - Recommended Minimum Load: 600 ohms

 - Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +0, -1 dB

 - Maximum Gain: 65 dB (500 input impedance)

 - Signal-to-Noise Ratio: > 90 dB (@ maximum gain)


Limiting Amplifier:

- Input Impedance: Selectable, 15k or 600 ohms

- Output Load Impedance: 600 ohms (floating)

- Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz ± 1 dB

- Gain: 40 dB, ± 1 dB

- Distortion: > 0.5% T.H.D. from 50 Hz – 15 kHz

                     with limiting, at 1.1 seconds release setting.

                     Output of +22 dBm with no greater than 0.5% T.H.D.

 - Signal-to-Noise Ratio: > 75 dB

 - Attack Time: Adjustable, from 20 to 800 milliseconds

 - Release Time: Adjustable, from 50 milliseconds to 1.1 seconds

 - Stereo Interconnection: Optional, using 1176SA stereo interconnect accessory

 
General:

 - Tube Complement: (1) 12AX7A, (1) 12AT7A

 - Power Requirements: 115V/230V

 - Power Connector: Detachable IEC power cable.

 - Fuse: 400 mA time delay (slow blow) / 115 V

             200 mA time delay (slow blow) / 230 V

 - Power Indicator Light: 28 V bulb (type 1819)

 - Dimensions: 19" W x 3.5" H x 12.25" D (two rack unit)

 - Weight: 12 lb.

Downloads

Action

Name

Description

6176 User Manual