Universal Audio

Founded in 1958 by Bill Putnam, Universal Audio has been synonymous with innovative recording products since the day of its creation. Bill, who was Frank Sinatra’s favorite engineer, Nat King Cole or Ray Charles, among many others, was a passionate innovator and one of the “fathers” of modern recording.

History tells us that Putnam was the inventor of the modern recording console, multiband audio equalizer and vocal booth, and was the first engineer using artificial reverberation in a commercial recording. Together with his friend Les Paul, Putnam also participated in the initial development of stereo recording.

The LA-2A and 1176 compressors or the 610 tube recording console are authentic legends of the music and audio industry.

Years after having been integrated into Harman and JBL catalogs, under the acronym Urei, Universal Audio has been re-founded in 1999 by Bill’s sons, James Putnam and Bill Putnam Jr., with two main objectives: to faithfully reproduce the classic analog recording equipment in the tradition of his father; and design new digital recording tools with the sound and spirit of vintage analog technology.