Universal Audio

Founded in 1958 by the late Bill Putnam Sr., Universal Audio was a natural extension of his success as a recording engineer, studio designer, and inventor. Putnam was a favorite engineer of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and many other music icons of the time. In 2000, Putnam Sr. was awarded the Technical Achievement Grammy in praise of his multiple contributions to the recording industry, including the first use of artificial reverberation, effects sends, and the vocal booth, not to mention the legendary studios he designed which are still in operation to this day. Putnam started three audio product companies during his career: Universal Audio, Studio Electronics, and UREI. All three built products that remain widely used decades after their introduction, including the ubiquitous LA-2A and 1176 compressors, and the 610 tube mic preamp and EQ, used to record everyone from Sinatra to the Beach Boys to Van Halen. In 1999, Bill Putnam Jr. and James Putnam re-launched Universal Audio and merged with Kind of Loud Technologies — a leading audio software company