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The UAD Showtime '64 Tube Amp is a native plug-in by Universal Audio that brings the iconic tones of a legendary 100-watt American tube amplifier directly into your digital audio workstation. This amp, which defined the sound of surf rock, blues, R&B, and early pop, has been meticulously modeled by Universal Audio's team to capture the essence of the original hardware. From the pristine, shimmering cleans of Dick Dale and The Beach Boys to the rich, dynamic crunch favored by artists like Jack White and Nels Cline, this plug-in provides a wide range of authentic vintage sounds.
Universal Audio's end-to-end modeling process ensures that every detail of the original amp's circuitry is replicated, including the preamp, power amp, tone stack, and even the speaker cabinet and room sounds. This comprehensive approach results in a plug-in that not only sounds like the real thing but also responds to your playing dynamics with the same feel and character as a physical tube amp. The plug-in features a classic speaker cabinet and a selection of perfectly placed studio microphones, allowing you to achieve album-quality tones without the need for an expensive mic collection or a live room.
A key feature of the Showtime '64 Tube Amp is its authentic tube-driven vibrato circuit. This lush, warbling effect, which was a hallmark of the original amplifier, is faithfully reproduced in the plug-in, providing a rich, modulated sound that is perfect for creating vast and atmospheric soundscapes. The plug-in is also loaded with a variety of professionally designed presets, allowing you to quickly dial in classic tones for surf, rock, country, and blues, or to use them as a starting point for crafting your own unique sound.
{See video at top of page}
Reviewed By Faydit [all]
October 3rd, 2025
Version reviewed: 1.0 on Windows
Really good sounds, if you like these Fender vintage sounds. But...
...on the other hand, poor features like in the digital stone age, which means, like 20 to 30 years ago. The cabinet/speaker/microphone section cannot be deactivated, so you cannot use different IR's instead, the microphone settings are single fixed settings only without any adjustable axis, angle/distance controls and not even the manual gives you any informations about the used speakers.
So, as it at the moment is offered as freeware, acceptable, but I never bought a plugin with so poor, amateur level features, even if it may sound good. One reason, why I also am not so happy with the commercial Lion and Dream plugins. (The "Brown" sound of the Lion is just based on an added Echoplex preamp and not on a really modified José Arredondo circuit, which certainly does not sound the same. So this "Brown" sound is no professionally modded, real all-tube hot-rod Plexi but just an additional transistor preamp in front. For me typical farmer trapping for players without any knowledge. But "Brown" sound of course sells better. Especially, if you have not even to program it really authetically, like some competitors really did.).
A lot of competitors meanwhile do a more professional job and offer more user- and tweaker-friendly flexibility. But in the world of UA the only competitor even in 2015 seems to be a POD from 2000.
The positive is, the amp simulation itself sounds better than it does in the demo-video, which alone is strange, but matches my rather negative and unprofessional impression of UA meanwhile. (Why did nobody from UA pay the presenter a haircut and beard trimming before this video shot?).
So, nice as freeware, but worlds apart from being state-of-the-art in 2025 for me. Luckily there are more than enough alternatives available meanwhile...
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