Capitol Mastering Compressor

Get the legendary tube compressor from Capitol Studios.

Capitol Mastering Compressor gives you the rich sound of the CM5511 — a legendary handbuilt tube mastering compressor designed and used by Capitol Studios on historic catalogs and thousands of hit records. Exclusively modeled by UA, now you can get the same professional finishing touch previously only available at Capitol Studios.

Included Version

UAD Native
Runs on your Mac or PC without UA hardware.

UAD Native plug-ins run on both macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and Windows 10 and 11. Go to our UA Support page for system requirements.

Give your tracks the velvet touch of Capitol's handbuilt mastering compressor, the CM5511
Get the pro sonics of the same hardware used on catalogs from Capitol, Blue Note, Motown, Verve, and more
Easily increase perceived loudness and texture in your productions with Saturator, Mix, and Headroom controls
Tighten your low end and expand your stereo width using simple Mono Fold and Mid/Side features

Get the Exclusive Sound of Capitol Mastering

The CM5511 compressor has mastered entire catalogs from Capitol, Motown, Geffen, Blue Note, Def Jam, and dozens more, as well as modern records by Black Sabbath, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez.* Inspired by vintage Fairchild 670 and Gates Sta‑Level tube limiters — and designed for consistent results across Capitol's four mastering rooms — Capitol Mastering Compressor is an exacting emulation of this "spare no expense" hardware, giving you the modern tube-based sound of this custom-made dynamics masterpiece.

Expanded Controls for Complete In‑The‑Box Mastering

Easily tighten low end, add subtle saturation, and tweak the stereo field with easy‑to‑use "plug‑in only" controls. Plus, comprehensive dBFS and LUFS metering and sidechain filter means you have a full-featured, modern mastering tool at your fingertips.

Add Expensive Sound to your Instrument Groups

Not just for the 2‑bus, Capitol Mastering Compressor will add its tube‑based magic to your drum bus, synths, background vocals, and more, giving you the gorgeous dynamics control only achievable with this one‑of‑a‑kind, hit‑proven hardware.

*Use of artist names does not constitute official endorsement of Capitol Mastering Compressor software

System Requirements

macOS Catalina 10.15, Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13, or Sonoma 14
Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit editions)
Intel, AMD or Apple silicon processor
Internet connection to download software and authorize native UAD plug-ins
Free iLok account with iLok Cloud or iLok USB (2nd generation or higher)
Free UA Connect application for managing native UAD plug-ins
A supported DAW compatible with VST, AU and AAX plug-in file formats.

Native UAD Instruments Requirements

Sample-based UAD instruments require SSD storage with APFS formatting for macOS or NTFS formatting for Windows
1 GB to 10 GB available SSD storage per plug-in (space requirement varies per UAD Instrument). A minimum of 100 GB available storage is highly recommended.
Individual UAD Instrument storage requirements are listed on UA Connect’s UAD Plug-Ins tab.

Notes

Operating systems not listed above are untested. Although untested operating systems may work, they are not supported by Universal Audio.
Pre-release and beta versions of operating systems are not supported.
Native UAD plug-ins on Apple silicon machines automatically run natively on Apple silicon in DAWs that support native Apple silicon.
Windows running via Bootcamp on Mac systems are not supported.