UA Luna 3.0 Gets Assistive AI In Big Update

UA's DAW gains smart capture tools and more   15-Sep-26

Universal Audio has released LUNA 3.0, the seventh update to its macOS and Windows DAW, adding assisted capture and analysis tools on top of the analog-style channel strips, summing and tape extensions the platform has carried since its 2020 launch. Its designed to get you recording with as little friction as possible and present the more pro features in an easy to use format. Its called Luna Play and its an interesting direction to take the DAW, and will integrate of course with the UA hardware ecosystem.

Play works like a voice memo app built for music: it detects the instrument connected to whatever input, sets levels automatically and suggests presets from UA's UAD plug-in range when its identified the source, so an idea can be captured without building a session first. Tracks can also be isolated from an existing song to jam along with, or new ideas recorded over it.

Stem separation arrives in two tiers - four stems in LUNA Free and six in LUNA Studio - for editing, remixing and sampling. Audio-to-MIDI converts audio performances into MIDI for layering virtual instruments. Lyric transcription puts vocals into a time-aligned lyric browser, and chord extraction, powered by Moises, detects chords from audio and maps them to LUNA's Chord Track.

LUNA Free also picks up a batch of editing and workflow additions:

• Folder Tracks - organise tracks and route audio into folders.
• Piano Roll - scale-aware MIDI editing with new tools.
• Adaptive Grid - the grid value follows the zoom level.
• Clip Gain Automation - detailed gain rides on audio clips, before plug-ins.
• Record FX - the recording workflow previously exclusive to Apollo interfaces, for native users.
• Strip Silence - detects audible regions and removes silent sections.
• Click Track Automation - full control over the metronome.
• Mono Inputs for Stereo Tracks - record mono sources onto stereo channels without extra routing.
• Chord, Key and Time Signature Rulers - read the musical structure of a session at a glance.

Part 2 of the Luna 3.0 Walkthrough
 

LUNA Studio is the fully equipped tier, bundling the Free feature set with UAD plug-ins, LUNA Extensions for API, Studer and Ampex tape and console emulations, and UAD Instruments. It also adds Celemony Tonalic Elements for virtual session players, Dreamtonics Synthesizer V 2 Core for vocal melodies and harmonies, and Topline Vocal Tune.

LUNA 3.0 is available now. LUNA Studio is $199 USD, and is also included in a UAD Spark Studio subscription, which pairs it with UA's full native plug-in library for $19.99/month or $149.99/year.

More Info: https://www.uaudio.com/collections/luna