How It Was Recorded

Ed Sheeran · Album, 2017

÷

This is an album-level record: the sources describe how the album as a whole was recorded, not one song. Where a detail belongs to a single song, the row says so.

Songs this record stands for: Bad Habits, Bloodstream, Castle on the Hill, Don't, Drunk, Eyes Closed, Galway Girl, Give Me Love, Happier, Lego House, Perfect, Photograph, Shape of You, Shivers, Sing, The A Team, The Joker and the Queen, Thinking Out Loud, Visiting Hours, You Need Me, I Don't Need You. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead vocalElectric guitarAcoustic guitarVerified7Reported2Inferred2

What the sources do and do not say

One Sound On Sound interview with engineer Joe Rubel on the Divide sessions, read in full. It describes the album's tracking in general and never mentions Perfect by name, so every row is album-level. The vocal microphone is given as either a U47 or a Sontronics Aria, so both rows are marked hedged. The pedalboard belongs to Rubel and the text does not say it was used on Perfect.

Lead vocal

Ed Sheeran

Microphone

Neumann U 47

Reported

One of two vocal microphones Rubel names for Sheeran's vocal on the album sessions, the other being the Sontronics Aria. (recalled with uncertainty)

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.

Sontronics Aria

Reported

The alternative vocal microphone to the U47 that Rubel names for Sheeran's vocal on the album sessions. (recalled with uncertainty)

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.

Input chain

Neve 1073

Verified

Microphone preamp the vocal microphone fed on the way in.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

Made with AMS Neve as a model of the 1073 preamp and equaliser.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Scheps 73 (Models the 1073's preamp and equaliser, made with Andrew Scheps).

Tube-Tech CL 1B

Verified

Compressor on the vocal on the way in, which Rubel says suits Sheeran's voice and was Benny and Chris's go-to; an LA-2A is used if a CL1B is unavailable.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Softube Tube-Tech CL 1B Mk II

compressor

Made with Tube-Tech as a model of the CL 1B.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Teletronix LA-2A

Verified

Fallback vocal tracking compressor when a Tube-Tech CL 1B was not available.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection

compressor

Universal Audio owns the Teletronix name; this is its own model of the LA-2A.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter (Models an LA-2A from Chris Lord-Alge's collection. Cheaper and runs without UA hardware).

Waves RVox

Verified

Plug-in in Pro Tools used to control the vocal a little, ahead of the CLA-2A.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. This is already software, so the stand-in is the thing itself. No product link has been added for it yet.

Waves CLA-2A

Verified

Plug-in following RVox that added a little character to the vocal in the basic vocal sound.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

The plugin used on the record

Waves CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter

compressor

The plugin named in the source.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Electric guitar

Ed Sheeran

Amplifier

Audio Kitchen Little Chopper

Verified

Valve amplifier used heavily on the album for electric guitar, effected with pedals in front of it.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5

amp and cabinet simulator

An amp and cabinet simulator covering this style of amplifier. Whether this exact model is included was not checked.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro (An amp and cabinet simulator covering this style of amplifier. Whether this exact model is included was not checked).

Palmer Speaker simulator (model not stated)

Verified

The Little Chopper was taken through this speaker simulator instead of a real loudspeaker, with its XLR output fed to a preamp.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Acoustic guitar

Ed Sheeran

Instrument

Lowden Acoustic guitar (model not stated)

InferredUsual practice

Sheeran owns a couple of Lowden guitars, which Rubel describes as lovely, within his general account of how acoustic guitar is recorded.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Joe Rubel describes this as usual practice; it is not stated for this record.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Martin Acoustic guitar (model not stated)

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Rubel says they record Sheeran's Martin guitars, and Martin give him a new personal one with each album.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Joe Rubel describes this as usual practice; it is not stated for this record.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Sources

  1. Recording Ed Sheeran's Divide, Sound On Sound, 2017-05. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Verified

Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.

Reported

Stated by a reputable secondary source.

Inferred

An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.

Disclosure: plugin links currently go straight to the maker and earn us nothing. If that changes, affiliate links will be marked here. Suggestions are chosen on fit, never on commission, and are kept separate from the recording facts. More.