U2 · Album, 1991
Achtung Baby
8 sourced items across 2 sectionsVerified3Reported5
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: Even Better Than the Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, One, The Fly, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.
What the sources do and do not say
Album record from Paul Tingen's 1994 interview with engineer Robbie Adams, which covers Achtung Baby and Zooropa together. It does not mention 'One' or its recording, and Adams mixed other songs, so every row is album-level. The article's drum, guitar and bass miking passages are Adams's general habits and are left out; the vocal rows (SM58, Summit) come from narrative that also covers Zooropa. The album year given in the article is 1991 (the brief lists 1992).
Bono lead vocal (album sessions)
3 items
Bono
Microphone
The real chain
Shure SM58
Reported
Main microphone for most of Bono's vocals on the U2 sessions Adams worked on.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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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
The real chain
Summit Compressor (model not stated)
Reported
Compressor on Bono's vocals in the same description of the usual vocal chain.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Covers this kind of unit
Softube Summit Audio TLA-100A
compressor
Models Summit's TLA-100A valve levelling amplifier, the firm's best-known compressor. The source does not name the model, so this stands for the maker's family of units: it is not a model of the one on the record.
The real chain
Dolby SR
Verified
On several Achtung Baby tracks Bono's vocal was recorded to tape with Dolby SR and played back without decoding, as a replacement for the Summit compressor, to tighten and brighten it.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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No plugin suggested. Noise reduction is designed to be inaudible. Nothing to add in a DAW.
Tracking and mixing chain (album sessions)
5 items
Input chain
The real chain
Soundcraft 6000
Reported
Initial control-room desk for the Achtung Baby sessions at the rented house, later used mainly as a monitoring desk.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Covers this kind of unit
Trident Audio Developments 80B EQ (Trident Digital Edition)
equaliser
A British desk EQ of the same decade with the same layout of shelving top and bottom and two swept mids; it is not a model of this unit.
The real chain
Otari MTR100
Reported
Analogue 24-track recorder, running with Dolby SR, in the initial control setup for the Achtung Baby sessions.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Approximate
Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines
tape
Models two Studer machines, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape.
Also worth a look 1
- Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape)
The real chain
Neve Console (model not stated)
Reported
Reconditioned 1970s 36-channel Neve EMI desk that the sessions switched to after a while, in place of the Soundcraft.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Approximate
Waves NLS Non-Linear Summer
console emulation
Adds the summing character of three desks, one of them a Neve. The source does not name the console model, so this is only a family resemblance.
The real chain
Fostex D20
Verified
Timecode DAT machine holding overdubs of uncertain use as extra tracks alongside the 24-track, with chosen takes flown back to the multitrack later.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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No plugin suggested. A digital recorder. Your DAW does this job, so no plugin is needed to stand in for it.
The real chain
Adam Smith Zeta 3
Verified
Synchroniser linking the DAT machine to the Otari multitrack for the 'fatting' method of keeping extra overdub takes.
Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. A sequencer, computer or synchroniser. It controls other equipment and makes no sound of its own. Any DAW does this job.
Sources
- Robbie Adams: Recording U2's Achtung Baby & Zooropa, Sound On Sound, 1994-03. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
What the ratings mean
Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.
Stated by a reputable secondary source.
An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.
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