Review: Universal Audio Volt 876

VIRTUAL DESKS

Control of the Volt 876 is both via software, and the front panel. The front is where you’ll find eight backlit pushbuttons for selecting each of the eight analogue inputs of the Volt. Once selected you can adjust gain via a single rotary encoder, hit dedicated buttons, again backlit, to select individually: phase, high-impedance input for the front panel inputs, and 48V phantom power. Yes, individual, per-channel 48V power. Thanks UA. I can think of worse things, but juggling condenser mics between banks of inputs on an interface with ganged phantom power is a pain. Following on from the five-segment LED meters is a control room set of buttons, such as Dim, Mute, Alt (mix), and a ‘Direct’ button for monitoring the selected input directly from the Volt rather than via your DAW (with inherent latency). Talkback is also available via the front panel, with the Dim button doubling-dealing for Talkback. A quick press puts the unit into latched Dim/Talkback, with a long press keeping Dim/Talkback engaged until the button’s released. It’s all very intuitive, with hardware buttons for everything you’d require in a tracking scenario. To the far right are two 6.5mm headphone jacks with dedicated level controls, which aren’t accessible via the UAD Console software – it’s a case of turning them up and governing levels to the headphone mixes via the software’s Cue mix.

Installing the UAD Console software is governed via Universal Audio’s UA Connect application which gets everything up and running pronto. Either on MacOS or Windows (with associated ASIO driver). From UAD Console you can set up cue mixes, pop the unit into standalone ADAT expander mode, instigate phase inversion, levels, pan, 48V, and two seperate cue mixes which can each be flipped to the main monitoring path. All control room-style functions can also be driven via the UAD Console software. Augmenting this utility is how direct monitoring ‘Sessions’ (monitor/mix/cue setups) can be saved as individual files for recall of session settings. This is extremely useful if direct monitoring is your game, however, many folk are more than happy to run monitoring and cue mixes from within their DAW, and to hell with the latency, which is fair enough. That said, latency isn’t a major issue, and the Volt 876 will happily function glitch-free at a 32-sample buffer in Logic Pro, unlike my older interface. Those 32 samples with the Volt provide a 7.9ms round trip on my particular MacBook (i9 not Apple Silicon). Interestingly my ancient Firewire unit provides slightly lower latency figures, but ironically won’t play ball at a 32-sample buffer. Mileages vary, of course.

HORSES FOR COURSES

It’s worth pointing out the considerable differences between UA’s Volt 876 and the company’s flagship Apollo devices. Unlike Apollo systems, Volt 876 units won’t allow meshing with Universal Audio’s suite of DSP-assisted plugins. There’s no ‘universal’ DSP for running plugins outside your DAW and its CPU. However, there is some DSP functionality lurking in the Volt 876. Each of the eight analogue inputs can individually switch in a bit of flavour, in the form of a ‘Vintage’ button that instigates a 610 tube mic preamp emulation – an iconic preamp design used on just about everyone famous since Frank Sinatra. Additionally, there’s an emulation of the 1176 Limiting Amplifier, another classic recording stalwart that’s been around since 1967. That’s almost 60 years of classic recordings, most of which would have been shunted via an 1176 at various points. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of control over the 1176 emulation, with three settings only – VOC, GTR, and FAST – these are selectable via the front panel or via the UAD Console application. Use at your discretion. Or all day. Both functions sound great. Remember: using these DSP functions will print to record, which I doubt you’ll regret.

Volt 876 offers an auto-gain function – a nifty feature introduced in Apollo X Gen2 which has now been brought over to the Volt family. This function is accessible via the UAD Console software only. It’s simple enough to use: just set it to Listen and play as loud as you’d think you’d get and the Volt adjusts the input gain automatically to suit – a handy time-saver, especially when drums are involved.

Specifications between the two platforms are also disparate. While Apollo units offer a top-shelf 129dB (A-weighted) dynamic range on monitor outputs and THD of -118dB (0.00012%), the Volt is in the -119dB range with a THD of -111dB (0.0002%). Mic inputs on the Apollo offer 122dB (A-weighted) dynamic range and THD of -114dB (0.0002%), whereas Volt World is more in the arena of -116dB and a THD of -110dB (0.0003%). So they’re similar, but the Apollo definitely has the upper hand in the monitoring department. Interestingly, the A>D/D>A conversion in the Volt is 32-bit as opposed to the Apollo’s 24-bit.

Comparing specs is interesting but Apollo and Volt 876 are playing in very different fields (Apollo will cost you at least three times as much as a Volt 876), and Volt 876 is unlikely cannibalise any Apollo sales.

FOR YOU (OR ME)

Fidelity-wise I can’t fault the Volt 876. Reproduction is concise, present, defined and articulate. The I/O facility suits my needs admirably, and I really should knock Firewire on the head once and for all. Apple has.

The only thing that concerns me is the USB2.0 connection. It’s scarcely more bandwidth than Firewire, although it’s a supported format. A consideration is the USB shuffle that inevitably goes on with the swathe of USB peripherals tethered to my main MacBook Pro. I’d be keeping it on a dedicated USB/Thunderbolt port, or at least on a Thunderbolt hub. All decisions for you (and me) to ponder if considering the Volt 876.