UA Volt 476

[Tadpui]

I grabbed a UA Volt 476 to review, and I figured that I'd jot down some initial thoughts here since I'm not going to finish the review video tonight and it's fresh on my mind.

First off, the build quality, fit, finish, knobs, buttons, and just overall feel is excellent. Best of any interface that I've handled myself. It's really a well-built piece of hardware. Probably the overall best that I've ever touched.

So far, sending a line-level drum machine, a direct bass, a direct guitar, a miked acoustic guitar, and a miked electric guitar through it, the range of gain adjustment is very good. Plenty of headroom for super-loud sources, plenty of gain for quieter sources. And the sound quality of the inputs and outputs is also excellent. Definitely top notch. Maybe the best ever.

So far it's been rock-solid and stable as far as drivers and overall performance. No glitches or hiccups. Drivers are fast enough and adjustable in all of the desirable ways (well, sample rate and bit depth...which is all you need, and you'd be surprised at how many interfaces don't allow sample rate adjustment via their own control panel).

As for the unique features for this interface:
- the built-in compressor pretty much sucks. It's on or off, no adjustment other than 3 presets (vocal, guitar, fast). It doesn't actually compress much, and it just adds hiss and some other odd fluttering noise at low levels, and it raises the gain.
- the "vintage" switch is really subtle. Way more subtle than Focusrite's "Air" or SSL's "4K" one-touch saturation+EQ buttons.

Then there's the software side of things. The software is all great, and of very high quality. There's a Marshall Plexi sim, and Ampeg sim, a bus compressor, a delay, Melodyne, a Lexicon reverb, and a couple of virtual AI bandmates (bass and drums). There's not a slouch in the bunch. This is all very very good software.

But UA way overstepped their bounds in one massive way: you can't even download or install the drivers until you sign up for an account with UA. That's right...no drivers for you unless you give them your personal info (email, first/last name, country, zip code). This is a terrible precedent to set, and I really hope that they get slapped down from some privacy group for this. What a lame requirement. They're device drivers, not top-secret nuclear codes. EVERY other manufacturer freely allows access for any anonymous Joe Schmoe to download drivers for any of their devices. Except UA. Twats.

And the software fun wasn't over. Get ready to register for iLok, Softube, Celemony, Plugin Alliance, Relab, UJAM and Spitfire Audio to redeem your software. That's an insane amount of accounts to register for just to get some free software. That's EIGHT different companies that you have to trust to not leak your personal info in a data breach (or willingly sell it because fuck you and your privacy). They need to unify all of this bullshit, it has gotten out of control. Slinging your email and other personal info all over the internet just isn't acceptable.

We are living in the darkest timeline of home recording.

Anyways, great interface. Great software. Shit process to get it running with all of the extras.

[CrowsofFritz]

Yeah, I didn’t expect the compressor to be good. I just wished they would have marketed it differently. The FET may even be the exact same as one in an 1176 because FETs are cheap as hell. But it’s not an 1176.

[Armistice]

I've found it relatively common for companies to put ALL downloadables behind an account - even simple things like drivers.

[JD01]

I grabbed a UA Volt 476 to review, and I figured that I'd jot down some initial thoughts here since I'm not going to finish the review video tonight and it's fresh on my mind.

First off, the build quality, fit, finish, knobs, buttons, and just overall feel is excellent. Best of any interface that I've handled myself. It's really a well-built piece of hardware. Probably the overall best that I've ever touched.

So far, sending a line-level drum machine, a direct bass, a direct guitar, a miked acoustic guitar, and a miked electric guitar through it, the range of gain adjustment is very good. Plenty of headroom for super-loud sources, plenty of gain for quieter sources. And the sound quality of the inputs and outputs is also excellent. Definitely top notch. Maybe the best ever.

So far it's been rock-solid and stable as far as drivers and overall performance. No glitches or hiccups. Drivers are fast enough and adjustable in all of the desirable ways (well, sample rate and bit depth...which is all you need, and you'd be surprised at how many interfaces don't allow sample rate adjustment via their own control panel).

As for the unique features for this interface:
- the built-in compressor pretty much sucks. It's on or off, no adjustment other than 3 presets (vocal, guitar, fast). It doesn't actually compress much, and it just adds hiss and some other odd fluttering noise at low levels, and it raises the gain.
- the "vintage" switch is really subtle. Way more subtle than Focusrite's "Air" or SSL's "4K" one-touch saturation+EQ buttons.

Then there's the software side of things. The software is all great, and of very high quality. There's a Marshall Plexi sim, and Ampeg sim, a bus compressor, a delay, Melodyne, a Lexicon reverb, and a couple of virtual AI bandmates (bass and drums). There's not a slouch in the bunch. This is all very very good software.

But UA way overstepped their bounds in one massive way: you can't even download or install the drivers until you sign up for an account with UA. That's right...no drivers for you unless you give them your personal info (email, first/last name, country, zip code). This is a terrible precedent to set, and I really hope that they get slapped down from some privacy group for this. What a lame requirement. They're device drivers, not top-secret nuclear codes. EVERY other manufacturer freely allows access for any anonymous Joe Schmoe to download drivers for any of their devices. Except UA. Twats.

And the software fun wasn't over. Get ready to register for iLok, Softube, Celemony, Plugin Alliance, Relab, UJAM and Spitfire Audio to redeem your software. That's an insane amount of accounts to register for just to get some free software. That's EIGHT different companies that you have to trust to not leak your personal info in a data breach (or willingly sell it because fuck you and your privacy). They need to unify all of this bullshit, it has gotten out of control. Slinging your email and other personal info all over the internet just isn't acceptable.

We are living in the darkest timeline of home recording.

Anyways, great interface. Great software. Shit process to get it running with all of the extras.

Are they gonna get a hammering on YouTube about this?

[Lt. Bob]

who do you review stuff for?
You didn't buy this just to review for us.

[Tadpui]

Yeah, I didn’t expect the compressor to be good. I just wished they would have marketed it differently. The FET may even be the exact same as one in an 1176 because FETs are cheap as hell. But it’s not an 1176.

I'll give the compressor another try tonight on voice and see if it makes any more difference than it did on guitar or bass. It was basically invisible on those sources, just noisier and a little louder. I have to admit, that was disappointing.

And yeah, I wouldn't expect them to cram two $2500 compressors into a $400 box...but I'd at least expect the compressors to...you know...compress

I've found it relatively common for companies to put ALL downloadables behind an account - even simple things like drivers.

I honestly can't think of a single instance that I've seen of that for any other audio interface brand. So far I've used interfaces from Focusrite, Behringer, Native Instruments, Roland, RME, SSL, MOTU, M-Audio, Lexicon, Steinberg, and I could just google that device + drivers and land on a page to download drivers, firmware updates, manuals, etc. without an account or a branded downloader.

My main irritations were that they'd hide critical drivers behind an account wall that requires their downloader (no direct download). Then repeat that for 8 different companies and their respective downloaders and/or account registrations...it was like living in that meme: "Yo dawg, I heard you like downloaders so I put a downloader in your downloader so you can download while you download"

Are they gonna get a hammering on YouTube about this?

Definitely. Just in a more polite tone Other than the registration gauntlet, it's been a delight to use. I'm going to try to finish up my silly basic demo project tonight and hopefully wrap up the review in the process. I'll have cooled down a bit by then.

[Tadpui]

who do you review stuff for?
You didn't buy this just to review for us.

It's for my YouTube channel. Every once in a while I build up enough revenue in my Google AdSense account to buy an audio interface or other bit of entry-level recording gear to make a video about. I find it fun to play with the offerings from various brands and see how they compare to one another.

And it's cool that it's turned into a self-sustaining endeavor where I can use earnings to buy gear to make videos to generate more earnings to buy gear to make videos...and in the process get some hands-on experience with the interfaces that we all see at retailers and in publications.

People seem to really appreciate seeing and hearing an interface in action, instead of just reading about it or watching people point at it. I mean, I do my fair share of pointing and talking, but I at least try to offset that by recording an actual project through it too

[Manslick]

Subscribed

[rayc]

I didn't bother with the software that "came with" the SSL2. Same deal, account, iLok...it's AUS$80 to buy an iLok dongle in Oz.

[Greg_L]

I at least try to offset that by recording an actual project through it too

This is a HUGE feather in your youtube cap IMO. You don't just unbox and review. You actually use whatever you're reviewing to make a song. That's a big step beyond what pretty much anyone else does.

[Tadpui]

Subscribed

Awesome, thanks! Hope it doesn't bore you to death

I didn't bother with the software that "came with" the SSL2. Same deal, account, iLok...it's AUS$80 to buy an iLok dongle in Oz.

Yeah, the iLok thing is a pain. But the good news is that iLok no longer requires a physical dongle. I just learned that not too long ago. There's a cloud option, although I don't know anything about how it works. I think that it's through the same license manager that you'd use for the dongle, which does require an account. But those SSL plugins are actually pretty dang good. They even recently threw another one into the bundle. If you get bored one of these days, it'd be worth grabbing them if you're willing to fork over an email address to yet another online entity.

This is a HUGE feather in your youtube cap IMO. You don't just unbox and review. You actually use whatever you're reviewing to make a song. That's a big step beyond what pretty much anyone else does.

Thanks man, I appreciate it

[JD01]

I at least try to offset that by recording an actual project through it too

This is a HUGE feather in your youtube cap IMO. You don't just unbox and review. You actually use whatever you're reviewing to make a song. That's a big step beyond what pretty much anyone else does.

I think the only other guy thst does thst is the JHS Pedals guy.

[rayc]

This is a HUGE feather in your youtube cap IMO. You don't just unbox and review. You actually use whatever you're reviewing to make a song. That's a big step beyond what pretty much anyone else does.

I think the only other guy thst does thst is the JHS Pedals guy.

AND they've become less than good of late with their prolonged live stream, unscripted silliness with Rhett SHILL and other involved.
When they return to their core methodology it's usually good though.

[JD01]

Ah, I haven't watched one for quite a while.

[Tadpui]

When I sat down to film this review, I didn't have a song in mind at all. Usually I've at least done a demo recording the previous week to hash out ideas for the project in the video. But this time I went into it cold, with no written song except a couple of chords that I put together on acoustic guitar a few minutes before hitting record. So this is apparently what happens when I make up a song on the spot, over the course of 5 or 6 hours of filming.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xljxq7j8wg7ej ... 1.mp3?dl=0

My wife chuckled when I told her that I think it sounds like a low-rent Clapton sitting in with a low-rent Kinks