Review Audio Interface
The Complete Recording System?
Universal Audio hasn’t exactly held back when it comes to producing both excellent software and great-sounding sound cards/audio interfaces. Their VOLT series has now been expanded with an interface that seems to have everything you could need in a recording context. We take a look at the Volt 876.
With the Volt 876, Universal Audio continues to delight all audio lovers with yet another powerful audio interface. And this time, they’ve gone all in. The Volt 876 is an extremely well-equipped, rack-mountable interface with top-notch quality converters, eight analog in/out – plus 16 ADAT – a first-class DAW is included, as well as some other bits and pieces in software, but let’s start from the beginning.
Volt 876 USB Recording Studio
Universal Audio has previously, in the Apollo series, presented quite a few audio interfaces of this caliber, but first of all the top models in that series cost three times as much as the Volt 876, and secondly development in the digital area has progressed by leaps and bounds since the Apollo series was first released – everything was definitely not better in the old days.
In addition, we also have other manufacturers – Arturia, Focusrite, and others – who have been tinkering with this concept, but now UA outshines them all with the Volt 876. Its physical form is one unit high and 19 inches wide – a classic format that works so well both on a desk and in a rack context. To be on the safe side, UA ships with both rack ears and soft feet for those occasions when you choose to place the interface on a desk. A splendid idea!
And when it comes to the 876, Universal Audio has really packed the 19-inch format to the brim with everything you could possibly need for recording. But despite being able to use eight analog inputs plus one or two sets of digital inputs via ADAT, the format doesn’t feel in the least bit complicated.
They’ve packed in eight really good mic preamps – the converters work with 32-bit resolution and a sampling frequency of up to 192 kHz – and the interface integrates seamlessly with LUNA, UA’s DAW, which has also recently been updated to 2.0, with a handful of new features as a result. Volt 876 also doesn’t have any strange submenus. You can access all functions – one channel at a time – from the front panel, or in the Console software. Convenient indeed!
The features on offer are nothing short of amazing, or how about a vintage preamp feature inspired by UA’s iconic 610 mixer and an 1176-style compressor with three different presets: fast, guitar and vocal, for all eight analog inputs? In addition, the interface works for both Mac, Windows and iOS, i.e. iPad and iPhone. The plot thickens!
In addition to this, the Volt 876 of course has all the other useful features that a serious recording person can hardly live without.
In use
A Volt 876 could very well be an ideal audio interface when you, for example, need to mic up an entire drum kit, or why not have it in place in the rehearsal room and record the entire band. If you also have access to another interface or a multi-channel mic preamp with ADAT output – this might be an Apollo system, for example – you can expand your recording system up to 24 channels. Not bad!
The Volt 876 also offers several different recording modes. In USB Mode, you can connect the interface to any Mac or PC, or why not record your song ideas in the highest quality directly into Logic Pro on your iPad?
ADAT Mode is the version we discussed earlier – with up to 24 channels. But then you also have Standalone Mode where you can use the Volt 876 as a really good microphone amplifier for live use.
And speaking of microphones… The first two inputs, which we find on the front in the form of balanced combo connectors (XLR and TRS), can also be switched to an instrument setting for electric guitar or bass. Here UA has been clever enough to give the hi Z mode an input impedance of 1MΩ, which is exactly what an electric guitar is used to seeing when you connect it to a Fender amplifier. Many other sound card manufacturers have unfortunately chosen a lower impedance value and this means that a directly connected electric guitar can sound both thin and feeble. But not this one…
Other connections can be found on the back of the device, apart from the two headphone jacks which are of course located on the front. They have both a really substantial output signal and separate volume controls. Six combo connectors on the rear handle the rest of the analog inputs, and six balanced phone connectors handle the output signal.
The back also houses the rest of the connections, mains 240 Volt, USB C for communication with a computer, MIDI in and out, the ADAT connections (optical digital), plus Word Clock in and out, for synchronization with other digital equipment.
We have very briefly touched on the front of the Volt 876. There you have LED bars that show the input signal on all eight channels. Each channel has its own button and once you have selected a channel, your other choices only affect that channel. This may include phantom power, phase reversal, selection of mic or instrument level (channels 1 and 2 only), whether you want to engage vintage mode, or any of the compressor versions for the mic stages. Unfortunately, you have no option to adjust the three presets on offer, but each preset has been configured in a very useful way. There is also a Direct Monitor function, which works on your selected input, or inputs. You can also control all of these functions directly from within AU’s DAW LUNA, or via the included software mixer AU Console.
LUNA / LUNA Pro
Volt 876 can be run with any DAW, but with LUNA you get several special features. We have a few AI tools, such as Voice Control, Instrument Detection and Tempo Listen/Detection, which are all intended to make life a little bit easier. Voice Control means that you can, for example, ask Luna to start recording on a specific channel. You just say “Hey Luna”, and then the appropriate command for what you want to do. For example: “Start Playback!” Just like talking to Siri on your iPhone. Pretty amazing!
The first version of the LUNA Recording System, which is the full name of this recording program from UA, was released back in April 2020. It was already free from the start, but in the beginning you had to have one of UA’s audio interfaces for it to work. Today, version 2 has been reached, and LUNA has been working with all sound cards for quite some time. Version 2.0 includes a lot of upgrades, including ARA support and full integration with Volt 876 (today’s test object).
In addition, there is now also a paid version, LUNA Pro, and where the free version offers a few plugins and software instruments, in the Pro version you get 29 of UA’s Extensions, a couple of ARA plugins from other developers – Melodyne Essential and DynAssist Lite – plus the MIDI plugin ChordAXE Lite. In addition, LUNA Pro 2.0 now handles hardware inserts. This means you can use your external rack effects for recording and mixing. Both versions of LUNA can handle both AU and VST 3 plugins in macOS, so you are not locked into using only UA’s plugins. Under Windows you can of course forget about the AU format, since it is not supported under that operating system. You can find out exactly what is included in the plugin path in both versions on the developer’s website.
LUNA is a very modern DAW, but it is perhaps primarily intended to be used for traditional linear analog and digital recording, like: a more modern and “slicker” version of Pro Tools. However, what it offers is of the absolute highest quality. And I could very well imagine having it as my first-choice DAW, instead of Logic or Pro Tools. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to look at many programs of this kind, and nowhere have I encountered such a wealth of well-thought-out and educational Getting Started videos. This means that you get into the LUNA mindset in no time, and there is another excellent series where an extremely competent producer shows how to do more advanced music production. Full marks for the education, then!
Along the way, the developers have constantly added features that were missing and/or requested by users. And today, there is actually almost nothing that I would miss in my music production. The bounce, freeze, and side-chain features that were previously requested are now in place, along with much else that has been added along the way.
When it comes to demo songs from the developers, I was completely taken by the first song I downloaded from UA’s website. A simple song in the style of Billie Eilish. Absolutely wonderful! When you download the free version, you also get a 30-day trial license for what’s included in the Pro package, so you can check it out at your leisure. Plus, it’s great to have software where you can constantly find new features that can provide some extra inspiration.
Other software
We have already mentioned UA Console, which is a software mixer that is included in the system. Unlike the version of Console used for the Apollo interface, you do not have any DSP effects in either the Volt 876 Console or the Volt series of audio interfaces. The developers have understood that today you can do very well with the processing power built into all modern computers. Incidentally, the Volt 876 is the first Volt sound card that can be controlled with Console, and of course we would have liked to see this flexibility in the others in the series. And who knows…?
Both in Console and directly from within LUNA you can control a variety of functions. Some of them we have talked about earlier, but in Console you can also engage the auto-gain function, create two different Cue mixes and send these to each headphone output, and/or use the talkback function to communicate with musicians in another room, for example. And all of these settings can be saved and retrieved when needed, along with all the settings from the 876’s front panel. Why make it unnecessarily difficult for yourself?
The free version of LUNA includes a few extensions – UA’s name for the plug-ins that can only be run in LUNA. For example, you have a good tape emulation, Oxide, and ARP LUNA, an arpeggiator for software instruments, but also Shape, a software instrument that offers vintage keys, drums/percussion, guitar/bass, orchestral sounds, and real-time synthesis. And of course you can buy any extensions you want, according to your needs and finances.
Along with LUNA Pro, users also get the UAD Producer Suite, which includes a range of plug-ins such as the LA-2A, UA 1176, Pultec EQ and PolyMAX Synth, and Showtime ’64 Tube Amp.
In addition, UA also has a really affordable plug-in package, SPARK, which contains over 60 classic and great-sounding UA plug-ins. Right now you can get an annual subscription for $79! It’s really worth it.
Conclusion
When it comes to the hardware, the Volt 876 actually has everything you need to record in a project studio or a larger context, with the highest possible sound quality. And together with the included LUNA recording software, you have an excellent music production package. In addition, all the components from Universal Audio are of the highest quality. Everything sounds so good! It warms the heart of an old audio enthusiast to see a manufacturer really go “All in” when it comes to quality. I would really – without any hesitation – recommend the Volt 876 for all types of recording contexts. 10 points out of 10!
SPECIFICATIONS
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
macOS Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14, Sequoia 15 or Tahoe 26; Windows 10 or newer
Intel quad-core i7 (or better), or Apple Silicon processor recommended
16 GB RAM or more is recommended; SSD storage for LUNA sessions is recommended
HARD DISK 600 MB available storage on system volume
CONNECTION TO COMPUTER USB-C
PRE-AMPS 8 x Vintage/76 mode
AD/DA CONVERTERS 32-bit/up to 192 kHz
MICROPHONE INPUT Dynamics: 112 dB, frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz ±0,1 dB, EIN: -127 dB, Gain: 55 dB; THM: 0,0007 %
ANALOG INGPUTS 8 combi XLR/Tele
DIGITAL I/O 16 x ADAT
DRIVERS Mac: Class Compliant; Win: installed via UA Connect
DEVELOPER Universal Audio, www.uadio.com
SWEDIESH DISTRIBUTOR Fitzpatrick IG, www.fitzpatrick.com
PRICE Volt 876: 10 890 SEK; LUNA: free; LUNA Pro: 129 dollar
PLUS
Sounds very nice
Both hardware and software are very easy to work with
Lots of useful extra features
Part of a complete system with top-class hardware and software
Volt works closely with the DAW program LUNA (included)
You can control lots of functions with the software
MINUS
A bit cramped between the headphone knobs – a little tricky to access
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