Universal Audio Volt 276

[rabbuhl]

I was near to purchasing an audio interface to record vocals. I settled on the Univeral Audio Solo and then found out about the Volt series. The Volt 276 looks pretty good. Any takes on the new Volt series and the 276 in particular.

[jim1960]

The Volt 276 is part of Universal Audio's new very basic budget lineup. It hasn't been out long enough for many people to have heard one yet, so you're going to be flying blind to some degree. That said, however, I expect these will sound about as good as any other offerings around the $100-$200 price range.

The Volt 276 sells for $299 and is essentially the same as the Volt 2 with the exception of what UA describes as a built in 1176 compressor emulation ...sort of. It's not really an 1176 emulation. Instead, it's a one-knob version of the 1176 that lacks the same control as an 1176, whether real or a plugin. For that reason, I don't think the additional cost of the 276 is worth it and I'd recommend going with the Volt 2 instead and saving the $110 dollar difference.If you wanted an 1176 plugin later, one can be had for much less than $110.

The 276 and the Volt 2 are both 2 channel units. In other words, you can only record two channels at any one time. For the singing guitarist, that means you won't be able to record a stereo guitar track and a vocal guitar track at the same time. You would, however, be able to record a stereo guitar track and overdub vocals onto a third track later, or record a mono guitar and vocal track simultaneously.

Like with any other interface, this one will require the use of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). That's the computer software used for recording (for more information on available DAWs, see the AGF Members Gear Masterlist thread stickied at the top of this subforum). Luna, the free DAW UA gives away with its Apollo interfaces will not work with the Volt lineup but there are some inexpensive and free options.