This Universal Audio audio interface looks like a basic entry-level mobile (or leave it in the studio) interface with pro quality audio conversion and a couple of cool features.
I love that it’s bus-powered because I hate hauling and plugging-in extra power packs, especially if I’m using my laptop outside of the studio.
It has a single UAD processor – enough to run the bundled low-latency UA 610-B Tube Unison preamp and Marshall Plexi guitar amp plus the other basic bundled plugin essentials. It will, of course, be able to run any of the other UAD-2 plugins as well, but having only a single processing chip (they call it a UAD-2 SOLO Core processor) is a wee bit of a limitation in this regard.
With some care and by removing any Unison preamp/amp plugins when they’re not being used, you could still enough power to run some other UAD plugins for mixing or mastering.
The hardware is quite minimal – only two combo (XLR or 1/4″ Jack) inputs and two 1/4″ jack outputs on the back – plus an instrument in (1/4″Jack) and headphone out on the front. Just the essentials really.
On the top is a display, eight buttons and a knob to access the input and monitoring features.
At around $499 USD ($899 NZD at the Rockshop in New Zealand) it’s a great deal for a Thunderbolt 3 bus-powered interface with included Unison preamps and some UAD plugin hosting functionality.
what are the advantages of this version?
The key thing about this UAD interface model is that it is very portable and doesn’t require an external power supply. So if you’re traveling around with a laptop and need a small powerful high quality recording interface – this is perfect.