Volt 176
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Legendary Studio Sound, Anywhere.
Volt 176 is the USB audio interface for musicians and content creators who want to easily record audio with big studio tone. Plug right into your Mac, PC, iPad, or iPhone and Volt 176 just shows up — ready to capture your inspiration with legendary sound, courtesy of Universal Audio.
Create professional music productions, livestreams, and podcasts on Mac, PC, iPad, and iPhone
Record your voice or guitar with album‑ready sound using Vintage Mic Preamp mode
Add clarity and punch to vocals, instruments, and other sources with an analog compressor based on UA’s renowned 1176
Produce with an essential suite of audio and music software including Ableton, Melodyne, UJAM's Virtual Drummer, Marshall, Ampeg, and more
Record Yourself with Best-in-Class Audio Quality
From the team that brought you the game-changing Apollo interface, Volt 176 delivers superior studio sound quality, with more character and tone than any USB interface in its class.
Capture a Legendary Vocal with Vintage Mic Preamp Mode
Few sounds can compare to a vintage Universal Audio 610 tube preamp, as used to record everyone from Ray Charles to Van Halen. Volt 176 gives you the rich, full sound of this iconic UA preamp, thanks to its built-in tube emulation circuitry, a UA exclusive.
Control Volume Peaks with UA Compression
Get album-ready punch and presence with Volt 176's onboard 76 Compressor — an innovative analog circuit inspired by UA's renowned 1176 Limiting Amplifier. The 76 Compressor features three perfectly tailored presets to tame voice, guitars, synths, and drum machines. Just plug in, pick a setting, and play.
Easy In, Easy Out
Volt 176 gives you simple 1-in/2-out audio connections. Just plug a mic or instrument into the front panel. Then connect your speakers or headphones to monitor your audio with no latency. With Volt, you’ll be creating like a pro, fast.
Stay Inspired with a Curated Suite of Audio Software
Some audio interfaces give you a smattering of random audio apps. Not Volt. Instead, we put together a bundle of serious music production tools, virtual instruments, and plug‑ins from the industry's best.
See Included Software for Mac & PC ›
iPad & iPhone Ready
Traveling light? Plug Volt 176 into your iPad or iPhone, and you can easily create beats and samples, record your band’s rehearsals, and edit songs anywhere.*
Capture Inspiration for Years to Come
Featuring rugged metal construction, retro wood sides, and sleek industrial design, Volt 176 elevates your production space with impeccable style, built to last decades.
Inspiration Comes Quick. Watch the Videos.
*Requires external Volt power supply and an Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter (except iPads with USB‑C).Customer Reviews
E. Marks
October 6, 2022
Volt 176
The sound quality is excellent as well is the knob placement and features the only problem I have, and the reason I can't give the full 5 stars is because I wish the built monitoring was...
Read MoreR. McCauley
September 1, 2022
Unexpectedly great
Bought this as a travel device just in case I needed it for a trip. I was delightfully surprised at the form factor and build quality and even more surprised at the audio quality. The...
Read MoreS. Clark
June 22, 2022
Nice work UAD - VOLT 176
There is a lot to like about this. Big controls, physical buttons, useful compressor presets, a nice vintage mode, good metering, bus powered, cool old-school styling, and of course UAD...
Read Morer. ruiz
April 30, 2022
Volt 176
The card is a marvel, very transparent, and with a lot of volume, the first thing that surprised me was the size, it fits in a...
Read MoreJ. Long
April 29, 2022
Bang for your buck!
This interface is a huge step up from the FR solo I had before, the pre amps in this unit are amazing for the value and the built in 1176 emulation has home recordings coming in controlled...
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Included Software for Mac & PC
Offering a powerful DAW, vintage guitar and bass amps, industry-leading virtual instruments, and much more, Volt gives you everything you need to start producing music, podcasts, and livestreams, right out of the box.
- Marshall Plexi Classic Amplifier
- Live 11 Lite
- Melodyne Essential
- Ampeg® SVT-VR Classic Bass Amp
- LX480 Essentials
- Virtual Drummer DEEP
- Virtual Bassist DANDY
- LABS
Marshall Plexi Classic Amp Bundle by Softube
Create with an expertly modeled version of the iconic British amp that invented the sound of rock. Plus, shape your tones further with the included Softube Time & Tone Bundle, featuring additional reverb, delay, compression, and saturation plug-ins.
Ableton Live 11 Lite
Packed with all the effects, instruments, and features you need to make professional music productions, Live is fast, fluid, and flexible software for music creation and performance.
Melodyne Essential by Celemony
Easily correct the pitch of recordings and samples with quick, intelligent note-based processing, and tune vocal and instrument tracks for more professional-sounding recordings and mixes.
Ampeg® SVT-VR Classic Bass Bundle by Plugin Alliance
Get all the massive, earth-shaking tube tone of Ampeg’s iconic bass amp. Plus, use the bx_tuner for quick tuning and the powerful bx_masterdesk plug‑in to add the final touch to any source.
LX480 Essentials by Relab Development
Add lush dimension and ambience with Relab's expert model of this classic '80s digital reverb unit. You can also add complex delay and modulation textures for space and movement to your tracks.
Virtual Drummer DEEP by UJAM
From classic soul and funk rhythms of the ‘60s and ‘70s to contemporary pop and rock styles, DEEP sports UJAM’s dynamic "round-robin" algorithm, giving you drum tracks that sound like the real thing.
Virtual Bassist DANDY by UJAM
Get classic flatwound bass sounds for soul, pop, blues, and rock tracks with UJAM's custom-made DSP algorithms. DANDY automatically follows the key and chord you play, intelligently selecting musical bass articulations to make your tracks shine.
LABS by Spitfire Audio
Delivering on-the-spot inspiration for music productions, soundtracks, and podcasts, LABS is a curated virtual instrument library that features strings, pianos, percussion, synths, guitars, and more.
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Key Features
Desktop 1-in/2-out USB audio interface with class-leading 24-bit/192 kHz audio conversion for Mac, PC, iPad, and iPhone
Vintage Mic Preamp mode for recording your voice or guitar with the rich, full sound of an iconic UA tube preamp
76 Compressor adds clarity and punch to vocals, instruments, and other sources with analog circuit based on UA's renowned 1176
Essential suite of audio and music software from Ableton, Melodyne, UJAM's Virtual Drummer, Marshall, Ampeg, and more
Studio-quality headphone amplifier for loud, clear monitoring
USB bus powered to reduce cable clutter
48V phantom power for condenser microphones
Direct Monitoring for latency-free recording
Stylish, rugged construction built to withstand years of use
1-in/1-out MIDI connections
USB-C to USB-A cable included
To see full system requirements, click here.
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Customer Reviews
Volt 176
E. Marks
Volt 176
The sound quality is excellent as well is the knob placement and features the only problem I have, and the reason I can't give the full 5 stars is because I wish the built monitoring was just a tad bit louder, perhaps this can be addressed in a future update. Other than that excellent buy that has made my home studio complete!
UAD User
Maximo
Volts176
R. McCauley
Unexpectedly great
Bought this as a travel device just in case I needed it for a trip. I was delightfully surprised at the form factor and build quality and even more surprised at the audio quality. The preamp is pretty dang clear for this price point and the compressor & vintage mode add some lovely color to it. Latency hasn't been an issue with either Windows or Mac and this thing travels well. Would definitely buy again.
S. Clark
Nice work UAD - VOLT 176
There is a lot to like about this. Big controls, physical buttons, useful compressor presets, a nice vintage mode, good metering, bus powered, cool old-school styling, and of course UAD audio quality in and out. Just getting some slightly unpredictable latency at this point which I hope I can sort out. Good value for the money.
r. ruiz
Volt 176
The card is a marvel, very transparent, and with a lot of volume, the first thing that surprised me was the size, it fits in a pocket. The preamp is super quiet, that if, when you activate the 1176 starts to appear noise, all within normal, where I do not experience much difference is the Vintage button of the preamp. Very happy, totally recommended
J. Long
Bang for your buck!
This interface is a huge step up from the FR solo I had before, the pre amps in this unit are amazing for the value and the built in 1176 emulation has home recordings coming in controlled and sounding professional. Vintage mode makes my bass and vocals sound beautiful. Highly recommended for anyone not ready to commit to the higher end Apollo models.
A. Nicolaas
Volt 176
Needed a little home-studio option for editing when I'm not in the big studio and this Volt 176 looked liked a great addition.... and it is! Great add-on pack, love that every option has a knob or button unlike other devices out there. Vintage mode is subtle but noticable, compression is cool too but would have loved it more if it was gain matched.
S. Podcaster
Very good interface ONLY if you have no network problems
Volt 176 it's a great audio interface - no doubt. It's a small, but powerful "box-of-joy" with amazing sounding "Vintage" mode and great 1176 real-time emulation. As far as the hardware is concerned, I have no objections. BUT if you have no internet connection or you internet provider blocks some ports/connections and UAConnect doesn't work properly, there is no "standalone" ASIO driver for download and your interface does not work also. Hardware it's a masterpiece, but "only on-line" driver installer it's a imprudence :( Five stars for the hardware, zero stars for the network driver installer... Now I'm able to use Volt 176 only on my secondary computer, the main unit cannot run UAConnect properly :(
J. Green
Broadcast-quality: achieved.
Back in the mid-1990s, I had the opportunity to broadcast the early morning local cut-ins for National Public Radio in a college town. I still remember jumping bleary-eyed into the booth with 30 seconds to air, popping on the cans and waiting for the signal from my producer. Speaking into the classic Electrovoice RE-20 with its unique, greenish-brownish-gray gills, for about 4 minutes I got to sound just like I was in the room with Bob Edwards in Washington, DC. It was a fun time.
Fast-forward 30 years, and now I'm trying to build a professional-sounding setup for my new, remote job requiring voiceovers. I was a reporter in radio and TV for nearly 20 years, and I know how to do my research. My mic of choice? The good old RE-20, unchanged since my fond memories of 1996: effortless, warm, flat profile with no need for a pop screen and tough enough to pound nails into a board (look it up). Mic cables? Short, gold-coated Mogami XLRs. Work sent me a new-in-2022, 16" M1 MacBook Pro - science fiction made real. Cans? Polsen studio monitor. I chose a Cloudlifter to boost the RE-20 signal. Now I just needed something to connect all that analog goodness to my Mac.
So many choices! Thankfully, a salesman at my locally owned music production shop steered me away from my first choice, a little red box that worked pretty well for me in the past, and pointed me right to the little unit I now have lighting up my small recording space like a Christmas tree (I love all the colored lights!): the Volt 176. Setup was easy. Red light for 48v power to the Cloudlifter, blue light for the headphones, orange lights for Vintage and the magical 76 Compressor, and green lights for the VU meter...
...And I was back. It was a trip back in time to that little college radio station in 1976. Only this time, it sounded *better*... so much better. Without the 176 compressor, my RE-20 sounded so quiet it was like having noise-canceling headphones on. With the compressor...well. I got a physical shiver... my voice sounded like butter. This is the simplest, most incredible-sounding mic setup I have ever used, ever. One mic, two small boxes, and a Mac... and I'm literally at NPR quality. I know, because I was there.
If you have an RE-20 (and you should if you are doing voiceover work, radio-style podcasting, or just want to wow the executives in your next Zoom meeting), you owe it to yourself to pick up this sweet little box with the wooden sides and the heart of gold. Now pardon me while I step back into my time machine :)r. ruiz
UA VOLT 176
I am impressed with the size of the Ua volt 176. So far I have not recorded but only played music through it and the headphone amplification is wonderful! I will write more when I try the compressors and preamp!
