The Universal Audio Volt 4P MAX is a 12-in/6-out desktop USB audio interface and the flagship of UA's Volt range. With four mic preamps, optical expansion and studio-style monitor control, it is built for recording several sources at once: a full band, a compact drum kit, podcasts with up to four people in the room, or a livestream. UA positions it as the four-preamp successor to the Volt 476P.
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Four Tone Shaping preamps with 60 dB of digitally controlled gain and switchable 48V phantom power on each channel
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Three character modes per preamp: Warmth (based on the UA 610 tube preamp), Focus (American solid-state console) and Shine (British Class-A circuitry)
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Max Processing: realtime compression in the unit with six push-button presets for vocals, guitar, bass and drums
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ADAT or S/PDIF optical input for up to 8 additional digital channels
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Studio monitoring tools: Main/Alt switching for two monitor pairs, a built-in talkback mic and two headphone outputs
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32-bit/192 kHz conversion with MIDI In/Out and an onboard USB hub
The character modes and Max presets can be combined freely, giving more than 18 tonal options before anything reaches the DAW. Presets such as "Rap Vocals" and "Jangly Acoustic" are aimed at getting a usable, committed sound quickly, and a full-colour Smart Display shows inputs, levels, settings and gain-reduction metering. Auto-Gain and Clip Protection help set safe levels when tracking several performers at once.
Inputs cover four mic/line combo jacks and two front-panel Hi-Z instrument inputs. On the monitoring side, the two headphone outputs (one 1/4" and one 1/8") share a single cue mix, and the rear also carries MIDI In and Out on 1/8" TRS (Type A) jacks. The USB hub can power a USB MIDI controller, and Loopback makes it straightforward to route computer audio into podcasts and streams.
The Volt 4P MAX is class compliant on Mac, iPad and iPhone, while Windows uses UA's ASIO driver installed through the UA Connect app. It works with the UAD Console app and LUNA for session recall and low-latency cue mixes, runs UAD Native plug-ins on the host computer without DSP hardware, and is compatible with all major DAWs including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools and FL Studio. The unit can run on USB bus power, with a separate USB-C power input for running all four preamps with phantom power at full capability.