Universal Audio 710 TwinFinity

Universal Audio 710 Twin Finity | Reviews
91
centre stage is a diamond shaped
yellow-illuminated VU display that
shows either the output or drive level.
When set to drive, the display shows the
total amount of even-order harmonic
distortion occurring, which is
occasionally useful, though I still fi nd
LED meters/PPM’s to be more accurate
than VU’s in general.
Blending in
There is a fi ne compliment of switching.
Phantom power is provided along with a
mic/line switch, a phase invert and a
75Hz low cut. All the dials and switches
feel fairly sturdy but not quite as solid
as I was expecting for a UA product at
this price point. Compared to my Avalon
U5 though, the switchgear feels cheap.
Now back to that unique blend
control. While there are several
manufacturers offering twin signal path
designs, there are few (if any) that can
continuously blend two signal paths.
This feature enables some unique
sounds to be made. You can have a
totally transistor path when set to fully
counter clockwise (or a totally tube path
when set fully clockwise) but it’s the in-
between bits that other preamps can’t
quite reach and it’s here that you can
truly dial in different fl avours or colours
that are pretty unique to the 710,
though unfortunately there’s no centre
detent for the very useable half and half
blend setting.
Gain control
The transistor preamp can sound
super-clean with low input or tough and
ballsy when you start to increase the
gain to around 4-5. The tube preamp is
defi nitely warmer, more guey and less
precise than its transistor counterpart
but equally as characterful, albeit in a
subtly different way. Again, turning the
gain to around 4-5 is when you really
hear the character of either of the pres
start to kick in, though this may be a
little too soon for some.
Turning the gain fully up while the
blend control is set to full tube, allows
full-blown guitar amp style distortion/
harmonics with rounded full lows and
smooth highs, while doing the same in
the transistor mode again adds
distortion but in a more transistor amp
style (i.e. a little cleaner and thinner
with a tighter low end and more sizzly/
fuzzy highs).
Both pres and available blends can
enhance any instrument or vocal,
adding sparkle, earthiness, grit or little
or no character/distortion in infi nite
combinations! I loved the 710
particularly on
synths, Rhodes,
bass guitar,
acoustic guitars
and vocals, where
it added welcome
life, body and
movement. Above
all, this box really
makes you experiment and it’s fun
hearing your sound morph as you move
the blend control, though this can be
very subtle at low gain levels.
The real fun is combining the gain
and output settings and then combining
these settings with the blend control.
The only downsides for me are that it’s a
little too easy to overdrive the pres and
it can occasionally sound a little nasty
and spiky. Also it’s a shame there aren’t
two separate outputs for each path.
This aside, UA has made a fun,
intuitive, versatile and great sounding
preamp. It can cover many audio bases
and at just under £600 in the UK, I
believe it to be sensibly priced. I
challenge anyone to not fi nd a use for a
710 in their studio!
SPECS
Inputs
Microphone (Female XLR),
Balanced Line (Female
XLR), Unbalanced
Instrument (1/4" jack) (DI)
Outputs
Balanced Line (Male XLR)
Preamps
Tube & Solid-State Phase-
Aligned Tone-Blending Mic
Pre & DI, Tube stage utilises
a single 12ax7 tube
Pad
-15dB
High-Pass Filter: rolls off
at 75Hz
Gain Range: Infi nity
to 70dBu
Mic: 10 ~ 60dBu
Line: 10 ~ 40dBu
Hi-Z: 10 ~ 40dBu
Frequency Response
Mic: 20Hz to 100kHz
+/- 0.2dBu
Line: 20Hz to 100kHz
+/- 0.2dBu
Hi-Z: 20Hz to 100kHz
+/- 0.2dBu
Min THD+Noise @ +4dBU:
0.1% tube 0.005%
solid-state
Dimensions
214 x 260 x 89mm
Weight
2.4Kg
Both pres and available blends can
add sparkle, earthiness and grit in
infi nite combinations
ALTERNATIVES
TL Audio Ebony A1
£529
A new dual-channel
preamp/DI with both a
transistor and tube path in
a 2U rack. Also has an
optional digital output card,
30dB pad and DI inputs.
tlaudio.co.uk
Millennia TD-1
£1,280
A half rack recording
channel from high end
specialists Millennia Audio.
Includes a Class-A FET and
Tube path, DI and a mic
pre, comprehensive EQ and
guitar power soak built in.
mil-media.com
Avalon U5
£395
High Voltage transistor
preamp/instrument DI with
preset EQ, low-/high-cut
switches speaker input,
headphone out and
separate mic/line outs.
Built like a tank!
avalondesign.com
VERDICT
BUILD
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VALUE
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EASE OF USE
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VERSATILITY
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RESULTS
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It sounds good, is reasonably priced
and can be clean, nasty or
anywhere in between!
FMU207.rev_ua 91 14/10/08 3:48:19 pm