Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity

When capturing sound there are three main components in your signal chain. Your microphone, the pre amp to boost the microphone signal, and your recording device, weather it be a computer or a tape machine. Each part of the chain plays a vital role in how the real sound will translate into a captured medium. The pre amp is arguably the most important part of your signal when it comes to capturing clean precise sound. A quality microphone is preferred, but you can get a way with a lower end microphone and very high-end pre amp and still get quality sound.

The Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity is one of the best sounding pre amps I have had the pleasure to work with. It features both a solid state and tube amplifier that can be blended together for optimal sound. Like most pre amps it offers 48v phantom power, a pad, and a low cut filter. What separates it from the crowed is the warm and rich sound you can achieve when properly blending the solid state and the tube amplifiers together. 

I had the privilege of recording through a Neumann TLM 49 and converted my audio through RME ADI 8, probably one of the best sound chains you could possibly but together, but nether less adding the universal audio to the chain made a world of a difference. Instantly while recording the same artist, the vocals sounded big, bright and were filled with presence. It returned the traditional analog sound to a digital recording. When recording acoustic guitar it made the highs crisper and the mids and lows have more warmth and presence. Overall it’s not for every recording application, but when used for vocals or acoustic instruments the 710 Twin-Finity is in a league of its own.

I would recommend this pre amp for anyone looking to create professional recordings on a budget. It may have a larger price tag at medium of $800, but for the money spent there are very few pieces of equipment that can dramatically improve the overall timbre of your recordings.