Review of the Universal Audio Solo 610 by Oresti

At a recent recording session, I was lucky enough to encounter one of Universal Audio’s most recent additions to their product line, the Solo 610 microphone preamp/DI box. This well-built, portable preamp is brought to us by the likes of those who brought us the classic remakes of the 1176 and LA-2A legacy compressors, which are found in every notable studio around the world. The Solo 610 mic-pre is meant to recreate the classic Putnam 610 console sound, which was originally used by a range of artists as wide as Frank Sinatra to Van Halen.

Though the audio is what’s most important, I can’t help but start at the rugged steel design. This thing is a slick metal brick with a durable rubber handle on top, which makes me feel like I could bring it anywhere without issues. Now that’s something I can’t say for other similarly priced preamps which I’d be weary to move from their position in my rack.

Anyways, the 610 has two giant, easy to maneuver knobs on the front for “gain” and “level.” It’s an all-tube unit, so the more you push the “gain” knob, the more smooth-sounding analogue “warmth” you’re going to create. The “level” knob is what you’re sending out to your audio interface, console, tape, etc. What’s great about having the two knobs is you can create a variety of different characteristics in your recordings, ranging from silky and relatively clean to third-harmonic-rich, partial distortion.

I used the unit to record vocals through a Rode NT2A condenser microphone. This $400 mic generally does a pretty good job capturing male vocal performances, as it has a decent presence boost, but nothing too drastic. The 610 turned the NT2A into a $2,000 microphone by taking us into the high-end tube domain. It’s not to say any tube mic-pre will take you there, this Universal Audio piece is of a certain “audiophile” quality and delivers as such.

There are also a few sturdy switches on the front of the unit that allow for altering the phase, frequency filter, and impedance, as well as +48V (phantom power). It’s a lot of fun to listen back to the vocal or instrumental performance and change the filter, phase, and browse through the tonal range with the “input” knob. It creates a hands-on experience that would have otherwise been lost if using the standard preamps included on your audio interface. That’s not to say that those pre’s are sub par, but they certainly don’t allow for the sort of character and timbre complexity that a more sophisticated unit like the 610 can bring.

In addition to recording vocals with the 610, I went on to record guitar amps and a bass cabinet via a Shure SM57. The pre took the 57, a studio workhorse, to another place yet again. With the flexible tonal textures, it was much more fun to layer guitar tracks and create slight differences with each take in order to make a larger, more harmonically-rich wall of sound. The unit can also be used as a DI box, which I tried on the bass. Again there was success… ample, luxurious low end, and plenty of headroom to adjust.

This sort of quality unit comes at a very feasible price for project and professional studio owners, $800 retail. I’ve seen it on sale for as low as $600 online. Also, though I haven’t heard it, the 610 has a solid-state brother, the Solo 110. So if you’re not really after that tube sound, perhaps you could try out the transistor version. Though I only had a two-day experience with the unit, I can say I’d gladly put it on my studio wish-list alongside other classic microphone pre-amps from companies like API and John Hardy. If you’re not ready to purchase a unit at this price level, I recommend trying out some other, more affordable gear, just to see what pre-amps outside of your audio interface can bring to your sonic signature.