Recording - February 2017 - 46

BY PAUL VNUK JR.

Universal Audio Manley
VOXBOX Channel Strip
Plug-in For UAD-2

(and the real Manley VOXBOX, revisited)
The VOXBOX is one of the most impressive pieces of gear
in the Manley line, released two decades ago and reviewed
by producer/engineer William Wittman in our October 1998
issue. Unlike other Manley stalwarts like the SLAM!, Vari-Mu,
Massive Passive, and others, I have never had the pleasure of
using a VOXBOX in person.
Luckily for me, the folks at Universal Audio chose the VOXBOX
as their latest piece of modeled Manley gear for the UAD-2 effects
engine. As she did when we reviewed the UAD Massive Passive
EQ plug-in (February 2015), EveAnna Manley was kind enough
to send us a hardware VOXBOX for side-by-side comparisons
between it and the new plug-in.

What's in the (VOX)BOX?
True to form, the team at Universal Audio painstakingly
modeled every element of the VOXBOX, from input stage to
output stage and every tube, transformer, resistor, VU Meter
and opto-cell in between. The VOXBOX plug-in runs exclusively
on the UAD-2 DSP accelerator system, including all UAD-2
PCIe cards and Satellites as well as the company's UAD-2
equipped Apollo interfaces. When using one of the microphone
preamp-equipped Apollo units, the VOXBOX plug-in can take
advantage of UA's Unison preamp technology and one can
use the microphone preamp section of the VOXBOX while
tracking in real time.
Just like the hardware, the VOXBOX plug-in is one hefty
beast. In the software realm this relates to power consumption,
and a single instance of it takes up 46% of a UAD-2 processor
in mono and 56% in stereo. This gives you 16 mono or 8 stereo
instances maximum on an UAD-2 OCTO device. The only UAD2 plug-ins that currently take more juice are some of UA's latest
guitar amp models, but paraphrasing from
my favorite movie of all time, Pulp Fiction,
"When you use the VOXBOX plug-in, you
will know where that extra power goes."
With a few minor exceptions, the software
and the hardware VOXBOX are completely
identical in look and function. I will highlight
those exceptions when applicable below.

Meet the original
The VOXBOX is a channel strip. While they're
common in 2017, twenty years ago most channel
46

RECORDING FEBRUARY 2017

strips were still found in the place where they derive their name,
on mixing consoles. I still think William Wittman's assessment from
back in 1998 holds true, that the VOXBOX "blows away the input
strips on all but the most carefully selected consoles." The VOXBOX
hardware is a 3U rackmount device made up of four sections:
Preamp, Compressor, EQ, and De-Esser/Limiter. In use and
control, each section is fairly minimal on its own, but the sum of
the parts adds up quickly.
Inside the unit are a pair of 12AX7/ECC83 tubes and a pair
of 6414 tubes, along with the highest quality switches and
components. I interviewed EveAnna Manley back in October
2015 when reviewing the Manley CORE Reference Channel
(which is kind of a baby VOXBOX) and she had this to say:
We took everything to the Nth degree in the VOXBOX. It was
designed to be the most badass unit..." She wasn't kidding.
One of my favorite traits of Manley gear is how each section
has its own sound and architecture, and this is what I also
appreciate about vintage console design and how companies
like API design their gear. There are transformers on every input and output, rather than every section sharing circuits, tubes
and transformers. This yields a richer compounded sound
when you put them all together and allows the various sections
to stand on their own when used individually.
Note that while there are four processor sections on the unit, as
it applies to physical routing on the rear of the hardware there are
actually only two. The compressor and preamp are one section and
the EQ, de-esser, and Line Amp out are in the other. The hardware
also includes an additional audio insert, and both the compressor
and de-esser can be linked individually.

Unique topology
Similar to what we saw in our CORE review, the VOXBOX
has a few interesting attributes that need explanation. First,
the compressor section comes before the preamp section. As
with the CORE, this does not imply that a full-fledged compressor lives before the preamp; they share the same circuit path,
with the compressor's Vactrol photocell coming first in the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2017