The first thing one notices are the two VU meters which, by default, indicate the levels of inputs 1 and 2. They can however be assigned to any of the UX8’s inputs or outputs. A red led will warn the user when the signal clips (reaches 0 dBFS). Unfortunately, even though the VU meters look professional, they’re not very precise and therefore not very useful.

The rest is pretty standard with two instrument inputs (for guitar and/or bass) each with a -20 Pad button, 8 gain knobs (from 0 to 45 dB) for the mic inputs with a low cut filter at 75 Hz, a -20 Pad and two switches to turn on the phantom power per group of 4 inputs (inputs 1-4 and 5-8).

As far as outputs go, there are two headphone outs, each with its own volume control. This is a nice initiative on the part of Line 6 since most home studios don't have cabins, and so, when recording a singer, this allows the latter and the person doing the recording to each have their headphones on and to be able to turn off the speakers to avoid having the mic picking up and recording what comes out of the speakers. There‘ s also a general volume knob with a mute switch, which definitely comes in handy when one « does » forget to turn off the monitors while the mic is connected...

The Back

When we turn the UX8 around, we see the 8 jack (6,35 mm) symmetrical outputs, the coaxial S/PDIF I/O's, the USB socket, two jack footswitch inputs and one Expression Pedal Input (for Wah Wah, & Volume, etc.).These inputs can be used to connect the controllers of Gearbox, the software amp modeler included with the UX8. As for analog inputs, in the back there are 8 XLR mic inputs, and 8 (asymmetrical) Line inputs in jack format (6,35 mm). Nomads should be warned: the rack can't be powered by the USB socket and needs to be plugged in to work.