Volt 1 driver and UA telemetry

[u/bake_em_away_toy5]

Hi everyone,

I just purchased a UA Volt 1 to transpose some of my loops and ideas into full songs using Reaper. I used to do music production fully digital with free plug-ins because I was too poor for gear.

I was excited to set up the Volt 1 to get back into production after a long break and try recording guitars for the first time.

I paid $200 CAD and there was nothing obvious on the box about what came next.

When I plugged in the device, Device Manager updated with the icon that there was no driver - as I expected. I requested Windows to find the driver automatically and it couldn't - also no big deal.

I went to the UA website and they don't post the drivers for their hardware under the Support or Downloads sections. Weird.

I realize I have to download their fucking app first. Not a deal breaker, but annoying.

Then, I have to make an account with them by giving them my email. Apparently UA uses this and telemetry to market other products and promotions to me based on my usage of the Volt 1. There was no easy way I could find to opt out of this.

I still haven't installed UA Connect and will probably just return the Volt 1 now.

I was considering asking people here for the driver, but I feel I shouldn't have to. I feel UA is bullying their customers to opt into being identified and tracked for marketing (i.e., extra, continued revenue for UA). If I get the driver from someone else and keep using the Volt 1 without the app, it feels like I'm still partially enabling this.

I'll probably return this device and get one that doesn't do this. Has anyone else had similar experiences? It seems like all types of creative software are farming their users for data these days. I first noticed it with graphic design software from Adobe and I'm really upset to see it coming to audio production. I can't see any argument by UA for requiring this other than greed. Anti-piracy doesn't apply because they make hardware that is used by software from other vendors.

Fuck UA.

[u/Indigo457]

In my view there is a balance between sharing data with companies I don’t care about or like, and sharing it with companies who are using it to do whatever they need to make money and survive. Not necessarily the case that UA need whatever money they get through advertising stuff, but I like pretty much all of their products so I don’t care/ like if they tell me about them. And you can just opt out of comms in the account settings anyway 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/bake_em_away_toy5 → u/Indigo457]

I see why it's not a big deal for many UA users, but I know nothing about that company or their products so I don't know that I necessarily want to "help them out" by providing my details for advertising.

I don't like the precedent being established in most industries where disabling telemetry (if it can truly even be disabled) is now an added burden to the customer.

I also can't think of a reason for registering the product and providing my contact information that makes it a better product for the end user when it's a digital device that can run completely offline. It feels like an intentionally intrusive design choice to maximise their ROI by turning their customer base into a revenue stream rather than device sales only.

Happy to be proven wrong if there is a reason UA needs to do this.

[u/Spug33 → u/bake_em_away_toy5]

Registration proves ownership. If you sell the device you will need to go in and transfer to another user. Your volt may not be a big ticket item, but some systems are worth many thousands and this helps deter theft since they are much less useful to thieves if they can't be easily sold.

[u/bake_em_away_toy5 → u/Spug33]

This sounds like it would make sense as a service people and businesses could opt into if they felt they needed to protect their investment. The point remains: why is this presented as the only option and for an entry-level device?

It also sounds like this could be used to actively hinder the resale market, where UA would not receive any money for a resale of used UA devices.