Universal Audio Apollo interface

[Jason Rabbit]

Originally Posted by JGM

Will wait to hear feedback on the converters and stability though.

Will you try and give us feedback here, In case nobody's gonna try?


By the way, compared to Apollo, UAD2 duo/quad seems too expensive now.
I guess the time has come of campaign "Buy Apogee Symphony and Get UAD2 Quad FREE" .

[satissounds]

Quote from Sound On Sound

SOS Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns attended a sneak preview of the Apollo at the beginning of January, and was impressed by its performance: “We ran a ribbon mic through the Apollo’s preamps and cranked the gain to max, and detected no sign of FireWire ground noise — unlike Paul White’s current interface!” Universal Audio’s claim that the Apollo is capable of round-trip latency lower than 2ms also seemed to stand up: Hugh tested the latency from a signal going into one of the mic preamps and back out through the monitor outs (via two stages of conversion, plus the Apollo’s mixer software), and said it was “negligible and unnoticeable”.

[smoovemode]

I'm skeptical till someone tells me it sounds better than the Ensemble or UFX (mic pres and converters). If it does, I will beat you to the store and buy it, without even looking at my bank account balance. The layout and workflow is perfect for a studio beginner, like me who wants to learn about studio gear on the run. When someone mentions premium mic preamps. That don't mean "sh** to me. All interfaces, even the cheap ones, say that! Now tell me you crammed 4 UA110s in there and now I'm happy!

[Helge]

Originally Posted by Mazrak

If the onboard processors can be used for additional power in mixing, then I'm sold on this interface for upgrading my project studio. I don't really need plugin coloring on the way in. If that's all this could do, then I'll sit tight until Thunderbolt gains more momentum. There's bound to be plenty of companies releasing something in 2012.

Yo Mazrak,
I found this in the FAQ section on UADs homepage:

"Mixing and mastering with UAD plug-ins is the same as with any other UAD DSP Accelerator system. Simply pull up a plug-in in your DAW on the track you need, and you’re good to go."

hope this helps.....cheers

[houndog328]

[Mixtree Audio]

Originally Posted by houndog328

classic.

[Duardo]

- So, this means this is a 1100$ interface?
Yes, pretty much the price of the 003 when it first sold.

It means no such thing. You know that it costs UA nowhere near what a UAD2 sells for to put the processors in there.

What if it does sound as good as something like the Ensemble? Would that lead you to the conclusion that the UAD portion of the Duo is really only worth $4?

- I heard it's a former digidesign team who designed it?
Yes, according to BLA anyways, if the ADDA design is the same as the 4110 (which shouldnt be really surprising if you look at the price tag), its similar to the 003.

And how does BLA know this?

[Highphi]

The cost of the UAD-2 duo/quad satellites is mostly in the chassis and the R&D for the firewire drivers. The sharc processors are pennies in comparison. So this could very well be a $2000 set of converters with some DSP thrown in as the cherry on top.

Personally I could care less what the "complimentary" mic pres sound like... I am more interested in the sound of the converters and stable drivers. On board UAD2 duo/quad DSP on the interface is a huge bonus and great selling feature.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by Duardo

It means no such thing. You know that it costs UA nowhere near what a UAD2 sells for to put the processors in there.

What if it does sound as good as something like the Ensemble? Would that lead you to the conclusion that the UAD portion of the Duo is really only worth $4?


And how does BLA know this?

I'm sorry but the Ensemble sucks...!!
Tried to like but no way, a Focusrite Saffire 56 has a noticeable better converter. The Pre's aswell.
It's 4 duets in one device.

[lllubi]

Fab says pres and converters are superclean here
colour comes from the plugs

Présentation de l'Apollo par Fab Dupont - YouTube
(french only)

[satissounds]

Originally Posted by lllubi

Fab says pres and converters are superclean here
colour comes from the plugs

Présentation de l'Apollo par Fab Dupont - YouTube
(french only)

Wish I would speak French.

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by satissounds

Wish I would speak French.

LOL....... I do......

[DR Music]

Fab is the man..
But money will make you say anything..

[jeremy.c.]

Originally Posted by Duardo

It means no such thing. You know that it costs UA nowhere near what a UAD2 sells for to put the processors in there.

What if it does sound as good as something like the Ensemble? Would that lead you to the conclusion that the UAD portion of the Duo is really only worth $4?

Srsly. It's as if no one has heard of a loss leader. UA have created a brilliant scenario where they offer high end converters with a twist NO ONE else can offer and have now opened an entirely new segment up to buying plugins on their proprietary platform. With the advances in converters there is no reason why this unit shouldn't compete with a Rosetta 800 or an Aurora 8 in terms of quality (hell my $700 Steinberg MR816 does!) and at the same price point it offers 4 preamps, monitoring with near 0 latency through UAD plugins and the ability to run the plugins on a laptop without an extra bit of hardware.
It's not very bright from an economics standpoint to compare this as apples to apples on converters that have designs over 5 years old. As technology advances and cheapens it makes sense that they come to market with these features and quality that surpasses a Rosetta or even approaches a Metric Halo unit all at a lower price point.
Plus they're going to be like Scrooge McDuck in a pile of gold coins after expanding their plugin market...

And how does BLA know this?

Yeah, exactly.

[OldTimey1]

Originally Posted by bigbone

They are better in marketing than converter.

i'll second that notion, but UA is a pretty damn good marketer as well :p

[Jason Rabbit]

Originally Posted by lllubi

Fab says pres and converters are superclean here
colour comes from the plugs
(french only)

He means there are
"Apogee sound plug-in" or "MYTEK sound plug-in" or "Lavry sound plug-in" etc?

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by satissounds

Wish I would speak French.

What Fab said was that he love the Apollo, he find the converter really clean, and the preamp also really clean, to resume he is impress.

[Jason Rabbit]

of course clean.
it's new.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by Jason Rabbit

of course clean.
it's new.

Jason you crack me up!

[smoovemode]

Originally Posted by DR Music

I'm sorry but the Ensemble sucks...!!
Tried to like but no way, a Focusrite Saffire 56 has a noticeable better converter. The Pre's aswell.
It's 4 duets in one device.

WOW!! I have never heard this statement! I actually have a LS56 and was considering an Apogee Ensemble as an upgrade. What is it about the Apogee you didn't like?

[satissounds]

Originally Posted by bigbone

What Fab said was that he love the Apollo, he find the converter really clean, and the preamp also really clean, to resume his impress.

Cheers. Obviously we need lots more reviews yet but clean and neutral converters are what I'm looking for. The preamps don't really interest me as I already have good outboard high end pres but would be nice extras.

[smoovemode]

Originally Posted by Jason Rabbit

of course clean.
it's new.

Jason's gotta point! Everything new and at this price point is clean. Hell My Saffire56 is clean. But, I want to know as clean as what? Preamps have a flavor like what? Converters are as good or better than who? Overall interface competes with who?

Tell me the converters are so good they beat out a Rosetta
Tell me the mic preamps out perform Ensemble mic preamps
Tell me the over all sound quality is compared to the Prism Orpheus

"Clean" can be purchased for 600.00

[smoovemode]

Originally Posted by satissounds

Cheers. Obviously we need lots more reviews yet but clean and neutral converters are what I'm looking for. The preamps don't really interest me as I already have good outboard high end pres but would be nice extras.

If I were you, if you have a good selection of mic preamps I would go with a dedicated solution like a Rosetta 800 or Symphony IO or HD I/O, etc. I'm just assuming, but if you don't need the mic preamps, you probably don't need the UAD-2 either. So, now you're just down to the firewire card and the converters. If I had a whole lotta outboard gear, the last thing I wanna think about is an interface from anyone LOL!

[lpkyer]

Originally Posted by jeremy.c.

Srsly. It's as if no one has heard of a loss leader. UA have created a brilliant scenario where they offer high end converters with a twist NO ONE else can offer and have now opened an entirely new segment up to buying plugins on their proprietary platform. With the advances in converters there is no reason why this unit shouldn't compete with a Rosetta 800 or an Aurora 8 in terms of quality (hell my $700 Steinberg MR816 does!) and at the same price point it offers 4 preamps, monitoring with near 0 latency through UAD plugins and the ability to run the plugins on a laptop without an extra bit of hardware.
It's not very bright from an economics standpoint to compare this as apples to apples on converters that have designs over 5 years old. As technology advances and cheapens it makes sense that they come to market with these features and quality that surpasses a Rosetta or even approaches a Metric Halo unit all at a lower price point.
Plus they're going to be like Scrooge McDuck in a pile of gold coins after expanding their plugin market...


Yeah, exactly.

ADDA technology didnt really improve that much beyond adding higher frequency sampling rates and bitrange (24). Every company uses "outdated" chips. Implementation might differ a bit but cheap capacitors are still cheap capacitors.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by smoovemode

WOW!! I have never heard this statement! I actually have a LS56 and was considering an Apogee Ensemble as an upgrade. What is it about the Apogee you didn't like?

Better low end frequency response, mid and hi detail are smoother and we all loved that the SF56 had better stereo separation.
Here is what happened.
After working on a Tascam FW1884 and a 003 aswell, I had bought a few new Mic Pre's and mics. I also figured it was time to upgrade to better conversion. (I had most popular pre's and mics) After talking to a few engineer comrads, I noticed the difference was the converters... HD and Lynx systems. I also noticed the Lynx systems were better detailed on playback of my PT sessions. Subtle but noticeable. I figured if I can get to about a DigiHD converter with something like the Ensemble I'm in!!!
Switch to logic, at the time I was 50/50 PT and Logic.
Ensemble gets to the to my front door I'm excited, super excited! Sounds better than the 003..!
Next off to my buddies HD set up.
Compare time.
After a mins to set up.
Here we go.. !!!
:(
Not so excited, there was still a difference in detail and hi's were strange.
But better than my 003, so I'm still excited!
PT 9 comes out! Time to sell the 003.
Sold it, and bought a Profire 2626.
I've seen and heard previously how better it was than the 003. But I figured the price was almost half can't be better.
Not as excited as the Ensemble's arrival. I got it going. 16 channels of better than 003 conversion wow I thought!!
Tried it out. Sounded pretty good actually!! But without even trying it to track with the 2626. I had 16 decent i/o channels. Time to install PT9!!!
Could not get PT9 to see the Ensemble!! I had a client coming in so I got the 2626 drivers in instead of standalone mode. Luckily it worked flawlessly.... My client asked did you get new monitors? Mic? Did you you buy that 1167 compressor? Did you redo some parts? 1176 I replied and no not yet! I told her I had new converters! She didn't understand but I was beginning too!! A few weeks I got the ensemble working.
I could hear the difference between too! In the vocals just better and more natural. On acoustics I could really tell even in the mid low end big time!! I'd figured I'd get a word clock, it might get my $2000 converters up to par with the $700 ones. Researched and I didn't have the $1200 for a BBen or $2000 for a Antlpe. I decided to get the Black Lion Audio mkll WClock. I was Disappointed because it was not a rack mount. But o well. It worked Apogee sounded better!! Then I tried the PF 2626.... Listed the Apg Ensemble the next day! Bought another PF2626 and a Disstressor!
It was very clear to me it didn't matter the name brand. It's the sound. Took my PF2626 with the mkll clock back to my engineers PTHD set up! So close he could not believe it!! I had both units with the BLA Mod and then my PT HD buddies really love what they hear.
PS we clocked the mkll to the digiHD and the PF2626. He called me 2 hours later and said my system sounds different without the mkll! He bought one the next day. Later we compared a SF56 to my unmoded PF2626 nice super close hard to tell the difference.
With or without the clock.
With the mkll the PF and the SF56 sound better no doubt!
That's how I get to what I say.
I think BLA is a very good company.

[smoovemode]

This BLA mod thing is really getting on my nerves(in a good way)! If I have to choose one "game changer" when it comes to audio, it has to be BLA. I have never ever heard anyone say anything bad about BLA.

But, I have a question to ask. How do their preamps and converters compare with apogee, new pr hd, universal audio, Orpheus , etc? I need to know.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by smoovemode

This BLA mod thing is really getting on my nerves(in a good way)! If I have to choose one "game changer" when it comes to audio, it has to be BLA. I have never ever heard anyone say anything bad about BLA.

But, I have a question to ask. How do their preamps and converters compare with apogee, new pr hd, universal audio, Orpheus , etc? I need to know.

very very well!!!! They have a A/D 2 channel that's $1195. As good as anything. Conversion is there madness!!
They make 3 mkll Sparrow trims.
Black $895
Red $1195
White $1795
The mods are as I described. Great.
I hope they realease there interface sooner than later!!
They make affordable pre's under $599. For the price it's pretty easy choice..
Autuer 2ch $599
BL312 $315
Soon D1073 $450
blacklionaudio.com

[San01]

Maybe BLA will consider doing an Apollo mod

[Patrick5150]

I'm in the market for an interface, and this is definitely interesting, seeing as I don't have many plugs and am considering purchasing some...2 birds 1 stone

also interested in RME (babyface, UCX, or a PCIe card and external converters).

sound and reliability rule, so I guess I'll be waiting like many others for the reviews to start showing up. need W7 drivers to.

quite a few nice options available

[smoovemode]

Ok, black, red white...can you give me an example of the "name brand" converters each color compares too?