Universal Audio Apollo interface

[Basslik]

I'm just curious?, who here doesn't like UA products?

[Avening]

Originally Posted by DR Music

BTW UA has met with the BLA owner in Chicago. 6-7 months ago wonder what they would need to talk to BLA for?? Hmmmm

Marketing advice?

[_Ludovico]

Originally Posted by Avening

Marketing advice?

Yeah right

[Red Baron]

One more subject to speculate

[shani haider]

Any audio testimonial yet? really want to know how the pres and converters are sounding on this lil monster?

[Jason Rabbit]

UA had better upload comparing audio files between Symphony.

Otherwise I am leaning to buy Apogee Symphony and Used UAD2 duo!
Hurry Up UA!!!

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by DR Music

BTW UA has met with the BLA owner in Chicago. 6-7 months ago wonder what they would need to talk to BLA for?? Hmmmm

BLA need advice how to make quality product from a real audio company.....

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by bigbone

BLA need advice how to make quality product from a real audio company.....

Hahaha..
I'm sure that's what it was..

BLA was invited...!!

[stakeoutstudios]

Originally Posted by bigbone

BLA need advice how to make quality product from a real audio company.....

Yeah, maybe UA will offer to mod some BLA stuff, which company has the more impressive heritage?!
I'm pretty confident the Apollo will sound great, and of course there are digital ins if you want to bypass the conversion!

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by stakeoutstudios

Yeah, maybe UA will offer to mod some BLA stuff, which company has the more impressive heritage?!
I'm pretty confident the Apollo will sound great, and of course there are digital ins if you want to bypass the conversion!

I'm not saying Apollo won't be good.. I've never said anything in that manner.
I doubt BLA would meet them for those reasons.
I own 2 LA610's /1176/and a Duo and Quad Card/ 9 plugins. I know UA! Love UA. Love the plugins/610/La/1176.
But I love BLA converters and mods.
If they Mod a Apollo Im in. I love results from my 96i/o and Profires. Amazing.

[stakeoutstudios]

2x UA 1176, 1x 2-610 pre, two UAD2 quad cards with the majority of plugins... Love UA.

Likewise I'm not saying BLA does bad stuff, but I think it's unlikely their Apollo will need a mod to sound good. Modding M-Audio and old Digi interfaces is a totally different game. Of course no-one knows how the A/D will perform, but, you can use the A/D and clock of your choice with the digital ins. It's likely that the analog ins are more than good enough for most sources. Maybe even better than my Rosetta which I've always been incredibly happy with, despite it getting on a bit these days. I'm sure UA have tried to knock the quality out of the park or they would have released an interface years ago!

Clearly Apollo opens possibilities for all kinds of products from UA to meet different market needs. I think paired up with my Apogee Rosetta 800 and range of external preamps, Apollo will make a fine front end. Especially when they allow daisy chaining!

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by DR Music

But I love BLA converters and mods.
. I love results from my 96i/o and Profires. Amazing.

Those are cheap sounding unit from the start, it's easy to make them sound better.

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by bigbone

Those are cheap sounding unit from the start, it's easy to make them sound better.

they sound the best when you don't actually use one

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by bigbone

Those are cheap sounding unit from the start, it's easy to make them sound better.

It's what they sound as well as or better than that's amazing...

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by robertshaw

they sound the best when you don't actually use one

Hahaha, hilarious as usual...Rob... I would LOVE to hear your work. Any posted?

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by DR Music

Any posted?

Nah...... I don't even record. I'm just a music and gear lover. Look at me like the guy who sells appliances in the Sears and Robucks. He'll tell you everything there is to know about a washer and dryer, but yet his wife does the laundry. But it my case I don't really know anything about audio or recording. I'm just here for fun. I just like pushing buttons on the washer and dryer.

I do own a Burl b2 and a 2192 so I was kinda intrigued by this new product

[Johnkenn]

At this price point, with mic pres included, I don't know how anyone would expect it to rival a Symphony. I kind've figured when they didn't come with any "Industry leading ADDA conversion," blurbs, they probably didn't want to get into comparisons. I'm sure this unit probably sounds really great...Considering all you get with it, this is like the perfect front end for many people. I wouldn't be scared to make a record with it, but I don't think it's going to rival a Symphony I/O.

[Duardo]

But I love BLA converters and mods.
If they Mod a Apollo Im in.

Nothing against BLA, but to base your decision to purchase on a product not sounding good enough to not require a mod just seems...odd.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by robertshaw

Nah...... I don't even record. I'm just a music and gear lover. Look at me like the guy who sells appliances in the Sears and Robucks. He'll tell you everything there is to know about a washer and dryer, but yet his wife does the laundry. But it my case I don't really know anything about audio or recording. I'm just here for fun. I just like pushing buttons on the washer and dryer.

I do own a Burl b2 and a 2192 so I was kinda intrigued by this new product

Thats what I'm talking about always so halarious!!!
Specs are cool!! A washing machine can have great features but doesn't mean it get the clothes cleaner, washed faster, or the best value. Alot of it depends on the Detergent you use, and you use the right amount..
Same in Audio Recording.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by Duardo

Nothing against BLA, but to base your decision to purchase on a product not sounding good enough to not require a mod just seems...odd.

Call it what you want, I understand you!
But if you were my fellow engineer or producer friend you'd understand. We could compare.
Thanks to God, I have good friends that have hi-end converters which I could compare to.
Why wouldn't I want something that is good better? Because that's exactly what happens.
I wish I could have most of you in my humble room to see how BLA 96i/o after the Clock, Power supply, signal path decoupling, etc.... The BLA Mod is hard to beat.. Even the profire mod is great, I really wish I could improve the power supply though!!
That's all let's go back to the Apollo..

[Mazrak]

Originally Posted by TheKnow

I wouldn't count on the pres and converters in this thing being anything stellar...probably very usable...I do like the added mixing functions, however, all you really need when tracking is basic reverb and delay...so how important is it to have UAD plugs available for tracking? not very actually


BTW yes that's right I said the 2192...not exactly on everyone's wish list is it? there is a reason for that.

deja vu

[Avening]

Originally Posted by Johnkenn

At this price point, with mic pres included, I don't know how anyone would expect it to rival a Symphony. I kind've figured when they didn't come with any "Industry leading ADDA conversion," blurbs, they probably didn't want to get into comparisons. I'm sure this unit probably sounds really great...Considering all you get with it, this is like the perfect front end for many people. I wouldn't be scared to make a record with it, but I don't think it's going to rival a Symphony I/O.

I wouldn't think it would rival a Symphony I/O either. In the marketing blurbs they stated it was the best sounding interface ever in it's class / price range. I think the benchmark interfaces for an 8x8 analog I/O FW/USB box with 4 preamps are easily identified, and the Apollo would be competing with them. I wouldn't put a Symphony I/O, or an Avid HD I/O in the same class. Not from a sonic standpoint, but for intended use. The Apogee/Avid boxes (and others) mainly being for installation scenarios rather than optimized/designed for mobile use. Both of those boxes have double the physical space in which to work with, and don't need to cram the entire studio into a 1U. Sacrifices are obviously made with less space to work with, heat being one of them.

Anyways, just something to note ...

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by TheKnow

BTW yes that's right I said the 2192...not exactly on everyone's wish list is it? there is a reason for that.

I can't imagine why not

[Johnkenn]

Originally Posted by robertshaw

I can't imagine why not

I thought it was too colored for a converter...

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by Johnkenn

I thought it was too colored for a converter...

It thought it was less colored than my analog deck but more 3D

[Category 5]

Originally Posted by TheKnow

I wouldn't count on the pres and converters in this thing being anything stellar...probably very usable...I do like the added mixing functions, however, all you really need when tracking is basic reverb and delay...so how important is it to have UAD plugs available for tracking? not very actually


BTW yes that's right I said the 2192...not exactly on everyone's wish list is it? there is a reason for that.

I expect the pres will be very neutral and quite high end sounding considering the quality of the latest mic preamp chips. If it's based on the PGA2500, THAT1512, Burr Brown INA163 or similar spec IC it will be in the ballpark of the Grace m101, Millennia flavors, albeit with slightly less headroom.

It would be logical for UA to go that route too, since they are promoting their software as the way to color the recording.

Really, the new mic preamp chips are light years ahead of the good old Mackie mixer pre designs. We're talking performance completely within the range of discrete transformerless designs.

I'll admit the pres in most interfaces aren't inspiring, and I'll even admit that my old FF800 preamps were dogs. The UFX, Orpheus and Ensemble/Duet prove how good the PGA2500 chip can be.

Some other excellent designs based on a preamp-on-chip are the Grace m101, FiveFish SC-1, Seventh Circle T15, Arsenal Audio R20, Rane MS1b, TC Voicelive...and there are more. These preamps can be made in bulk for very little and sound great.

Built in preamps don't have to suck anymore. It would take idiocy for the Apollo pres to not be in this class. It's just too easy to make it so. Not to mention the fact that they are being sold as such.

We all have racks of our favorite transformer base pres (well, a lot of us) but I always end up needing extras for something or other. These will be great for that.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by Category 5

I expect the pres will be very neutral and quite high end sounding considering the quality of the latest mic preamp chips. If it's based on the PGA2500, THAT1512, Burr Brown INA163 or similar spec IC it will be in the ballpark of the Grace m101, Millennia flavors, albeit with slightly less headroom.

It would be logical for UA to go that route too, since they are promoting their software as the way to color the recording.

Really, the new mic preamp chips are light years ahead of the good old Mackie mixer pre designs. We're talking performance completely within the range of discrete transformerless designs.

I'll admit the pres in most interfaces aren't inspiring, and I'll even admit that my old FF800 preamps were dogs. The UFX, Orpheus and Ensemble/Duet prove how good the PGA2500 chip can be.

Some other excellent designs based on a preamp-on-chip are the Grace m101, FiveFish SC-1, Seventh Circle T15, Arsenal Audio R20, Rane MS1b, TC Voicelive...and there are more. These preamps can be made in bulk for very little and sound great.

Built in preamps don't have to suck anymore. It would take idiocy for the Apollo pres to not be in this class. It's just too easy to make it so. Not to mention the fact that they are being sold as such.

We all have racks of our favorite transformer base pres (well, a lot of us) but I always end up needing extras for something or other. These will be great for that.

You can always expect but not always will it be delivered. I hope they are too...

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by Category 5

I expect the pres will be very neutral and quite high end sounding considering the quality of the latest mic preamp chips. If it's based on the PGA2500, THAT1512, Burr Brown INA163 or similar spec IC it will be in the ballpark of the Grace m101, Millennia flavors, albeit with slightly less headroom.

It would be logical for UA to go that route too, since they are promoting their software as the way to color the recording.

Really, the new mic preamp chips are light years ahead of the good old Mackie mixer pre designs. We're talking performance completely within the range of discrete transformerless designs.

I'll admit the pres in most interfaces aren't inspiring, and I'll even admit that my old FF800 preamps were dogs. The UFX, Orpheus and Ensemble/Duet prove how good the PGA2500 chip can be.

Some other excellent designs based on a preamp-on-chip are the Grace m101, FiveFish SC-1, Seventh Circle T15, Arsenal Audio R20, Rane MS1b, TC Voicelive...and there are more. These preamps can be made in bulk for very little and sound great.

Built in preamps don't have to suck anymore. It would take idiocy for the Apollo pres to not be in this class. It's just too easy to make it so. Not to mention the fact that they are being sold as such.

We all have racks of our favorite transformer base pres (well, a lot of us) but I always end up needing extras for something or other. These will be great for that.

which again raises the question how can this be a quality piece for $2000? Grace m101 and others you mention run $500 for 2 channels
this has four mic pres + line amps? + 10 channels a/d d/a and UAD? hmmmmm ....fishy ...... on the other side of the coin for $500 grace is hosing us?? that is a $50 in parts and they charge $500 skins? that is suspect!!!!

This Apollo thing will sound mediocre at best, a prosumer offering..... nothing more which is fine. Id' rather hear people buy this than use those behringer ADAs and RME converters.

Again mediocre at best, but luckily for UA the people that buy Apollo wouldn't know the difference they have been using prosumer stuff all along. This is simply going to be an adat with a quadraverb and ALESIS 1622 mic pres built in. But it has the UA logo that is worth $1000


you look at the Apogee minime which was 2 channels and $900 retail. You wonder was apogee ripping us off? or is Apollo simply a design of miraculous R&D research and an ultra sleek use of components to make a great sounding unit for $2000? but has $5000 worth of features??? it's one or the other.

suspect.....

I would be very cautions until I hear one and use one before dropping 2k. But If this delivers it is a game changer . Digi design will go out of business. as will 100s of other companies. If this unit is as good as people think it will be bad for the economy. 100s of converter and preamp companies will go under.

I'm scared

[_Ludovico]

...lol

so many ridiculous assumptions in here

I think this thread has gone past the line of sanity and should be locked!

[Jason Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Johnkenn

At this price point, with mic pres included, I don't know how anyone would expect it to rival a Symphony. I wouldn't be scared to make a record with it, but I don't think it's going to rival a Symphony I/O.

I think you are (deep in your heart) meaning that "I don't think the records recorded with Apollo are not going to rival the records recorded with Apogee Symphony I/O".

IMO, price shouldn't be the matter to make good records.
That is why we spend(pay?) much money on expensive equipments.
We spend(pay?) even our life or anything.

If UA succeeded making an equipment at low price (or shrinking its producing cost) , that is fine as long as it sounds best in the history.
But if not...

Creators should do the best. No matter how much it costs.
Including UA.
We all are waiting UA show us proof UA has not lost the creatorizm.