UA Apollo vs Neve 8068 console and classic Studer 827 tape machine

[kennydezotttk]

With a price difference of 200k i believe the apollo won?

[DR Music]

WOW!!!!!

[johnnygri]

Interesting. Thanks for the link.

[Plush]

Why do you even ask?

[Syncamorea]

Originally Posted by kennydezotttk

With a price difference of 200k i believe the apollo won?

I think it depends on your criteria for the comparison. Near the end, they say: "If I can use the real deal, that's what I'm gonna do", so to them, tape is worth the cost and hassle. Yet their big picture conclusions are that the Apollo is surprisingly close for a tiny fraction of the cost.

[kennydezotttk]

Yeah, but we are talking about 200k price difference here... is it really worth it? i think sometimes we think too much about how the tiny differences matter and put so much money into it for something that normal people wont even hear and dont even care about... Sure if i can have a neve and studer tape to choose from i would opt for that... but if you're a normal person and not richie rich the choice is obvious.

[Timesaver800W]

I'm feeling my brain being sucked out of my nose.

[lakeshorephatty]

I took a listen to this comparison.

Firstly let me say I don't have a tape set up and don't intend to ever have one. That said the apollo samples sounded so closed off and 2d. When they tried to match the apollo by adjusting tape settings the 7k and up area just got spitty and flat. The room didn't bloom. The analog situation sounded fantastic. It was somehow clearer (not brighter) and smoother at the same time. It was very telling that these qualities were missing when the removed tape from the equation and went straight to the converter comparison. The tape was doing something i really liked. Not something I can afford money or time wise, but certainly something great.

It was interesting to me because I hear some of the qualities I'm trying to avoid in the tone of my tracks. I'm using an apogee rosetta 800. It probably has similar quality conversion to the apollo. The tape machine seemed to really almost eliminate these tonal qualities I don't like.

I was already planning to try out the burl converters in the next few years when budget allows, this further reinforces the need to explore that when I can. It doesn't give me any interest in the apollo or onboard dsp stuff. The analog sim's did nothing positive to the sound that I could hear. Did not do anything like my culture vulture or fatso can do.

Russell

[MJB]

kennyd, thanks for posting that link, it was great!

I've used tape and Studer and SSL's most of my life. With enough care and tweaking the emulations are so close, it makes sense to use plugs for the obvious, speed, creativity and recall. I would use a Neve console or SSL console any day though, because I just loved them anyway.