I am not sure if I want to keep the UA Apollo in my setup. I bought it to use the plugins but today they don´t play an important role in my workflow anymore as I use Valhalla DSP and U-HE most of the time.
Presswerk killed the EL Fatso, Color copy and the Ableton Echo replaced the UAD Delays and I finally found the Vintage Verb Settings that sound like the Lexicon 224. Each UAD plugin adds a nasty latency so that I can´t really play anymore and the unit is also far too heavy to bring it to gigs (I usually travel by train).
BUT (and it is a great but) the interface is fantastic, it sounds much better than my MOTU mk3 that I use for gigs (yes, I blind-tested this in my studio) and the routing software is great to control my different monitor setups.
So here comes my question: is there a top level audio interface that would work on my Firewire or USB Mac OSX systems? I don´t have thunderbold on my studio computer and I don´t plan to change that in the near future. I need at least 8 ins and outs, maybe adat as well and a solid control panel because I don´t want another volume control or mixer in the signal path between the interface and the speakers. Price range is round about what I´d get for an apollo quad mk1 plus a few plugins. Thanks for your input!
I’ve seen them often in gigs (last one: Rival Consoles). The Fireface 400/UC/UCX can hold up to 18 inputs at the same time if you complete it with an ADAT interface.
It can also be used without a computer, once configured, which is always nice (it basically becomes a mixing table). And it works with iPads too (UCX).
RME UFX will serve you well. Alternatively the offerings from Antelope (eg Zen Studio) are also banging and they are well known for their awesome conversion.
Just to add: The UAD Apollo should allow you to employ the UAD effects as inserts and/or sends at zero-latency via its Console app. It is true however that the UAD plugins add latency when used as plugins in the DAW. But for tracking and even FOH mixing / live gigging you can just use the Console - it’s “set and forget” and you don’t even have to have your laptop connected once you’ve set everything up in Console.
I own the blackface Apollo 8 and it is a fantastic interface! The Unison preamps are great, ADDA conversion is great, and I personally think the plugins are still superb and a notch above the rest. eg the AKG BX20 Spring Reverb is out of this world. The Neve 1073 preamp is great, the AMPEX ATR 102 is still the best tape simulation in the game etc etc…in a nutshell I’d say don’t sell, you’d have to pay quite a bit more to get something better than what you have (mytek, burl etc).
I don’t really see the point in having a UA Apollo if you don’t use the Console app to run UAD plugins with near-zero latency during tracking or live performance. Unless you really dig the Unison pre-amps (which are fine, pretty good).
So if you are over those things, then i would sell the apollo, go use your MotU and feed the ADAT ins there with some high quality conversion, maybe a Rosetta 800. then get a 500 series rack and start building a preamp collection. if you need mic preamps.
i wish someone would make a solid thunderbolt interface with 2 adat ins and 2 adat outs, and no other I/O.
This is true but usually I want to have the UAD Plugins on my Softsynths or as part of an FX chain together with other non-UAD plugins. And this is impossible or very complicated with the console.
nah man, super easy with the Console! Just route your Instrument track (can include a non-UAD fx chain in your track also) in your DAW out to one of the Virtual Inputs in Console and you’re done , track in realtime with your favourite effects as inserts or sends! Let me know if you need help with this, I can give you a more detailed description of how to set this up.
…once used to uad interfaces…there’s only rme, appogee or metric halo left to go for…
and i prefer metric halo overall…same concept, the very first ones with dsp power on their own since pro tools and way more versatile, faster and rocksolid on ALL connection versions…from network cable, fw 400/800 and even usb…always inclusice additional adat lightpipe and word clocking…uln8 is the top one in their range…but also the good old 2882, which gets produced since way more than years and can be bought used under 1000 bux or new, is still reference top level in converters and on board dsp mio mixing console calculation…no latency issues ever…and their most classic channel strip plug in is still a high end recording classic plug in in gate, compression, and eq…and was even the first tdm bus plug in ever back in the first protools hd days…serious and timeless quality with no fuzz at all…this company is not into next next next product range at all…their stuff is allways timeless and built to last and is “only” selling the same three interfaces since ages…with different dsp boards inside of free choice for all possebilties u can ask for…metric halo rocks for real…
I can´t control my fx settings anymore with a midi controller like Push 2. I usually have a device with a compressor, delay and reverb per channel and the parameters that I need on the first eight knobs
I can´t use my FX presets that I have stored in my user library.
My Apollo has only two Virtual Stereo channels, I´d need eight of them in my current setup
the meter in Ableton is wrong as it shows the volume before being sent to Apollo´s virtual channel
In the end I think that the UAD system is fantastic but I am using it wrong. It is just not designed for my needs and it feels like a waste to only use it as an interface.
Yes totally agree.
If you are not processing external instruments live via console the Apollo is not being utilised.
The UAD plugins are still good but all the others in the box have more than caught up.
Computers are ridiculously powerful now and able to handle enormous plugin counts, not like years ago when the UAD DSP offload was very beneficial.
For me audio interface driver stability and efficiency are the most important factors in the studio, and RME can’t be beat in these departments.
The FX presets in Ableton are still usable and you can use the FX presets in Console for any plugins you run through it, but yeah I understand the Push 2 issue. I contemplated getting a Console One Mk2 for that purpose but it IS another 499€ for something that should be possible with what I’ve got.
I also hear you on the 2 VIs, I have an Apollo 8 and have 8 VIs, so that gives a lot more flexibility than the two available to you.
I agree with the other posters here, if not UAD Apollo I would go with RME, their interfaces are rock solid as are their drivers.
An alternative for ultra low latency ITB (at least with StudioOne but I believe its performance translates to other DAWs also) is the Presonus Quantum.
Let me know if you need help with this, I can give you a more detailed description of how to set this up.