UAD Apollo gear use [spinoff topic]

The Lounge General Discussion
#146

it is expandable…just with other apollo interfaces.
(and also non-apollos, see update*)

i have the solo as well, (more than 1 yr & 1/2) and i’m in a situation also where i need additional i/o’s.

(for me at least), i think its a keeper just because of the top-notch a/d & d/a conversion.
you can also expand it with a duo to save money and the solo core gets added to the processing power which is not that bad i suppose.

i’m currently looking into alternatives to expand with i/o’s while keeping the solo and without buying another apollo interface.

also i don’t care for the included plug-ins so its a difficult decision for me to add an additional apollo interface.

[update]:

after a quick search it seems you can expand the solo with other non apollos.

image

link-

and worth noting.
if you do keep the solo it doubles as a nice monitor controller in reach.

also see vid @ 2min.

1 Like
#147

You are talking about the Duo I guess. The solo thunderbold is new and doesn‘t have adat. It was formerly know as Apollo Arrow.

I know you can expand the Duo and x series. But you can run only 1 desktop interface. So no solo + duo or x4. But solo and x6 etc should work.

1 Like
#148

i wasn’t aware of the arrow being referred to as solo.
(it’s because it was only called that on windows and mac has always been arrow)

maybe try being more specific next time to avoid confusion and help bring more replies because in the mac apollo line-up, yes indeed there is a solo with adat, and duo/ etc.

and no i wasn’t talking about the duo, i’m specifically talking about solo* for mac.

i have the apollo twin mk2 solo.
(solo referring to single core w/ macs)

and yes, mine has the adat connection.

1 Like
#149

Hey sorry for confusion.

I was talking about this one:
Apollo Solo | Desktop Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface | Universal Audio (uaudio.de)

I didn´t know there was an Apollo Duo MK2 with solo core.

#150

According to some discussions at the UAD forum, they are selling Apollos now as Heritage Editions only (which cost 20% - 30% more than non Heritage). This is due the fire at the AKM chip factory. So they may can not manufacture more or new interfaces in the coming year. So the just make the current Apollo line more expensive

And I found out that all UAD firewire devices will not be longer supported new MacOS like Big Sur. This includes both Apollos and Satelites.

#151

Wow, @insect, that fire and its aftermath for the high-end audio equipment sector are huge, according to https://www.audioholics.com/news/fire-destroys-akm-audio-chip-factory (and the comments below it)

#152

thank your sharing that link! First time reading it how bad the impact of the fire is.

#153

What a great thread. Great read.

@insect i have the Arrow - although it’s the model previous to yours and only bus-powered. I know the Solo has a power switch and PSU, are you using it as such (it can be bus-powered also) ? Are you on a 13" or 15"/16"? I didn’t have any such issues with the ports - only it’s fussy if I put my Mac to sleep - generally I unplug it because the Arrow seems to become powered / unpowered by itself while the laptop is sleeping - I guess thats why they added they PSU and switch?

I’m realising too that the Arrow may be too minimal for my needs now. It started off well but now that I have some pedals and the OT in the mix, it’s simply not enough outputs to wrangle DAW output to the OT, monitoring, and external record.

If there’s one thing I think is a design flaw on the Apollo stuff is the way they make you hot jack Hi-Z inputs in order to use the inputs on the back. Should just be a button like everything else. I just wanna leave my guitar plugged in the front and OT on the back without having to rip the guitar out every time I wanna switch to the Line-In’s.

I’m really GASing for the X4 now. To be honest I’m not huge on the plugins - I think the ones they ship you with the unit don’t actually sell the whole system that well. But this thread made me fire off a few more demos and its pretty sweet running through one of the Diezel amps with the Gravity. Quite a few sales on at the mo, too.

But the Arrow has weak DSP, so there’s that too. I was actually looking at the old Apogee Quartet - which pretty much covers me off for my IO needs - and the X4 has pretty much the same setup. But the Quartet is still mad expensive for its age, and who knows how much longer it’ll be properly supported - the X4 really isn’t that much higher price-wise. Apogee have the new Desktop Symphony also but it’s really designed to be used with ADAT device which I don’t have. So it’s looking like the X4 is the closest thing on the market for me.

I sort of miss the old MOTU days - the Ultralites were capable as hell. Today, I dunno, all my local stores are pretty much back-ordered on them, and i’ve read mixed reports on the QC lately.

I’d love to flip the Arrow and grab an X4 - the Arrow isn’t even really a gateway drug to the Plugs, more of a tasting session.

Gah

1 Like
#154

I agree with you that they don’t do a good job at making you want to get into the plug-ins. That is until you try out the amps.
The be100 did me in and I’ve bought a bunch since. Best sims ive used, and I have a helix rack! It sucks they aren’t midi controlled though.

#155

Can I quote you if someone asks again why I use my Apollo only as an Adat expansion for me RME802 these days?

1 Like
#156

Just got an 8x about a week ago and I am digging it. I was initially disappointed about lack of midi control until I stumbled across this app:

I used this along with the Electra One to control volume, mutes, sends, and more. It’s working out flawlessly so far.

2 Likes
#157

@phelios ha not sure why you wanna quote me. It was just my experience. Others have their own :wink:

So finally I got the X4. I guess it`s one of last remaining non heritage in Germany.

One big design “failure” … I could not put in my Thunderbold 3 cable I bought for the Solo. The adapter is simply to big like 1mm or so. Or the hole for the adapter is to small on the X4. Looks like the officially Apple cable would fit as the adapter / connector is a bit smaller.

Don´t buy this cable Maxonar TB3

So I had to scratch the surface from the cable untill it fit. Looks like DIY now :stuck_out_tongue: But it works. The setup with the RME via adat was easy. Now sending audio via RME adat out to the Apollo. So I can use digicheck analyser with the Apollo and apollo is the clock master :+1:

From the listening and working experience so far, the X4 sounds a little different than the RME. I would describe it as more mid range. Maybe the deep bass is not soo strong like on the RME. Hard to describe. What I noticed is the reverb. I just openend a logic project I´m working on and the first thing I did was turning down the reverb on the hihats.

On the RME: When I listen to single drums with the reverb I hear that is loud. But as soon as I switch from solo track to master track, the reverb gets a little hidded in the mix.
On the Apollo: The reverb on the drums is not hidden.

Another point for the Apollo is, the volume out is allways full scale digital and the volume is controlled analog. Normally you have monitor controller for that. But a good one is allready half price of the X4.

#158

Does UA still refuse to include a TB cable with their TB interfaces? How is that acceptable?

2 Likes
#159

It’s almost as amazing as what Apple will charge you for one.

#160

I stocked up at Monoprice. You’d think UA would do the same and split the $10 base cost with their customers. Even if it’s only 50cm long.

Then again, those are TB2. TB3 has a fair bit of technology in it. But the principle remains.

1 Like
#161

Unfortunately they are not the only ones who do this! Seems to be a bit of a practice with thunderbolt devices, very frustrating and makes them seem cheap and careless.

1 Like
#162

I am still baffled by UA´s customer care. I bought the Apollo in 2013 and I think that it was the most expensive piece of equipment that I got to that date. A premium product, built to last. No cheap compromise that you regret buying after a few years. But then, guess again! I can´t use the Apollo anymore because they decide to not support it on the new OS, updates are not available anymore for the OLD system. I never had any trouble using Firewire, it´s not their job to tell me that I now need Thunderbolt. The only reason not to sell it is the low resale value and the hassle involved selling the plugins. But I was never so disappointed with an audio company as with UA.

2 Likes
#163

Relate to this 100%. I have a black thunderbolt Apollo 8, but since reading about that decision re the firewire Apollos I wonder if I should preemptively sell mine and get something RME.

I do have 1000€s worth in UAD plugins though, so I’d take a massive hit if I sold it all.

#164

Year indeed thats a real downer!!! I decided to swap my satelites fw for a thunderbold one. Hopefully the firewire are still worth some money on ebay for people who want to stick with the „old“ mac os.

#165

Hi all,

I’ve been looking at upgrading to UAD from an older Scarlett, particularly for recording some acoustic sources (guitar, vocals, etc.), and could see some very useful set-and-forget plugin chains for those instances, and zero latency would be helpful there during tracking.

The question I have is… what value have you been able to get from the UAD ecosystem for synth/drum machine sources? The preamps don’t really matter with line levels, so it would just be a matter of the converters and plugins. What are your favorite use cases? Any frustrations?

Thanks!