Anyone working with a AU Apollo over here?

    Just got one a couple of days ago, was previously using an ensemble.


    Pros :


    Works with PC as well as Mac


    UAD plugins


    Low noise floor


    8 channels of audio in


    Convertors are decent quality


    Automatic sample rate conversion on SPDIF is a nice touch.


    Cons :


    Build quality is pretty flimsy


    Compressed treble end to the sound, not much bass (inferior analog side perhaps), it can get wearing to listen to for extended periods.


    Expensive.


    Poor routing options in the software control panel (no matrix)


    Not a lot of gain for the mic pre-amps or headphone amps (don't go for 250 ohm headsets basically)


    Thunderbolt is only used for the UAD bridge, for the convertors/interface side it's all FW all the way even if you buy the TB card (your'e better off getting a cheap TB/FW convertor cable than buying their extortionately priced fw card).


    UAD plugins are very very very DSP heavy if you opt to use them.


    Latency seems to be pretty high even for FW.




    Overall I'd say it's an OK interface, I'm not in love (although honest I am trying to be) but it does the job. I've yet to try running ADAT into the ensemble to make use of it's DA, which I intend to try next (I had hoped to just sell the ensemble but at the moment i'm not sure). The main pro is the UAD plugins if you like them, to me they're just so much digital tonesuck but I know a lot of people swear by them as the second coming and the Apollo just happened to fit the profile (outside of that) and budget for what I was after better than anything else out there currently (sorry RME fans, I can't cope with the DA side on those either although they have excellent software and superb latency), I can't hand on heart recommend it but what I need and hear and what you need and hear may be very different things and regardless of the negatives it is still a good interface with a pretty clean and true sound for the money, so I can't say don't get it either, basically as always YMMV.

    Cool, thanks for the info!


    I have a ProTools HD2 PCIe with a 96I/O atm, so I'm used to tracking through plugins.
    The Apollo seems to offer that same kind of workflow that I'm used to, so it seems like a logical step if I wanted to move away from the old ProTools interfaces and go native.


    But thanks for the info, man!
    Escpecially for the cons :) hehe

    I've had issues with UA hardware. Flaky. Both my LA-610's broke. You have to send it back to the company to be fixed, there are no local places since they don't allow blueprints to go out.


    Plus they move on from DSP hardware. UAD-1 is dead. Their plugins are DSP hogs and their hardware are DSP Power stingy and they charge a lot for it.


    People used to complain about Waves plugins for having to plug in a dongle and it taking up CPU cycles to check them. UA plugins are HUGE DSP hogs and require a freaking external piece of hardware you plug in and hump around.


    Good plugins, but expensive when you add up all the costs.


    Also, their customer service has lied to me, so I stopped dealing with them. I judge a company by how it handles it's problems and they rank low on my list.

    Edited 2 times, last by db9091 ().


    Per,


    Would you say that the Ensemble (or Apogee Quartet) is the better choice if you don't care so much about the UAD processing of the Apollo?
    Naturally, the plugin processing is something that I'd use, but so far my 1st generation Apogee duet worked out for most of my home recording needs. Nevertheless, more I/Os and the processing power look tempting.

    Quote from multivir1


    Per,


    Would you say that the Ensemble (or Apogee Quartet) is the better choice if you don't care so much about the UAD processing of the Apollo?
    Naturally, the plugin processing is something that I'd use, but so far my 1st generation Apogee duet worked out for most of my home recording needs. Nevertheless, more I/Os and the processing power look tempting.


    Both offer colored sounds, but for my ears, yes, however I wanted something that works on both mac and pc and with Apogee that's simply not an option, another factor is that Apogee are no longer making Ensemble's (maybe a new TB version is in the works?). I find the Apogee analog side to be more musical and pleasant, the Apollo sounds hyped at the treble end and everything that you associate with a "digital" sound, almost like the DA reconstruction filter is literally switched off.


    The AD/DA chip on the Apollo is the same as on the Prism Orpheus, on the Apogee I don't know if the Ensemble and Quartet share the same chip, however the Quartet is several generations on and should be somewhat better at least on the analog side, which is after all the only place that it counts anyway. Many people seem to think that the Apollo is a step up convertor wise from the Ensemble, however I believe this is more on the AD side than DA, the Apollo mic pre's are quiet and pretty transparent, the pre's on the Ensemble are an older chip but still pretty neutral and nice sounding. The difference really comes down to analog components, for me the Apogee offers a very relaxed and musical sound that's easy to live with, the Apollo sound is also very open but it feels artificial to me and while I can trust it for tracking (although the compression results in less of an impression of depth) I don't feel I can trust it for mixing, instead I'm dependent on reading meters and just hoping for the best that stuff comes through the blaze of treble rather than being able to depend on my ears.


    Now having said all of that bear in mind I'm very new to the Apollo, maybe in a few weeks my views will have changed as I grow accustomed to it's sounds and idiosyncrasies. On top of that the majority of posts that I've found online have been from very happy customers who've felt that the Apollo is a step up from their Ensembles, unfortunately for me I made a quite significant mistake of comparing the Apollo with not just my Ensemble but also a Symphony system and while the results are close enough that no-one should be disappointed with the Apollo especially as it's a couple of grand cheaper and offers PC support - once you start hearing the certain characteristics that separate the two it's nearly impossible to un-hear them. It's sort of like when you were happy with a certain amp sim but then you noticed certain frequencies of fizz that you just can't seem to kill. Anyhow as I said, YMMV and ask me again in a months time.

    I have an apollo UAD DUO.


    The main reason i choose it was because i want to track with plugins. The quality of the preamps is very good, but that alone should not be the reason to aquire a apollo. The main reason should be the dsp cards.
    So either you need the dsp power to mix/master or use it to have almost zero latency tracking (i use both).
    And it does that very good.


    I have a bit of a problem with the routing of the system. UAD knows about this and it is a big gripe with apollo owners. We are still waiting for an update.


    Overal, the apollo performs very good, clear preamps, 2 hi-Z inputs and ofcourse the UAD plugins. I absolutely love them.


    Is there anything else you need to know, let me know.


    pros:


    Good preamps
    lots of inputs
    DSP onboard
    thunderbolt



    Cons:
    Expensif (if you only need a soundcard)
    DSP only useable for UAD plugins
    Bad routing (should be changed in the near future)

    I cant answer that. I do not profile. I only use profiles. I also sold all of my amps sometime ago.


    I do use the plugings (mainly the CE-1/LA-2A and the pultec) in my chain.

    Thanks for the replies guys!


    Other options I'm looking at at the moment:


    Apogee Symphony I/O (with 2x6 module, to add to my current setup, adding other modules over time to replace my current setup)
    Steinberg MR816 CSX


    If anyone's got some personal insight on those, feel free to share!
    Or if anyone's got some other options I should look into, I'm all ears :)

    Quote from lightbox

    Is there a specific reason for you to not consider Focusrite (e.g. Liquid Saffire 56)?


    Yes! Future connectivity and low latency tracking (through plugins).
    Steinberg MR816 CSX is only in the running because I can get it at a good price haha

    I own one and use it with the Kemper and Reaper at home.



    Pros


    Sounds best for hooked up with spdif IMO. Need to use Kemper as the master, that limits it to 44.1khz.
    You can run higher and get the apollo to "convert" the signal but it leads to pops and clicks for me. With everything synced it sounds great.
    If you do need to go higher can always use the analog outs/ins



    Very easy to reamp with when using spdif as there is no AD/DA conversion happening. You send dry guitar signal (via GIT output in K) through spdif L and can record/monitor on sdpif R. In the console you have a track for each L & R so can mute the L and center the R.


    Tracking with effects works well. You can monitor with but record dry if you want. Then tweak your plugin settings after. eg I have a bad habit of tracking my guitars too loud and putting on too much reverb.


    I like the plugins. I don't have much experience with other native plugins, but they sound good to me. With guitar I only use a few anyways, maybe compressor, EQ, reverb, delay - sometimes a channel strip.


    Cons
    It's expensive as are the plugins
    Routing is a bit limited. I struggle to get a stereo tape delay going if I want to pretend to be the Edge. But I can always use the delay in the kemper which is fine anyways.

    Hello All,


    I too have a Kemper and Apollo and am looking for the best way to record and reamp without multiple trial and error sessions. The Kemper SPDIF locked at 44.1 might play nicely with the Apollo SPDIF SRC; it it doesn't, the analog route will have to do. From what I can read about the analog, this is what I'm thinking:


    Kemper Main XLR outs (L/R) to an Apollo input (TRS balanced) - Straight Forward cabling.


    Kemper Direct Output/Send (TS unbalanced) to an Apollo input (TRS balanced, so connect 1/4" tip of Kemper plug to tip of Apollo and ground of kemper plug to ring of Apollo plug. Shield/drain connect to Apollo ground.) A question is should the Direct Output be set to Git Studio to get an additional 9 dBFS?


    Apollo output (TRS, balanced) to front panel Kemper (TS, unbalanced, so cable accordingly). Bring the output down 9dB from DAW or Apollo if the original signal was recorded using Git Studio.


    I'm assuming the Kemper Alternative Input on the back is still non-functional for reamping.


    Is there a tried and true way that Kemper/Apollo users have found? Maybe SPDIF is the way to go.


    Thanks,


    Eric

    I can change the SPDIF output to "Git / Stack" and capture these into the DAW through the Apollo using the built in Apollo Console SRC function. The Kemper is obviously running at 44.1 and the Apollo SRC is outputting 48 to the DAW via SPDIF. I have a non-processed track and the processed track from the Kemper. I can't figure out out to Reamp the non-processed track. The recorded tracks are 48/24. Any help is appreciated and I'll keep digging. Keeping everything SPDIF sure would be clean!


    The SPDIF Input box is checked under INPUT soft key, but nothing is processed.


    Getting the sound out is a maze through the DAW, the Apollo, then the Kemper.

    Just for the record, the Apollo SRC works fine to convert the 44.1 kHz SPDIF signal from the Kemper to 48 kHz for the DAW. However, the SRC is only one way: INTO the Apollo. A good digital direct signal and a processed signal can be recorded via Kemper SPDIF ouputs, but when I change the Kemper input to SPDIF and reamp, the sound difference is quite noticeable. 48 kHz SPDIF doesn't go into the Kemper.