Originally Posted by CPhoenix ➡️

BTW.. Babyface does have compression. It's part of Total Mix FX. I don't know what the previous poster is talking about.

Originally Posted by brandano ➡️

Here are my 2 cents on the Apollo Twin:

An artist for whom I mix uses an Apollo Twin and so I use it whenever I work from his home studio.


Good:

- The preamps sound clean (haven't done any direct comparisons though).

- It has all the features you need if the amount if I/Os doesn't limit you.

- The thing feels very high-quality, it's solidly built.

- Neat: A push on the knob mutes or un-mutes the currently selected output.


Not so good:

- The usability of the one-knob design sucks. I don't know why they built only one knob into this thing - probably because it looks fancy - but it sucks for one obvious reason: You can ever only control one thing at a time. Other interfaces have a gain knob for almost every input and output, so you can quickly turn down your speakers a bit, turn up your headphones at the same time, and turn down the gain on the mic preamp, too. With the Apollo Twin, you have to select the channel you want you change first. Select the speakers, then turn down the volume. Then switch the selection to the headphone output, then turn up the volume there. Then switch the selection to the mic preamp - you get what I mean. This design with the one knob is as unnecessary as it is a pain in the ass for your workflow. You want to turn up the mic preamp gain real quick while recording but oops - all you did is accidentally turn up the volume of the monitor speakers because you forgot the monitor output was still selected and you forgot to switch to the mic input first. It just sucks and there is no reason for it to be this way.

- Even though it basically is a 2-in/2-out interface and you would hence assume it is quite portable - it is not. It is heavy and bulky and a pain to carry around. It's too big for what it is. An RME Babyface or an Apogee Duet is much smaller and much more portable and yet it offers the same features and pretty much the same quality preamps and converters (please spare me with any arguments about the sonic superiority of the Apollo, because there really isn't much of a difference between all three of the above).

- The UAD plug-ins may be awesome, but it absolutely sucks that you can only use them with the UAD hardware. I would never ever make myself dependent on dedicated hardware for my plug-ins, no matter how good the plug-ins sound. Whenever I'm not in this artist's studio (and hence not connected to the Apollo), I can't use the UAD plug-ins. What a pain in the ass! This effectively leads to me not using any UAD plug-ins at all, because I need to be able to work on my projects on the road or at home or at a different studio where there might not be any UAD hardware. I recommend everybody: Don't invest in plug-ins that need dedicated external DSP hardware. Modern computers are fast enough to do the processing of your plug-ins natively and external DSP hardware just chains you to a certain location and is expensive on top of that. Before I'd buy a UAD card I'd rather invest that money into a new multi-core Mac.

Originally Posted by brandano ➡️

Here are my 2 cents on the Apollo Twin:

An artist for whom I mix uses an Apollo Twin and so I use it whenever I work from his home studio.


Good:

- The preamps sound clean (haven't done any direct comparisons though).

- It has all the features you need if the amount if I/Os doesn't limit you.

- The thing feels very high-quality, it's solidly built.

- Neat: A push on the knob mutes or un-mutes the currently selected output.


Not so good:

- The usability of the one-knob design sucks. I don't know why they built only one knob into this thing - probably because it looks fancy - but it sucks for one obvious reason: You can ever only control one thing at a time. Other interfaces have a gain knob for almost every input and output, so you can quickly turn down your speakers a bit, turn up your headphones at the same time, and turn down the gain on the mic preamp, too. With the Apollo Twin, you have to select the channel you want you change first. Select the speakers, then turn down the volume. Then switch the selection to the headphone output, then turn up the volume there. Then switch the selection to the mic preamp - you get what I mean. This design with the one knob is as unnecessary as it is a pain in the ass for your workflow. You want to turn up the mic preamp gain real quick while recording but oops - all you did is accidentally turn up the volume of the monitor speakers because you forgot the monitor output was still selected and you forgot to switch to the mic input first. It just sucks and there is no reason for it to be this way.

- Even though it basically is a 2-in/2-out interface and you would hence assume it is quite portable - it is not. It is heavy and bulky and a pain to carry around. It's too big for what it is. An RME Babyface or an Apogee Duet is much smaller and much more portable and yet it offers the same features and pretty much the same quality preamps and converters (please spare me with any arguments about the sonic superiority of the Apollo, because there really isn't much of a difference between all three of the above).

- The UAD plug-ins may be awesome, but it absolutely sucks that you can only use them with the UAD hardware. I would never ever make myself dependent on dedicated hardware for my plug-ins, no matter how good the plug-ins sound. Whenever I'm not in this artist's studio (and hence not connected to the Apollo), I can't use the UAD plug-ins. What a pain in the ass! This effectively leads to me not using any UAD plug-ins at all, because I need to be able to work on my projects on the road or at home or at a different studio where there might not be any UAD hardware. I recommend everybody: Don't invest in plug-ins that need dedicated external DSP hardware. Modern computers are fast enough to do the processing of your plug-ins natively and external DSP hardware just chains you to a certain location and is expensive on top of that. Before I'd buy a UAD card I'd rather invest that money into a new multi-core Mac.

Originally Posted by CPhoenix ➡️

BTW.. Babyface does have compression. It's part of Total Mix FX. I don't know what the previous poster is talking about.

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

Mmm, ok. And this multi-core Mac(assuming you're talking about a nMac Pro) won't chain you to a certain location?

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

I'm glad UA decided on a hardware system that makes it impossible to crack so they get revenue from their hard work and garantees everyone a somewhat certain future...

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

Camel Audio anyone?

Originally Posted by chinesewhiteman ➡️

I get your point, but the the satellites are very portable and plenty easy to bring anywhere, if you as a mixer want to use UAD. It's not a bad value either considering (duo for example) it comes with a nice suite. The waves equivalents(the JJP & CLA classics) would run you about the same price... I'm still on the fence as to whether I want to jump on the UAD band wagon, but it's certainly not a bad product and a pretty decent value.

Originally Posted by chinesewhiteman ➡️

The waves equivalents(the JJP & CLA classics) would run you about the same price... I'm still on the fence as to whether I want to jump on the UAD band wagon, but it's certainly not a bad product and a pretty decent value.

Originally Posted by chinesewhiteman ➡️

Plus, if you're mixing something someone else recorded, who cares what they did with it(UAD processing, or otherwise)? Would you not start with a clean slate anyway, maybe just using their rough for reference if needed?

Originally Posted by brandano ➡️

Camel Audio was almost certainly bought by Apple my friend. I don't know if they are such a good example to prove your point that plug-in companies who don't force you to use useless external DSP hardware aren't making enough money

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

Tell that to Windows users. Apple buying them is the equivalent of Camel Audio going south...

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

My point was only to say that it's all good if you don't like the platform because it doesn't fit your needs, and i don,t give a damn really. But to «advise against it» because of your personal reason, well...
KA

Originally Posted by brandano ➡️

(1) The one-knob design sucks for usability.
(2) It is much heavier and clunkier (and thus not very portable) than other interfaces in the same quality league with a similar I/O offering (RME Babyface or Apogee Duet).
(3) UAD plug-ins come with the disadvantage of running on UAD hardware only.

Originally Posted by brandano ➡️

I'm afraid I don't understand at all what you mean by that. And I also don't understand what this has to do with the original point you were making about Camel Audio, which was you were implying they went out of business because they didn't make enough money because too few people paid for their plug-ins. I told you that you were wrong because they were bought by Apple and they certainly got a very lucrative deal financially. So I don't really understand what your statement above has to do with it all.



I didn't just state an opinion. I didn't just say "I don't like the UAD platform". I gave arguments that are based on facts. I explained that a disadvantage of the UAD system is the lacking portability of your work because you always need a UAD box with you or otherwise you can't use any of your plug-ins (fact). I also explained that for most UAD plug-ins you can get equal-quality native plug-ins for a similar price from other companies (also a fact). In fact, since a lot of UAD plug-ins are made by third party plug-in companies anyway, you can even just buy the exact native copy of the UAD plug-in for a lot of plug-ins.

Take my original post. Under "Not so good" I gave three detailed arguments against the Apollo, being:

(1) The one-knob design sucks for usability.
(2) It is much heavier and clunkier (and thus not very portable) than other interfaces in the same quality league with a similar I/O offering (RME Babyface or Apogee Duet).
(3) UAD plug-ins come with the disadvantage of running on UAD hardware only.

Can you disprove any of these arguments?

The OP can do with this information whatever she or he likes. I was merely adding that I personally would not invest in plug-ins that require dedicated DSP hardware to run. Sure, I didn't have to add that, but I did. The OP was asking about opinions after all. You gave yours, I gave mine.

I feel you're arguing with me just for the sake of arguing right now. The OP was asking for information and opinions about the Apollo and I gave him both. Your posts are mostly about attacking my posts and don't contain much usable information for the OP at all. All he knows from what you posted and from your signature is that apparently you feel very strongly for UAD plug-ins.

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

I don't want to be an ass and argue about nothing. I'm just presuming Camel Audio been bought because of financial problems, like eMagic were when Apple bought them.

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

Both have + and -.

Originally Posted by brandano ➡️

I don't want to be an ass either. Although to add one last thing to this off-topic point: I think it's a bit naive to believe that Apple would buy a company if that company is ****ed. There must obviously be some great value in that company for Apple to even show any interest at all, let alone for them to get out their check book. If a company is really, really in trouble, then nobody buys them.



Wouldn't you add most to the quality of this thread then if you elaborated a bit on these + and - they both have in your experience? I don't have much experience with the Babyface for example and would be interested in what other people have to say about it, too.

Originally Posted by KorgAddict ➡️

Babyface:
-Great drivers +
-Nice portability +
-Breakout cable -
-TotalMix FX very limited, 90's way of doing recording -

Twin/Console:
-Great Thunderbolt performance +
-«Rounder» sound/better preamps +
-Tracking through Console with UAD FXs and Unisson, without latency=21st century way of doing recording in the digital domain +
-Bulkier and not bus-powered, if you're on the move -
-More expensive platform -

eMagic were bought when in trouble, Steinberg were bought when in trouble, Cakewalk were bought when in trouble. All great companies with great people. With all the money they have, Apple can't buy a company that is not for sale. There,s a difference between the value of the people working for a software company and its financial health. Apple are buying the brain power. That's my view.

KA

Originally Posted by Mister Karloff ➡️

Totalmix is powerful
Usb is more prevelant than tb
And preamp quality is opinion based
Your post was just a bunch of opinions you atrempted to legitamize by adding. + or - to

Originally Posted by Mister Karloff ➡️

Post number 3 by the op states he doesnt have a new computer with TB

Originally Posted by kaboom75 ➡️

You can get PCI-e cards that add Thunderbolt II sockets to PC computers. All you need is a PCI -e slot or PCI-e mini slot.

I need an interface for a mic and maybe sometime later a couple of analogue hardware desktop synths. I've made my mind up to get a Babyface everyone raves about them.

Originally Posted by kaboom75 ➡️

You can get PCI-e cards that add Thunderbolt II sockets to PC computers. All you need is a PCI -e slot or PCI-e mini slot.

Originally Posted by djazz ➡️

I thought per the computer requirements listed on the UA site, you can use an older Mac with a Thunderbolt to Firewire converter and still use the Apollo.

Originally Posted by Hanson ➡️

AD/DA interface. Which one?
SO everybody, I'm recording Vox, Claps, piano, gtr etc. into my DAW. I compose, produce, use a lot of virtual instruments and plugs, and mix in my native DAW. Setup 32bit float/96KHz.

I need superior sound quality like the million dollar studios BUT I only have a low level budget. Fortunately technology has come a loooong way and are now presenting high quality AD/DA interfaces.

BUT, which one is the ultimate superior interface on this low level budget plan and which one, only one, can kick the ball out of the park like nobody else? I'm talking bout sound quality and trust on what you hear is correct.

You see, I have been using a Digi003fac for much to long and it has completely hold me back from advancing to the million dollar sound. Yes, I'm going for it on a low level budget.

Is it the: UA Apollo Twin, the m-audio, the RME, the SPL crime, the Audient, the DUET 2, the Zoom TAC-2 etc. Which one is my Captain America, my superman my goto friend I can rely on in every situation when tracking, mixing and bouncing? Which one has it all and are the one who will survive the others by many "decades"? Sound quality is the key. Clock, converters etc.