Move to UA Apollo Twin Solo from Focusrite/Preamp setup?

CodePoet

CodePoet

Fractal Fanatic
Requesting opinions on this question. With UA's current deal, you can get their Analog Classis Pro Bundle of plugins thrown in (Teletronix LA-2A Classic Leveler, 1176 Classic Limiter, Pultec Passive EQ, Fairchild Tube Limiter, and UA 610 Tube Preamp & EQ Collections - $500 regularly) when you purchase a new Twin (Solo, Duo, or Quad). My current setup is a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8v2 with a Golden Age Pre-73 DLX preamp.

Would migrating to an Apollo Twin Solo be a win overall? On the plus side, I see lower latency (using lightning to my Mac), higher quality A/D D/A, and being able to downsize to a single piece of gear (if I sell my preamp). Using the UNISON plugins for preamps would seem to offer a wider range of options than a single outboard preamp.

I don't intend to use UA plugins (famous last words I know) but I pretty much have what I need for mixing. I see getting by with the included UA preamp/EQ/compressor ones when tracking so the Solo model should be fine for me.

So would this setup give more quality and flexibility than my current setup? Does the Apollo offer just as good or better an experience than using an external preamp? I've seen some comments that external preamps are best which I don't know is true compared to the Twin capabilities and I'm not too needy in this area.

How about connecting the Axe-Fx III to it? Does anyone use a SPDIF->Optical adapter to use the Twin's preamps when playing or tracking?

Any other considerations/tips?

Thanks for your input!
 
CodePoet said:
Wham - sounds good! Actually was hoping for your response @bradlake as I know you're in the UA camp.

Specifically, any downsides to not using an external preamp or does the UA Apollo Twin give me just as good or better performance than what I have now?
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I suppose that is fairly subjective, but I think the the Apollo Unison preamps sound fine, and pretty equal in quality to the preamps in the (also UA)
4-701d, and with the Unison Plugins you think you won’t buy the choices of tone are huge.
 
CodePoet said:
@austinbuddy - do you have any insights on this one? Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...

I have not used a Focusrite myself.

I think the Universal Audio/ Apollo stuff is fantastic, both hardware and software/plug-ins. I have an older Twin Apollo but never use it (may sell it), I have two Apollo Quads in my rack that do the job great.

Plug-ins...I really don't use any UAudio plug-ins with my Axe-III input channel on the UAudio console (don't need to if you get the preset set up right ) but using one of their compressor plug-ins works very nice, like an UA 1176. If I were recording guitars, I'd totally use that. I also sometimes like their MXR Flanger plug-in But the BEST plug-in is their SSL Stereo Buss, just put that sucker on anything especially your stereo out, and it will all sound gloriously and musically better. I just use the old legacy version of it, set on default.

To use the Apollo Twin, you need to get a convertor (plus two cables) that will turn your coaxial S/PDIF signal into a Toslink Optical signal.

You go out of your S/PDIF on the Axe-III into the Toslink convertor. So you need a S/PDIF cable for that leg. So make sure the convertor you buy says says Coaxial IN and Optical OUT (and not vice versa). The convertor box is powered. They are like $20 on Amazon although that is not the one I have.

Then the convertor box translates the Axe-Fx III S/PDIF incoming signal into a TosLink digital signal and outputs that as an optical signal through an optical cable. You also need a cable for that to go into the back of your Apollo Twin.

- S/PDIF coaxial digital cable
- Convertor box (one-way)
- Optical Audio Toslink cable


Then on the Apollo Twin console software, SPDIF channel, set the switch at the top of the channel to "SR CONVERT = ON". You'll need your Axe-Fx III Output to be set to +4db, (not -10db).

Or you can ignore all of this mess and just use XLRs out and in! That works cool too!
 
yeah, i love my solo. actually wish i'd got a duo now. the mic preamps are amazing, especially for vocals or acoustic guitar, paired with a nice mic and a couple of the uad plugins.
 
austinbuddy said:
I have not used a Focusrite myself.

I think the Universal Audio/ Apollo stuff is fantastic, both hardware and software/plug-ins. I have an older Twin Apollo but never use it (may sell it), I have two Apollo Quads in my rack that do the job great.

Plug-ins...I really don't use any UAudio plug-ins with my Axe-III input channel on the UAudio console (don't need to if you get the preset set up right ) but using one of their compressor plug-ins works very nice, like an UA 1176. If I were recording guitars, I'd totally use that. I also sometimes like their MXR Flanger plug-in But the BEST plug-in is their SSL Stereo Buss, just put that sucker on anything especially your stereo out, and it will all sound gloriously and musically better. I just use the old legacy version of it, set on default.

To use the Apollo Twin, you need to get a convertor (plus two cables) that will turn your coaxial S/PDIF signal into a Toslink Optical signal.

You go out of your S/PDIF on the Axe-III into the Toslink convertor. So you need a S/PDIF cable for that leg. So make sure the convertor you buy says says Coaxial IN and Optical OUT (and not vice versa). The convertor box is powered. They are like$20 on Amazon although that is not the one I have.

Then the convertor box translates the Axe-Fx III S/PDIF incoming signal into a TosLink digital signal and outputs that as an optical signal through an optical cable. You also need a cable for that to go into the back of your Apollo Twin.

- S/PDIF coaxial digital cable
- Convertor box (one-way)
- Optical Audio Toslink cable


Then on the Apollo Twin console software, SPDIF channel, set the switch at the top of the channel to "SR CONVERT = ON". You'll need your Axe-Fx III Output to be set to +4db, (not -10db).

Or you can ignore all of this mess and just use XLRs out and in! That works cool too!
Click to expand...
Hallo!
How do I resolve the configuration?
Lane 5 for Reamp?
And finally, how do you solve the Reampot?
Big problem with Reamp!
Thanks again for your help.
Thanks!
 

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I bought an Antelope interface recently and comes with a few free plugs and at the time a free solo modeling mic. Interface sounds CLEAN!
 
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