Apollo FireWire

UAD Apollo Duo review.

I purchased an Apollo Duo a few months ago and have put it to the test during the recording of a new album for one of the singers on my label. It has performed above my expectations at every opportunity.

The mic pre amps are pristine with lots of headroom. I'm using a Neumann mic for vocals, direct into the Apollo and it sounds great. Being able to use UAD plug ins during tracking (monitor or record) has greatly helped lay down the vocal tracks. The singer (Frank Carter III) can hear a closer representation of the finished product and this allows him to have some relevant feedback before it gets into post. The Apollo integrated perfectly with Logic and was a breeze to use.

Apollo Uad

Well,

I must just say what a piece of kit!!!!!

I'm finding the Mic Pre's truly clean and wonderful. Add to this the real time tracking options and you have everything you will ever need to record and mix.

muy feliz

muy buen sonido, buenos resultados, Solo que quiero la actualización para windowns.

Yes, it's all true

The Universal Audio Apollo is everything the buzz has promised - powerful processing, pristine audio, straight forward operation. Easily configures with DAW (I'm running Nuendo 5), and the dual headphone outputs coupled with the Console app, make it a breeze to move from tracking to editing and mixing with a quick turn of a dial. For the first time, I find the DAW recording process flowing uninhibited from idea to execution. And of course the plug-ins. Yes, yes, and yes. I have encountered some recurrent issues with taxing the FW800 bus, even after adjusting the bandwidth much lower. I'm sure when I move to a Thunderbolt hard drive, or perhaps the card for the Apollo, this issue will evaporate.

Powerful. Quality. A Bargain.

The best recording unit ever!!!

It has it all.

I was surprised as soon i heard the sound quality.
Open, clear and I can hear where everything is placed in the sound field.

The mic pres are excellent.
They sound comparable to a lot more expensive pres out there on the market.

The fact that I can record direct with a plugin on it without latency thats revolutionary.
UAD plugins are top notch and creating music have been so much easier now and faster.

I can use the monitor our direct the my speakers and thats convenient.
No need for an extra monitor unit

Its like UAD have taken the best of everything and put it in one box.

Complete!

Need to say no more and now i can sell hardware i no longer use and buy plugins
for that money instead.
It cant be better

Thanks /Mik

The real analog sound

i feel real analog sound i am very happy to say this

The real analog sound

i feel real analog sound i am very happy to say this

Phenomenal

The very audio interface I've been waiting for. The converters are clean and accurate, the UAD plugins make this amazingly versatile to where the possibilities are truly endless. Couldn't be more happy.

Excellent but now I want a little more

Fantastic interface, really clean and open sound and a real step up from my previous interface. Running my bass through with a little compression gives me a sound that is better than any of my amps.

It only needs a couple of software changes to be perfect for me:

1. It needs to allow routing to outputs other than 1&2
2. It needs to allow me to change the DAW input levels

Apart from these, really enjoying it.

I love it!

I'm so pleased with the Apollo - amazing sound quality, so easy to use and the plug-ins are just stunning.
I can just recommend it, which I've already done!

Anders Berglund
Arranger, composer, conductor, producer
Sweden

Fantastic!

Best audio interface on the planet in this price range.

It looks pretty but I have a Thunderbolt only laptop.
Looking forward to the expansion card!
Thanks
vg

What a glorious piece of gear - fine fine pre's, solid build, and excellent execution. The only major drawback is the lack of 64bit plugs...come one UAD, give me 64bit AU's on top of all of the other awesomeness (granted that is another gripe all together, but related).

In a nutshell - give's apogee a serious run for the money.

I love the apollo, just not lovin (at all) the lack of audio routing possibilities. my 828 which was a 1/3 of the price of this machine, had a much better routing possibilities.

In the apollo

- you can't route system sounds,ok not a big deal but still not nice.

- you can't monitor with apollo's volume knob any other output but the main output.
so no ADAT monitoring at all...

you cant set your headphones to monitor any other output but the main output either. bummer!

well i don't maybe i just haven't learned how to use the console software correctly.

but for what i have read on the forums people are complaining about the same things.

This piece of gear has revitalised everything in the studio. It just makes all recording session fluent and efficient. The pre-amps are ultra clean and make everything sparkle and that combined with the UAD plugin DSP processing and the console gives super control of the sessions. I look forward to the thunderbolt card release as this will undoubtably change everything even further.

Thank you Universal Audio.

The Apollo is the new heart of the studio.


Best Regards,

MoX

I Love it from the moment i heard it.
It is clear! and that is perfect for use with the uad plugs!
no problems with installing.
looking great easy to use.
what can i say more.
i'm very exited about it.

eric van de bovenkamp
piano player from the netherlands

I'm truly in love with my Apollo QUAD unit. The audio quality is really great with all the UAD softwares plugins. Thanks to Universal Audio for their innovation and creation to put this unique instrument on the market. I feel like I own the high-end studio with the racks full of the best audio processing systems just beneath my laptop computer.

I'm most impressed so far, especially with the DSP and the plug ins. I only wish I could afford to buy more! It seems like a solid piece of kit, and I'm pleased with the audio quality.

After being a digidesign/avid user for 12+ years I traded in all my digi hardware after one session with the Apollo.
Has power under the hood, preamps are true without adding false color to the sound and using the UA plug ins while tracking BIG PLUS.

Universal Audio has a winner with the Apollo. Thank you UA!

Don Byczynski
Bota-Werks

Im very impressed.. Nice clean sounding hardware and extremely usable plug-ins.

Thanks UA!