Leaving AVID hardware for Universal Audio Apollo

[JuanPC]

Originally Posted by Aten

Does anyone have an opinion on the how well or not Pro Tools works with Universal Audio hardware like the Apollo 16?

Whats the difference between using Apollo 16 and Avid TDM/HDX hardware?

My creativity can't handle the DAE and other errors anymore

Thanks in advance.

PT10 on W7...

Is W7 pro or Ultimate? Has service pack 1 installed?
What soundcard / interface are you currently using?

Anyway...
Sound quality? ... I liked more Digi192 I/o converters vs. Apollo AD converters.

http://www.sonicscoop.com/2012/09/20...ording-studio/
http://sonicscoop.com/site/audio/ApolloTestFiles.zip

[Aten]

Hey guys. It seems you have hijacked my thread to argue over which converters sound better. My point was hardware reliability only.

Is it fair to say the Apollo 16 (or the Focusrite) is much more reliable with Pro Tools than the Avid gear like the 196 i/o ? As I mentioned, those DAE & other errors have gone on too long.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Aten

Hey guys. It seems you have hijacked my thread to argue over which converters sound better. My point was hardware reliability only.

Is it fair to say the Apollo 16 (or the Focusrite) is much more reliable with Pro Tools than the Avid gear like the 196 i/o ? As I mentioned, those DAE & other errors have gone on too long.

No it's not fair to say that at all. It is fair to say the bulk of problems people face are not due to interface hardware/driver issues.

You are not really asking a question about hardware reliability. You are asking about software (DAE) errors. Many/most DAE errors have nothing to do with the interface hardware and have lots to do with your computer specs, optimization, buggy plugins and bugs in Pro Tools.

So who knows? The way to find out what is causing problems is to work on solving them. What do you sessions look like? Your running/installed what TDM and native plugins? What playback engine buffer size are you running. What exact DAE errors have you had on what exact setup? Where is your Sandra report? And what standard and other troubleshooting have you tried to solve them? Systematically going thought all that troubelshooting is likely a lot less painful than buying a new interface, losing all access to your TDM plugins, and hoping it makes your life better.

You really thought through this migration? Moving off Windows 7. Getting on a recent Windows version and PC with Thunderbolt in it to support an Apollo 16 thunderbolt? Giving up all your TDM plugins? Possibly ready to migrate to Pro Tools 12.x?

[Aten]

Hi Darryl

Thanks for posting. However I disagree with you. Avid's products should be Plug & Play like any other device we purchase for our computers. We shouldnt have to troubleshoot for more than a few minutes. I have been troubleshooting on and off for over a decade - hilarious. And I am very conversant with PCs. I can build one.

I think it's wrong how we are charged so much money for gear that intermittently works.

[Darryl Ramm]

I really don't care if you think you should not need to debug stuff. If you are going to be using Pro Tools you are likely going to have to be able to troubleshoot stuff. If you don't like that then switch to a simpler/maybe more stable DAW or find a different hobby/occupation. Switching interfaces is unlikely to change that high-level issue. And if you want help here you likely need to tell us details of what your problems actually are and what you actually have.

Otherwise what is your question again? And how do you expect anybody here to have any meaningful answers? Especially when so many DAE problems are not interface hardware related.

That you cannot even be bothered enough to mention the exact DAE errors you have been having is pretty much wasting everybody else's time...

[Aten]

Originally Posted by Exponential Audio

I've got a few Apollos. I've got a Blackface Apollo 16 (Thunderbolt) on my main Mac. Older silver face 16 on my Windows test machine (Firewire). I also have an 8P in my location recording setup (Thunderbolt again).

They all sound quite clean and provide very good value and low latency with Thunderbolt. As far as I/O, they provide some of the best available options. Past that, it's a bit hard to compare them to HDX: it's really apples and oranges. Both HDX and UAD plugins live in proprietary worlds and don't really quite line up. But for a pure native system (which is of course what I use), UAD is really worth your consideration.

Which interface crashed less? The Apollos or the HDX? Thanks.

[Rectifried]

Theres a lot to unpack here
I have HD and non
I like the HD HW... even tho with just one piano VI and a Vx recording I sometimes get errors.. [im very good w trouble shooting after 15 years]

what happened is I had to get 2 rigs going
so UA twin in MBP
and HDN +HD 16x16

finally 12 was more stable so I did 12.4.. on the nonHD MBP twin to experiment..soundwise hard to say but
12 was waaay better going/working between the rigs

oops this is a window blog..


NOW I have a HD system that I need 1000K to go to 12
then 400 after that each year... hmmm

and the nonHD does everything finally [ i dont do surround]

prob is I like my interface but thats almost the price of an interface..
just to USE the interface I Have!


Note:[AVID split the f. upgrade for HD... I DO NOT NEED YOUR SUPPORT
just the UPGRADES You did it for Non HD!! soooo wht the..??]

I MIGHT keep this HD shtuff if that were the case
otherwise
off to other things apollo...Its ..FINE... not super highend but really ,,good nuff

last note
I think PT is REALLY Great
IF you never invest in the HD stuff

for 500ish its very good bargain

otherwise HD stuff is Lord Bendover plus

[albee1952]

The best reason to buy the Apollo is so your can use UAD plugins while tracking(in truth, using an Apollo is an absolute MUST for tracking with UAD).

If you are NOT needing to track with UAD plugins, then you have lots of choices, such as:
Waves Soundgrid(I have not used, but has a solid reputation)
HD/Native card and IO(excellent sound)
Focusrite Clarrett(excellent sound, but how good are the drivers?)
Slates new Virtual Recording system
RME(great sound and maybe the best drivers in the industry)

Certainly, Apollo sounds excellent as well(if you can't make great recordings with anything in this thread, then its more likely technique/experience that is the cause) The major reason I am on HD/Native is, Apollo (to the best of my knowledge) is a tad limited in headphone mixes(I need more than 4 for my clients).