Carbon vs Apollo

[noah330]

Right now I'm on HDN with an Omni and an SSL Alpha Link.

I could get a Carbon and ditch the Omni, run the Alpha Link for 16 ADATs and use the 8 i/o for my outboard.

OTOH I could get an Apollo, gain Unisyn, and probably do the same with the SSL.

Does anyone have any advice? Carbon looks close to exactly what I need and I'm seeing some good sales. I already have a UAD accelerator, so all I would really gain is Unisyn.

[jmp72]

Carbon all the way, Apollo don't sound near as good as the new avid interfaces and unison is useless if you are into serious business. If you want clean preamp, use the internal one, if you want color, use real external one. Audio over IP is pretty fun too !

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by jmp72

Audio over IP is pretty fun too !

Audio over *Ethernet*.

[jmp72]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Audio over *Ethernet*.

Audio over IP. AoIP.

https://www.avid.com/resource-center...er-should-know

[K Roche]

If you are running Pro tools, what is nice about the Carbon (compared to UAD Apollo) is with Carbon you are only dealing with 1 layer of software , and 1 I/O . With UAD and PT you will be dealing with two.

I personally know of one engineer who runs Pro tools who switched from UAD Apollo to Carbon - loves the seamless workflow and has never looked back

I don't know anything about Apollo but having come from an HDN -Omni system, myself
I can say the Carbon and it's mic pre's, conversion and Hybrid DSP felt like a step up.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by jmp72

Audio over IP. AoIP.

https://www.avid.com/resource-center...er-should-know

No. That article is sadly confused marketing fluff.

Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Video_Bridging and tell me where it mentions TCP/IP/UDP... it only touches on that in talking about other standards like AES67 (more comparable to Dante than AVB).

Dante is an Audinate proprietary protocol based on UDP (part of the TCP/IP family).

They might look alike to the end users but technically Dante and AVB are very different, a technical chalk and cheese comparison, including just where these standards come from.

AVB is an extension to Ethernet standards, developed/published by the IEEE.

IEEE standards have nothing directly to do with TCP/IP/UDP. The standards there are are all developed separately by the IETF RPC process. Just politically to start with the IEEE would not be managing audio standards that run on TCP/IP/UDP, its not even in their bailiwick.

Which directly leads to things like *Ethernet* switches with AVB support, inability to directly run AVB over a TCP/IP WAN router. etc. To many users none of this might matter, to folks looking to set up more complex networks it sure can.

[noah330]

Thanks, everyone!

I went with Carbon for a few reasons:

1- I have found the preamps in my Omni very useful. I'm assuming the newer Carbon pres are at least as good.

2- I'm not looking to use other DAWs. I use FCP occasionally and RX, which I use through AudioSuite.

3- I like the headphone system in Carbon. Seems like a small thing, but I have a drum kit and vocal booth, as well as guitar and bass areas. This seems to simplify things and I can eliminate three headphone amps.

4- I like the idea of Unisyn preamps, but have a few nice preamps already (API, UA, etc.) I just don't think it's something I 'need'.

5- Always been interested in AAX DSP. Does anyone know if I'll get any DSP plugs with the current Avid bundle? Also, do Plugin Alliance DSP cost more or are they included (once supported?).

6- Price. I bought the carbon for under $2000 shipped. Alto is having a sale on it. For a comparable Apollo it would be about $600+ more

7- Sound Quality - I've heard that Apollo sounds good, but not as good as the HD interfaces. I feel more comfortable with Avid

8- Closed system. Again, probably doesn't matter but I have a Mac Studio and will have Carbon. I know it will work.

I'll just have to figure out how to hook my AlphaLink up ADAT. I'll lose eight of the ins/out, but 16 is enough for me.

[Darryl Ramm]

$2k. Wow. Good choice.

[massivekerry]

Originally Posted by noah330

Thanks, everyone!

I went with Carbon for a few reasons:

1- I have found the preamps in my Omni very useful. I'm assuming the newer Carbon pres are at least as good.

2- I'm not looking to use other DAWs. I use FCP occasionally and RX, which I use through AudioSuite.

3- I like the headphone system in Carbon. Seems like a small thing, but I have a drum kit and vocal booth, as well as guitar and bass areas. This seems to simplify things and I can eliminate three headphone amps.

4- I like the idea of Unisyn preamps, but have a few nice preamps already (API, UA, etc.) I just don't think it's something I 'need'.

5- Always been interested in AAX DSP. Does anyone know if I'll get any DSP plugs with the current Avid bundle? Also, do Plugin Alliance DSP cost more or are they included (once supported?).

6- Price. I bought the carbon for under $2000 shipped. Alto is having a sale on it. For a comparable Apollo it would be about $600+ more

7- Sound Quality - I've heard that Apollo sounds good, but not as good as the HD interfaces. I feel more comfortable with Avid

8- Closed system. Again, probably doesn't matter but I have a Mac Studio and will have Carbon. I know it will work.

I'll just have to figure out how to hook my AlphaLink up ADAT. I'll lose eight of the ins/out, but 16 is enough for me.

1. They're better.

4. With the switchable impedance in Carbon's preamps, I have had very good results with recording "clean" and then matching a "color" emulation or virtual amp, afterwards.

5. There should be a list on the Carbon page. It's a few, but they're substantial. Also, all of the Avid plugins that are AAX-DSP (I think it's all?) will operate in DSP mode when you use it. Plugin Alliance doesn't charge a premium for DSP versions (currently). Remember tho, in Carbon, it's intended that you are only using the DSP instances when tracking. There really isn't enough DSP power onboard to really use it in mixing, but it's been ages since I felt I needed DSP for mixing, especially with my Mac Studio.

8. Me too. It's great. and I run the "Main Out" for my system audio.

[noah330]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

$2k. Wow. Good choice.

Thanks! Just so everyone knows, if PT Ultimate isn't needed, Alto has the Carbon at 2k. You also get money back as Alto Bucks, which I'll need in November when I renew PT.

Generally, I don't use many plugins, and with my M1 Studio, I don't run into many issues. Although it's been very good, I was looking to move away from HDN. This seemed like the time to do it. Plus, EQ III is AAX DSP and that excites me for tracking!