Apogee Quartet vs UA Apollo Twin

[Southsidemusic]

Yes to what YYR123 said

I meant that if you choose say an API on the rec track and you have several other instances of reverbs and comps etc you have no power left on a DUO hence - Get a Quad or nothing at all from UA,

Regarding the USB2 comment is that its an old tech now and I would go Thunderbolt every day all day ling as apposed to USB2

Best
Chris

PS. Sorry but its new year here in 5 minutes and thats why I left for a bit and didn"t answer your questions but luckily I have YYR here

[YYR123]

Hey I was bored, it's not new year here for another 6.5 hrs still - so I had time

[adam79]

Originally Posted by YYR123

see above post....but yes after tracking you won't be using the DSP for the unison preamp......but you might want to use another plugin before uploading your song to itunes.....




you can record fx to disk, yes the Apollo line can do this.......



correct....


but as I stated earlier you might want to use another plugin besides a channel strip before your done with the song........

ie a delay effect
ie a compressor
ie a EQ across the 2track output.......

point is....if you get the DUO you may wake up one day and realize you should have got more horsepower under the hood the first time.

Ok. So what you are saying is that after using the unison plugs to track, DSP will be needed for the plugs being used during mixing (playback). i completely understand this.

I've just been looking for confirmation that once tracking is completed (with unison plugs (i.e. 610 preamp), the DSP card is a clean slate for running plugins during mixdown. I was under the impression that unison is just for tracking.

I'm guessing that an average session for me would be 16-20 tracks. Looking at the UAD Instance chart I would have to be conservative with the UA plugs, but what would be better.. Having the option of using a conservative amount of UA plugs, as well as the unison mic pre emulators, or buying the Apogee Quartet and not having the option of using any UA plugs.

Im really stretching the bank with the Apollo Duo. Being able to afford the Apollo Quad or Apogee Ensemble would be amazing, but it's just not within my budget. Also, once I buy one of these interfaces, I'll basically be broke,, so besides the UA plugins that are included (as well as the promo ones, if I buy it tonight) I won't have any other UA plugs to use for a long while. I'll just have the option of getting the best plugins on the market when I do have money for plugs. So it's either that or going with the Apogee Quartet and getting better mic pres and converters.

If any of you where in this situation, which route would you choose? Thanks again for dealing with all my questions, and giving such prompt answers. I really appreciate it. I'm just gonna have this setup for a long time and wanna make an informed choice that I'll be happy with.

[Southsidemusic]

BTW

There is no chance that the Apogee has better Preamps and converters than UA Apollo series

UA have awesome pre's and converters and pretty much the best on the market along with the new Apogee card with thunderbold and the Prism Orheus card

So saying that the Quartet has better Preamps is just plain wrong and misinformation. No way.

Christopher

[adam79]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

BTW

There is no chance that the Apogee has better Preamps and converters than UA Apollo series

UA have awesome pre's and converters and pretty much the best on the market along with the new Apogee card with thunderbold and the Prism Orheus card

So saying that the Quartet has better Preamps is just plain wrong and misinformation. No way.

Christopher

Oh really, well that changes things.. I also just found out that the Apollo Duo is a Firewire 800 interface. If I'm buying a new Macbook Pro with no Firewire connections, will I have to buy the $500 Thunderbolt add on? I figured that since the Twin uses Thunderbolt that the next step up Apollo Duo would use it stock as well. This really puts a kink in my plans, as the stock firewire Apollo have higher latency and lower plug-in instances. Everytime I think I have something figured out I run into another kink! I was just about to buy the Apollo Duo until I found out about this optional Thunderbolt add-on card. Guh!!!

[Southsidemusic]

Hey

It must be old stock as all new Apollo interfaces comes with Tbolt card installed.

We bought our first of 2 Apollo Quads when they came out and it has FW and then we bought the second Apollo Quad with Tbolt card and its a difference in plugin instances. I would say about 20-30% better plugin count and less latency all around so if the DUO is Firewire you really should stop and think this over.

As I see it thats strike 2 against UA. First the 2 shark processors and now FW card only which all new units comes with today.

As far as what you thought regarding the Quartet - Who said it had better convertors and preamps? Thats just not true at all so ..

If you want a great sound and with DSP look at a used Apollo QUAD with Thunderbolt or get the DUO now and invest in a Tbolt card down the road.

As you said, You would have to be sparse with the plugin count with the DUO but if you want the best you can get the DUO now and instead of getting a Tbolt card you could get a Satellite box like the Quad Core later with 4 X Shark Processors. We have two of those aswell and 2 of the Apollo Quads and one of the Apollo 16 and would never ever look back.

The sound is Awesome and now with the Unison you can actually get all the best preamp sounds from Neve, Api, UA 610 A/B and you would be very good to hear the difference of the outboard gear compared to the UAD-2 plugins.

We have the outboards aswell and we can barely hear any difference so its up to the wallet for you this time around

I know what I would do no doubt!

[adam79]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

Hey

It must be old stock as all new Apollo interfaces comes with Tbolt card installed.

We bought our first of 2 Apollo Quads when they came out and it has FW and then we bought the second Apollo Quad with Tbolt card and its a difference in plugin instances. I would say about 20-30% better plugin count and less latency all around so if the DUO is Firewire you really should stop and think this over.

As I see it thats strike 2 against UA. First the 2 shark processors and now FW card only which all new units comes with today.

As far as what you thought regarding the Quartet - Who said it had better convertors and preamps? Thats just not true at all so ..

If you want a great sound and with DSP look at a used Apollo QUAD with Thunderbolt or get the DUO now and invest in a Tbolt card down the road.

As you said, You would have to be sparse with the plugin count with the DUO but if you want the best you can get the DUO now and instead of getting a Tbolt card you could get a Satellite box like the Quad Core later with 4 X Shark Processors. We have two of those aswell and 2 of the Apollo Quads and one of the Apollo 16 and would never ever look back.

The sound is Awesome and now with the Unison you can actually get all the best preamp sounds from Neve, Api, UA 610 A/B and you would be very good to hear the difference of the outboard gear compared to the UAD-2 plugins.

We have the outboards aswell and we can barely hear any difference so its up to the wallet for you this time around

I know what I would do no doubt!

I actually just bought the UA Apollo Duo w/ the Thunderbolt card a couple minutes ago from Sweetwater. Yes, I would have preferred the Quad, but that extra $500 is $500 more than I have to spend. I think I made the right choice over the Quartet. Like I mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm not going to be involved in sessions with an insane track count, so although there will inevitably be some tough decisions on which plugs to use and which to leave out at the end of sessions, I'm sure that I'll be more than happy with this unit.

I want to thank everyone, again, for the amazing amount of help you've given me in such a short amount of time.

Happy New Year!
-Adam

[Southsidemusic]

Adam

You made a Very Good Decision with the Apollo DUO and I am sure you will get by with that Interface as it has Thunderbolt

Happy New Year you too

You can PM me if you need any advice or help with the UA Interface or what might come up.

Sincerely
Christopher

[YYR123]

The first time you really hear the quality of the LA2A or the 1176 Rev A !!! Man you will be hooked, I swear it sounds like a well maintained unit...an actual hardware compressor

Which are pricey

[adam79]

Is it true that UA doesn't offer plugin demos? If this is true, I don't understamd their logic. Having to blindly lay down a good chunk of change for something you can't trail run is ridiculous.

I'm starting to second guess my choice of going w a new Apollo duo rather than a used quad; some sell for under 2 grand. Although most don't have the thunderbolt card or barely any plugins. I just figured it was worth getting the warranty that's included with new units. However it's classic me to second guess any purchase I make then end up loving it.

Speaking of plugins, if I wasn't able to demo some of the softube brand plugins, I would have never known how much I love their Summit Grand Channel EQ and a couple others. All softube plugs are 60% off for the next week. Think UA will ever have a sale like this?