The Inevitable Downfall of UAD Apollo Interfaces

---
My recording studio equipment:

My video equipment:

As an Amazon Affiliate, I receive commission from any purchases you make using my links. However, that does not effect my reviews of any products, and I only recommend gear I have personally used.

[colonelwatts]

Recording through the plugins and printing them live will always make these UA interfaces worthwhile

[diemturner]

Just curious...do you need to purchase the native plugins you already owned as DSP plugins a second time or does UAD grandfather in your ownership of those plugins in native format for you to download?

[IntheDAW]

Great video. I love how I own all the native plugins they make since I get them free for owning the dsp version. But nothing beats tracking with there plugins and just copying the settings into the native versions for the mix. Dsp isn't dead its just only for tracking now lol.

[Rgdonaire_]

Many UAD plugins are now running natively. That allows for my system (Apollo X4 and Octo satellite) to never use all my processing power during mixing which is nice. I do use plugins while tracking so I think there will still be a use case for these interfaces, although less compelling indeed.

[leftofcenter]

Don’t bet against tech advancing is the core of that message it always moves forward always!

[jaden_shah]

Title is a bit misleading imo but it’s YouTube so fair play. I personally have a ua arrow which has next to no dsp onboard but I do have a M1 Max MacBook. I honestly prefer to just use the UADX plug-ins that run natively. It is much faster as you said. It’s also really appreciated that they give you the native version of the plugin for free if you already own the dsp version. That being said, I still think the Apollo interfaces are valuable because they use really high quality components and the unison preamps are amazing. This was long winded but the point I was trying to make was that for me personally, this is an improvement on how it was before.

[QuinnOulton]

Sorry this is such a tiny pointless comment but they are Apple silicon Macs, all macs ever are silicon Macs because all processors are silicon based ok I’ll go now

[ChunkyLover]

The pre amp models physically change the resistance in the interface

[nottieru]

UAD is there for unison zero-latency live recording with plugins. Their latency doesn't grow from using more plug-ins and doesn't depend on how busy your project is. That's why they specialise in analog gear emulations: you sort of treat UAD like a flexible outboard gear setup. As a musician, I can't stress enough how big this is, getting to play into an LA2A or a Pultec totally transforms your whole playing technique, it's nothing like processing a recorded part. Human brain adapts to what it hears and there's a whole new level of recordings coming out of it. The use case you describe is at best a side effect.

[zacmakesmusic]

Another great video Adam! I agree with you when it comes to Apple Silicon. I upgraded from a 2015 i7 MBP to a M1 Max and the performance increase is the biggest performance jump I've ever experienced in an upgrade. However, I find that I've always had issues running out of DSP even with 8 cores...my mixes usually require print downs. Maybe because I rely more heavily on UAD plugs. Thankfully as you mentioned, UADx Spark plugs are good solution and is something I've been using more and more often, especially on big sessions where i'm just doing a lot of duplicating signal flows for stacked harmonies, or instrumentals. I have one UAD plug i regret ever purchasing, Autotune. I rarely ever use UAD version as it's just too heavy on DSP resources.

Also I agree with a bunch of the other comments when it comes to the usefulness of real-time recording UAD plugs in Console. I'd say 90% of my tracking sessions I'm printing Unison pres or some kind of compressor into the chain before it hits the DAW and I never real-time monitor with the DAW anymore so I can keep my buffer rate at 1024 even while tracking.

[medusa_lives]

I have most UAD plugins and a few octo cores, but I use RME fireface interface because my UAD apollos had noise and crackle problems that I couldn't fix

[jch]

Lynx Aurora has a slot to add usb connection.

[advanced]

That old lynx aurora is still sounds better than modern uad stuff

[fullalbums]

You can just add uad satellite octo, or two. I have M1 mini and I can use MORE UAD Studer A800 plugins through UAD DSP than natively, DSP still basically doubles my processing power even if it's 20 years old

[CFox.]

UA know the end of DSP is here so everyones getting spammed with native offers. AI sound generation will replace soft synths and massive sample libraries also

[the_golfpunk]

UA just do it to get more share and be more part of the big plugin industry so that more people can use without their hardware. Same with LUNA to give it to more people out there to try and use.
Yes Computers, specially the new M Processor Macs are so fast to handle that easily, but DSP hardware is still worth using like the Apollo for recording.
Latency got better and better over the years and the Computers can handle it, but with the apollos never have to change the buffer size for recording and mixing. always leave it default or highest no matter what DAW you use and have the same lowest latency for recording with high quality plugins (if you want) not worrying about computer processor performance.

[wozowski]

Am I missing something? Is this not completely obvious?

[legacyShredder]

You know how people say if they had a time machine they'd go get rid of Hitler? I'd go get rid of the dude who made the Digitech RP pedals. Those are a stain on the history of guitar players, and they're probably the reason black metal took off.

[NattSorg]

never saw a reason to get DSP. If you understand PC hardware and know how to allocate your budget on a proper system for the job, you won't have a any issues with latency even without DSP.
You'll even save a ton of money at the same time

[Elboy]

Just get another x8p or a sattelite, problem solved