Stop - Don't Buy a Universal Audio Apollo

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[BarryJohns]

If you get contacted telling you that you won something, it's a scam. Lots of people have been getting a notice from Telegram, it's a scam. I had to stop doing give-aways because of this nonsense. Sorry, but nothing I can do about it.

[BennyVibes]

I just bought the X8 2 weeks ago as the deal was it came with a free Townsend L22. The free mic is what did it for me. I went from an Apollo twin (single core) that I had for 6 years so I'm totally happy with the upgrade. Im a noob in the studio and this channel has helped me out soooo much. thank you

[chrismarcyy]

in my opinion, at this point Apple should buy Universal Audio, and put a M2 Max inside their Apollo line up. Now that would be a Monster.

[JohannesLabusch]

The Apollo is giving me Adobe vibes at this point. I am locked into a deal that seems very hard to get out of, without saying goodbye to a whole lot of money, energy and time I've spent. After the large amount of money I've invested in an x4, and all the plugins I've amassed, I would love to start over with a non-DSP based solution. But I feel like it's too late already to get a reasonable percentage of that money back. When I'm honest with myself, the I/O on the Apollo is not great, and I only have an emotional attachment to a maximum of 3 or 4 UA plugins. But, honestly, I'm a little tired of this constant change, and this setup is what I'll use for the foreseeable future. In every aspect of tech (cameras, computers, audio stuff), I long for the old days where an investment wasn't considered obsolete a few short years after making it.

[AndrewPflueger]

Thanks for the video Barry. In case anyone is on the fence, I was an Apollo x8p user for the last 4 years. Loved the machine. But...with the new Mac computers out there, I realized what Barry has been saying for several months now (see his previous videos on how many tracks it takes to crash one of the new M1 chips) that DSP is beginning to show its age. So, I put it up for sale at Christmas time, sold it, and grabbed the RME Baby Face Pro. Most of that decision was based on the need to have a more portable unit (I work at multiple studios and to take the whole rack unit around was a pain). I'm blown away by the RME. I've never really considered myself an audiophile. Most of the YouTube videos that go back and forth between how great a plugin sounds, don't really sound that different to my ears. But with this unit, I can tell a major difference in the clarity of the audio. Feels like night and day. The RME is perfect for portability too. I actually have a lot of projects I've tracked and mixed in LUNA (which I really love) so wanted to stay in the UAD world too. Got a Twin Quad first to try and meet the portability need, but it felt so bulky compared to the RME and the sound quality was just not the same. Just like some of the other users here, I saw the deal with the free Townsend mic, so actually got a heavily discounted Apollo x6 with a free Townsend also so that I keep some of my LUNA functionality. At the end of the day, I'm having to move away from LUNA for new projects, but having an M1 macbook pro paired with the RME, I have had 0 issues. Even with my x8p, I'd "run out of resources" with a heavy mix. So far, I've not had any issues with the new setup. Thanks for the videos to encourage me to take the jump Barry.

[ericmontgomery]

Cool thing about this is that if a person does not have a lot of money, the aging technology is getting better. May be a good idea to compare new price points and features of hardware with used. You might find that used Apollo gear could be better than new low-end gear, particularly if you have a less powerful computer and no funds to update.

[kaysha]

Using an Apollo twin with a Mac Studio M1 Max. I wonder if I can replace all my DSP chains with the M1. A new ARM apollo I'd buy in a heartbeat.
Still waiting to upgarde my whole setup

[johntomanio]

I can't imagine UA, or anybody, coming out with an interface that will cause me to abandon my Apollos. They give me everything I could possibly hope for -- including easy I/O for mixing with outboard gear!

[wynton]

I couldn't remember the name of your channel so I just typed in Universal Audio sucks and you were the first search result. 🤣🤣🤣

[soloridertv]

I've had my Apollo for almost 8 years now and was thinking of getting a new Apollo to add I/O to my system. Now that they will probably release new versions, I am waiting to see what the new ones are and whether they can be linked to my current Apollo. I would be disappointed if UA didn't update their hardware periodically.

[jdigital]

This is a huge stretch, but a control surface version of the Apollo with full control of console and LUNA, 16 unison enabled preamps, great A/D D/A converters, automation (motorized faders) and parameters, and also a ton of SHARC processors for even more DSP along with the ability to use UAD plugins without LUNA or DSP would definitely be game changing. Still I'm happy with my Apollo X8P and Octo-Satilite and probably wouldn't sell it even if I did jump on any new Apollo, especially if they continue to work together in the same ecosystem as they do now.

[dougyfresh]

I use Metric Halo 2882 and LIO 8. I have had the 2882 for 20 years. The company has had some upgrades and both units sound amazing / amazing features / amazing quality / great support. I would love you to do a review on Metric Halo. Very underrated.

[yanukadeneth]

I'm very new here, but I just wanted to say I hope you have a podcast. I could really keep your video playing and work in the background without any distractions. Your voice is just amazing for podcasts!

[KeyJayHD]

As much as I loved my plug-in set brought by my UAD-2 Quad PCIe, I honestly feel burned at the same time since UA refused to support it properly on systems with Ryzen processors. So upon upgrading my system, immediately half of my kit suddenly became unusable!

It was at that point I realized that I couldn't rely on UA (or any one proprietary platform) anymore since none of their stuff was native (thank God for Plug-in Alliance).

Honestly I should have diversified sooner. The practice in redoing my kit gives my plugin choice more focus. I'm actually in the process of removing bloat plug-ins and sorting everything that makes things useful and meaningful to me.

That said, still, it's still a nice knife in the stomach whenever I think I no longer have access to $1400 worth of plug-ins. I hope that UA in the future does add native access to their legacy packages/plug-ins, but until that happens, I'm staying away.

...
Also HEY from a guy also rocking with RME!

[gurtz]

You are right. This stuff changing so fast. And there are so many cheaper options on the market. I just purchased the Apolo X4, in a bundle with a Sphere LX microphone. Then they added tons of plugins also. So I’m waiting to see if what you say happens- but it would be nice to see new hardware Apollos at a cheaper price.

[SuperGeorge]

Love my X6 Apollo, and the previous Apollo interface I had, built to a high standard and never any issues. 12 albums later still happy with the Apollo. At the end of the day they work they are reliable they have proved that over and over to me, don't see what you are on about !! the software and hardware work well together, what is the issue ??

[TheBp]

How's that new Universal Audio Interface?

[IAmChrisR]

I think we're looking at 1) new ARM-based Apollo's, and 2) a new Ox Box (apparently rumors of a pedal version). I think there are a few clues as to why the new Apollo's will be ARM-based, namely, Apple silicon support already existing for the UADx plugins and also the UAFX pedals running on ARM-processors. That also means that the UAFX may eventually get ported to this new UAD-ARM/UADx platform. I also fully expect the ability to toggle the UADx plugins between the DSP and native On-Demand.

[peterpalmieri]

I’ve gotten rid of most of my outboard gear. Recently added a 2nd X8P that came with the Sphere L22. I love the versatility of the unison Pres. Bang for the buck $3300 pull out the $1500 for the included L22 and I added 8 mic Pres for under $250 each.

I understand tech always move forward but I’m super happy having 20 unison mic Pres, enough DSP to run a 1073 and Fairchild on every channel or an API and 1176 for tracking. UADX allows me spreed out my mix across the Apollos and M1 Mac mini. Using Luna.

I’m very happy where I am and if UA puts something out that completely blows away my current system. That would be great for everyone as I really don’t have any technical reasons I can’t make a great album.

[dulla]

i never bought an apollo but i dreamed of buying one, i have an audient id4 just to work remotely but now im building a studio with a friend and i was gonna buy the latest apollo if i had the money so thank you, ill wait and see what happens this year