If youre not, just go with one that doesnt have all the dsp bells and whistles that youre paying for. Presently firewire imac, good mics and recording studio. Best thunderbolt audio interfaces 2018 music matter. Universal audio apollo x16 18x20 thunderbolt 3 audio interface with uad dsp. Apollo thunderbolt option card info universal audio. Apogee ensemble vs apogee rosetta 200 apple community. Apollo quad firewire four years of usage raydovski, 22. Apogees ensemble thunderbolt audio interface is aimed at a similar. Stay with firewire apogee ensembleavalon 737 or go all uad. Universal audio apollo 8 uad2 quad thunderbolt audio interface.
Thanks to unision technology, each of the four mic preamps emulate the tone. In a high end gear perspective id prefer having aes. After exhaustive research, im between the apogee element 24 and the new ua apollo twin mkii quad. Universal audio apollo 8 quad thunderbolt audio interface w. Apogee ensemble vs universal audio apollo twin duo logic. Im considering switching to uad apollo 8 thunderbolt with all uad plugins and a new thunderbolt imac. Updated functionality and classic apogee sound quality make this one of the best. To get started, simply install the ensembles software although, as always, its probably a good idea to make sure you download the latest version from apogees web site, rather than using any supplied versions. At its heart, the apollo 8 features four highresolution digitallycontrolled mic preamps with unison technology, 8 discrete balanced outputs, independent monitor outputs, dual headphone outs with independent front panel controls, adat, spdif io and more. However, the newer apollo apollo 8 get the conversion updated. Choosing between rme and ua apollo is like choosing between bmw mercedes. Stay with firewire apogee ensembleavalon 737 or go all.
Hi, i am putting together a little home studio and i am trying to decide between the apogee ensemble th and universal audio apollo 8p interfaces. Free shipping for your apogee ensemble thunderbolt 30x34. Im upgrading my studio focusrite 18i20 to either of these. Ill be using them with a macbook pro retina and pro tools. Apogee have been close partners with apple for many years now, and their original firewire ensemble has become a firm favourite with mac users seeking excellent audio quality and plenty of io in a compact device.
Ive always said that the only reason to go with an apollo interface is if youre going to be using ua plugins. First, i can say i have great ears for tone and have owned an amp by about every major manufacturer at one time or another and opened for national touring acts for 2 years with a large amp rig that without a doubt, the apollo is dramatically better than the quartet. With ultralow latency performance, comprehensive studio functionality and legendary apogee quality, ensemble is the ideal choice to meet the diverse demands of the professional home or commercial studio. Aesthetically, i find both the apollo rack and twin units to be beautifully designed. Ua apollo twin mkii quad updated to quad to get more of what youre buying ua apollo for. Apogee quartet vs apollo quad from people that owned or used. Apollo thunderbolt option card info universal audio support.
The apollo 8 quad from universal audio is an 18 x 24 thunderboltready. To be honest its a bit like working in a chocolate factory, the novelty soon wears off and in fact it can have the opposite effect and leave one cynical and unmoved by most new offerings. One of the worlds most popular professional audio interfaces, the universal audio apollo quad thunderbolt delivers the sound, feel, and flow of analog recording to music creators everywhere. First the apogee ensemble was released, then focusrite took the interface market by surprise with the red 4pre. Universal audio apollo 8 vs apogee ensemble avid pro. Learn more about apogee defining the art of digital audio since 1985 about apogee defining the art of digital audio since 1985 since 1985, apogee has produced innovative, awardwinning technology that powers many of the worlds. Ive owned the apogee and i currently have the apollo twin duo. Would appreciate comments suggestions or alternatives. I had a chance to test the original apollo vs ensemble in the past and a win for ensemble. Thanks to unision technology, each of the four mic preamps emulate the tone and characteristics of vintage tube and solidstate preamps for that soughtafter.
Apogee, lynx, and focusrite have managed to get below 1ms latency with their thunderbolt and pcie in the case of lynx interfaces. I have installed a rosetta 800 and thought it sounded amazing. The new ensemble a 30x34 thunderbolt 2 audio interface for the next generation of home, project and professional macbased studios. Similar to its predecessor, this is a 1ruheight interface capable of 24bit, 192 khz operation, with an onboard quad uad2 for realtime effects with four sharc processors inside to process the uad plugins.
Apollo 8 allows for the line inputs to bypass the preamp circuitry. The new ensemble, or if you can swing it, one of the symphony models are great choices for mac users. Of course, the ensemble thunderbolts eight digitallycontrolled mic preamps. At the moment ua have a deal when a uad2 satellite quad comes for free with every new. Apogee ensemble th vs universal audio apollo 8p gearslutz. I understand that the ensemble is a step down in quality than the rosetta but would like to hear if anyone has heard a difference. The red 8pre announced this week is more comparable to the ensemble with 8 preamps, but offers more connectivity at a slightly higher price. Universal audio apollo 8 quad thunderbolt 2 audio interface with realtime uad processing mfr. Im holding out hope for the usb apollo 8, 8p, and 16 pc users deserve. Oct 16, 2014 one of the worlds most popular professional audio interfaces, the universal audio apollo quad thunderbolt delivers the sound, feel, and flow of analog recording to music creators everywhere.
Universal audio apollo 8 vs apogee ensemble avid pro audio. I know ensemble has very good adda conversion, but previous apollo has a very good conversion too. In this video, i compare my top 24 channel audio interface picks. The ensemble thunderbolt isnt just an update apogee have completely redesigned it, and the results are impressive. Apollo 8 offers 18 x 24 simultaneous inputsoutputs, with two builtin thunderbolt ports. Apogee quartet vs apollo quad from people that owned or. I wanted live effects on my synths, and the alternative was. Apollo twin mkii is a groundup redesign of the hugely popular professional desktop recording interface for mac and windows delivering enhanced audio conversion with the tone, feel, and flow of analog recording.
The universal audio apollo 8 quad is a professional 18x24 thunderbolt audio interface offering superior 24bit192khz ad and da conversion for use in home or professional studios alike. May 25, 2016 you are going from saffire 40 to a quartet or apollo quad i went from a saffire 56. Apollo 8p is a dramatic update to one of the worlds most popular. Universal audio apollo 8 quad thunderbolt 2 audio interface with realtime uad processing. Apollo twin x allows musicians and producers to easily track, overdub, and mix with eliteclass ad and da conversion, two unisonenabled preamps, and available duo or quad core realtime uad plugin processing all in a desktop thunderbolt 3 audio interface for mac and windows. The 8 mic preamps are in a class of their own and because of this it is quite easy to. Uad apollo 8 quad uad apollo twin duo silver tb 2 x uad satellite octo tb uad satellite quad tb 27 imac retina 2015. I was comparing an apollo quad to older recently at the time discontinued protools hd hardware heres my thought on apogee they are very mac focused.
Free shipping free tech support free 2year warranty. Apogee ensemble th vs universal audio apollo 8p hi, i am putting together a little home studio and i am trying to decide between the apogee ensemble th and universal audio apollo 8p interfaces. The universal audio apollo 8 is an 18in24out thunderbolt 2 audio interface with onboard realtime uad quad dsp processing. So i returned the quartet and bought a ua apollo quad. Apollo 11, apollo 12, apollo, apollo 14, apollo 15, apollo 17, apollo 7, apollo 8, apollo 9. Been wanting to dive into the uad waters for some time now. The 8 apollos nearly 8 inch screen delivers a stunning picture. I wanted live effects on my synths, and the alternative was getting a mixer and a bunch of outboard reverbsdelays. Universal audio apollo 8 quad thunderbolt 2 audio interface. Universal audios new apollo x range sees the company pull out all the stops to. The installer file is downloaded to the disk location specified in your web browsers preferences. Interface audionumerique thunderbolt universal audio apollo 8 quad. Universal audio apollo 8 thunderbolt 2 audio interface with quad processing.
Previousgeneration apollo 8, apollo 8p, and apollo 16 mkii models ship from the factory with the thunderbolt 2 option card preinstalled. Blending the best of apogees acclaimed innovations from products like symphony io, duet, quartet and jam with groundbreaking new features and the power of intels thunderbolt technology, ensemble provides everything you need to record, edit, mix. Oct 01, 20 so i returned the quartet and bought a ua apollo quad. Universal audio apollo x8 18x24 thunderbolt 3 audio interface. Apogee ensemble thunderbolt is the best sounding allinone audio recording interface for mac. Latestgeneration apollo x6, apollo x8, apollo x8p, and apollo x16 models ship from the factory with the thunderbolt 3 option card preinstalled.
Universal audio apollo quad thunderbolt audio interface. Apollo 8 is an elegant update to one of the worlds most popular professional audio interfaces delivering enhanced sound with the tone, feel and flow of analog recording. The apollo quad is made by universal audio and has a built in uad 2 qaud dsp that let me run uad 2 powered plug ins easily. The apollo 8 definitely sounded a bit more broad on the inputs. Adat ports and so at up to 96khz, can provide a full eight channels of adat io. Hi, i was thinking of switching from apogee ensemble to. The element series is very minimalist because apogee chose to put more into the converters and pres. Nextgeneration apollo ad and da conversion for professional music production. Apogee quartet is a studio quality usb audio interface and monitor controller with 4 mic. Nextgeneration apollo ad and da conversion for professional music production onboard uad2 quad or duo core dsp allowing realtime uad processing 4 unisonenabled mic preamps for tracking through preamp emulations from neve, api and universal audio 18 x 24 thunderbolt 2 audio interface for mac with powerful console 2. Apollo 8 is an elegant update to one of the worlds most popular professional audio interfaces delivering enhanced sound with the tone, feel, and flow of analog recording.
That means they actually have less latency with native plugins than the apollo has with uad plugins. Apogee ensemble vs universal audio apollo twin duo. Ua audio interfaces let you record through the full library of awardwinning uad powered plugins including vintage eqs, compressors, reverbs, tape machines and more at nearzero latency, regardless of your audio softwares buffer size, and without taxing your host computers cpu. It comes with the uad 2 analog plug in bundle classics which really added a lot of value to this unit because that plug in bundle is something that i have been trying to get my hands on for a while now. Second, the apollo 8 allows for the line inputs to bypass the preamp circuitry. Stepped up from a apollo twin and theres definitely a big difference you can. Universal audio apollo 8 thunderboltapollo 8 is the worlds most acclaimed professional recording interface for mac and windows, giving project and commercial studios superior ad and da conversion with the tone, feel, and realtime workflow of classic analog recording.
Oct 15, 2014 the apollo quad is made by universal audio and has a built in uad 2 qaud dsp that let me run uad 2 powered plug ins easily. I switched from the previous generation ensemble to the apollo a couple of months ago. You can then plug the ensemble into your mac via one of the two firewire ports found on the back panel. Well, not exactly switched, i still use the ensemble as a second 8 channel adda. Apollo 8 quad universal audio apollo 8 quad audiofanzine. Adda converter and pre specwise, this is true as apogee specs out better than ua apollo twin or focusrite clarett. Built upon uas 60year heritage of audio craftsmanship, apollo twin mkii starts with two unisonenabled mic preamps and stellar. Add to cart overview specs accessories compare overview about universal audio apollo 8 apollo 8 is an elegant update to one of the worlds most popular professional audio interfaces delivering enhanced sound with the tone, feel and flow of analog. Onboard storage isnt an issue either, as the 8 apollo comes with 8gb. You are going from saffire 40 to a quartet or apollo quad i went from a saffire 56. Im struggling to decide between these two and hope for the guidance of logic users. For a more affordable solution, focusrite released the clarett range first and now apogee have announced these new element.
Adda converter and pre specwise, this is true as apogee specs out better than ua. Cascade up to 4 apollo interfaces and 6 uad devices total over thunderbolt mac. Focusrite clarett 8prex apogee ensemble uad apollo 8p. It has more outputsinputs than you could ever need and even if you do need more, you can expand on it easily. I would take the apollo though, mainly because you can start offloading processing tasks eq, compression, etc onto the apollo card. Mar 19, 2017 in this video, i compare my top 24 channel audio interface picks. Apogee ensemble or uad apollo duo discussion in recording gear and equipment bg started by. Apogee element is an excellent choice for logic they are logic oriented. Universal audio apollo 8 quad 18x24 thunderbolt 2 audio interface with. So if i were using pc i wouldnt touch it and i dont even think it works with pc even via usbidk so. Built upon uas 60year heritage of audio craftsmanship, apollo 8 distinguishes itself with four unisonenabled mic preamps. Universal audios apollo x6 is a prolevel audio interface promising an.