Apollo FireWire
Customer Reviews
Apollo FireWire
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X. Chen
The Apollo FireWire is very good！
My English is not very good, so I write in Chinese, the following is a translation (software translation may not be accurate) :
Apollo FireWire is a very good audio interface for home studios. It has four preamp for analog hardware, which makes it easy for me to record, and saves money to buy real hardware analog microphone amplifiers. 10 analog audio outputs allow me to use multiple listening devices for remixing. The built-in 4 core DSP card is enough for me to shrink the 40 rails of the separation project. In general, this is a very cost-effective and very useful audio interface.
X. Chen
The Apollo FireWire is very good！
我的英文不太好，所以就用中文写评论了。Apollo FireWire作为一个音频接口，非常适合Home Studio使用，4个模拟前级话放帮我省去了购买硬件话放的钱，效果也相当不错。10个模拟输出接口也让我可以使用多套监听设备进行混音工作。内置4核的DSP运算卡也可以满足我做30轨左右的分轨的缩混。总体来说是一个非常好用，并且性价比非常高的音频接口。
j. medina
Love it !!!
I bough this because I used one on a studio that I went to records keys and guitar I was amazed by the power this monster have!!! The plugins super awesome...I used it whit protools 12 and I would definitely going to by another one soon for my other studio !!
B. Arrindell
Sounds Great But Not Really 24 independent out put
I like the sound and love the plugins, But
I thought i could have 24 out puts to my sony dmx r100 but to my surprise the second 8Adat's digital i/o's only mirror the first. so not really true independent outs.
Sooo Disappointed. I don't know that's the info i found in the pdf.
J. Cohn
Not perfect but excellent for what it can do
The strength of the Apollo is generally due to its Unison technology capability. To my ear it also has clean and clear sound from the outputs and preamps, very pleasant. I also was very happy with the headphone amps though I haven't had experience with higher end headphone preamps so cant compare.
Its not a perfect interface though, and to my mind based on a couple of important gripes it doesn't currently deserve a 5 star rating:
1) Crashes/Out of PGM memory, with certain plugins: I own both the Apollo Firewire Duo and the Octo PCIe card. I use Windows 7 and generally have a smooth running system. In Console 2.0 unfortunately there are certain key plugins that can only be loaded once and once they are loaded they prevent me using others. For example Lexicon 244, once loaded into an insert slot in Console, will crash my EMT250 and other reverbs from loading after it. I get error message 'out of program memory/dsp'. This is of course absurd as I haven't even maxed out DUO dsp, let alone my beefy Octo. Same with Oceanway though that room reverb modeler is littered with problems as it is. This naturally makes me recoil from wanting to use Console and just stick to using inserts in my DAW. Not a good thing when I cant get my workflow to work for me. Bugs need to be fixed and never seem to be with my problematic UAD plugins. Now Console 2.0 errors too.
2) Clunky disorganised Console interface: Apart from the fairly ugly interface which doesnt have modern look and feels decidedly old and slow, I cant filter plugins owned or filter out plugins I do not wish to have displayed. This is a surprisingly annoying bother which makes it a tiring and unnecessary flow stopper to have to browse their menus to try find my plugin. Would be a great start to have the option to remove plugins I do not own so I can focus on what I want, not what they want to try sell.
3) Main Volume dial increments not fine enough: Trying to optimise my listening levels using the main volume dial is frustrating as the dial clicks between levels which are crude and not fine enough - so if its slightly too soft, the next click is way too loud. Really disappointing and requires the use of an external passive volume attenuater if I want smooth and fine volume gradations.
I hope this review is helpful mainly for UAD to see what is stopping them from having a top notch product. Hopefully its been helpful for those sitting on the fence. As much as we all want UAD to do well, they seem to be behind certain curves considering the money the charge and likely have to allocate towards fixing longstanding issues
j. corbin
Major Upgrade!
First I got the pcie quad card. From that moment on I knew I had to get some Universal Audio hardware. Totally awesome. And the engl unison amps sound great for metal. A lot of plugins and other devices can do rock but fall short when it comes to metal. I play metal more than any other style, and this setup makes my shred/thrash/C-standard songs kick a**!!!!!!
R. De Los Santos
What a great piece of Gear
Very happy with my recent purchase of the Apollo Firewire PC. I was hesitant because of some of the issues I read about with the firewire card. I had no problems at all and the unit is up and running great. Excellent preamps and a nice clean, full sound. Couldn't be more satisfied. My only negative issue is I wish they would give you a little more time to demo the plugins. Otherwise, buy this unit if you want a great sounding interface.
G. Huber
The gretest Audiointerface I ever had bevor
Before i worked with Focusrite..... If i have known this quality before ....!
I am very happy with my Apollo, i never will work with another Product.
Sorry for my bad english, i hope you understand what i mean.
R. DEWINDT
Amazing sounding interface.
sounds amazing, great investment.
R. DEWINDT
Amazing sounding interface.
sounds amazing, great investment.
D. Bailey
Apollo Firewire 8
I have been hearing a lot positive things about the apollo, but could not afford it at the time,
I recently purchased it and was pleasantly surprised about the sound quality and especially the mic pre and the other bundled software,
I definitely will be getting some of my favorite plugins before the end to the year. by the way I love the console application.
Thumbs up UAD
L. Schioler
No. 2 in my setup
Works flawlessly as channel 9-16. Been using a SaffirePro as an ADAT extension, but had issues with clicks and the like. The second Apollo just works, and I have not spent a second on problems of that kind, since my purchase.
Sound quality already known and loved :-)
Totally recommendable....
.
Almost a giant leap forward for work flow, but not quite.
I've been using the Apollo Firewire Duo for some time now. It's the first time I'm able to fully integrate my studio and with intuitive workflow. I love the concept/setup/usability.
But, my advice to prospective users:
1. Get ready to feel a bit second rate as a Windows/Firewire user.
2. Most importantly, DO NOT BUY THE DUO!! I was shocked to find how utterly under powered it is. It's not too bad for running a bunch of simple compressor's or EQ's. It will only run 1...yes 1 big plugin like the AKG BX20 Springverb. Great plugin, can barely ever use it. Very frustrating.
And considering there has never been a promotion simply for the Satellite uprade, you'll be paying full price in the near future just to load some very nice, but already expensive plugins. More often than not, I'm having to revert to my Sonnox, Waves etc reverbs on my very affordable 8 (@3.7GHz) Intel cores. Food for thought.
M. Potoczek
Good conversion, bad workflow
We can all agree that the sound quality is very good but to reach it and work efficiently was very hard for me. First thing, while working on FL Studio you get massive latency using UAD plugins, you have to diable automatic latency compensation for each channel, enable it again and turn ALC on again for the calculation to be done accuratley and do the same thing while adding new sampler or UAD plugin. Next thing, manual says that 1-4 inputs while set to "mic" must use XLR plug, the "line" setting requirest TRS plug yet there are no TRS inputs in 1-4, am I missing something? I was trying to put in a signal from my mic path condenser mic -> preamp -> compressor and I cannot do it in any way, connecting it to any of 5^ inputs is resulting in no input signal. I must use "mic" option and get overdriven signal or sell a preamp that i really like. I dont understand why not to use combo inputs and do all that plug differentiation. I will need to put an extra efford to be working on it with speed. If you are looking for plug and play type of interface, you may forget about Apollo.
M. Potoczek
Good conversion, bad workflow
We can all agree that the sound quality is very good but to reach it and work efficiently was very hard for me. First thing, while working on FL Studio you get massive latency using UAD plugins, you have to diable automatic latency compensation for each channel, enable it again and turn ALC on again for the calculation to be done accuratley and do the same thing while adding new sampler or UAD plugin. Next thing, manual says that 1-4 inputs while set to "mic" must use XLR plug, the "line" setting requirest TRS plug yet there are no TRS inputs in 1-4, am I missing something? I was trying to put in a signal from my mic path condenser mic -> preamp -> compressor and I cannot do it in any way, connecting it to any of 5^ inputs is resulting in no input signal. I must use "mic" option and get overdriven signal or sell a preamp that i really like. I dont understand why not to use combo inputs and do all that plug differentiation. I will need to put an extra efford to be working on it with speed. If you are looking for plug and play type of interface, you may forget about Apollo.
M. Turner
SO SIMPLE!
I changed from a ProTools native card and Lynx Aurora 16 LT-HD and the ease of doing so was unbelievable! All I did was plug it in and connect the FW cable. registration, updating and integration just HAPPENED. I don't recall ever changing interfaces and not having to do anything other than open a session and be pretty much ready to go. The whole process took minutes. SPECTACULAR! The Plug ins? What can I say, I feel a little guilty at how easy it is to get great sounds very quickly. Have yet to find one I don't love!
S. Lee
I LOVE IT. There is no need for words
I LOVE IT. no need for words.
But you need improvement to compatibility for Windows.
f. salvadeo
stunning!
Apollo change dramatically how i listen to my mixes... i'm now able to hear all the details due to pristine conversion! and uad plugin in unison are amazing!
J. Pepke
Best Gear Purchase Ever
I was between the UAD Apollo and the Antelope Orion, after hearing some negative reviews on the Orion about customer service and software bugs vs nothing but positive review for the Apollo the choice was obvious. Now that I've had a few weeks to use it, it has exceeded my expectations in sound quality, features, and plug-ins. I'm 100% happy with it.
d. Lee
apollo is wonderful thing!
unison preamp is save my money